TWLSP Admin — Help & Instructions

The TWLSP Admin Panel is the central management system for the Tasmanian Women's Leadership Scholarship Program. It covers the complete program lifecycle — from receiving scholarship applications through to evaluation follow-up — across two cohorts (2026 and 2027).

What the system manages

• Applications — receiving, reviewing, scoring, and deciding on scholarship applications from eligible Tasmanian women
• Participants — managing the accepted cohort through the program
• Mentors — a database of registered mentors and their matching to participants
• Sponsors — executive sponsor contacts and employer engagement tracking
• Events — the program schedule and attendance records
• Evaluation — survey instruments and response tracking for program reporting
• Users — admin access management for the delivery team

System components

Logging in

1. Navigate to twlsp-admin.php
2. Enter your email address and password
3. Click Sign in

Logging out

Click Sign out at the bottom of the left sidebar. Always sign out when leaving a shared computer.

Forgotten password

Ask your admin user to reset your password in the Users section. Passwords cannot be self-reset — an admin must set a new one.

The program runs across two calendar years (2026 and 2027) with a parallel workflow for each cohort. The sequence below shows the key steps and which admin section manages each one.

2026 cohort — key milestones

Application status workflow

What you see

The Applications section shows all scholarship applications received for the selected cohort. The stat cards at the top give a live count by status. The table shows each applicant with their key details, status badge, and score bar.

Filtering and searching

• Search box — searches name, email, and organisation name
• Status filter — filter to a single status (e.g. show only shortlisted)
• Industry filter — filter by industry category
• Region filter — filter by Tasmanian region
• Sort columns — click any column header to sort ascending or descending
• Clear button — removes all filters and returns to full list

Opening an application

Click the applicant's name or the Open button to see the full application. The detail view shows all fields in read order: personal details, employment, the three application questions, access and equity information, employer support and sponsor details, diversity self-identification, and consent records.

The scoring panel sits on the right side of each application detail view. Scores are based on the three assessment criteria from the grant guidelines.

How to score

1. Read the full application, including all three question responses
2. Enter scores in each of the three fields — the running total updates automatically
3. Add assessor notes in the text field (visible to admins only, never shown to applicants)
4. Click Save score — your name and the time are recorded automatically

Panel process

The assessment panel reviews shortlisted applications. The recommended process is: each panel member scores independently, then the panel meets to compare scores and make final decisions. The assessor notes field is useful for flagging applications that warrant discussion.

Status definitions

How to update status

In the application detail view, select the new status from the dropdown in the Application status card at the top, then click Update status. A green confirmation message confirms the change was saved.

The Participants section shows only accepted, active, and graduated participants — the confirmed cohort. It is the operational hub during program delivery.

What the list shows

The stat cards show cohort size and key engagement metrics at a glance. The table shows each participant with their mentor, sessions logged, sponsor status, employer engagement session attendance, WEGA completion, and evaluation response count — all in a single row.

Participant CRM view

Click any participant name to open their full CRM view — a single page bringing together everything known about that participant without navigating between sections.

• Header card — name, organisation, industry, email, phone, region, career stage, and status badge
• At a glance — ten status tiles covering the full program journey: Benchmark Pre, Matched, Sponsor Engaged, ES1, ES2, WEGA, Benchmark Post, End-of-Program, 3-Month Follow-Up, and 6-Month Follow-Up. Green tick = complete, grey circle = outstanding.
• Benchmark scores — pre and post domain percentage scores side by side with shift indicator, colour coded green/amber/red
• Mentoring — mentor name, sessions count, and last five sessions from the session log
• Employer engagement — sponsor name, job title, email, and ES1/ES2/WEGA completion tiles
• Activity timeline — chronological feed of all touchpoints: application, acceptance, event attendance, mentor sessions, evaluation submissions, and sponsor milestones
• Evaluation status — all five participant instruments showing submission date or Copy link button for outstanding surveys
• Attendance — event list with attended/not recorded
• Contact details — with inline Edit form (see below)

Editing contact details

If a participant's email address, phone, or organisation changes during the program, click Edit details in the Contact details card. Update the fields and click Save changes. First name, last name, and a valid email address are required.

Quick links

Buttons at the top of the CRM view link directly to the full application, mentor match record, and sponsor record.

How mentors register

Mentors register through the public form at twlsp-mentor-register.php. Their record is created with status Pending and does not appear in the matching interface until you activate them.

Reviewing and activating mentors

1. Open the Mentors section and review pending registrations
2. Click Open to view the full mentor profile — expertise, mentoring approach, availability, network source
3. Confirm the mentor is suitable for the program
4. Change status to Active and click Update
5. Add an internal status note if helpful (e.g. "Confirmed via phone 3 June")

Mentor status definitions

Mentor network sources

The network source field tracks where mentors came from — Tasmanian Women's Council, Global Leadership Foundation alumni, Global Leadership Foundation Fellows and Friends, AFL Women's Leadership Alumni, employer referral, or self-referred. This is useful for understanding recruitment effectiveness across cohorts.

When to match

Matching should be completed in July, after the cohort is confirmed and before Mentor Orientation. Both the participant and their matched mentor should be notified before orientation so they can meet each other.

How to create a match

1. Go to the Matching section and click + Create a match
2. The screen shows two columns — unmatched accepted participants on the left, available active mentors on the right
3. Click a participant card to select them — their leadership goals expand for reference
4. Click a mentor card to select them — their expertise summary expands
5. Once both are selected, a confirmation panel appears at the bottom
6. Enter a matching rationale — why this mentor is right for this participant
7. Click Confirm match

Matching considerations

• Industry alignment — shared or adjacent industry context is the primary matching factor
• Career stage — mentor should be at a more senior stage than the participant
• Development goals — participant's stated leadership goals should be within the mentor's expertise
• Geography — consider hub preference if in-person sessions are planned
• Session format — check the mentor's format preference against the participant's situation

Match status definitions

Sessions are logged from the match detail view. Each session records the date, format (online, in-person, phone), duration, and optional notes. The session count updates automatically and is visible on the Participants list.

How to log a session

1. Go to Matching, find the match, and click Open
2. Scroll to the Session log section
3. Enter the session date, format, duration (in minutes), and any notes
4. Click Log session

Session notes

Session notes are internal and visible only to the delivery team. They are useful for tracking themes across the cohort and identifying participants who may need additional support. Avoid recording sensitive personal content — brief thematic notes are sufficient.

Each accepted participant should have an executive sponsor — a senior leader in their organisation who supports and champions their participation. Sponsor records track the full employer engagement journey.

Creating a sponsor record

There are two ways to create a sponsor record:

• From application data — if the applicant provided sponsor details in their application, open their record in the Applications section. The Employer Support card shows a Create sponsor record from application data button that pre-fills the sponsor form in one click.
• Manually — go to Sponsors, click + Add sponsor, select the participant, and enter the sponsor's details.

What the sponsor record tracks

Engagement summary panel

The right-hand panel on each sponsor record shows a tick/dash summary of all engagement milestones — useful for a quick status check without scrolling through the form. Save the record after any update to keep this panel current.

The WEGA (Workplace Gender Equality) Diagnostic Tool is introduced to executive sponsors at Employer Engagement Session 1 and completed between Sessions 1 and 2. It helps organisations assess their gender equality practices and identify specific actions.

Tracking in the system

• Tick WEGA tool introduced at Session 1
• Tick Diagnostic completed and enter the completion date when confirmed
• Record the key actions from the diagnostic in the Key actions from WEGA diagnostic field

Setting up the program schedule

Events should be created before the program begins so attendance can be tracked from the first session. Go to Events and click + Add event for each session.

Event types

Recording attendance

1. Open the event from the Events list
2. Scroll to the Attendance section — all accepted participants are listed
3. Tick the checkbox for each participant who attended
4. Select their attendance mode (F2F or Online) if the event offered both
5. Click Save attendance

Portal content fields

Each event has a Portal content section that controls what participants and mentors see in the portal Events tab. These fields are managed entirely from the admin panel — there is no separate content management step.

The Evaluation section manages all seven survey instruments that measure program outcomes against the five program objectives. All forms are built and live — they are accessed by participants and sponsors via personal invitation links generated through this section.

The five program objectives

1. Leadership progression — women build capabilities supporting pathways to executive and board roles
2. Confidence and navigation — women understand and operate effectively within male-dominated contexts
3. Sustained peer networks — participants form and maintain networks supporting retention and career progression
4. Employer engagement — employers actively support participants and recognise program value
5. Industry leadership activation — sector leaders champion the program and support participants

The seven instruments

Generating invitation links

Each participant or sponsor receives a unique personal link to their survey — they do not log in. Links are generated in bulk from the Evaluation section.

1. Go to the Evaluation section
2. Click View next to the instrument you want to send
3. The Invitation links card shows how many eligible recipients do not yet have a link
4. Click Generate N links and confirm the prompt
5. A success banner confirms how many links were created
6. The table below shows every recipient, their link status, and a Copy link button for each outstanding link
7. Copy each link and send it to the recipient by email — or wait until PHPMailer is configured to send automatically

Link status

Viewing responses

For benchmark instruments (pre and post), three views are available via tabs at the top of the instrument page:

• Individual scores — one card per respondent showing domain percentage scores (0–100%) colour-coded green/amber/red. Expand Question detail to see each individual question response with scale label and percentage.
• Cohort aggregate — average percentage per domain across all respondents, shown as progress bars. Use this to identify which domains need facilitation attention.
• Pre / Post comparison — side-by-side domain scores for each participant across pre and post assessments, with shift in percentage points shown as +/- in a third row.

For other instruments, the individual scores view shows all responses without domain scoring.

Percentage scoring

Likert scores (1–4) are converted to percentages using range-based scaling: score 1 = 0%, score 2 = 33%, score 3 = 67%, score 4 = 100%. This means a score of 1 genuinely shows as 0%, giving maximum spread for pre/post comparison.

Exporting data

Click Export CSV on any instrument page to download all responses for that instrument and cohort. The CSV includes participant name, submission date, all domain percentage scores, all individual question scores (as raw values 1–4), and open text responses. This format is designed for analysis in Excel by Lisa.

Benchmark pre — automatic token generation

The Benchmark Pre assessment is the one exception to the manual trigger rule. A token is automatically generated when an applicant's status is set to Accepted. The invitation link appears immediately in the participant's detail record under the Benchmark Assessment card. You still copy and send the link manually — the generation is automatic, but the send is not (until PHPMailer is configured).

The system includes 22 email templates stored in the database, covering every email sent to participants, mentors, sponsors, and admin users across the program lifecycle. Templates use {{placeholder}} syntax — values are substituted at send time.

Template overview

Available placeholders

When PHPMailer is active

Once SMTP credentials are confirmed and PHPMailer is configured, emails will send automatically at the trigger points listed above. Reminder emails will fire automatically after the specified number of days if the survey has not been submitted. The reminder_sent_at field in the evaluation_tokens table tracks whether a reminder has been sent, preventing duplicate reminders.

The Noticeboard section manages announcements from the program team to participants and mentors. Posts appear in the portal Noticeboard tab, most recent first. Pinned posts always appear at the top.

Creating a post

1. Go to Noticeboard in the admin panel navigation
2. Click + New post
3. Enter a title and body text
4. Set the Posted by field — this shows to participants (e.g. "The program team" or "Melinda")
5. Tick Pin to top for important announcements you want to stay visible
6. Tick Published to make it visible immediately, or leave unticked to save as a draft
7. Click Save post

Editing and deleting posts

Click Edit next to any post in the list to update it. Click Delete to remove it permanently — there is a confirmation prompt. Deleted posts cannot be recovered.

The Mentor resources section manages a library of documents, links, and videos available to mentors through the portal Resources tab. Participants do not see this section — it is mentor-only.

Adding a resource

1. Go to Mentor resources in the admin panel navigation
2. Click + Add resource
3. Enter a title and optional description
4. Select the resource type: Document, Link, Video, or Other
5. Paste the URL — this can be a OneDrive link, Google Drive link, Vimeo link, or any web address. For OneDrive, ensure the sharing setting is Anyone with the link can view
6. Set the sort order (lower numbers appear first)
7. Leave Cohort blank to make the resource available to all cohorts, or enter a cohort number to restrict it
8. Tick Active to make it visible in the portal
9. Click Save resource

The portal is a separate login area for participants and mentors at twlsp-portal-login.php. It is not the admin panel — it is a participant-facing space managed from the admin panel.

How the portal login works

The portal uses magic link authentication — no passwords. The process is:

1. Participant or mentor visits the portal login page and enters their email address
2. The system sends a login link to that email address (valid for 30 minutes)
3. They click the link and are logged in — session lasts 7 days
4. After 7 days, or if they log out, they repeat the process

The email address must match an accepted participant or active mentor record in the system. If someone cannot log in, check that their email address in the admin panel matches exactly what they are entering.

What participants see

What mentors see

Mentors see the same portal as participants with two differences:

• Participants tab — shows the participant cohort directory
• Mentors tab — shows other active mentors (not the logged-in mentor's own card)
• Resources tab — shows the mentoring resources library (participants do not see this tab)

Privacy in the directory

The cohort directory only shows: name, preferred name, organisation, industry, region, bio, and photo. Email and phone are never shown by default. Participants must actively opt in to share contact details — they do this under My profile using the Privacy settings checkboxes.

If a participant cannot log in

• Check their status is Accepted in the admin panel — declined, waitlisted, or submitted applications cannot access the portal
• Check their email address in the admin panel matches exactly what they are typing — including any spaces or capitalisation
• Check they are entering the email address registered with the program, not a personal or alternative address
• If their email address has changed, update it in the admin panel using the Edit details button in their participant record

User management is restricted to accounts with the Admin role. Each member of the delivery team should have their own account.

User roles

Adding a user

1. Go to the Users section (admin role required)
2. Complete the Add user form on the right — name, email, password, and role
3. Passwords must be at least 8 characters
4. Click Add user
5. Share the email and password with the new user securely — they cannot reset their own password

Editing a user

Click Edit next to a user to expand an inline form where you can update their name, email address, and role. You cannot change your own role — this prevents accidentally removing your own admin access.

Resetting a password

Click Reset password next to a user, enter the new password, and click Set password. Share the new password with the user securely.

Deactivating a user

Click Deactivate next to a user to prevent them from logging in. Their records and history are preserved. Click Activate to re-enable access. You cannot deactivate your own account.

The system manages both the 2026 and 2027 cohorts within the same database. The cohort switcher at the top of the left sidebar controls which cohort you are viewing across all sections.

2026 vs 2027

The 2026 cohort program runs August–November 2026. The 2027 program begins with applications in early 2027. When working on 2026 program activities, make sure the sidebar shows 2026 Cohort. Switch to 2027 Cohort when beginning 2027 application management.

Common issues and solutions

Blank white screen after submitting a form

This usually means a PHP error occurred before any output was sent. Causes include: a database connection issue (check MAMP is running), a required field left blank that the database won't accept as empty, or a system error. Try the action again — if it persists, contact the development team with a description of what you were doing.

A participant / sponsor / mentor is not showing in the expected section

The most common cause is a cohort mismatch. Check the cohort switcher in the sidebar is set to the correct year. Sponsor records and mentor matches are cohort-specific — a record created under the wrong cohort will not appear when viewing the correct one.

Status update shows a blank section

This was a known issue in earlier versions and has been resolved. If you encounter a blank section after updating status, try a hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) and navigate back to the section.

"Submitted by" resubmit prompt on hard reset

The application form and mentor registration form both use the Post-Redirect-Get pattern — after a successful submission you are redirected to a confirmation page, so hard refresh should not prompt resubmission. If it does, the submission was already saved — check the database before resubmitting.

The cohort switcher shows only one cohort

The 2027 cohort record exists in the database with status setup. Both cohorts should appear in the switcher. If only one appears, check the cohorts table in phpMyAdmin.

Cannot log in

Check your email address is entered exactly as it was when the account was created. Passwords are case-sensitive. If still unable to log in, ask an admin to reset your password from the Users section.

Getting technical support

For issues beyond the above, contact the development team (Global Leadership Foundation) at women@globalleadershipfoundation.com with a description of the issue, the page and action you were performing, and any error message shown.