How to Setup Steps and Requirements for Initial Certification Applications

The features described in this article are only available in Cobalt Certification 4.1 or higher.

For Steps and Requirements to function correctly, the system must have an active Certification Type with related active Initial Certification Application Type and active Continuing Certification Application Type. Both Application Types must contain all required fields and related entities (e.g., fees).

1. To create a new Step, log on to Dynamics 365. From there, open Cobalt > Cobalt Certification. Click on Steps from the left-side navigation. Or, navigate to the Initial Certification Application Type and under Steps, click 'New Step'

2. Steps have the following fields:

• Name: The Step’s name in Dynamics.
• Initial Certification Application Type: Lookup to the Initial Certification Application Type (see prerequisites).  
• Sort Order: The display order for the Step on the Portal (if there are multiple Steps).  
• Portal Display Text: The Step’s name on the Portal.  

1. To create a new Requirement, log on to Dynamics 365. From there, open Cobalt > Cobalt Certification. Click on Initial Certification Application Type from the left-side navigation. Once in the record, under the Requirements sub-grid click 'New Initial Certification Requirement'

2. Initial Certification Requirements can be tied to Steps through two optional fields: 

• Step - A lookup to a Step record. This will tie the Requirement to a given Step and to all other Requirements associated with a Step.  
• Progress Display Text - Text associated with the Requirement to be displayed on the Portal. 

For more on Initial Certification Requirements, see the following article: How To Setup Initial Certification Requirements.  

1. To process an Initial Certification Application with Steps and Requirements, open the Initial Certification Application record in Dynamics.  

2. The Initial Certification Application form displays an Application Steps subgrid and an Initial Certification Application Requirements subgrid by default. As a reminder, one Step can have multiple Requirements associated with it. 

3. To process a successfully completed Step, select each Requirement associated with that Step. Deactivate the Requirement(s) with the Status Reason ‘Completed.’ Once all of the Requirements associated with a Step are completed, the Step will change to Status Reason ‘Completed’ as well.  

Note: Certain requirements can also automatically complete, if they are set up to do so. An example would be an "Order Paid" requirement, which will automatically complete once the system processes the payment.

4. To successfully process an Initial Certification Application, deactivate all of the Requirements on the Initial Certification Application record with the Status Reason ‘Completed.’ This will deactivate all of the Steps and the Initial Certification Application itself with the Status Reason ‘Completed.’ 

5. To process a failed Step, select any Requirement associated with that Step. Deactivate the Requirement with the Status Reason ‘Failed.’ Once any Requirements associated with a Step has been failed, the Step will change to Status Reason ‘Failed’ as well.