Overview
This article explains a setting that lets an administrator hide specific sections from the main dashboard page that Parents (Guardians) see immediately after logging in to the portal. Use it to simplify the Parent dashboard by removing sections that are not relevant to how the institution communicates with families.
Setting Path: “Select elements that you want to hide at the Parent dashboard (portal’s main page)”: (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Dashboard Settings and Rights)
What This Setting Does
When a Parent logs in to the portal, the first page shown is their personal dashboard. This dashboard is made up of several sections, such as a calendar, a notice board/timeline of recent events, and a banner promoting the mobile application. This setting lets the administrator choose which of these sections should NOT be shown to Parents.
The setting works as a hide list. The administrator selects one or more elements from a list of options. Any element that is selected disappears from the Parent dashboard for every Parent in the institution. Any element that is left unselected continues to be shown as normal.
The available elements that can be hidden are:
- Calendar – the calendar widget showing upcoming events, classes, and appointments
- Timeline (also shown as the Notice Board section) – the running feed of recent updates and events relevant to the Parent‘s children
- Mobile Apps – the banner that promotes downloading the institution’s mobile application (Google Play / App Store)
If none of the elements are selected, which is the setting’s default state, the Parent dashboard displays all of the sections above.
Where It Is Used
This setting only affects the Parent dashboard, meaning the main/landing page a Parent (Guardian) sees right after logging in to the portal. It has no effect on any other page, and it has no effect on the dashboards of other user types, such as Students, Teachers, or staff, each of which has its own separate hide-elements setting (see Notes).
A change to this setting takes effect the next time an affected user loads or refreshes their dashboard page. Users do not need to be logged out for the change to apply, but the dashboard page does need to be reloaded.
Business Logic / Behavior
- This is a multi-select setting: the administrator can hide none, one, two, or all three of the available elements at the same time.
- The setting applies institution-wide. It cannot currently be configured differently for an individual Parent or a specific role.
- The Mobile Apps banner only ever appears for institutions whose license includes the mobile application feature. Selecting Mobile Apps here guarantees the banner stays hidden even for those institutions; institutions without the mobile feature will not see the banner regardless of this setting.
- Hiding the Timeline section hides the entire notice board area at once. If finer control is needed, for example hiding only certain types of events inside the Timeline (such as exam results or outstanding fees) while keeping the rest visible, a separate related setting exists for that purpose (see Notes).
- This setting does not delete or restrict access to information; it only controls whether a summary or shortcut to that information appears on the dashboard page. Parents may still be able to reach the same information through the regular menus, such as a full Calendar page, unless access has been restricted separately.
- If Light Mode is enabled for Parents (a separate, simplified dashboard mode), a dedicated Light Mode version of this setting automatically takes over while Light Mode is active for that session, and the regular selection described in this article is set aside for as long as Light Mode applies (see Notes).
Example(s)
Example 1:
An administrator at Institute A decides that the Timeline / Notice Board section is not being used and only distracts Parents from the more useful Calendar widget. The administrator opens “Select elements that you want to hide at Parent’s dashboard (portal’s main page)” and selects only Timeline. After saving, when Parent Mrs. Jane Doe logs in to check her child’s schedule, her dashboard still shows the Calendar widget, but the Timeline / Notice Board section no longer appears.
Example 2:
Academy B does not offer a mobile application to Parents and wants to avoid confusion caused by an install banner that some Parents have asked about. The administrator selects Mobile Apps in this setting. From that point on, no Parent sees the mobile app promotion banner on their dashboard, while the Calendar and Timeline sections remain visible as before.
When to Use
When to Enable (select elements to hide):
- The institution wants a simpler, less cluttered Parent dashboard.
- A particular widget, for example the Timeline, is not relevant because the same information is already shared through another channel.
- The institution does not offer a mobile application to Parents and wants to remove the related promotional banner.
- The institution wants to standardize what all Parents see on their dashboard.
When to Disable (leave elements unselected, or remove them from the hidden list):
- The institution wants Parents to have full visibility of their dashboard, including the calendar, timeline, and mobile app promotion.
- The institution actively uses the Timeline / Notice Board section to keep Parents informed of recent events.
- The institution offers a mobile application and wants to keep promoting it to Parents from the dashboard.
Notes
K-12 versus Higher Education mode
This setting behaves the same way regardless of whether the institution is configured for K-12 or for Higher Education. A separate, dedicated setting controls the choice between K-12 and Higher Education working mode: “Enable Configuration for Higher Education” (Settings > General Settings > Higher Education Customization > Basic Settings).
Enabling or disabling that setting does not change which elements can be hidden from the Parent dashboard, nor how this setting behaves. The same three elements (Calendar, Timeline, Mobile Apps) and the same hide/show logic apply in both modes.
Related settings:
- “Hidden Dashboard Timeline Elements For Parents“: (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Dashboard Settings and Rights) – hides specific types of events inside the Timeline section, such as exam results, absences, or outstanding fees, instead of hiding the whole section.
- “Select elements that you want to hide at Student’s dashboard (portal’s main page)“: (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Dashboard Settings and Rights) – the equivalent setting for the Student dashboard.
- “Select elements that you want to hide at Teacher’s dashboard (portal’s main page)” (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Dashboard Settings and Rights) – the equivalent setting for the Teacher (Instructor) dashboard.
- “Enable Light Mode For User Types”: (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Light Mode Configuration) – turns on a simplified Light Mode dashboard for selected user types, including Parents.
- The Light Mode version of this setting: (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Light Mode Configuration) – when Light Mode is active for a Parent, this setting decides which elements are hidden instead of the regular setting described in this article.
- “Enable Custom Message For Parents On Dashboard” and “Custom Message For Parents On Dashboard” (Settings > General Settings > Dashboard Settings > Dashboard Info Messages) – independent of this setting, these control an optional custom text banner shown on the Parent dashboard, rather than hiding or showing existing sections.
Prerequisites
None of the settings above need to be configured before this one can be used; this setting works on its own. It is only worth checking “Enable Light Mode For User Types” first if the institution also plans to use Light Mode for Parents, since Light Mode uses its own separate hide list, as noted above.
Default state
When nothing has been selected, no elements are hidden, and the Parent dashboard shows the Calendar, Timeline, and, where applicable, the Mobile Apps banner.
