Step 7: Preview Your Achievement

In Step 6 of Merit's achievement workflow, you wrote your press releases. 

In the final step of the achievement workflow, you will preview and publish your story.

 

While previewing your achievement, you can click the Go Back button at the top of your screen at any time to return the achievement workflow and make changes to your story.  

 

Spreadsheet Mapping

The purpose of this preview is to make sure your student data looks correct. Merit will validate your spreadsheet and alert you to any errors and then display some sample records. Click here to learn more about validation errors and how to fix them.

On the left, you'll see the column headers in your spreadsheet and the Merit field that they are mapped to.

On the right, you'll see a sample student with an example of their mapped data. You can view a new random student by clicking on the View Another Example button. Click Continue when ready:

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_5.17.56_PM.png

 

Line_Break.png

 

Student and Parent Emails:

This preview will show you what the emails to students and parents will look like. Student emails will appear at the top of the screen. Scroll down to view parent emails. Click Continue when ready:

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_5.23.59_PM.png

Note: If your achievement includes a certificate, the View & Print Certificate button will appear here.

 

Emails to parents will include a list of the newspapers that the student's story was delivered to at the bottom (if the story was sent to local media):

Screen_Shot_2023-02-14_at_5.00.56_PM.png 

Line_Break.png

 

Student Online Story

This preview shows you what students will see when they follow the link in their achievement email. This is what the story will look like on their Merit page. The Preview and Refresh tools allow you to check out various versions of your story. Click Continue when ready:  

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_5.44.10_PM.png

Note: Proofread your online achievements, paying close attention to your highlighted placeholders and the spacing around them.

 

Line_Break.png

 

Individual and Group Press Releases

Next, you will see two press release preview screens. These pages will show you examples of what the press releases to the media will look like if you chose to send them. Use the dropdown box and Refresh tool to view a story about a new randomly selected student. Click Continue when ready: 

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_5.52.41_PM.png

Please note that the stories that you see on the press release preview pages do NOT represent a press release going to a specific newspaper. They are samples only.

 

Merit will alert you if some of your students are missing information or some placeholders appear in only one version of your press release:

Screen_Shot_2023-02-14_at_4.46.59_PM.png

Note: Proofread both versions of your press releases, paying close attention to your highlighted placeholders and the spacing around them.

 

Line_Break.png

 

Social Media

This Facebook/Twitter preview will only appear if you chose to auto-post your achievement on your institution's social media accounts in Step 5: Determine Distribution. Click Continue when ready: 

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_6.14.29_PM.png

 

Line_Break.png

 

Landing Page 

This preview will only appear if you chose to use one of your school's saved landing pages in Step 1: Summarize Your Achievement. Use the Click Here link to preview the achievement on your website:

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_6.19.12_PM.png

 

This will open up a preview window displaying the achievement on your selected webpage:

Screen_Shot_2023-02-07_at_4.12.47_PM.png

 

Publish Now

Click Publish Now to submit your achievement to Merit's editorial review team, or choose Go Back to return to the achievement workflow: 

Screen_Shot_2023-02-06_at_6.19.12_PM.png

Achievements will not go out until they are approved by a member of Merit's editorial team - typically within two hours of submission during normal business hours (9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST). If you have questions or need immediate assistance, please contact the Merit team at help@meritpages.com

 

<Back    

Line_Break_copy.png