How to set up your system for the new school year
In this guide, we will explain what exactly a rollover is, why it is important, when you should execute it, and, most importantly, how to perform a rollover on your Strata Apps system. Please read this guide carefully and be sure to accurately follow the instructions.
Failure to follow these procedures precisely may result in unforeseen and undesirable behavior in your Strata Apps system and meal status eligibility.
What is a Strata Apps rollover?
Every year, in order to get the system ready for the next school year, Strata Apps needs to be rolled over. The rollover function archives all application data that was processed during a school year and prepares the system to receive new data for the upcoming school year.
When should a rollover be performed?
Before you perform a Strata Apps rollover, check with your Point of Sale and perform their rollover procedure.
The rollover function should be used after one school year ends and before the start of a new school year. Basically, you should perform the rollover before you start accepting and processing applications for a new school year. The legal date in which you can begin processing application for the next school year is July 1st, so ideally you should perform the rollover shortly before that date.
The only applications that can be processed after the rollover is completed are applications for the new school year.
Rollover checklist
First and foremost, you will need to be able to log in to Strata Apps as an administrator. You can confirm that you are a Strata Apps administrator with the required rights if you are able to log in to Strata Apps and access the Control Panel from the Admin module. You will also need a secondary administrator and it should have been provided to you by Image One. We require a two-login procedure to prevent users from accidentally executing a rollover.
Once a rollover has been initiated, it cannot be canceled or undone.
Below is a list of everything that you will need in order to complete the Strata Apps rollover:
Things to have prior to starting the rollover
Things to have prior to starting the rollover
- Strata Apps login with administrator rights
- Strata Apps rollover login
- List of schools and their school ID for the upcoming school year*
- List of food prices for the upcoming school year*
- Change in primary contact*
- Updated information file for the Online Wizard*
Things to do for the rollover
- Conduct Point of Sale rollover
- Conduct Strata Apps rollover
- Delete the export file (only necessary if your POS is not web-based)
- Refresh the student lookup
- Update the online meal application site using the Online Wizard*
- Calibrate form designs**
* - Only necessary if your Strata Apps license includes online meal applications
** - Only necessary if your Strata Apps license includes scanning meal applications
How to perform the Strata Apps rollover
As previously stated, it is absolutely imperative that you follow this guide step-by-step and carefully read each step to successfully perform a Strata Apps rollover.
Navigate to the Control Panel
Log in to the Strata Apps system. As noted earlier, you will need to login as a user that is a 'Super User', also known as a Strata Apps administrator. If you need assistance with logging in to your Strata Apps system, read 'How to access Strata Apps'.
Once you are logged in, access the Admin module by clicking on the 'Admin' button in the top right menu bar OR on the 'Admin' pane on the home page.
By default, this will open the 'Application Management' screen. Navigate to the Control Panel by clicking on the 'Control Panel' button at the top of the Admin module.
If you are not able to click on the 'Admin' or 'Control Panel' buttons, then you are not logged in as a Strata Apps 'Super User' and do not have the necessary rights to perform the rollover.
Execute the rollover
In the 'Utilities' section of the Control Panel, click on the 'System Rollover' button.
A dialog box will open warning you that you are about to initiate the rollover and that, once done, it cannot be undone.
Type in the rollover username and password that was provided to you by Image One and then click 'OK'. The rollover process will then begin to run and will take a few minutes to complete.
A confirmation message should appear that indicates that the rollover was completed successfully.
Click 'OK' to close the message and return to the Strata Apps home screen.
Delete the export file (optional)
This step is only necessary if your POS system utilizes a flat file drop to export applications from Strata Apps. Some of those POS systems include PCS, Nutrikids, Websmartt/WinSnap, MealsPlus, and Skyward.
Open up Windows Explorer and navigate to the export directory.
If you are unsure of where the export directory is, go to the Strata Apps Control Panel and click on the 'Integration Configuration' button located in the 'Utilities' section.
In the 'Integration Configuration' window, look at the field labeled 'Export Path'. This is the export directory. The field labeled 'Export Filename' is the name of the file that you need to find and delete.
Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the export directory. If there is a file in there that matches the 'Export Filename', then select that file and delete it. If there is not a file in there that matches the 'Export Filename', then there is nothing to worry about and you can skip this step.
If you are unable to browse to the export directory, please consult your local IT support. There may be a Windows permission preventing you from accessing that folder.
Refresh the student lookup
You should manually refresh the student lookup to ensure that Strata Apps is pulling the most up-to-date data from your Point of Sale.
In the the Strata Apps Control Panel, click 'Integration Configuration'.
Click on 'Update Student Lookup', 'Yes', 'OK', and then 'Close'.
After about 2 minutes, the process will be complete and the student information in Strata Apps should be updated.
The amount of time it will take for the update process to complete may vary depending on the size of the school district as well as the network speed.
Update the online meal application site using the Online Wizard
If you process online applications through Strata Apps, then you will need to follow these steps to reconfigure the website for the next school year. If you do not, then you can skip this step.
Before you begin accepting applications again for the next school year, you will need to reconfigure the Online Wizard. By default, all of the customization you put into the online site will be retained from last year, however, because of this, you will need to reconfigure elements that were specific to last year. For example, the school year, USDA guidelines, start and end dates, and other verbiage will need to be changed. In addition, any new fields of information will need to be included and fields that are no longer on your application will need to be removed. This guide will cover the bare minimum of what needs to be changed, updated, or confirmed.
Access the Online Wizard
From the Strata Apps Control Panel, click on the 'Online Wizard' button located in the 'Utilities' section. This will open the 'Online Application Wizard' dialog box.
Update the online meal application site
On the first screen of the 'Online Application Wizard', titled 'Welcome', you should change the two dates listed at the top. The first date is when the site becomes available to receive online applications and the second date is when the site will stop accepting applications and switch to its 'Offline' mode. Update these dates appropriately.
Also on this first screen are buttons labeled 'School List...' and 'Grade List...'
Click each of these and make sure they have the most up-to-date information for your school district. The schools and grades in these lists will be what applicants will be able to select from when they are filling out the online meal application.
After you are done updating the information on this screen, click 'Next' until you arrive at the screen titled 'Translations'.
This screen contains all of the verbiage used on your district's online meal application site. Each field can be edited to customize your online meal application site.
If you edit any of the fields in the English column, the Online Application Wizard does not automatically translate it in the column next to it. You will need to provide your own translation for the foreign language that column represents.
Navigate to the field labeled 'Instructions'. You can also use the 'Filter' text box at the top to help you find it.
Click on the '...' button located next to that field to open the 'Translation Editor' window. This is an expanded view of the text inside the selected field.
Select all of the text and delete it. Using keyboard shortcuts, copy ('Ctrl' + 'C') and paste ('Ctrl' + 'V') the text from your updated information file. Click 'Ok' to close the 'Translation Editor' window.
The 'Information' text should include HTML tags otherwise it will not format correctly on the online meal application site. Contact Image One software support if you need assistance.
If your Strata Apps license includes languages other than English, then make sure to update the 'Information' field for those languages as well.
To commit your updates to the online meal application site, click 'Next' twice more to proceed to the final screen.
Click 'Finish' to confirm and save the changes. The wizard will then close and your district's online meal application site will be updated.
Calibrate form designs
If you process paper applications through Strata Apps, then you will need to follow these steps to confirm that you have the correct form designs for the next school year. If you do not, then you can skip this step.
Before you begin accepting scanned applications again for the next school year, you will need to ensure that you have the form designs in place for the paper applications that you plan on scanning. If you do not, you will receive an error when you try to scan that declares that a new barcode was detected and you won't be able to save the scanned results.
In order to complete this step, you will need your paper applications for the upcoming school year.
Once you have received your order of paper applications, call Image One software support at 1-800-956-9000 option 2. We will obtain images of your applications using your scanner and calibrate your Strata Apps system. After we have obtained those images, we will contact you when form design calibrations are complete. This process typically takes about 30 minutes per language.
Rollover completion
Thank you for reading through this guide and successfully performing your Strata Apps rollover. Your system is now ready to start processing application for the upcoming school year. If you have any remaining questions about how to proceed from here or what anything in the process does, or if you had difficulty performing the rollover and would like some assistance, please contact Image One Software Support. If not, then we hope you enjoy using Strata Apps moving forward!
Related Articles
Getting Started with Strata Apps
Welcome Thank you for selecting Strata Apps as your application processing solution! Are you new to Strata Apps, or returning after a long time, and need help processing your free and reduced meal applications? Use this guide to learn your way around ...Glossary of Strata Apps terms
Admin The central component of the Strata Apps system. This program allows the user to manage all of the functions of the system, maneuver data, design forms, set up the Online Wizard, and other administrative functions. application A single family’s ...How to access Strata Apps
Requirements To access the StrataApps software, you MUST use Internet Explorer 11 or lower. The reason for this is because the software was built using the Silverlight plug-in. Internet Explorer 11 is not pre-installed on Windows 10. If you are not ...How to download your application records from Strata Apps
Want to retain the applications you have processed in Strata Apps in offline storage? Follow these steps to download your application records and images. Download application records Launch Strata Apps and log in. Click on Admin. The Application ...Strata Apps Knowledge Base Contents
Articles in this knowledge base are divided by module and purpose. The "purpose" categories are: Best Practices Advice on getting the most from Strata Apps How To Step-by-step help to perform common tasks Reference Comprehensive information on ...