Applicant feedback in Dapple is a separate field in a review round where reviewers write feedback for the applicant to read, kept apart from their internal notes for the panel. You switch it on in the Scoring section of the review round editor, reviewers fill it in as part of their review, and you send it with the /CreatorFeedback merge tag. Put the tag in a bulk message and every applicant gets their own reviewers' feedback in one send, with no copying from documents into individual emails.
How is applicant feedback different from reviewers' internal notes?
Applicant feedback is written for the applicant. Internal notes, such as a text criterion called "Notes for the panel", stay with your team. Reviewers fill in both on the same review form, so they can be candid in one and constructive in the other.
| Internal notes | Applicant feedback |
Who reads it | Your team and the review panel | The applicant, once you send it |
How it's set up | A Text criterion in rubric scoring | The Feedback for applicants toggle in Scoring |
Label reviewers see | The criterion's question | Your field title plus a Shared with the applicant badge |
How it reaches the applicant | Never | Only through a message that uses |
Applicants don't see feedback automatically. Nothing reaches them until you send a message containing the tag.
How do I turn on applicant feedback for a review round in Dapple?
Applicant feedback is set per review round, so you can use it in a final judging round and leave it off in an earlier shortlisting round.
Open the project → Workflow & Reviews.
Find the stage the round is attached to, select the round's card, then select Edit.
Select Scoring in the left-hand menu.
Below your criteria, switch on Feedback for applicants.
Leave Required ticked, or untick it to make feedback optional.
Enter a Field title. This is the heading reviewers see, such as "Feedback for the entrant".
Add Instructions for reviewers, for example: "Start with what works, then give one or two specific things to try next time."
Select Save changes.
The round's card on the Workflow & Reviews board now shows an Applicant feedback chip. The option isn't in the setup wizard when you first create a round, so create the round first, then edit it to switch feedback on.
Should applicant feedback be required or optional?
Make it required when every applicant is promised feedback, and optional when only some reviewers will write it.
Setting | What reviewers see | Use when… |
Required (default) | "(required)" next to the field. They can't submit until they write feedback. | Feedback is part of the entry fee or a published promise |
Optional | No "(required)" label. They can submit with the field empty. | Only some reviewers give feedback, or you'll only send it to some applicants |
If a required field is left empty, the reviewer sees "Please write feedback for the applicant" under the field and the review won't submit.
What do reviewers see when they write applicant feedback?
The feedback field appears on the review form after the scoring criteria. It shows:
Your field title with a Shared with the applicant badge.
Your instructions for reviewers, beneath the title.
A tooltip: "The applicant may see this. Organisers can send it to them by email, so don't include internal notes, scores or other reviewers' names."
A formatting toolbar for bold, italic, strikethrough, bulleted lists, numbered lists and links.
Reviewers write their feedback, complete the rest of the review and submit as usual. See How to Review Submissions for the full reviewer flow.
Where do I see the feedback reviewers have written?
Open the submission → Reviews tab. Expand a reviewer to see their scores and internal notes, with their applicant feedback underneath in a highlighted block marked shared with the applicant. Formatting appears exactly as the applicant will see it.
Read the feedback here before you send it. The merge tag sends what reviewers wrote, word for word. If something needs changing, reverse the submitted review so the reviewer can edit it.
How do I send feedback to applicants with the /CreatorFeedback merge tag?
Type / in any message and choose CreatorFeedback from the list. When the message sends, Dapple replaces the tag with the applicant feedback written for that submission, formatting included. Where a submission has more than one reviewer, each reviewer's feedback appears in turn, without reviewer names. Where no feedback has been written, the tag is left blank.
Send feedback to one applicant
Open the submission → Messages → Compose.
Write your message. Where the feedback should go, type
/and choose CreatorFeedback.Select Send.
Send feedback to every applicant in a stage
Open the project's Stages board and find the stage, such as Not progressing.
Select the three-dot menu at the top of the column → Compose Message.
Write your message and insert
/CreatorFeedbackwhere the feedback should go. Add/CreatorFirstNamefor the greeting.Select Send. Each applicant receives only their own feedback.
You can also filter the Submissions list, tick the submissions you want and choose with selected → Send Message. See How to Send a Bulk Message to Multiple Creators in Dapple.
Creators will see:
Who can use the /CreatorFeedback merge tag?
Anyone on your team who can send messages can use the tag. They don't need access to reviews. Applicants messaging you from their own submission can't use it, so nobody can pull feedback out before you choose to send it.
Best practice for applicant feedback
Make it required when feedback is promised. If feedback is included in the entry fee, a required field means no applicant is missed.
Tell reviewers what good feedback looks like. Use the instructions to set a shape, such as one strength and two things to try next time.
Keep the panel's discussion in internal notes. Scores, comparisons and other reviewers' names belong in a separate Text criterion.
Read before you send. Check the Reviews tab on a few submissions before a bulk send, especially for rejected applicants.
Send one first. Message a single submission and check the result in its Messages tab before you message the whole stage.
Write the message around the tag. A line like "Here is what the judges wrote for you:" reads well above the feedback.