---
schema_version: "1"
id: fc7eefeb16de92e5fe0957cdbf897513e057370e52883429a1fa75961d6aa7fe
title: Plan Your Application Requirements
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/sfdo/264-0-0/ac_requirements_plan.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.ac_requirements_plan.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 91bb7e9b8dae08d0b3508695d5eb99d2d4edad4d78ccb30a58dbb1cc6340a64d
description: Your Application Material Mappings are the overall plan for how your Application requirements appear. Think of the mapping records as a table of contents for an Application. We recommend that you plan all of your application requirements before creating any Action Plan Template or Application Material Mapping records. A good plan will make your implementation go smoother and faster. A spreadsheet can be a great planning tool.
products:
  - Education
release: "264"
---
# Plan Your Application Requirements

Your Application Material Mappings are the overall plan for how your Application requirements appear. Think of the mapping records as a table of contents for an Application. We recommend that you plan all of your application requirements before creating any Action Plan Template or Application Material Mapping records. A good plan will make your implementation go smoother and faster. A spreadsheet can be a great planning tool.

- **[Planning Overview](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.ac_requirements_plan.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Start by making sure that you understand how all the Action Plan objects and Document Checklist objects work together.
- **[Understand the Big Picture](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.ac_requirements_plan.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Let’s pretend we’ve already configured everything in Admissions Connect. On the Application Review record, requirements display in a collapsible navigation region and a main scrollable view. This page is where your reviewers spend most of their time looking at Applications. Look at the navigation tree. Core Application is a parent to Application Details and Applicant Details. And Core Application is peer to Transcripts. And so on.
- **[General Planning Guidelines](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.ac_requirements_plan.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    As you start to plan, think about your application requirements holistically. Some application requirements for a transfer student and a first-year student overlap. Other requirements are unique. When creating your Action Plan Templates, think of all the requirements across all your Applications, even things like application fees. Then think about the order you want all those requirements to show in.

## Planning Overview

Start by making sure that you understand how all the Action Plan objects and Document Checklist objects work together.

See [Learn About Action Plans](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.ac_requirements_learn.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Understand what Actions Plans are and how you can use them in Admissions Connect to define application requirements."). 

When working on your mapping records, remember that Action Plan Templates have child Action Plan Template Items. This parent/child relationship will help you think about how verifiers, reviewers, and applicants will interact with the Application requirements.

## Understand the Big Picture

Let’s pretend we’ve already configured everything in Admissions Connect. On the Application Review record, requirements display in a collapsible navigation region and a main scrollable view. This page is where your reviewers spend most of their time looking at Applications. Look at the navigation tree. Core Application is a parent to Application Details and Applicant Details. And Core Application is peer to Transcripts. And so on.

![Application Review page with the navigation menu for the Reviewer Application Reader fully expanded.](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sfdo-admissions_connect-264-0-0-production-enus/00d22f0a-1ca4-4493-a967-a738a2defcb1/admissions_connect/images/application_materials_reader_full_nav.png)

![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sfdo-admissions_connect-264-0-0-production-enus/00d22f0a-1ca4-4493-a967-a738a2defcb1/images/icon_tip.png)

Tip When viewing the All list view for the Application Material Mapping object, you can sort it by the Sequence field to make it mirror the navigation for your application requirements.

And here’s what a planning spreadsheet might look like for those same records. 

     
| Sequence | Action Plan Template  | Action Plan Template Item | Task (Data) or Document Checklist Item (Attachment)?  | For Tasks - Application Material Type / Field Set  | For Document Checklist Items - Document Type  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1.00 | Core Application |   |   |   |   |
| 1.10 |   | Application Details | Task | Application Details / Core\_Application |   |
| 1.20 |   | Applicant Details | Task | Applicant Details    / Applicant\_Details |   |
| 1.30 |   | Education Details | Task | Education Details / Applicant\_Education\_History\_Details |   |
| 1.40 |   | Family Details | Task | Family Details / Applicant\_Family\_Details |   |
| 2.00 | Transcripts |   |   |   |   |
| 2.10 |   | Official Transcript | Document Checklist Item |   | Transcript |
| 2.20 |   | Unofficial Transcript | Document Checklist Item |   | Transcript |
| 3.00 | Test Scores |   |   |   |   |
| 3.10 |   | SAT Report | Document Checklist Item |   | Test Score |
| 3.20 |   | Test Details | Task | Test Details / Applicant\_Test\_Details |   |
| 4.00 | Recommendations |   |   |   |   |
| 4.10 |   | Counselor Recommendation | Document Checklist Item |   | Recommendation |

![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sfdo-admissions_connect-264-0-0-production-enus/00d22f0a-1ca4-4493-a967-a738a2defcb1/images/icon_tip.png)

Tip Use the column headings in this sample table to create your own planning spreadsheet. 

## General Planning Guidelines

As you start to plan, think about your application requirements holistically. Some application requirements for a transfer student and a first-year student overlap. Other requirements are unique. When creating your Action Plan Templates, think of all the requirements across all your Applications, even things like application fees. Then think about the order you want all those requirements to show in.

Keep these guidelines in mind when planning.

- After an Action Plan Template is published, you can’t edit it—which means you can’t add child Action Plan Items to it. To make changes, clone the template.
- When creating mapping records, what you specify depends on what you’re creating.
    
    - For a parent Action Plan, specify: Action Plan Template and Sequence
    - For a child Action Plan Item that's a Task, specify: Action Plan Template Item, Sequence, Application Material Type
    - For a child Action Plan Item that's a Document Checklist Item, specify: Action Plan Template Item and Sequence
    
    ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sfdo-admissions_connect-264-0-0-production-enus/00d22f0a-1ca4-4493-a967-a738a2defcb1/images/icon_note.png)
    
    Note There are other optional fields that control the applicant portal experience. If you plan to create an applicant portal, review [Plan Your Applicant Experience](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.ac_portal_plan_applicant.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Learn how to set up an applicant portal for Admissions Connect.").
- The labels that display for Action Plans and Action Plan Items in Admissions Connect components, such as the navigation tree of the Reviewer Application Reader, are determined by:
    
    - Action Plan - Name field
    - Task - Subject field
    - Document Checklist Item - Name field
    
    These labels are what your admissions staff see in the app. If users assign Action Plans manually or create ad hoc Action Plan Items, the names they enter show in the Admissions Connect components. Remember that users can’t edit Action Plan Items when assigning an Action Plan, so the name you give your Action Plan Template Items is what displays in the components.
- All of your Action Plan Templates and Action Plan Template Items must have associated Application Material Mapping records. If they don't, assigned Action Plans display as sequence 1 items in alphabetical order in the Admissions Connect app, which might not be what you expect. In a portal, items without a mapping record don't show at all. Ad hoc Action Plan Items don't have mapping records. These items show below other peer Action Plan Items in alphabetical order. If you're using a portal, see [https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleview?id=sfdo.ac\_setup\_portal.htm](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleview?id=sfdo.ac_setup_portal.htm).
- The Sequence field on the mapping record specifies the display order relative to other items at its level. The Sequence field for Action Plan Templates is relative to other Action Plan Templates. Likewise, the Sequence field for Action Plan Template Items is relative to other related Action Plan Template Items for the same Action Plan Template.
    
    In our planning spreadsheet example, the Action Plan Template mapping for Transcripts has a Sequence of 2.00, because it’s relative to other Action Plan Templates. Its child Action Plan Template Item mappings for Unofficial Transcript and Official Transcript are sequence 2.10 and 2.20, because they're relative to each other. Think of the Sequence field as your table of contents order. 
    
    ![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sfdo-admissions_connect-264-0-0-production-enus/00d22f0a-1ca4-4493-a967-a738a2defcb1/images/icon_tip.png)
    
    Tip We recommend using whole numbers (like 1.00) for parent Action Plan Templates and decimals for the same whole number (like 1.10) for corresponding child Action Plan Template Items. This can help you sort mapping records in a list view. Just keep in mind that if you update a Sequence field later, the Sequence fields of child Action Plan Template Items aren't updated automatically.
- We recommend creating a unique field set for each Task. Think about a situation in which you want to display 10 fields for first-year applicants, but only 5 of those fields for transfer applicants. You can't reuse the same field set in this scenario.
- If you create an applicant portal, review the applicant experience carefully and keep these things in mind when defining your mappings.
    
    - On mobile devices, the Applicant Hidden Content Message isn’t visible for parent Action Plans. In addition, if an Action Plan has no child Action Plan Items visible to the applicant, the parent Action Plan is hidden.
    - On desktop, the Applicant Hidden Content Message is visible for parent Action Plans. The parent Action Plan is hidden only if there are no child Action Plan Items and no custom hidden message specified.

### Next Steps