Custom Data Import

Any data you can tie to student ID numbers can be uploaded to School Loop and displayed for parents, students, and staff to see. Standardized test scores, GPA, library fines, and parent contact information are just a few examples of the types of data districts might choose to upload. The display of the data is customizable and may be placed on the student record page (for staff) or the account portals for students and parents either in the Dashboard (as pictured below) or in the right column. The same data may also be included in the daily email that goes out to parents and students.

1. First prepare your data in a simple tab delimited text file. Be sure that the first column is student ID numbers and that the first row includes column names (no spaces or special characters).

2. Click the Manage Custom Data button in your Toolbox and then click the New Custom Data button on the following page.

3. Use the browse button to locate the file on your hard drive.

4. Enter a title. The title is merely a label for use during setup.

5. The three Template fields allow you to customize the look and feel of how your data is displayed. See the section below for template examples.

6. Use the check boxes near the bottom of the form to choose who may view the data and where it will be displayed.

7. Click the Save and Stay button. A preview of your data is displayed at the bottom of the page. If you're not happy with the display, alter your template and click the Save and Stay button again.

8. Once satisfied with the results, click the Save and Exit button, then click the Publish button to display the data for your intended audiences.

A working knowledge of HTML and CSS is essential to building an attractive template. The three parts of the template include the Header, Row, and Footer. Given that most data will be best displayed in tabular format, we recommend the use of HTML tables for your templates.

The Header and Footer are the non repeating portions of the template and should include, respectively, the opening and closing tags for your HTML table along with other static content such as section titles. The Row Template can repeat if there's more than one row of data to display for a given student and should only contain the TR and TD tags along with the variable used to display your uploaded data.

The column names in your data file are used as variables for the data values of each row. If one of your columns is labeled with the name "Date", simply enclose the title with a pair of dollar signs and include in your template where you'd like the date displayed - like this: $Date$

Note: The following may not be used as column names and variables:

For your convenience, example data files and templates may be downloaded from the locker in the left column of this page.

Q: I am a Sys Admin, but why is the Manage Custom Data link missing from my Quick Links?

A: The feature has not been turned on for your school. Contact School Loop Support and we can turn this feature on for you.