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Reflections, Journal and Feedback

Every treatment entry can carry one written reflection. This guide covers the settings that shape the reflection prompt, the admin screens for reading reflections, the student’s reflections journal, and trainer feedback on reflections.

Who it is for: administrators setting up and reviewing reflections, and students using the journal. Trainers leave feedback from the Trainer Workspace — see Trainer Workspace.

Where reflections are required, and how many words they need, is set per clinic type under Logbook Configuration → Clinic Minimums & Evidence, not on the screens described here. See Program Catalogue and Logging Treatments.

Reflection settings

Where: Clinical Training Logbook → Plugin Settings → Reflection Settings. Only administrators can open it.

The tab is headed Reflection Settings — “Configure the reflection prompt shown on the entry form and the reflections journal page.” Select Save Reflection Settings after making changes.

Reflection prompt (free plugin)

Setting	What it does	Default
Reflection helper text	Guidance shown under the reflection box on the entry form. Limited HTML such as links is allowed.	Blank, which shows the built-in text: “Capture insights, surprises, or follow-up plans—collected once per entry.”

When the selected clinic requires a reflection, the requirement message (for example “This clinic requires a reflection.” or “Reflection must be at least 150 words.”) takes the place of the helper text. A clinic’s own Reflection prompt (set in Clinic Minimums & Evidence) appears separately, above the upload field, whenever that clinic is selected.

The tab ends with See also links to Clinic Minimums & Evidence, where per-clinic reflection rules are set, and (with Pro) Notifications.

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

With Pro active, two more sections appear on this tab.

Reflections journal

Setting	What it does	Default
Reflections button label	Text of the navigation button that links students to the journal page. Leave blank to use the default.	Review Reflections

The journal page itself is assigned in Site Setup → Pages (listed as Reflective Journal page), alongside the other front-end pages.

Reflection Feedback

Setting	What it does	Default
Enable reflection feedback — Allow trainers to leave feedback on student reflections	Master switch. When off, nobody can add or delete feedback, and existing feedback is hidden from students (it is kept, not deleted).	Off
Feedback email notification — Send an email to the student when a trainer leaves feedback on their reflection	Emails the student whenever new feedback is added. Has no effect unless feedback is enabled.	Off

Free users see only the Reflection prompt section; the journal and feedback settings are not shown.

Reflections admin page

Where: Clinical Training Logbook → Reflections. Free plugin, administrators only.

This is a read-only list of every logbook entry that has a reflection — “Student reflections written alongside logbook entries.”

A count at the top, for example 42 reflections total.
One card per reflection, newest treatment first, showing the student’s name (or email), the treatment date, the level and clinic type, and the full reflection text.
A View entry → link on each card opens that entry in Logbook Entries, where you can see the interventions, evidence and (if needed) void the entry.
A search box — “Search reflection text, student name or email…” — with Search and Clear buttons. It matches words inside the reflection as well as names and emails.
20 cards per page, with page links at the bottom.

Empty states: “No reflections yet — they appear here once a student writes a reflection alongside a logged treatment.” or, after a search, “No reflections match that search.”

Voided entries are included in this list. Entries without a reflection are not shown.

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

When Pro is active this page is replaced by Reflections Overview (next section), at the same menu position.

Reflections Overview

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

Where: Clinical Training Logbook → Reflections Overview. Administrators only. Free users see the read-only Reflections page instead.

“Browse reflections across students and drill into missing evidence.” Use this screen to read reflections across the whole program, find treatments that are missing a reflection or notes, leave feedback, and export to CSV.

Filters

Filter	Options	Default
Student	All students, or one student (students with an eligible student role)	All students
Clinic	All clinics, or one clinic type	All clinics
Reflections	Treatments with reflections, Treatments without reflections, All treatments	All treatments
Sort order	Newest first, Oldest first (by treatment date)	Newest first
Date range	All time, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, Custom range (shows Start date and End date)	All time
Quick search	Matches reflection text, client name, and the student’s name or email	Empty
View mode	Drawer view, Sequential list	Drawer view

Reset filters returns everything to the defaults. The list updates as you change a filter.

Drawer view. A table with Student, Client, Clinic, Date, Reflection (the first 35 words) and Evidence columns. The Evidence column shows chips: Reflection recorded or Reflection missing, and Notes uploaded or Notes missing. (The Trainer feedback chip appears only in the student journal; on this screen, open the reflection to see its feedback.) Select a row to open Reflection details in a side panel, showing the full reflection and, when feedback is enabled, the feedback thread (see Reflection feedback). Use the Previous reflection / Next reflection buttons, or the left and right arrow keys, to step through the list.

Sequential list. Shows each reflection in full, one after another — useful for reading a student’s reflections in order. Each one has a View entries link that opens that student’s entries on the Logbook Entries screen.

25 rows load at a time; Load more fetches the next 25.

What “recorded” means. Reflection recorded requires a reflection that meets the clinic’s minimum word count when the clinic requires a reflection with a minimum. A short reflection shows as Reflection missing here (on the student’s overview it shows as needs more detail). Notes uploaded means a file is attached.

Export CSV

Select Export CSV to download the reflections matching the current filters. The file is named reflections-overview-YYYY-MM-DD.csv, is saved as UTF-8 so non-English text opens correctly in Excel, and contains up to 1,000 rows. Columns:

Column	Contents
Student	Student name
Email	Student’s account email
Client	Client name or alias
Clinic	Clinic type
Date	Treatment date
Reflection	Full reflection text
Has reflection	Yes / No (same rule as Reflection recorded)
Has evidence	Yes / No

If nothing matches you are told “No reflections matched the current filters.” The export contains students’ clinical reflections and client names, so store and share it according to your organisation’s privacy policy.

Voided entries are not filtered out of this screen or its export.

The student journal

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

The journal is the [dclb_journal] shortcode: a page where students browse all their own reflections in one place.

Setting it up

Assign a page in Plugin Settings → Site Setup → Pages (listed as Reflective Journal page), or create a page containing:
```
[dclb_journal]
```
Optional attribute: entry_page_url sets where the Edit record links go. By default they go to the entry page assigned in Site Setup.
Once the page is assigned, a Review Reflections button (label set on the Reflection Settings tab) appears in the navigation on the entry form and overview pages.

What students see

Logged-out visitors: “Please log in to review your reflections.”
The page heading is My reflections, with the intro “Filter your treatments, double-check evidence, and jump into edits without leaving this page.”
The same filters as Reflections Overview, except there is no Student filter (students only ever see their own entries) and there is no Export CSV button: Clinic, Reflections (default All treatments, so entries without a reflection are listed too), Sort order, Date range, Quick search and View mode (Drawer view or Sequential list).
In drawer view, selecting an entry opens its full reflection with evidence chips, an Edit record link to the entry form, and Previous/Next navigation.
When reflection feedback is enabled, the drawer also shows the Trainer feedback on that entry (read-only), and entries with feedback carry a Trainer feedback chip.
25 entries load at a time, with Load more.
The journal needs JavaScript. Without it students see “JavaScript is required to load and filter reflections. Please enable JavaScript in your browser or contact your administrator for assistance.”

Things to know

The journal lists all of the student’s own entries across every level. Unlike the overview, it is not limited by allocations.
Voided entries also appear here, without a voided marker. Students should check the overview, where voided entries are labelled.
The Clinic filter lists every clinic type on the site, not just the ones the student has used.

Free users don’t have the journal; students use the reflection chips on their overview instead (see Reflection status).

Reflection feedback

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

Reflection feedback lets trainers and administrators leave written comments on a student’s reflection. It is off until an administrator ticks Enable reflection feedback on the Reflection Settings tab.

Who can do what

Who	Can
Administrators	Add feedback to any entry, and delete any feedback (including feedback left by trainers), from Reflections Overview or the entry detail on Logbook Entries.
Trainers	Add feedback, and delete their own, from the Trainer Workspace — see Trainer Workspace.
Students	Read feedback on their own entries. They cannot reply.

Adding feedback as an administrator

Open Reflections Overview and select a reflection (drawer view), or open an entry on Logbook Entries.
In the Trainer feedback section, type into “Add feedback on this reflection…” and select Submit Feedback. You will see “Feedback submitted.”
Each item shows who wrote it and when. Select Delete on an item to remove it (“Feedback deleted.”). Deletions are recorded in the Activity Log as Deleted trainer feedback.

There is no edit button; to change feedback, delete it and add it again. Empty feedback is refused (“Feedback cannot be empty.”).

Where students see it

On the entry form, when they open the entry: a Trainer Feedback section below the evidence, listing each comment with the trainer’s name and the date and time.
On their overview: a Trainer feedback chip on the entry’s row.
In the journal: a Trainer feedback chip and the feedback in the drawer.

Email notification

When both Enable reflection feedback and Feedback email notification are on, the student is emailed each time new feedback is added (by an administrator or a trainer).


To	The student’s account email address
Subject	New feedback on your reflection
Body	“Hi {first name},” then “{trainer name} left feedback on your reflection:”, the feedback text quoted, and a View your entry link
Link	Opens the entry in the entry form. If no entry page is assigned in Site Setup, it goes to the site’s home page.
Editable?	No — the subject and wording are fixed (they can be translated with the site language).

The email is sent through WordPress’s normal mail system, so delivery depends on your site’s email setup. If students are not receiving it, test your site’s email (an SMTP plugin with a mail log helps).

Turning feedback off. Unticking Enable reflection feedback hides all feedback from students and blocks new feedback. Existing feedback is kept and reappears if you switch it back on.

Data and privacy. Each feedback item stores the entry it belongs to, the author, the text and the time. Feedback is deleted when its entry is deleted. It is included in WordPress’s personal data export and erasure tools for the student. See Evidence Storage and Privacy.

Free users don’t have reflection feedback; the Reflection Feedback settings and the feedback sections are not shown.

Worked example

A myotherapy program wants Year 2 students to reflect on every teaching-clinic session, and wants supervisors to respond.

Administrator: under Clinic Minimums & Evidence, ticks Require written reflection for the Student Teaching Clinic, with a 150-word minimum and the prompt “What did your assessment findings change about your treatment plan?”
Administrator: on Reflection Settings, sets the helper text to “Write in the first person and avoid client-identifying details.” Then (Pro) ticks Enable reflection feedback and Feedback email notification, and saves.
Student (Priya): logs a treatment and writes a 170-word reflection about modifying her cupping plan after orthopaedic testing.
Administrator: on Reflections Overview, sets Clinic to Student Teaching Clinic and Date range to Last 30 days, opens Priya’s reflection in the drawer, and submits: “Good clinical reasoning — next time note the client’s response to the first technique before changing plan.”
Priya receives “New feedback on your reflection”, selects View your entry, and reads the feedback in the Trainer Feedback section. The entry also shows a Trainer feedback chip on her overview and in her journal.
At the end of term the administrator sets Reflections to Treatments without reflections and selects Export CSV to follow up the students with missing reflections.

Troubleshooting

The Reflection Feedback settings aren’t on the tab. They appear only when Pro is active.
Students can’t see feedback. Check Enable reflection feedback is ticked. Feedback is hidden from students while it is off.
“Reflection feedback is disabled.” when submitting. The master switch is off. Turn it on in Reflection Settings.
No feedback emails. Both checkboxes must be ticked, and only new feedback triggers an email. Check your site’s outgoing email works.
The journal shows “Loading reflections…” forever or “Please log in to continue.” The student’s login has expired. Refresh the page and log in again.
A reflection shows as “Reflection missing” in Reflections Overview but the student wrote one. It is shorter than the clinic’s minimum word count.

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