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Create and Manage Staff File Request

Learn how to create and manage file requests for staff in Playground. This article walks through requesting documents from staff, tracking uploads, and reviewing submitted files.

Nadiuska avatar
Written by Nadiuska
Updated yesterday

Staff file requests allow administrators to request documents directly from staff members and track when files are uploaded. File requests are useful when you need staff to submit specific documents rather than fill out a form or PDF.

The process for creating and managing staff file requests closely mirrors student file requests. If you are already familiar with requesting files from guardians, the steps and available settings will feel very similar.


Add a New File Request

  1. On the Administrator Dashboard, navigate to the Staff Paperwork tab on the left-hand side of your screen. Click the blue Create button in the top right corner of your screen and then click New file request. A New file request window will appear.

  2. Name your document and provide a description so Staff know exactly what to upload.

  3. Customize your file request settings. You can make the file request optional, add an expiration date, require administrator review, and assign an email to be notified upon each submission.

  4. Finally, you may upload an optional file to prompt users to view or download. This is useful for health forms that must be printed and completed by a doctor.

  5. Click Create file request. The file request will now appear in the File Request tab of the Paperwork screen.

🚨 All new file requests are shared with all staff by default. This means staff members can see and upload the requested file from the Paperwork section in both the app and the web platform. To change who the file request is shared with, click into the file request, select the Share button, and update the recipients.



Share a File Request with staff in the Staff Paperwork tab

Click the blue share button in the top right corner of the screen.

File requests can either be filled out by all staff or by individual staff members.


Review Submitted File Request


If the “Requires review by administrator” setting is turned on for a File request, admins will have the option to approve or reject submissions.

  1. Navigate to the Staff Paperwork tab and go to the File Request tab.

  2. Locate the document that needs review.

  3. Under the Review column, click the Review dropdown.

  4. Select either Approve or Reject.


  5. If rejecting the submission:

    • Enter a reason in the Reason for rejection field.

    • The Notify staff via email checkbox will be selected by default. If staff shouldn’t be notified, uncheck the box before submitting.

    • Click Reject submission


  6. After the review is complete, the Review column will update automatically:

    • Approved submissions will show as Approved in green.



    • Rejected submissions will appear as Rejected in orange. Hovering over the status will display the reason it was rejected.



Send File Request Reminders

  1. From the File Request tab on your admin dashboard, select the specific file request for which you want to send reminders.

  2. Select the checkboxes next to the names of the staff you would like to send reminders to.

  3. Click Send reminder at the top of the table. The staff will receive an email reminder for the file request.


Set an Expiration Date for File Requests

Expiration dates can be added file requests. There are two types of expiration dates that you can set on paperwork:

  • Expiration after a certain number of months after submission

  • Expiration on a specific date

Add an Expiration Date for File Requests

  1. On the Staff Paperwork tab, navigate to File Requests.

  2. Click the three dots next to the File Request that you would like to edit and select edit.

  3. Turn on the expiration date setting. Two options will appear: "expires a certain amount of time after submission" and "expires on specific date."

  4. Select the date or amount of time after submission that the document should expire and click save.


Add a Custom Expiration Date for Individual Staff

In addition to setting an expiration date for a file request overall, you can assign a custom expiration date for individual staff. This is helpful if one staff's paperwork needs to expire sooner or later than others.

  1. On the Staff Paperwork tab, open the document you want to update.

  2. Locate the staff in the list.

  3. Click the three dots next to the staff's name and then click Edit expiration.

  4. Choose a new expiration date for that student only, and click Save.

The new date will apply only to that staff's version of the document, all others will keep the original expiration.


View and Download Completed File Requests

Click on the desired File Request from the File Requests tab of the Paperwork screen. Here you will see an overview of all staff the file request is assigned to. Click on the blue View text to see a copy of the uploaded file.



Download Individual File Requests

Click on the three dots next to a staff's name and then click Download.

Download All Submitted File Request

Click on any file request, check off the names of the staff members with submissions, and then click Download button. A zip folder containing all submitted file requests will download.

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