---
title: "Legacy appraisals"
slug: "legacy-appraisals-1"
tags: ["Explainer", "How-to", "Reference", "Site Administrator", "Totara Perform"]
updated: 2026-10-08T07:25:59Z
published: 2026-10-08T07:25:59Z
canonical: "totara.help/legacy-appraisals-1"
---
> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Legacy appraisals
Please note this is a legacy feature. To read about the improved performance management features please see the [What are performance activities?](/totara-20/docs/what-are-performance-activities-1) page.
As of Totara 18, legacy appraisals are set to read-only mode.
Courses, programs, certifications, competencies and learning objectives from an individual’s learning plan can be automatically pulled into an appraisal form to evaluate formal and informal learning undertaken both internally and externally to the system. The appraisal system within Totara allows managers and appraisers to capture, evaluate and facilitate discussion on professional and personal development of staff across the organisation.
With a variety of configurable and customisable question types including multi-choice, custom scales, set text and images alongside workflows for learners, managers, managers' managers and an appointed appraiser, the appraisals system offers an automated alternative to paper-based forms.
If you have both multitenancy and tenant isolation enabled then appraisals will not be available for your site's users.
## Manage appraisals
Totara provides an appraisal form builder to allow an administrator to create custom appraisal forms and assign the forms to groups of people within their organisation. Typically the appraisal process takes place over a specific time-frame, so administrators can define specific 'Stages' during which certain actions must be completed. It is also possible to notify participants that actions are required or are overdue.
Appraisal forms are managed site-wide by going to Quick-access menu > Appraisals > Manage appraisals.
An overview of existing appraisals will be displayed, including the name, start date, number of learners assigned, status of the appraisal, and a series of options to edit, copy, delete, or activate the appraisal.
The number displayed in the **Learners** column have a different meaning depending on the appraisal status.
- **Draft:** Contains the number of currently assigned users
- **Active:** Contains the number of assigned users who haven't yet completed the appraisal
- **Closed:** Contains the total number of users who have been assigned at any point while the appraisal was active
## Appraisal activation
Once an appraisal has been populated with stages, questions and roles, and users have been assigned to the appraisal, it must be activated for appraisees to access and complete the form.
By default, no notifications are sent out upon activation, however you can define emails to be sent out by creating an 'assignee gains access to the appraisal' event within the **Appraisal notifications** area.
All assigned appraisees will receive this notification via email alerting them to the appraisal activation. Appraisees added to an activated dynamic appraisal will be sent the appraisal activation notification when assigned.
### Activation email recipients and multiple job assignments
The appraisee's manager (and their manager's manager and appraiser) may also receive activation notifications. The point at which the manager receives the notification is dependent on the multiple job assignment setting within the **Configure features** area.
When appraisees are assigned to the appraisal their nominated manager receives the notification as per the following:
- If multiple job settings are disabled, then the appraisee will have one manager who will receive the activation notification at the same time as the appraisee.
- If multiple job settings are enabled, then only the appraisee receives the activation notification initially. Once the appraisee has viewed the appraisal and selected their relevant job assignment, the activation messages will be sent to the appraisee's manager.
## Modify an appraisal
Existing appraisals can be modified until they have been activated and made available to users.
To modify an existing appraisal, select the **Settings** (pencil icon) button under the **Options** column.
To duplicate an appraisal, including all of the stages, pages, and elements, select the **Copy** button. A cloned copy of the appraisal will appear that you can then update.
## Unlocking an appraisal
Users assigned a role with the **totara/appraisal:unlockstages** capability, can unlock and reopen previously closed stages for a specific appraisee for one or all roles, and for any stage of the appraisal form.
Under the **Assignments** tab of the selected appraisal form, select the corresponding cog icon () in the **Edit current stage** column.
In the **Edit current stage** screen, select the required individual listed under **Role/user to change** or select **All roles***.* Use the **Set current stage to** dropdown menu to unlock the required section for the selected role(s). Choose **Save changes** to unlock the specified stage for the selected user(s) or **Cancel** to return to the Assignments tab home screen.
Unlocking stages will not delete any of the users' answers - instead users will be able to view and edit previous responses.
You may want to only unlock an appraisal for a single user, or for all users. If you are unlocking an appraisal for a single user, then each stage will not require other users to recomplete the stage. For example:
- Stage 1 requires Manager and Learner input
- Stage 2 requires Learner input
- Stage 3 requires Manager and Learner input
If stage three was completed and you then unlocked back to stage one for the Manager, the Manager would need to make their changes and complete stage one again. Once they complete stage one the appraisal would immediately skip to stage three, as stage two does not require any Manager input. If you choose to unlock the appraisal for **All roles**, each user will need to complete each stage again, even for stages they do not need to amend.
It is important to note that new notifications will not be generated when using this feature. Therefore this feature should **not** be used to re-do appraisals - instead it should only be used to fix mistakes, when involved users are aware that they need to recomplete a stage (or stages).
## Close an appraisal
If an activated appraisal needs to be removed from the users assigned for some reason, it can be closed. This means that users do not need to complete the appraisal and will stop receiving notifications about it. After an appraisal is closed, it can also be deleted using the **Delete** button under the *Options* column.
The **Activate** link in an activated appraisal turns into a *Close* link. Note that the delete button is greyed out because an active appraisal cannot be deleted.
1. Select the **Close** link to end the appraisal. The number of users who have not completed the appraisal will be displayed.
2. Check **Send alert to affected users** if users should receive a notification that the appraisal is being closed.
3. Enter an **Alert title** which will be the subject line of the email notification users receive. This will also be the line that appears on the user's dashboard alerts.
4. Enter an **Alert body** which will be the body of the email notification users receive. This will also be available if the user clicks the information icon in the dashboard alerts area to get more detail on the notification.
5. Click the **Close appraisal** button.
## Create an appraisal
1. To create a new appraisal, select the **Create appraisal** button.
2. Enter the **Name** of the appraisal and include a brief **Description** (the description is only displayed on the snapshot PDF).
3. Select the **Create appraisal** button.
[Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/92qRmlGheB0?&wmode=opaque&rel=0) The **Content** page will appear which contains the stages and content of the appraisal.
An appraisal consists of multiple stages, with a stage meaning a period of time when specific actions need to be completed by certain users. Stages are used to show the users their progress through the appraisal, control when certain actions can occur and act as milestones for notifications and reporting. Each stage may contain multiple **Pages** or forms that include **Elements** such as questions or information.
## Create appraisal stages
1. Select the **Add stage** button to create a new appraisal stage.
2. Complete the stage options:
- **Name:** Enter a name for the new stage that describes the stage for both administrators and the appraisal users.
- **Description:** Enter a description of this stage that provides more details on the purpose of the stage.
- **Complete by:** Enter the date that this stage must be completed by. This date is used by notifications and reporting to identify overdue appraisals. Stage completion dates also determine the order of the stages.
- **Lock stage after completion:** Place a tick in the check box next to the role(s) that should be prevented from modifying their answers on this stage after the stage has been marked as complete.
- **Page names (optional):** To create pages of questions for this stage, enter the name for each page on a separate line. You will be able to add pages later as well.
1. Select the **Add stage** button to save these settings.
A Site Administrator or a user with the **totara/appraisal:unlockstages** capability set to **Allow**, can reopen or unlock a completed stage for a specific appraisal role (e.g. Learner, Manager, Appraiser etc) or all roles, within a specific user's appraisal form, via the appraisal management area under the Assignments tab.
After a stage has been created it can be edited or deleted using the icons in the **Options** column. You can continue adding additional stages, or begin adding pages and elements to the stage.
## Create pages within an appraisal
Pages provide a way to break long appraisal forms into logical sections. Users completing the appraisal will only see the questions for one page at a time.
1. To add a new page and begin building out the content of the appraisal, select the **Add new page** button.
2. Enter a **Name** for this page of content and then select the **Add new page** button.
If you have multiple stages, you will need to select the linked name of the stage first so that the page is added to the appropriate stage.
The new page will appear below the stage. The order of the pages within the stage will be the same order displayed to users completing the appraisal. Pages can be reordered using the multi-directional arrow icon, updated by select the **Settings** (pencil icon) button, or deleted by selected the **Delete** button.
To move the page to a different stage, select the multi-directional arrow icon and drag the page to the new stage. If the move is successful, the page will automatically refresh and the moved page will no longer appear for the current stage.
## Add elements to an appraisal page
Once a page has been created, a dropdown will appear on the right-side of the page. This dropdown allows you to select elements to add to the page.
Element types include:
- **Question:** Build a custom question for the user to respond to. This could include multiple choice, rating scales, file uploads, or text entry areas.
- **Review question:** Review data from another area of Totara LMS as part of the appraisal. This includes goals and elements of the Learning Plan, such as courses, competencies, objectives and other evidence.
- **Non-question element:** Display additional information in the appraisal such as a fixed image, text, or information from the user's profile.
To add one of the above elements:
1. Choose an element from the drop down and then select the **Add** button.
2. Complete the required information, including **Permissions**.
3. Select the **Save changes** button in the dialog box.
The new element will appear under the dropdown.
Repeat these steps to create additional stages, pages, and elements within the appraisal. Note that the order of the elements displayed will be the same when the page is viewed by users completing the appraisal.
### Permissions
When adding an element to a page, a dialog will appear that allows you to set up the element. Part of setting up the element is deciding who will need to respond to the question and who can view the question and other users' responses. The **Permissions** section allows you to select which user roles will see this element, which user roles are required to response and which user roles can see other users' responses in the appraisal. It is possible to have questions that are only visible to and answered by Managers, Appraisers, etc. After at least one question has been added to the page, an additional checkbox will appear above **Permissions** that asks if the permissions on the new question should be the same as the preceding question. Placing a tick in the box will automatically mark the same permissions as are defined on the preceding question. Those choices can be overridden if needed.
### **Question**
Questions require an answer and therefore they are useful for obtaining information and providing a space for the person completing the appraisal to add their own content (be that data, insight or other thoughts).
All questions will have two standard fields to be completed when adding them:
- **Question:** Enter text for the question being posed for assessment.
- **Permissions:** Check the **Same as preceding question** option to carry over permissions from the last question. Check the checkbox next to the roles that need to **Answer** the question, are **Required** to answer the question and won't be able to save the form unless they fill in a response, and may **View other role's answers** to the question.
Each question then may also have a specific setting option, which will be details below, along with a lost of the available question types.
| **Question type** | **Description** | **Specific settings** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Date picker | Allow users to enter a date and or date/time. | **Date selection:** Enter the **First year available** and **Last year available** to the user for selection. Check the box for **Include time as well as date** if the user also needs to enter a time. |
| File upload | The file upload option allows users to upload files in response to the question. Any type of file may be uploaded. When another user reviews the appraisal, they will have access to download the file assuming that their role has been granted permission to view the response. | **Maximum number of files:** Enter the maximum number of files that the user may be allowed to upload. |
| Long text | Allow the user to enter a large amount of text and format it using the HTML editor. This could also include inserting links and images. | - |
| Multiple choice (one answer) | Allow the user to choose one option from a list. | **Available choices:** Enter one choice in each of the text boxes. Select the **Make selected by default** link next to an option if it should be the default value. To add more options, select the **Add another option** link. If this list of choices will be used in multiple questions, check the **Save these choices for other question as** checkbox and enter a name for the set of choices in the text box. When creating multiple choice questions in the future, you will have the option to select this set. **Display settings:** Choose whether the user will be presented with a series of radio buttons or a drop-down menu of choices to select their response. |
| Multiple choice (several answers) | Allow the user to choose multiple options from a list. | **Available choices:** Enter one choice in each of the text boxes. Select the **Make selected by default** link next to an option if there should be a default value. To add more options, select the **Add another option** link. If this list of choices will be used in multiple questions, check the **Save these choices for other question as** option and enter a name for the set of choices in the text box. When creating multiple choice questions in the future, you will have the option to select this set. **Display settings:** Choose whether the user will be presented with a series of checkboxes or a multi-select menu of choices to select their responses. |
| Rating (custom scale) | Allow the user to rate an item using a description and associated score. For example, this could be a 1-5 scale rating an employee's level of competence in an area, where 1 is not competent and 5 is very competent. | **Available choices:** Enter one **Choice** in each of the text boxes. For each choice, enter a **Score** that will be used for aggregation and analysis. Select the **Make selected by default** link next to an option if there should be a default value. To add more options, select the **Add another option** link. If this list of choices will be used in multiple questions, check the **Save these choices for other question as** option and enter a name for the set of choices in the text box. When creating rating questions in the future, you will have the option to select this set. **Display settings:** Choose whether the user will be presented with a series of radio buttons or a drop-down menu of choices to select their response. |
| Rating (numeric Scale) | Allow users to enter a numeric value as their response to the question. | **Answer range:** Enter a **From** and **To** value for the numeric scale. Check the **Set default** checkbox and enter the value that the slider or text input field should have as a default. **Display settings:** Choose whether the user will be presented with a slider or a text input field to enter their response. |
| Short text | Allow the user to enter a single line of text. This might be used for short or simple answers to the question. | - |
### **Review questions**
Allow data to be imported from learning plans, goals, or required learning for review in the appraisal. When users are working through the appraisal process, they will select the specific competencies, courses, etc. that they want to pull into the appraisal for review.
There are some common settings that can be configured when adding a **Review question**:
- **Question:** Enter text for the question being posed for assessment.
- **Multiple fields:** By default, when the multiple fields option is disabled, one text box per review item will be provided for the users to put their answers. When the multiple fields option is enabled, you can create several text boxes for each review item, each with its own title. Enter a title (such as a question relating to the review items) for each text box that you want to provide.
- **Permissions:** Check the **Same as preceding question** option to carry over permissions from the last question. Check the checkbox next to roles that need to **Answer** the question, are **Required** to answer the question and won't be able to save the form unless they fill in a response, and may **View other role's answers** to the question.
Some review questions also have specific setting options, which will be details below, along with a lost of the available review question types.
| **Review question type** | **Description** | **Specific settings** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Competencies from Learning plan | Allows users to select the specific competencies they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | **Include rating:** Allows users to modify the skill just as if you were changing the status in the learning plan. Only those roles with permissions to modify the status in the learning plan will be able to update the rating through the appraisal. |
| Courses from Learning plan | Allows users to select the specific courses they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | - |
| Evidence from Learning plan | Allows users to select the specific evidence they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | - |
| Goals | Allows users to select the specific goals they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | **Goal selection:** Allows you to choose how goals will be added to the appraisal. Options include allowing users to choose the goals, automatically adding all goals, or not allowing a particular type of goals to be reviewed. Separate options are available for company and personal goals. If the automatically adding of goals option is selected, then as long as the appraisal is active if any new goals are assigned to the learner then they will be pulled into the appraisal as well. If goals are removed from the learner, then the goals are left on the appraisal with the opportunity to remove them from the appraisal. **Include rating:** It allows users to modify the goal status just as if you were changing the status in the **My Goals** page. Only those roles with permissions to modify the status in the **My Goals** page will be able to update the rating through the appraisal. |
| Objectives from Learning plan | Allows users to select the specific objectives they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | - |
| Programs from Learning plan | Allows users to select the specific programs they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | - |
| Required Learning | Allows users to select the specific required learning they want to pull into the appraisal for review. | - |
### **Non-question element**
Allows you to display information, rather than questions, to the user completing the appraisal. This might be useful if you want them to use the data to make a decision or if you wish to provide additional information for them.
All non-questions will have two standard fields to be completed when adding them:
- **Question:** Enter text for the question being posed for assessment.
- **Permissions:** Check the **Same as preceding question** option to carry over permissions from the last question. Check the checkbox next to the roles that need to **Answer** the question, are **Required** to answer the question and won't be able to save the form unless they fill in a response, and may **View other role's answers** to the question.
Each non-question then may also have a specific setting options, which will be details below, along with a lost of the available question types.
| **Non-question type** | **Description** | **Specific settings** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Aggregate rating questions | If on an earlier page the appraisal uses either numerical or custom rating question types, you can use this data in aggregate rating questions. You can also choose whether unanswered and zero scores are included in the aggregation. | **Display scores:** The score you've assigned to each choice will be aggregated and you can either choose to **Display average** or **Display median** for the scores being used. **Included values:** When you check the **Include scores for unanswered questions** option, unanswered questions will be given the default score specified by an administrator. If no default score exists then they will be given the minimum value (numeric scales) or 0 (custom scales). When you check the **Include zero scores** option, questions with a zero score will be used in the calculation. |
| Fixed image | Add a fixed image to an appraisal page. | **Image:** Browse for, or drag and drop an image. **Description:** Enter a description for the image being uploaded. |
| Fixed text | Add fixed text to an appraisal page. | **Fixed text:** Enter the fixed text you wish to be displayed. |
| Redisplay previous question | Pull an existing question from another page or stage. | **Redisplay previous question:** Select the question that should be repeated in the appraisal. A question from the current page will not be available for redisplay. If the stage that the question comes from is locked, then the redisplay question and responses will be read-only. If the stage is still active, then the redisplayed question will be writeable as well. Note that both questions are displaying the same answer, so changing the response on the redisplayed question will change the response on the original question as well. |
| User profile information | It is possible to display user profile information on an appraisal page. This might be used to confirm that the learner and manager details are correct. | **Information to display:** Check the checkbox next to the user profile fields you wish to display. |
Each element on the page is displayed with the question text and type of element. Each element can be updated by selecting the **Settings** (pencil icon) button, duplicated by selecting the **Copy** button, or deleted by selecting the **Delete** button.
Elements can be moved by clicking on the multi-directional arrow icon then dragging and dropping the element in a new location. Elements can be moved to a new page by dragging the element over the page title and dropping it when the area around the page title is highlighted. If the move was successful, the page will automatically refresh and the element will no longer appear on the original page. Elements can also be moved to a new stage by dragging the element over the stage title and dropping it when the area around the stage title is highlighted. The element will be added as the first element on the first page of the destination stage.
## Creating appraisal notifications
Appraisal-specific notifications can be setup on the **Messages** tab. This could include reminders and follow-up messages for assigned users.
[Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/k0sFsb5M5Pg?&wmode=opaque&rel=0)
## Creating appraisal messages
1. Select the **Create message** button to add a new notification.
2. Complete the message options.
3. Click the **Save changes** button.
All notification messages created for this appraisal will be displayed on the **Messages** tab. A message can be edited or deleted using the icons found under the **Options** column.
## Settings
| **Option** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| Event | Select the event that this notification is related to. This could include the appraisal activation, the complete by date setup in the appraisal or the completion of a stage of the appraisal. |
| Timing | If the notification is going out before or after an event, select the number of days, weeks, or months before or after that it should be sent. For example, you might choose to send out a reminder to your users that their first stage completion date is coming up in two weeks. You would set the **Timing** to **Send before** and set the **How much earlier/later** option to **2 weeks**. |
| How much earlier/later? | You can decide how much before or after an event to send the message. So if in **Timing** you selected either **Send before** or **Send after** here is when you can select the number of days, weeks, or months before/after to send it. For example, you can set something to send **0 days** before or after an event, this will mean it is sent on the next cron run after the event. This allows the message to be sent in the background, rather than forcing you to wait. You can also use **Immediate** from the **Timing** setting and this will work the same as **0 days** before or after (send after next cron run). |
| Recipients | Check the check box next to any roles whose users should receive the message. This setting can be combined with the **Stage sending option** to only send to a certain role if they have completed a stage. For example, if you only wanted to send the message to learners that has completed their stage you could select the following settings: For the setting **Recipients** select **Learner**. For the setting **Stage sending option** select **Only send to people if their stage is** and **Complete**. |
| Stage sending option | You can also choose to only send to people if their stage is incomplete or complete, so that only the appropriate users receive the notifications. For example, you may decide not to send out reminders to users who have already completed a stage. You would check the **Recipients** boxes, check the **Only send to people if there stage is** option and then you would select the **incomplete** radio button. The **Send same message to all roles** dropdown menu gives the choice to send the same message to all roles or send a different message for each role. By default, all roles will receive the same message. If **Send a different message for each role** is selected, then additional **Message title** and **Message body** fields will appear for each role, so that custom messages can be entered for each. |
| Message title | Enter the title of the message which will appear as the email subject and on the user's dashboard in their **Alerts** block. |
| Message body | Enter the body of the message which will appear as the email body and on the user's dashboard in their **Alerts** block. |
## Placeholders
Within the body of your message it is possible to use placeholders, these are used to personalise messages without having to type them out multiple times.
| **Placeholder** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| [site name] | The name of the your site. |
| [siteurl] | Site URL. |
| [appraisalname] | The name of the appraisal. |
| [appraisaldescription] | The appraisals description. |
| [expectedappraisalcompletiondate] | The expected appraisal completion date. |
| [listofstagenames] | List of all the stages of the appraisal. |
| [currentstagename] | The name of the users current stage. |
| [expectedstagecompletiondate] | The expected completion date for the users current stage. |
| [previousstagename] | The name of the users previous stage. |
| [userusername] | Appraisee's username. |
| [userfirstname] | Appraisee's first name. |
| [userlastname] | Appraisee's last name. |
| [userfullname] | Appraisee's full name. |
| [managerusername] | Manager's username. |
| [managerfirstname] | Manager's first name. |
| [managerlastname] | Manager's last name. |
| [managerfullname] | Manager's full name. |
| [managersmanagerusername] | The username of the manager's manager. |
| [managersmanagerfirstname] | The first name of the manager's manager. |
| [managersmanagerlastname] | The last name of the manager's manager. |
| [managersmanagerfullname] | The full name of the manager's manager. |
| [appraiserusername] | Appraiser's username. |
| [appraiserfirstname] | Appraiser's first name. |
| [appraiserlastname] | Appraiser's last name. |
| [appraiserfullname] | Appraiser's full name. |
For example you might use:
Dear [managerfullname],
Please be aware that [userfullname] needs to complete [currentstagename] by [expectedstagecompletiondate].
Thank you.
## Assigning appraisals
After an appraisal has been created, Learners can be assigned to it on the *Assignments* tab. User assignments can occur any time during the appraisal creation. The appraisal won't be released to users until the **Activate now** link is selected. In the meantime, the appraisal status is set to **Draft***.*
[Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/ywgeK_uug8I?&wmode=opaque&rel=0) An appraisal can be assigned to users based on their audience, organisation, or position. Select the type of group to assign in the **Assign user group** drop down.
Select the **Save** button.
The assignment type and all assigned Learners will now appear on the *Assignments* tab. One appraisal can be assigned to multiple groups.
A site administrator or a user with the **totara/appraisal:unlockstages** capability set to **Allow**, can reopen or unlock a completed stage for a specific appraisal role (e.g. Learner, Manager, Appraiser etc) or all roles, within a specific user's appraisal form, via the appraisal management area under the Assignments tab.
### Assigned groups
This section displays:
- Assignment Type: The type of group that has been assigned (Audience, Position or Organisation).
- Assigned Group: The name of the audience, position, or organisation that was assigned.
- Include Child Groups: Set to Yes, the child organisations or positions below the assigned group will also be included in the appraisal. Set to No, only the organisation or position listed in the Assigned Group field will be added to the appraisal. This field cannot be updated; if the value needs to be changed, delete the current assignment group using the Delete icon under the Options column and recreate it with the correct value.
- Learners:The number of Learners that currently fall into the group based on the previous selections.
The **Learners** column shows the current number of users in the specific user groups. For dynamic groups this may differ from the number that were in the group when the group was originally assigned or have been assigned at any point while the appraisal is/was active.
- **Actions:** To remove an assignment, select the **Delete** button in the **Actions** column next to the group that needs to be removed.
## Assigned Learners
This section displays:
- Learner:Lists the Learners that have been assigned as a part of one of the groups and the name of each learner links to their user profile.
- Assigned Via:The group(s) that the Learner is assigned via will be displayed. A Learner may have been assigned to an appraisal through multiple groups.
- Current stage: Displays the name of the appraisal stage the user is will next complete.
- Edit current stage: Site administrators and users with the permission totara/appraisal:unlockstages can change or unlock a user's stage.
The **Show Entries** drop down allows you to select the number of rows of Learners that will be displayed per page. Use the buttons in the lower-right corner to jump to additional pages.
Use the **Search** box to enter a learner's name and hit the **Enter** key to search for Learners.
The learners that are listed differs depending on the status of the appraisal:
- Draft - the table lists the users in the assigned user group(s).
- Active - the table lists the users currently assigned to the appraisal.
- Closed - the table lists the users who completed the appraisal. This does not include users who completed the assignment but were later removed from an assigned user group.
## Preview an appraisal
At any time, the Site Administrator can preview the appraisal by selecting the **Preview appraisal** button.
The user can select which role to **Preview appraisal as** including the Learner, Manager, Manager's Manager and Appraiser. The preview will pop up in a separate window.
The stages of the appraisal will be displayed. Select the **Preview** button to view the pages and elements within that stage.
Pages and elements will be displayed. The administrator can select responses and navigate through the pages, but will not have access to save progress, complete stages, save a PDF snapshot, or print the appraisal.
## Activate an appraisal
### Static vs Dynamic Appraisals
If dynamic appraisals are enabled, appraisals can be activated with no users in an assignment group, and assignment changes can be made whilst an appraisal is active.
Activating an appraisal makes it available to users on their *Appraisals* page. When an appraisal is activated, the assigned users list is locked, meaning that only the users that are in the groups at that moment will be assigned the appraisal.
If, for example, a learner joins an organisation that already has an activated appraisal, the new learner will not be assigned to the appraisal. Learners will also not be removed from an appraisal; if a learner no longer meets the group requirements because they have changed organisation, position, or have removed from an audience, they will still be assigned the appraisal.
To activate an appraisal, select the **Activate** link on the *Manage appraisals* page or select **Activate now** when you are editing an appraisal.
Activating the appraisal will begin with a review process.
The system will check to make sure that:
- Learner groups (organisations, positions, audiences) have been assigned to the appraisal (unless dynamic appraisals has been activated)
- There are answerable questions
- Every stage of the appraisal has a valid end date
If any issues are encountered, error messages will be displayed. Once the errors have been resolved, select the **Activate** link to begin the activation process again.
If no errors are found and you are ready to activate the appraisal, select the **Activate** button.
Note that activating an appraisal disables your ability to update stages, pages and questions, and, unless dynamic appraisals has been activated, locks the list of assigned users, meaning that new groups cannot be assigned. If a new user is added to one of the existing groups in the appraisal assignment, that user will not be added to the appraisal.
After an appraisal has been activated, the *Status* will update to **Active**. Once an appraisee has viewed their appraisal for the first time, their manager, manager's manager and appraiser will then see the appraisal on their *All Appraisals* page and begin receiving notifications that have been setup for the appraisal.
## Viewing appraisals
Users who can access an appraisal will progress through the same workflow, regardless of their role. Differences occur within individual questions or elements of the appraisal. For example one question may require a role to respond, while a response may be optional or not allowed on other questions.
To view appraisals, hover over **Appraisals** in the main navigation menu and select either **Latest Appraisal** or **All Appraisals**.
The tabs displayed will depend upon the role and permissions of the logged-in user. Select the appropriate tab to view the appraisals that have been assigned**.**
| **Tab** | **Description** | **Notes** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| My Appraisals | Lists the current user's own performance and development appraisals. | This will appear for all users with an assigned active or closed appraisal. |
| As Manager | Displays to users who have been assigned as another user's manager on their user profile and who have appraisals assigned to be completed by a manager. | Please see Managing job assignments for more information on assigning managers to users. |
| As Manager's Manager | This tab is displayed to users who have been assigned as the manager on the user profile of a user who has also been setup as another user's manager and who have appraisals assigned to be completed from the manager's manager perspective. | The manager of a staff member's manager is designated as the Manager's Manager. |
| As Appraiser | This tab is displayed to users who have been assigned as the appraiser on the user profile of a user who has an appraisal to be completed. | Please see [job assignments](/totara-20/docs/what-are-job-assignment) for more information on assigning appraisers to users. |
The overview for each appraisal includes:
| **Item** | **Description** | **Notes** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Name | The individual for whom the appraisal has been created. | Please see Creating appraisals for more information on creating and Assigning appraisals. |
| Appraisal | The linked name of the appraisal you can select to access the appraisal. | - |
| Start Date | The date the appraisal process begins. | Users cannot edit the appraisal form before this time. |
| End Date | The appraisal due date, as it is when the appraisal is expected to be completed by. | If the appraisal has not been completed by the **End date** then it can still be done and will be shown as **Overdue**. |
| Status | The current status of the appraisal. *Active* means that the appraisal is actively available for completion. *Closed* means that the appraisal has been ended early by an administrator and does not require completion, but can be viewed. | - |
Select the linked appraisal name to view it. If you have multiple job assignments, the first time you view the appraisal, you will need to select the appropriate job assignment related to your appraisal before you can view the appraisal content.
Once you have selected a job assignment, the stages of the appraisal are displayed and others users assigned with the relevant roles will gain access to it. Note that only one stage will be available; the other stages will be made available automatically based on the start dates setup in the appraisal settings.
Each stage will have a completion date listed. You may receive notifications on your dashboard and via email when a new appraisal is available, if a stage due date is coming up, or if a stage is overdue.
Managers, managers' managers, and appraisers, are granted access to view and respond to appraisals for Learners. One appraisal element may require responses from all roles while another only requires response from the Learner and Learner's manager.
In this case, a *Manager* refers to the user who is setup on the your user profile in the **Manager** field for the appropriate job assignment. The *Manager's Manager* is the manager of your manager. The *Appraiser* is the user setup on your user profile in the **Appraiser** field for the appropriate job assignment.
## Saving or printing an appraisal
To save a copy of your current appraisal, including responses to elements so far, select the **Save PDF Snapshot** button. A PDF copy of the appraisal will be saved and will be displayed under the name of the appraisal on the *All Appraisals* page. You can also download a copy by selecting the **Download now** button.
To print a copy of the appraisal, select the **Print** button. You will be prompted to select which stages will be printed. Check the checkbox next to **Leave space on print-out to write comments** to include additional space under each element on the page for writing in comments by hand.
Select the **Print now** button. The browser's printer dialog will appear. The options available for printing will depend upon the browser you are using.
## Viewing appraisals for team members
You can access your team members' appraisals by going to the *Team* tab on the navigation menu and selecting the **Appraisals** link for a Learner.
Alternatively, choose *Performance > All Appraisals* from the navigation menu and select the **As Manager** tab to view a list of appraisals for all your team members.
You will not be able to view your team members' appraisals until they have selected the relevant job assignment related to it.
For each appraisal, the manager can view:
| **Item** | **Description** | **Notes** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Name | The individual for whom the appraisal has been created. | Please see Creating appraisals for more information on creating and assigning appraisals. |
| Appraisal | The linked name of the appraisal you can select to access the appraisal. | - |
| Start Date | The date the appraisal process begins. | Users cannot edit the appraisal form before this time. |
| End Date | The appraisal due date, as it is when the appraisal is expected to be completed by. | If the appraisal has not been completed by the **End date** then it can still be done and will be shown as **Overdue**. |
| Status | The current status of the appraisal. *Active* means that the appraisal is actively available for completion. *Closed* means that the appraisal has been ended early by an administrator and does not require completion, but can be viewed. | - |
Selecting the linked appraisal name will open the appraisal for viewing and/or completion.
## Completing an appraisal
To begin working through an appraisal, go to *Appraisals > All Appraisals* on the top navigation menu.
To begin completing an appraisal, select the **Start** button in the current highlighted stage of the appraisal. Only one stage of an appraisal is available at any time; the next stage will become available after the previous one is completed.
If you have already selected an appraisal stage to view it, but have not completed it, the button text will say **Continue.**
The pages of a stage appear as tabs and the elements that need to be completed appear under the selected tab. Elements are the questions or pieces of information that are displayed in the appraisal.
Element types include:
| **Element type** | **Description** | **Notes** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Question | Questions are elements that require a response from the user. | This could include selecting a multiple choice value, using a slider on a numeric scale, uploading a file, or typing a text response. |
| Review question | Review questions allow you to pull data from another area of Totara as part of the appraisal. This includes goals, as well as elements of a learning plan, such as courses, competencies, objectives, and other evidence. | Some review questions will allow you to enter the rating or status for the item, such as a skill or goal, just as it would be marked on a learning plan. |
| Non-question element | Non-question elements are used to display information in the appraisal such as re-displaying questions, aggregating questions, a fixed image, text, or information from the user's profile. | These elements are used to convey information, such as the learner's name or position and do not require a response. |
Select the **Next** button to move to the next page of the stage. If no elements required a response, then selecting the **Next** button will mark the page as complete. A stage is complete when all required questions are answered and a tick is displayed in the check box next to the page name.
### Question elements
Question elements will display the question, followed by a way to select an answer. This could take the form of a dropdown, radio buttons, check boxes, sliders, or text boxes, depending upon the type of question.
If your role has permission to answer a question, you will see a *Your answer* label with a method for selecting the answer next to it. If answering a question is required for your role, then a red asterisk will appear next to *Your answer*. You will not be able to move on to the next page until the required fields on the current page are completed.
Your answer may be visible to users in other roles. The list of roles will be displayed under the *Your answer* label. The answer provided by users in other roles may be visible to you. Answers that you have permission to view will be displayed below your answer.
### Review questions
Review questions allow you to select components of the learning plan to pull into the appraisal and review. This process will be the same for any components that may need reviewed; not all components will be included on every appraisal.
#### Reviewing courses from a learning plan
1. Select the **Choose courses to review** button.
2. Select the Learning Plan that you want to choose a course from using the drop down. You can also search for a particular course using the **Search** tab.
3. Choose the items that you wish to add to the appraisal. Any selected items will appear in the **Items to add** column on the right side. To remove an item, hover over it with the mouse and select the X (delete icon) that appears.
4. Select the **Add** button when you are ready.
5. After selecting the course, enter your response to the question.
#### Reviewing competencies from a learning plan
1. Select the **Choose competencies to review** button.
2. Select the skill that you wish to include in the review by clicking on it. Multiple competencies can be selected and competencies from multiple learning plans can be selected.
3. Select the **Add** button.
4. Each skill will be displayed with a separate response area. Enter your answer for each skill. To remove a skill from the appraisal, select the X (delete icon) to the right of the answer text box.
#### Reviewing objectives from a learning plan
1. To add learning plan objectives for review, select the **Choose objectives to review** button.
2. Select the objective that you wish to include in the review by clicking on it. Multiple objectives can be selected and objectives from multiple learning plans can be selected.
3. Select the **Add** button.
4. Enter review responses for the objectives selected in the text box provided.
#### Reviewing goals
You can enter responses for any existing goals as well as click the **Choose goals to review** button to add additional goals to the appraisal.
1. Select the goal framework from the drop down menu, and then choose the goals that you wish to add for review. You can also search for a goal on the **Search** tab. Any goals that have already been selected will be greyed out. Selected items will appear in the **Items to add** column.
2. Select the **Add** button to continue.
3. Enter your answers for the goals selected. Each goal will have a separate response area.
At any point, you may save your progress by scrolling to the top of the page and selecting the **Save progress** button.
On the last page of the appraisal stage, select the **Compete stage** button. The stage will be marked complete with a tick in the checkbox next to *You must complete this stage*.
When the appraisal stage has been completed by all user roles, a tick mark will appear for the stage and the next stage will open for completion.
When all appraisal stages have been completed by all user roles, the appraisal status will be updated to *Completed*, including the date on which it was completed. A completed appraisal is still available for users to view and print using the buttons at the top right-hand side of the screen.
A Site Administrator or a user with the '*totara/appraisal:unlockstages*' capability set to **Allow**, can reopen or unlock a completed stage for a specific appraisal role (e.g. Learner, Manager, Appraiser etc), or all roles, within a specific user's appraisal form, via the appraisal management area under the Assignments tab.
When viewing any appraisal overview pages or reports, the appraisal status will be updated from *Active* to *Completed*.
### Tracking appraisal completion
Occasionally, a Site Administrator or another user assigned an appropriate role and associated permissions, may be required to complete an appraisal on the behalf of another assigned user. This may be due to a staff absence or access issue. In this situation, an administrator can use the Log in as functionality to perform the required additions or edits to the appraisal.
Totara will record all changes made to an appraisal on behalf of the user and display them within the appraisal summary view.
## View appraisal reports
Appraisal reports are available by going to *Quick-access menu > Appraisals > Reports.*
[Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Jsa8pRTjB8?&wmode=opaque&rel=0)Reports are divided into:
- **Active appraisals:** Meaning the appraisal has been activated and is available to users
- **Inactive appraisals:** Appraisals that have been closed or have passed their due date
Draft appraisals are not displayed here.
### Active appraisals
Information about each active appraisal includes:
- **Name:** The linked name of the appraisal. Click on the link to view the appraisal settings.
- **Overdue:** The number of overdue appraisals. An appraisal is considered overdue if the completion date of the current active stage has already passed.
- **On target:** The number of appraisals that are currently on time in terms of completion.
- **Complete:** The number of appraisals that have been completed.
Select the linked number in any cell to view a detailed report about which learner's appraisals currently fall under that status.
### Inactive appraisals
Information about inactive appraisals includes:
- **Name:** The linked name of the appraisal. Click on the link to view the appraisal settings.
- **Status:** Displays the overall status of the appraisal.
- **Finished:** Displays the date the appraisal was completed or closed.
- **Complete:** The number of appraisals completed.
- **Incomplete:** The number of appraisals not completed.
Select the linked number in any cell to view a detailed report about which learner's appraisals currently fall under that status.
### Status report
Select the **Status report** link to view the report for this appraisal for all statuses.
### Detail report
A **Detail report** link is also available that provides more specific details from the appraisal.
This includes the learner's name, manager, appraisal status, and the questions from the appraisal are listed as column headings.
Search filters such as the user's name, current stage, appraisal status and manager's name are available at the top of the page.
Enter any search criteria and select the **Search** button to filter results. Report results can be exported using the *Export* drop down at the bottom of the page. See [Viewing reports](https://help.totaralearning.com/display/THM/.Viewing+reports+v13) for more information on searching and filtering reports.
To add columns or modify the reports, select the **Edit this report** button which appears at the top right corner of the report page. These are embedded reports and can be modified to include additional data or reset back to their default settings.
Additional reports can be created using Report Builder.
## **Dynamic appraisals**
Normally when activating an appraisal, checks are made to ensure the appraisal can be activated and activation is prevented if the appraisal is missing any assignment groups, answerable questions, or if a valid end date is not provided for appraisal stages.
Usually once an appraisal is active no further changes to assignments can be made, however with dynamic appraisals enabled, appraisals can be activated with no users in an assignment group and assignment changes can be made whilst an appraisal is active.
## Enable dynamic appraisals
To enable dynamic appraisals there are two settings that can be activated under *Quick-access menu > Configure features > Perform settings.*
| **Setting** | **Description** | **Notes** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dynamic appraisals | Enabling this setting by ticking the box alongside it turns on the dynamic appraisals feature. | Dynamic appraisals are enabled by default for new site installations and disabled by default on upgraded sites. If dynamic appraisals are enabled on upgraded sites, assignment or role related changes will also apply to existing appraisals that are active. |
| Dynamic appraisals automatic progression | This setting determines what happens when a role does not have a user assigned to it. - **Disabled:** All roles must be filled (i.e. they have been selected as 'can answer' and/or 'required' for the stage) - **Enabled (or non-dynamic):** Unfilled roles (roles which have not been selected as 'can answer' and/or 'required) will be ignored This mean that when enabled, this setting ensures appraisals are allowed to automatically progress to the next stage, even if one or more roles are not filled (assuming at least one role is filled and all filled required roles have completed the stage). When dynamic appraisals is enabled and this setting is switched off, all required roles need to complete the stage. Empty roles will need to have users assigned before the stage can be progressed. | This setting is enabled by default. |
### Group assignment changes
Individual users who become part of an existing assigned group, are assigned to, or removed from an appraisal as appropriate. Warnings are displayed on the *Assignments* tab and user appraisals, if users are missing any required roles.
When a user is added to a group that is assigned to an appraisal, a new appraisal is automatically created for the user. The system will also check if the user has any existing data for the appraisal. If there is, it will reopen the closed appraisal for the user. If not, the user will be assigned the appraisal. Any reminder messages for overdue stages are prevented from being sent to the user.
When a user is no longer part of a group assigned to an appraisal, their appraisal will be closed and the status will display as "Closed". Reminders are also prevented from being sent to the user.
### Role assignment changes
A user's role (manager, manager's manager, or appraiser) can be changed or deleted mid-appraisal.
If a user’s manager, manager’s manager, or appraiser changes after an appraisal has been activated, their appraisal will be reassigned to the new user(s) and any answers completed by the old assignee(s) will belong to the new assignee(s).
An appraisal will still work, however the user may not be able to progress until the missing role(s) are updated.
Changes to group and role assignments are made when the *Update learner assignments to appraisals* (**\totara_appraisal\task\update_learner_assignments_task**) scheduled task is run, which - by default - is hourly. Group assignment changes may also be updated manually before the scheduled task has run by selecting the **Update now** button on the *Assignments* tab.
## Closed appraisals
Closing an appraisal will prevent any further assignment changes being made. A closed appraisal is no longer editable. Therefore a dynamic appraisal is not closed automatically when all users have completed it, because new users could be added, or removed at any time if the assigned group membership changes. It is up to the site administrator(s) to close an appraisal when it is no longer required (although there is no problem with leaving it open).
## Examples of appraisal questions
When you create an appraisal, or edit an existing one, you can use a range of question types. The question types are listed below with descriptions and examples.
| **Question type** | **Description** | **Example question** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Date picker | Allow users to enter a date and or date/time. | *Date picker: When did you complete your induction training?* |
| File upload | The file upload option allows users to upload files in response to the question. Any type of file may be uploaded. When another user reviews the appraisal, they will have access to download the file assuming that their role has been granted permission to view the response. | *File upload: Do you have any other relevant certificates?* |
| Long text | Allow the user to enter a large amount of text and format it using the HTML editor. This could also include inserting links and images. | *Long text: What would you improve about the onboarding process?* |
| Multiple choice (one answer) | Allow the user to choose one option from a list. | *Multiple choice (one answer): What is your level of experience with Totara and open-source software?* |
| Multiple choice (several answers) | Allow the user to choose multiple options from a list. | *Multiple choice (several answers): Which of these tasks are you able to complete independently?* |
| Rating (custom scale) | Allow the user to rate an item using a description and associated score. For example, this could be a 1-5 scale rating an employee's level of competence in an area, where 1 is not competent and 5 is very competent. | *Rating (custom scale): How much support do you require when starting a new project?* |
| Rating (numeric scale) | Allow users to enter a numeric value as their response to the question. | *Rating (numeric scale): How would you rate your confident from one to five?* |
| Short text | Allow the user to enter a single line of text. This might be used for short or simple answers to the question. | *Short text: What is one new skill you would like to learn in the next three months?* |
Please note this is a legacy feature. To read about the improved performance management features please see the [What are performance activities?](/totara-20/docs/what-are-performance-activities-1) page.
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