Overview

This article explains the application setting “Remove Close/Cancel button from forced consents dialog”. This setting controls whether users are allowed to close or postpone the pop-up window that asks them to review and accept consents, or to submit required admission documents, when at least one of those items has been marked as mandatory by the institution.

The setting is found under: Administration > Settings > Basic Customization > Consents Management.

What This Setting Does

When a user logs into the portal, the system may show them a pop-up window titled “Consents & Admission Data”. This window is used to collect the user’s agreement to institutional consents (for example, data protection notices, photo or media release forms, or other policy acknowledgements) and, where applicable, to collect required admission-related documents.

By default, this pop-up window includes a “Cancel” button, which lets the user close the window without answering the pending consents or submitting the pending documents. The user can then return to it later.

When this setting is switched ON, and at least one of the items currently pending for the user has been configured as Mandatory, the Cancel button is removed from the window. The user then sees only the “Submit” button and must respond to the mandatory item(s) before continuing to use the portal.

When this setting is switched OFF (the default), the Cancel button always remains visible, and users can close the window and complete it at a later time, even when some items are marked as Mandatory.

Where It Is Used

This setting affects the “Consents & Admission Data” pop-up window, which can appear to end users (such as parents, guardians, or students, depending on how the institution has configured its consents and documents) right after they log into the portal.

The window only appears when the user has at least one pending consent to answer or one pending document to submit. If nothing is pending for that user, the window does not appear at all, and this setting has no visible effect for them.

This setting changes the experience of the person who is asked to provide consents or documents (for example, a parent or a student). It does not change anything for the staff members who configure the consents or documents themselves.

Business Logic / Behavior

Based on how this setting works, the following business rules apply:

• The pop-up window can contain two kinds of items: consents (agreements or acknowledgements the institution needs from the user) and admission-related documents. Each item can be individually configured by the institution as Mandatory or Optional when it is set up.
• This setting only removes the Cancel button when at least one Mandatory item is currently pending for the user. If all of the user’s currently pending items are Optional, the Cancel button remains visible regardless of this setting.
• The Submit button is always shown, regardless of this setting. Users can always submit their responses; this setting only affects whether they are also allowed to walk away without doing so.
• The window cannot be closed by clicking outside it or by pressing the Escape key. This is a standing behavior of the window itself and is not affected by this setting.
• This setting is a single institution-wide on/off switch. It cannot be enabled for some users, consents, or documents and not others. What varies from case to case is simply whether a Mandatory item happens to be pending for a given user at a given time.

Example(s)

Example 1 – Setting Enabled, a Mandatory item is pending

Riverside Academy introduces a new “Photo & Media Usage Policy” and marks this consent as Mandatory. The institution enables “Remove Close/Cancel button from forced consents dialog”. The next time a parent logs into the portal, the “Consents & Admission Data” window opens automatically, showing only the “Submit” button. The parent must read and respond to the policy before they can close the window and use the rest of the portal.

Example 2 – Setting Enabled, but only Optional items are pending

The same institution also has an Optional consent asking parents whether they want to “Subscribe to the Monthly Newsletter”. If a parent has already completed the Mandatory Photo & Media Usage Policy and only the Optional newsletter consent remains pending, the window still shows a “Cancel” button, because no Mandatory item is currently pending. The parent can dismiss the window and decide about the newsletter later.

Example 3 – Setting Disabled

Riverside Academy later disables the setting. Even though the Photo & Media Usage Policy is still marked Mandatory, parents now see both a “Cancel” and a “Submit” button in the window. They can close the window and complete the mandatory consent at a more convenient time.

When to Use

When to Enable

• The institution has one or more consents or documents that are legally or operationally critical (for example, a data protection consent, a health and safety acknowledgement, or required admission paperwork) and wants to guarantee that users cannot postpone them indefinitely.
• The institution is running an enrollment or admission period and needs to ensure specific documents are submitted before a user proceeds further in the portal.
• The institution wants to reduce the number of users who never get around to completing mandatory consents or documents on their own.

When to Disable

• The institution prefers a more flexible experience, allowing users to review consents and documents at their own convenience, even when some are marked Mandatory.
• The institution mainly uses this window for optional or informational items (such as preference surveys) where an immediate response is not necessary.
• Users need the ability to close the window immediately (for example, because they need to switch devices or do not have all the required information at hand), and the institution prefers not to block portal access while items remain pending.

Notes

K-12 Mode vs. Higher Education Mode: This setting behaves in exactly the same way in both K-12 Mode and Higher Education Mode. No difference in behavior was found between the two modes. This is a confirmed finding, not an assumption.

Prerequisite: This setting has no visible effect unless the institution also configures at least one consent or document as Mandatory. Simply enabling this setting, without any Mandatory items configured anywhere, will not remove the Cancel button for any user.