Submittable is excited to announce the release of a new tool to help fuel collaboration. As part of our updated form engine, submitters and applicants can now work together in real time to create and edit shared submissions. Whether you’re partnering with one person, facilitating a whole group, need special assistance, or require another party to sign off on your application before you send it in, new collaborative features make working together easy and fun.
How does it work?
- Invite collaborators. If an organization has enabled collaboration, you’ll see an “Invite Collaborators” link in the upper right-hand corner of the form. Add email addresses to invite anyone you’d like to work with on your submission or application. They will receive an email invite to collaborate with you.
- See real-time presence. Similar to Google docs, when people are collaborating on a submission form, you’ll see each individuals’ initials in the upper right and the color associated with those initials wherever people are working.
- Maintain ownership. Even though all collaborators can work together, only the submission owner who originally began the application may submit.
- Stay on the same page. By receiving updates and messages regarding the submission, you and your collaborators can stay in the know. Everyone who collaborated can access the submitted form in their personal account under “All Submission” or “Collaborations.”
What are the benefits?
Flexible collaboration. Collaborate with one person or multiple people, at the same time or working on your own with a save draft for later. Here are a few examples of when collaborating on a form can be especially useful:
- For a duo, such as an athlete and coach, applying for a scholarship
- For a team, such as an emerging entrepreneurs club, applying for a grant
- For a large group, such as an industry association, applying for an award
- For an artist who needs a mentor to review their residency application
- For a duo, such as an athlete and coach, applying for a scholarship
Streamlined teamwork. Forget multiple, re-saved versions of important application content shared in email threads. Work together to make the best submission or application, in one place and in real time. It’s easy to see who is working where so you can track updates and ensure everything gets finished up.
Increased accessibility. This collaboration tool expands the availability of opportunities to applicants and submitters of different means and abilities, including to those who require assistance. This could include, for example:
- A child needing assistance from a parent or guardian;
- A student needing assistance from a teacher or professor; or
- A person needing technical or editorial assistance.
- A child needing assistance from a parent or guardian;
Where can I see this tool in action?
Check out how collaboration can improve your own submission or application here.
In other news
Universal Submission Tracker. We’re pretty excited about this one so perhaps you’ve heard: you can now use Submittable to track submissions made outside the platform. Use it for any opportunity you want to keep tabs on, with the ability to record your submission status and date, as well as any personal notes.
Have you tried it? Let us know what you think on Twitter or Facebook, and be in touch if you can help us catch (and squash) a bug.
Learn more about Submittable
New to Submittable? Welcome. Check out our introduction for submitters to learn more.
Rachel Mindell is Senior Editor for Submittable's Marketing Team. She also writes and teaches poetry. You can find Rachel's creative work here: rachelmindell.com