Compliance Evidence Submission
Evidence is a record of something a staff member has done to stay current, such as a professional development session, an industry placement, a moderation meeting or a refresher course. Staff submit evidence whenever an activity happens, optionally with a supporting file. A reviewer then validates it or returns it with a comment. The result is a dated, reviewed trail you can show an auditor.
Overview
- Who uses it:
- Staff members submit evidence and track it through the portal.
- Reviewers (anyone with the Validate evidence permission, which Administrators have by default) work through the review queue.
- Where it lives:
- Submit Evidence portal page (shortcode
[attestation_core_submit_evidence]) - Evidence History portal page (shortcode
[attestation_core_my_evidence]) - Attestation Core → Evidence in wp-admin (titled Evidence review queue)
- Attestation Core → Settings → Library → Evidence categories
- Submit Evidence portal page (shortcode
- Wording: the free plugin calls this “Evidence”. With the Pro RTO module it becomes “Currency Evidence”, and the menu item is renamed to match.
Evidence is separate from documents. A document is something a person must hold, such as a First Aid certificate (see Document management). Evidence records something a person did.
Evidence categories
Categories are the types of evidence staff choose from. Manage them under Attestation Core → Settings → Library → Evidence categories.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Shown to staff in the submission form. |
| Slug | Permanent identifier stored on each evidence record. Lowercase letters, numbers and underscores only. It can’t be changed after the category is created. |
| Description | Optional explanation for staff. |
| Requires unit mapping | When ticked, evidence in this category must be linked to at least one unit. |
| Display order | Lower numbers appear first in the dropdown. |
Click Add category (or Edit, then Update category) to save. Delete removes the category from the form after you confirm. Existing evidence keeps its category reference, and the deletion is recorded in the Admin Action Log.
Default categories (free plugin):
- Currency Evidence: no unit mapping.
- Role-Specific Evidence: requires unit mapping.
Units are a Pro RTO feature. On the free plugin, staff therefore can’t choose a category that requires unit mapping: the form shows “Role-Specific Evidence is unavailable until your administrator assigns units to your profile.” If you’re on the free plugin and want to use the second category, edit it and untick Requires unit mapping.
🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.
When the RTO module is active as the plugin is first set up, the two categories are created as Training & Assessment Currency (no unit mapping) and Vocational Currency (requires unit mapping). If you switch to the RTO industry later, your existing category names stay as they are. Rename them here if you want the RTO wording. Vocational evidence is linked to the units of competency assigned on the trainer’s Units tab, and validated links feed the Unit of Competency Matrix (see Unit of Competency Matrix).
Submitting evidence
Staff, through the portal
- Sign in and open Submit Evidence.
- Fill in the form:
- Type: pick a category (required).
- Title: a short name, for example “Infection control refresher” (required).
- Date of activity (required).
- Description: what you did and how it keeps you current.
- Units this evidence supports: shown only for categories that require unit mapping. Tick every unit it applies to (at least one).
- Supporting document: optional file. Accepted types are PDF, JPG, PNG, DOC and DOCX, up to 25 MB or your server’s upload limit if lower.
- Click Submit evidence. You’ll see “Evidence received. Your administrator will review and validate it.” The submission starts as Pending review.
The form needs JavaScript in the browser, and each person can submit up to 10 items per minute.
Admins, on someone’s behalf
- Open Attestation Core → Compliance Profiles, select the person and choose the Evidence tab.
- Click + Record evidence, then fill in Evidence type, Title, Description, Evidence date, any units, and an Optional file.
- Click Record evidence. The record goes into the review queue just like a staff submission (“Evidence submitted. It now sits in the review queue for validation.”).
If a file upload fails on the server, the message suggests submitting the evidence without the file and adding it later.
Reviewing evidence
The review queue
Go to Attestation Core → Evidence. The queue opens filtered to Pending review and shows Title, the staff member, Type, Evidence date, Status and Submitted. You can:
- Filter by status (Pending review, Validated, Partially validated, Returned, or All statuses), type and compliance profile, and search.
- Use Bulk actions → Validate selected / Return selected.
- Click a title to open the review page.
The review page
The review page shows Evidence details: Type, Evidence date, Description, Attached file, Admin comment, Submitted at and (once reviewed) Reviewed at.
Opening the attached file: click Download file name. The file is delivered through the plugin’s permission-checked download link, never a public address, and the download is recorded in the file access log (see Privacy, security and data). You need the Validate evidence permission to download.
Validating (pending evidence only):
- Categories without unit mapping: add an optional Validation note and click Validate evidence.
- Categories with unit mapping (Pro RTO): under Units supported by this evidence, tick the units the evidence genuinely supports. You can untick units the staff member chose. If only some of their units are supported, tick Mark as partially validated. Add an optional note and click Validate evidence. At least one unit must stay ticked (“This evidence category must be linked to at least one unit.”). If the person has no units assigned, the page asks you to assign units on their profile first.
Returning (pending evidence only): type a Reason for returning (required: “A comment is required when returning evidence.”) and click Return to staff member. The staff member sees the comment in their history and gets an email.
Deleting: Delete submission is available for pending and returned evidence. It permanently removes the record and its file, and is logged in the Admin Action Log. Validated and partially validated evidence can’t be deleted. It’s kept for audit (“Validated evidence is retained for audit and cannot be deleted.”).
Comments: the validation note or return reason is saved as the Admin comment. It’s shown on the review page, on the staff member’s evidence history, and in the validated or returned email.
Bulk actions: Validate selected and Return selected only change the status. They don’t record a comment or confirm units, and they don’t send the validated or returned emails. Return selected skips evidence that’s already validated. Use the review page whenever you need to leave a comment, confirm units or notify the staff member.
Notifications
| Sent to | When | |
|---|---|---|
| New evidence awaiting validation | The admin contact email (Settings → General) | Evidence is submitted from the portal or recorded by an admin |
| Your evidence has been validated | The staff member | Validated from the review page |
| Your evidence has been returned for revision | The staff member | Returned from the review page |
Each email can be switched off or edited under Settings → Notifications. See Automated email notifications.
Your evidence history
Staff see every submission they’ve made on the Evidence History page (shortcode [attestation_core_my_evidence]), newest first, 20 per page. Each entry shows the title, type, date and a status badge (Pending review, Validated, Partially validated or Returned). Where they apply, it also shows:
- Units validated: the units the reviewer confirmed (Pro RTO).
- The reviewer’s comment, for validated, partially validated and returned evidence.
- Download file: downloads their own attached file. Staff can only download their own evidence files, and staff downloads are limited to 60 per hour.
- Submit new evidence: shown on returned items. Returned evidence isn’t edited. The staff member submits a fresh, corrected entry instead.
Administrators see a person’s full evidence list on the Evidence tab of their profile, with a Review link for each item.
Recency threshold
Settings → General → Currency recency threshold (months) sets how far back evidence counts as current. It defaults to 12 and accepts 1–60 months. It’s mainly used by the Pro Unit of Competency Matrix to decide whether a trainer is current in each unit.
Data
Each evidence record stores the category, title, description, activity date, status, admin comment, reviewer and review time, any linked units, and the attached file in private storage. When a person’s personal data is erased, their evidence records are kept as compliance records, but the description and admin comment are blanked. See Privacy, security and data.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| A staff member can’t see a category in the Type list | The category requires unit mapping and they have no units. On the free plugin, untick Requires unit mapping on that category. |
| “No profile is linked to your account.” | Link the staff member’s WordPress user on their compliance profile. |
| “Too many submissions; please wait a minute and try again.” | More than 10 submissions in a minute. Wait and retry. |
| The staff member didn’t get a “validated” email | It was validated with a bulk action, which doesn’t send emails, or the email is switched off under Settings → Notifications. Check Attestation Core → Notifications for the delivery log. |
Worked example
Sunrise Community Care runs a monthly manual-handling refresher.
- After the June session, support worker Priya opens Submit Evidence, picks Currency Evidence, enters the title “Manual handling refresher – June”, the date and a two-line description, attaches the attendance certificate PDF, and clicks Submit evidence.
- The coordinator receives “New evidence awaiting validation — Priya Shah”, opens Attestation Core → Evidence, clicks the title, downloads the certificate, adds the note “Certificate sighted”, and clicks Validate evidence.
- Priya gets the validated email, and her Evidence History shows Validated with the coordinator’s note.
- A second submission has no attachment. The coordinator returns it with the reason “Please attach the attendance certificate.” Priya sees the comment, clicks Submit new evidence, and resubmits with the file.