A submission title in Dapple is the name that identifies a submission across the platform — in the submissions list, the stages board, the dashboard, the reviewer account and your messages. You set it by making one Short field on your submission form the title field. Whatever the applicant types into that field becomes the submission’s title. You can also edit any submission’s title by hand.
Where does the submission title appear in Dapple?
Once a submission has a title, Dapple shows it everywhere the submission is listed, so you and your reviewers recognise work by name rather than by ID.
Where | What you see |
Submissions list | Submission column, above the submission ID |
Stages board | On each submission card, under the applicant’s name |
Dashboard | New Submissions panel, beside each applicant’s name |
Submission view | The header bar, and Submission Title in the Info panel |
Reviewer account | Reviewers’ Reviews list, before the ID and project name |
Messages | /SubmissionTitle merge tag |
With no title field set, the submissions list shows the submission’s unique ID (for example, cmmrofqp) in place of a title.
How do I set a title field on my form in Dapple?
Pick the field where applicants name their work — for example, “Title of work” or “Project name”.
Open the project → Form Builder.
Add a Short field, or click an existing Short field to open its settings.
Select the Advanced option
Scroll down to the submission title and check the box "Fill the submission title from this answer"
Save.
You will see a small tag on the form denoting the submission tag.
Is the title field the same as the Title element in the Form Builder?
No. The Form Builder also has a Title element, which is a heading for splitting your form into sections. It collects nothing from applicants.
| Title element | Submission title field |
What it is | A heading on the form | A Short field marked as the title |
Applicant types into it | No | Yes |
Names the submission | No | Yes |
What happens to submissions that came in before I set a title field?
They stay untitled. Dapple only fills in titles for submissions received after you set the title field — it doesn’t go back and add them to earlier submissions, even if those applicants answered the same field.
Set the title field before you publish the form, so every submission gets a title from day one.
If submissions are already in, add their titles manually (see below).
How do I change a submission’s title manually?
Edit the title from the submission itself. Use this to fix typos, tidy capitalisation, or add titles to submissions that came in before you set a title field.
Open the submission.
In the Info panel on the right, find Submission Title.
Click Edit.
Enter the new title and save.
What happens next:
Your title overrides the one from the form everywhere in Dapple, including the reviewer account.
The applicant’s original answer stays unchanged on the Form tab.
The Info panel shows who set the title (for example, “Set by Sam Brown”).
How do I use the submission title in a message?
Type / in the message editor and choose SubmissionTitle. Dapple replaces /SubmissionTitle with each submission’s title when the message sends. It works in message templates too. If a submission has no title, the merge tag is left blank. Write sentences that still read properly without it:
Message text | With a title | Without a title |
Your submission /SubmissionTitle has been shortlisted. | Your submission The Big Dream has been shortlisted. | Your submission has been shortlisted. |
Read more in What Are Merge Tags in Dapple, and How Do I Use Them?.
How do I sort submissions by title?
In the submissions list, click the Submission column header. Dapple sorts submissions alphabetically by title. For other sort options, see How to sort submissions in Dapple.
Reviewers see submission titles too. Every submission in a reviewer’s Reviews list shows its title, and reviewers can sort their own list alphabetically by title. That makes it easier to find a piece of work by name, especially when a reviewer has a lot to get through.
Best practice for submission titles
Set the title field before publishing — titles aren’t added retrospectively.
Make the title field required, so no submission arrives untitled.
Label the field clearly, such as “Title of your work”, so applicants know what to enter.
Send a test submission first to check the title appears. See How to preview a submission form in Dapple.
Tidy titles before sending submissions to reviewers — your edits show in their account.
Write messages so they read naturally if /SubmissionTitle is blank.