Portfolio — uploading work samples

_In the app: `/portfolio`_

The portfolio stores photos and PDFs of your student's work — essays, test papers, projects, artwork, or anything that shows what they've learned. These work samples are the audit-ready evidence behind your grades, and they're required in states like Pennsylvania and useful for annual evaluations everywhere.

How to

Upload a work sample to the portfolio

1. Go to the Dashboard and click the Portfolio card under Daily inputs, or navigate to /portfolio.
2. Check that the Student and School year dropdowns show the right ones. If not, change them and click Update.
3. Click the '+ Upload a work sample' button — an upload form will appear.
4. Click 'File' and select a photo or PDF from your device. Supported formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC (iPhone photos), or PDF. Max 25 MB per file.
5. Wait for the upload to complete — you'll see '· uploaded' next to the filename once it's done.
6. Fill in the Title (required, up to 240 characters).
7. Set the Date created (defaults to today). This is the date the work was done, not when you uploaded it.
8. Add a Description (optional, up to 2000 characters) — like 'Final essay on Civil War' or 'Math test with work shown.'
9. Choose a Subject (optional) from the Subject dropdown to link it to a course. Leave blank if you don't want to tie it to a specific enrollment.
10. Add Tags (optional) as comma-separated values — like 'essay, narration' or 'project, fall'. Tags are searchable and stored lowercase.
11. Click 'Save to portfolio'. The form closes and your item appears in the grid below.
12. To cancel before saving, click the Cancel button.

View portfolio items

1. Go to /portfolio.
2. The portfolio shows all items for the selected Student in the selected School year, sorted newest first (by date created).
3. To narrow down what you see, use the four filter fields:
4. • Student: switch between students if you have more than one.
5. • School year: see work from a different year.
6. • Subject (optional): filter by a course/enrollment you tagged items with.
7. • Tag (optional): type a tag name (like 'essay' or 'project') to show only items with that tag.
8. Click 'Update' to apply filters.
9. Items appear as cards in a grid with a thumbnail (image preview or 'PDF' placeholder), title, date created, description, and any tags as badges.

View or download a work sample

1. Find the item in the portfolio grid.
2. If it's an image, you'll see a preview on the card. If it's a PDF, you'll see a 'PDF' placeholder.
3. Click the 'Open' button to view the file in a new browser tab (or download it if your browser is set to auto-download PDFs).

Delete a work sample from the portfolio

1. Find the item in the portfolio grid.
2. Click the 'Delete' button in the bottom-right corner of the card.
3. A confirmation prompt will appear with two buttons: 'Confirm' (red) and 'Cancel' (gray).
4. Click 'Confirm' to delete. The item is permanently removed from the portfolio and the file is deleted from storage.
5. Or click 'Cancel' to keep the item.

Organize work by subject and tags

1. When uploading, assign a Subject to link the item to a course (e.g., 'Biology 101'). This helps you pull together all the work from one subject.
2. Add custom Tags to categorize further — for example, 'midterm' or 'final project' or 'peer-reviewed'. Use the Tag filter to find tagged items later.
3. To see everything tagged 'essay,' go to /portfolio, type 'essay' in the Tag field, and click Update.

Options & settings

• Student dropdown — select which student the portfolio shows.
• School year dropdown — filter by academic year.
• Subject (optional) dropdown — filter by a course/enrollment.
• Tag (optional) text field — search for items by custom tag.
• Update button — apply filter changes.
• File upload — accepts images and PDFs, max 25 MB.
• Title field — required, max 240 characters.
• Date created field — defaults to today, required.
• Description field — optional, max 2000 characters.
• Subject (optional) dropdown in upload form — link to a course.
• Tags field — comma-separated list, optional.
• Open button on portfolio item card — view the file.
• Delete button on portfolio item card — remove the item with confirmation.

Common questions

What file types can I upload?

Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC) and PDFs only. Max 25 MB per file. iPhones, screenshots, scanned pages, and most photo apps work fine.

Do I have to set up a student and school year before I use the portfolio?

Yes. The portfolio attaches each work sample to a specific student and school year — ArborSlate needs both to exist first. If you see a message saying 'Set up a student + school year first,' go to Settings, add a student and a school year, then return to Portfolio.

Do I have to assign every item to a subject?

No. Subject is optional. If you skip it, the item just sits in the portfolio unlinked to any course. You can still search for it by tag or date.

Can I edit a work sample's title, description, or tags after I upload it?

Not directly — there's no edit button. If you need to change something, delete the item and re-upload with the corrected info.

How long are work samples stored?

As long as your family account exists. When you delete an item, both the database record and the file in cloud storage are removed.

Are portfolio items visible to anyone else?

No. Portfolio items are private to your family account. They're audit-ready evidence for your state or evaluator, not shared with anyone outside your family.

Good to know

• The portfolio defaults to the active school year. If you upload to the wrong year by accident, change the School year dropdown at the top and re-upload.
• Tags are case-insensitive but stored lowercase — typing 'Essay' and 'essay' both create the tag 'essay'. Search is also lowercase.
• If you have multiple students, always verify the Student dropdown shows the right one before uploading. Uploads tie to the selected student.
• Deleted items cannot be recovered — there's no undo or trash. The file and the database record are gone immediately.
• The Date created field is for when the work was done, not when you uploaded it. Set it correctly so your portfolio is audit-ready.
• Portfolio is not linked from the main navigation sidebar — you access it from the Dashboard card or by typing /portfolio in the URL.

Plans

Available on trial and all paid plans.