Branding and customization on DreamApply Knowledge Base

Customize the portal identity and branding

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can customize the main aspects of your portal identity — its name and domain — and personalize the look and feel to align with your organization’s brand.

Identity and branding settings are configured at the instance level. They apply to the Administrator, applicant and advisor portals. In the multi-institution setup, these settings affect all institutions and their respective portals.

Before you begin

To customize the portal identity and branding settings, your account must have the Superuser role or the instance permission.

Personalize the front page

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can add custom content to the portal front page, such as:

Guidelines for applicants
Application tips
Welcome and motivational messages

This information appears directly below the main banner and institution names on the DreamApply portal.

In addition to the front page, you can customize pages for individual institutions and programmes with custom content and imagery. For details, see Set up an institution profile and Prepare and publish programmes.

Before you begin

To personalize the front page, your account must have the Superuser role or the templates permission.

Update the portal menu

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The main menu in the DreamApply portal initially includes links to features and tools provided by DreamApply. You can add your own items to the menu to offer additional resources and enhance the portal usability.

Custom menu items appear in the left menu of the portal, under the DreamApply menu items. They can include:

Pages with important information
Links to external resources
Downloadable documents

Before you begin

To customize the menu, your account must have the Superuser, Marketing administrator or Content administrator role or the contents permission.

Select the programme discovery mode

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can select the programme discovery mode for the DreamApply portal. The discovery mode defines:

How the programme catalog is presented to applicants
What navigation options are available
How applicants begin their admission journey

DreamApply offers the following programme discovery modes:

Search: This mode is intended for institutions with a broad programme catalog. It provides quick access to programmes through a search bar, filters and the Find programmes option in the portal menu.
Browse: This mode is intended for institutions with a small number of programmes and a structured catalog divided by programme types. This layout removes the search bar and filters from the front page. Applicants can navigate using the call-to-action button, option in the portal menu or use the Browse Programmes list on the front page.
Lite: This mode is intended for institutions with a small number of programmes who prefer a minimalistic layout. It provides a clean, focused view without a search bar or menu options.
Auto: In this mode, DreamApply automatically selects the most suitable layout based on the structure and volume of the institution’s programme catalog.

Discovery mode comparison

The table below describes which UI elements are available in each discovery mode.

Select the institution discovery mode

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

If your institution uses the multi-institution setup, DreamApply automatically displays a list of institutions on the front page, right below the main banner. This list allows applicants to easily browse institutions within your organization.

To customize how this list appears, you can select the institution discovery mode. DreamApply offers the following modes:

Alphabetic list: Institutions appear in alphabetical order.
Randomized list: Institutions appear in a random order each time the page is loaded.
Randomized list: Institution logos appear in a random order as a grid each time the page is loaded. Additionally, DreamApply displays the Show all institutions button that takes applicants to the Institutions page.
Lite: DreamApply displays the Show all institutions button that takes applicants to the Institutions page.
Auto: In this mode, DreamApply automatically selects the most suitable layout based on the number of institutions in your organization.

Before you begin

To adjust institution discovery, your account must have the Superuser role or the instance permission.

Define the SEO settings

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

DreamApply allows you to control how search engines discover and index your portal content and how automated agents interact with it.

You can configure the following search engine settings:

Sitemap configuration
robots.txt configuration

Before you begin

To define SEO settings, your account must have the Superuser role or the instance permission.

Configure sitemap settings

A sitemap helps search engines understand which programmes you offer and improves their discoverability.