If you encounter problems during the upload of your file for FLOWassign or FLOWhandin, you can find articles on troubleshooting here. Please also refer to our tips of file based assessments.
When you hand-in your paper, the PDF may contain dynamic (editable) annotations (marked checkboxes, highlights and so on).
Dynamic annotations are displayed inconsistently across different PDF-readers (e.g. Adobe Reader), and you cannot be sure that the paper, which you submit, looks the same for the people who assess it as it does for you.
If your PDF contains dynamic annotations, please follow the appropriate guide below to remove them.
Although a rare occurrence, certain programs can add annotations in PDFs as standard (without you having added them on purpose). Microsoft Excel on a Mac particularly has this problem.
If you have access to Acrobat Standard or Pro, you should be able to remove all dynamic annotations by flattening the PDF with the tool Optimize PDF.
Please note that Acrobat Standard and Pro both carry a cost: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat.html#compare-plans
Click here for a guide.
Delete all annotations (recommended)
It is possible to see and delete all annotations. Please review all annotations before you delete them.
- Open the PDF in Adobe Reader
- Click on Comment in the top right corner
- Expand the Comments List
- Click on, and delete, all comments in this list
- Save the file again (by pressing CTRL+S) and try to re-upload.
Delete all annotations (recommended)
It is possible to see and delete all annotations. Please review all annotations before you delete them.
- Open the PDF in "Preview"
- Click on "Tools"
- Click on "Show inspector"
- Click on the pencil-icon to the far right in the new window called "Annotations inspector"
- Press CMD+A to mark all annotations and press Backspace to delete them
- Save the file again (by pressing CMD+S) and try to re-upload
Flatten all annotations
It is possible to flatten all annotations, so they are un-editable. This can also solve the problem.
- Open the PDF in Preview
- Click on File and choose Print
- Click on PDF in the bottom left corner and choose Archive as PDF
- Give the file a new name
- Save the file again (by pressing CMD+S) and try to re-upload
On a FLOWlock where the lockdown browser has been switched off by a manager, you may need to enter a password to access your assignment as well as hand in your submission (if this has been enabled on the flow).
You will receive the necessary password from your institution. You may receive an error message when entering the password:
After clicking OK you will be asked to either Reload the page or Cancel:
If you click Cancel, you will remain on the page but will receive an error message that entered password was incorrect.
Solution:
The easiest way to prevent this issue is to turn off the auto sign-in option in your browser. This will prevent your browser from automatically pasting in your password and click Enter.
Another option is to turn off password storing. This can be done for all websites or just for WISEflow. If you go with this option it is recommended that you delete all stored passwords for WISEflow as well.
For more information about how to manage passwords in each browser please use the links below:
Metadata is information about a set of data or file. For example, a word document contains primary data (i.e. what you'd see on the page when you print) while also containing metadata related to that document, including the author, date created, date modified, file size, etc.
Most electronic files types will contain metadata. Standard Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF files will contain basic metadata including author, date created, date modified, etc.
The most common reasons for removing metadata relate to security and anonymity. If you want to ensure a document does not contain personal or identifiable information, ensure the metadata is removed. In other cases, you may also want to ensure that the author of a document remains anonymous to remove any potential bias when reading or reviewing it, which again would require you to remove the metadata from the file.
*Adopted from Wake Forest University
You can find a guide on how to remove metadata from PDF files here. To learn how to remove metadata from Microsoft Office documents, please follow this link.
The "Hand in" button is only activated when you have uploaded a paper and all the required cover sheet information fields have been filled out.
Most often, cover sheet information still needs to be filled out to activate the hand in button.
Submission of a paper is only completed when you have pressed Hand in and the Hand in state is set to Handed in, seen in green. See the example below:
Click Send receipt to have a receipt sent to the email associated with your account.
This article has been updated to reflect the enhancements that will be available after Friday 3 March as part of the March Release.
Institutions can choose to have all files submitted to WISEflow by participants, scanned for malware. The malware scanning service scans all files uploaded to FLOWhandin, FLOWassign and FLOWlock flows to check for malicious content. The files are scanned once the work is submitted; files are not scanned at the point of uploading. If found to be harmful, the file is placed into quarantine and can no longer be downloaded from the system by any user.
If this happens to a file(s) you have submitted as part of your assessment, you will be notified by email and your file will not be available on your flow page. Clicking on the icon will reveal a message indicating that either the file has been quarantined (see below). The buttons for previewing or downloading will be greyed out and cannot be accessed. Your assessor(s) will also not be able to see your submission and therefore it will not be available for marking. Follow your institution's instructions on accessing support regarding your assessment.
It may be possible to withdraw your submitted files and upload alternative files. However, this will depend on the settings set by your institution and any policy they may be required to follow regarding assessments.
If the flow has been set whereby participants can withdraw their submission at any time prior to the end of the participation period, you can use the Withdraw submission button to take down your submission in the usual way, as long as the submission deadline has not passed.
Once your submission has been withdrawn, it will be possible to delete the affected and upload an alternative file.