Sonia Central Reference Manual  

Download the PDF guide here - SC Reference Manual (2018).pdf

Introduction

This guide provides an introduction to the functions and features of Planet Software's Sonia Central, a student placement management software.

The intended audience includes staff of placement providers and education providers who will use Sonia Central to plan and manage the placement process.

Scope

This document is not a manual for managing placements within your organisation, as that is a business process unique to your program. If you need guidance on how to manage placements using Sonia Central, please contact us, and we will provide suggestions and options.

This is not a technical document. If you or your IT department require technical details about Sonia Central, please consult the relevant technical manuals.

We do provide a series of "How to…" documents designed to guide placement agents and officers through various placement processes using Sonia Central. Contact us or visit the Sonia Central website for a complete list of available documents.

Here’s a polished and structured version of your KB section, keeping all the information intact but improving readability, formatting, and flow. I’ve also added headings and lists for easier scanning in a KB context:

Accessing Sonia Central

Sonia Central is a web application accessible to registered users via a browser. User accounts are created by administrative users, as described in the Users Page section of this guide.

Logging In

1. Navigate to the Sonia Central web address.

2. The Login page will appear. Enter your username and password.

3. Click Sign In to validate your credentials.

4. After successful login, you are taken to the Dashboard, the landing area of Sonia Central.

Additional options:

• Stay signed in: Checking this box allows your browser to remember your credentials for future visits.

• Forgot your password? Click the link to begin the account recovery process. Sonia Central will email a password reset link, which you can follow to create a new password. The format and content of the email can be customised, as described in the Templates Page section.

The Sonia Central User Interface

Sonia Central is divided into five main areas:

1. Dashboard

2. Planning Area

3. Placement Area

4. Reports Area

5. Settings Area

Navigation:

• The currently selected area is highlighted in orange at the top of the screen.

• Clicking the menu bar allows navigation to any page within the area.

• The first page of each area (e.g., Overview Page) is displayed by default.

• On the right-hand menu bar, you will find your username, preferred culture, and a logout button.

Settings Area

The Settings Area allows administrative users to configure Sonia Central to match their organisation’s business model and control different processes.

Organisations Page

The Organisations Page lets administrative users configure placement locations, associated business rules, and user permissions.

• Organisation list: Displays all organisations alphabetically; supports search/filter by name or parent organisation.

• Selecting an organisation: Displays details across multiple tabs.

Details Tab

The Details Tab allows management of an organisation’s:

• Name and address

• Hierarchy position: Each organisation can have a parent organisation, except for the top-level node.

  • To set a parent: Click the “+” button, search and select the organisation, then click Add.

  • To create a sub-organisation: Click New Child and enter the required details.

• Level assignment: Assign a named Level via the dropdown (configurable in the Lists Page).

  • Levels are used to aggregate placement data (e.g., available places, allocated students) across the hierarchy.

  • Aggregation is based on Levels rather than strict parent-child relationships to account for variations in organisation size or structure.

• Classification: Optionally tag organisations using the Classifications list.

Linking Disciplines

• Disciplines (e.g., Nursing, Physiotherapy) can be linked to organisations via the Disciplines multi-select list.

• Linking disciplines propagates upwards in the hierarchy (e.g., a ward’s disciplines affect its parent hospital).

• You can also link disciplines at a higher level to apply them to all sub-nodes.

Importance:

• Discipline links influence business rules and user permissions for placements.

Student Checks

• Specify student checks required for placement at an organisation using a multi-select list (configurable via the Lists Page).

• Checks propagate to sub-nodes, allowing general requirements at a hospital level and additional checks at specific wards.

Settings Tab

The Settings Tab allows you to configure business rules that govern placements for a specific organisation and each individual discipline.

• All disciplines linked (directly or indirectly) to the selected organisation are listed here.

• Changes made in this tab propagate to all sub-nodes, unless explicitly overridden at a lower level.

Timeframe Selectors

On the left-hand side, you can specify timeframes for placement offers:

• Days to confirm: Sets the RSVP deadline by which education providers must confirm or decline an offer.
  (Calculated as the date of offer + specified number of days)

• Allocation lead time: Sets the deadline by which education providers must allocate students to confirmed placements.
  (Calculated as start date of placement – specified number of days)

• Cancellation lead time: Sets the deadline by which either party can fully or partially cancel confirmed placements.
  (Calculated as start date of placement – specified number of days)

Business Rule Checkboxes

On the right-hand side, checkboxes control key business rules:

• Require vacancy placement type: Makes specifying a placement type mandatory when creating vacancies.

• Require request stage/year: Requires education providers to specify the stage/year of students when submitting placement requests.

• Require place stage/year: Requires education providers to specify the stage/year of students at the time of allocation.

• Accept open requests: Activates the Demand First placement model (see Appendix A: Models of Operation), allowing “spontaneous” requests even if no vacancies exist.

Documents Tab

The Documents Tab allows uploading and managing organisation-related documents:

• Click the “+” icon to upload a new file and set its attributes.

• Optionally select a document category from the dropdown (configurable via the Lists Page).

Visibility options:

• Education providers (ESP)

• Students

• Allocated students only

• Placement supervisors

Inheritance: Documents uploaded for a parent organisation are visible to sub-nodes if Show inherited documents is selected.

Hierarchy Tab

The Hierarchy Tab provides a navigable view of your organisation hierarchy:

• Expand or collapse nodes.

• Click a node to navigate directly to that organisation.

Users Tab

The Users Tab allows assigning and managing user permissions for an organisation:

• Permissions assigned to a parent organisation propagate to all sub-nodes but can be overridden at any level.

• By default, only users directly linked to the selected organisation are displayed. Tick Show inherited permissions to view all.

General Permissions: Each user can be granted the ability to:

• Manage organisation details

• Manage organisation structure

• Manage organisation users

• Manage organisation disciplines

• View organisation placements

• Manage organisation mapping (for integration with Sonia® education providers)

Discipline-Specific Permissions: For each discipline linked to the organisation, users can:

• Manage pre-approved schools

• Manage vacancies

• Publish vacancies

• Reject requests

• Manage offers

• Publish offers

• Retract offers

• Cancel places

• Record student “no-shows”

A legend describing each permission is available via the “?” button next to each table.

Adding Users:

• Click the “+” button, search for the user, select them, and click Add.

Here’s a polished, structured, and KB-ready version of the sections you provided. I’ve organized it with headings, subheadings, bullet points, and concise explanations for readability and quick scanning:

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Pre-approved Schools Tab

The Pre-approved Schools Tab allows defining which requests from education providers should be prioritised for placements at the selected organisation, following the First-In First-Served business model (see Appendix A: Models of Operation).

• Separate lists can be managed for each discipline linked to the organisation.

• Schools linked to a parent organisation are inherited by all sub-nodes where the discipline is available.

• By default, only schools directly linked to the selected organisation are shown. Tick Show inherited schools to see the full list.

• Add schools by clicking the “+” button, searching for the desired school, and clicking Add.

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Agreements Tab (Organisations)

The Agreements Tab allows recording high-level details of student placement agreements between organisations and education providers or their schools.

• Agreements for a parent organisation apply to all sub-nodes.

• By default, only agreements recorded for the selected organisation are displayed. Tick Show inherited agreements to view all.

• Add agreements via the “+” button, fill in the details in the popup, and click Add.

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Providers Page

The Providers Page allows managing education institutions that have access to Sonia Central, including attributes and user permissions.

Navigation

• The left panel lists providers alphabetically and supports search/filter by text.

• Click a provider to view details across multiple tabs.

Details Tab

• Manage provider name, code, and optionally colour for visualisation.

• Enable Sonia Integration: Activates 2-way integration with Sonia® for real-time request submission. Enter the provider’s Sonia Online web address (validated automatically).

• Mappings Tab becomes available once integration is enabled.

Schools Tab

• Maintain a list of schools for each provider, including name, unique code, and associated disciplines.

• Disciplines pre-populate search options for users from that school.

• With Sonia® integration enabled, school names must be selected from a dropdown of schools in Sonia®.

Users Tab

• Configure permissions for users acting on behalf of the provider.

• Each school has a separate permissions table, defining allowed actions such as:

  • Manage school details

  • Manage school users

  • Manage predefined disciplines

  • Manage requests, offers, and allocations

  • Cancel places

  • View placements

  • Interact with Sonia Central via API (integration only)

• Permission legends are available via the “?” button.

• Add users via the “+” button, search, select, and click Add.

Agreements Tab (Providers)

• View high-level details of agreements between the provider (or its schools) and organisations.

• Agreements are managed through the Agreements Tab of the Organisations Page.

Mappings Tab

• Required when Sonia® integration is enabled.

• Maps Sonia® area names to Sonia Central disciplines, optionally including specialities and sub-specialities.

• Mappings are managed per school and per organisation, allowing flexibility for different hospitals or providers.

• Requests submitted for unmapped or invalid areas can be flagged in the Block column for automatic rejection of future errors.

Disciplines Page

The Disciplines Page allows managing types of placements and associated metadata for any organisation.

• Left panel lists disciplines alphabetically with search/filter options.

• Click a discipline to view details across multiple tabs.

Details Tab

• Specify discipline name.

• Define the term used for student levels (stages vs. years) and manage the list.

• Enable sub-disciplines if the discipline requires further differentiation.

Sub-Disciplines Tab

• Manage sub-disciplines (e.g., Nursing → Enrolled Nurses [EN], Registered Nurses [RN]).

• Stages/years are defined separately for each sub-discipline.

• Sub-disciplines affect capacity and how placements are advertised (see Editing Vacancies).

Specialities Tab

• Define specialities and optionally sub-specialities for the discipline.

• Used as optional metadata for creating or searching placements.

Placement Types Tab

• Define one or more placement types for the discipline.

• Optional metadata that can be used when creating or searching placements.

• Placement type may be mandatory depending on organisational and discipline settings (see Settings Tab of Organisations Page).

Here’s a fully polished, KB-ready version of the Lists, Aliases, Templates, Users, and Dashboard sections you provided, structured for clarity, readability, and quick navigation:

Lists Page

The Lists Page allows administrative users to configure custom-defined metadata used throughout Sonia Central. This includes organisation levels, shifts, student checks, and more.

Key Lists

• Classifications: Qualify organisations within the hierarchy (e.g., HWA “settings”).

• Custom Field Types: Categories to classify textual information in vacancies.

• Document Types: Categories for documents attached to vacancies.

• Organisation Levels: Named levels (e.g., ward, department, hospital, region) assigned to nodes in the hierarchy.

• Shifts: Named shifts to specify placement times (e.g., morning, afternoon, night).

• Student Check Types: Pre-requisites students must meet before placements (e.g., vaccinations, certifications).

Aliases Page

The Aliases Page allows overriding standard terminology in Sonia Central.

• Example: Replace “discipline” with “profession.”

• Changes can be replicated across languages in a multi-lingual environment.

Templates Page

The Templates Page allows customising email notifications sent by Sonia Central.

• Templates can be translated for multi-lingual environments.

• Events with dedicated templates include:

  • Cancelled Offers – Sent when confirmed places are cancelled.

  • Changed Vacancies – Sent when vacancy details are modified.

  • Declined Offers – Sent when offers are declined by education providers.

  • Expired Offers – Sent when offers expire without response.

  • Place Stage/Year Changed – Sent when allocated student stage/year is modified.

  • Published Offers – Sent to recipients of placement offers.

  • Rejected Requests – Sent when requests are rejected.

  • Retracted Offers – Sent when an unconfirmed offer is retracted.

  • User Recovery Email – Sent for password recovery.

  • User Welcome Email – Sent to new users.

  • Vacancy Published Email – Sent when new vacancies are published.

• Templates may use placeholders (e.g., recipient name, school name) replaced dynamically when sending.

Users Page

The Users Page allows managing accounts for anyone needing access to Sonia Central.

Details Tab

• Manage user attributes: name, phone numbers, alternate email, preferred language.

• Account field: Email address used as username; triggers “Welcome to Sonia Central” email for new users.

• User Type: Distinguishes between placement provider (HSP) and education provider (ESP) users, determining available roles and permissions.

Permissions Tab

• Manage global permissions not tied to specific organisations or schools.

• Controls access to Settings Area pages, individual lists, and reports relevant to the user type.

Organisation Permissions Tab

• View a user’s permissions for one or more organisations.

• Displays generic permissions for the organisation and discipline-specific permissions.

• Legend available via the “?” button.

Provider Permissions Tab

• View a user’s permissions for one or more schools.

• Legend available via the “?” button.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the landing area after login, providing a snapshot of key information and quick navigation.

• Comprises two pages:

  1. Overview Page – Summarises data via charts, upcoming events, and reminders.

  2. Masterplan Page – Configurable timeline of capacity and upcoming placements.

Overview Page Components

• Capacity Chart: Shows placement availability over 3 years.

  • Orange: Total advertised capacity

  • Green: Remaining capacity

  • Zoom by year, month, or week; download as CSV or image

• Requests Chart: Shows placement requests submitted by education providers.

  • Orange: Requested capacity

  • Green: Fulfilled requests

• Upcoming Events: Lists reminders for actions required (e.g., student allocations). Click to navigate to relevant pages.

• Vacancies Chart: Breaks down vacancies by status. Click to navigate to pre-filtered Vacancies Page.

• Plans Chart: Shows vacancies by planning status (placement provider users only). Click to navigate to My Requests Page.

• Offers Chart: Shows offers by status (placement provider users only). Click to navigate to Outcomes Page.

Masterplan Page

The Masterplan Page aggregates vacancies and offers by organisation level, showing available or planned placements.

• Click on a hospital or cell to navigate to the Planning Area or Allocations Page, pre-filtered by organisation/week.

• Download underlying data as CSV.

Configuration and Filtering

Users can filter the masterplan by:

• Available capacity or planned placements

• Aggregation level (area, region, hospital, ward)

• Timeframe (including past data)

• Specific discipline or all disciplines

• Specific provider or all providers (for planned placements)

Colour Codes

• Available Capacity View:

  • Dark green: Untapped capacity

  • Light green: Partially depleted

  • Grey: No remaining capacity

  • Empty: Blackout weeks

• Planned Placements View:

  • Dark green: All offered places allocated

  • Light green: Some offered places unallocated

  • Empty: No placements exist

• Aggregation rolls up to the chosen level; nodes outside the hierarchy appear under (Other).

Planning Area

The Planning Area allows users to interact and collaborate on planning student placements:

• Placement providers can advertise placement opportunities (vacancies) and manage incoming placement requests.

• Education providers can browse vacancies, submit requests, and manage offers made to them.

Vacancies Page

The Vacancies Page enables users to create, view, and manage placement opportunities.

Key Actions

• Placement providers: Create new vacancies, publish them, and respond to requests.

• Education providers: Browse existing vacancies and submit placement requests.

Searching Vacancies

• Enter a vacancy code to go directly to a specific vacancy.

• Apply filters (status, date range, organisation, discipline, specialty, etc.) via slide-out panels and click Refresh.

• Navigate results using page controls; sort by attributes; export main details as CSV.

Creating & Editing Vacancies

A vacancy consists of:

• Organisation and discipline (including optional specialties/sub-disciplines)

• Contact information (pre-populated with the logged-in user)

• Notes and required documents

• Dates and shifts

• Weekly capacity and total student hours

• Deadlines and business rules (request due dates, notification dates, confirmation deadlines, allocation lead time, cancellation lead time)

Additional Notes:

• Some fields become read-only after publishing (e.g., organisation, discipline, past dates).

• Capacity can be adjusted weekly using the equaliser icon; define blackout periods or sub-discipline-specific capacities.

• Vacancies can be saved as drafts, published immediately, or scheduled for later.

Submitting Requests (Education Providers)

• View vacancy details and capacity timeline.

  • Dark green: untapped capacity

  • Light green: partially depleted

  • Grey: no capacity

  • Gaps: blackout weeks

• Identify contention: see My Requests (light green) and Other Requests (grey).

• Click New Request to submit, including school, student numbers, dates, notes, and documents.

My Requests Page (Education Providers)

• Lists all pending requests awaiting consideration.

• Filter by vacancy code, request code, status, organisation, discipline, etc.

• Export request details as CSV.

• Requests can be withdrawn if within the deadline.

• Open Requests (Demand First model) can be created for “spontaneous” placements; Sonia Central generates a private vacancy visible only to the requesting school.

Requests Page (Placement Providers)

• Lists all vacancies with incoming requests.

• Search by vacancy code, request code, or offer code.

• Filter by plan status:

  • No Unanswered Requests

  • Outstanding Requests

  • All Requests Planned

• Map unknown requests in Demand First model if integration requires.

Planning Placements

Each vacancy has a plan containing all requests and offers.

• Planner Sections:

  • Capacity timeline

  • Offers panel

  • Requests panel

• Offer & Request Bars:

  • Colour-coded by education provider

  • Offers: provisional (dashed), actual/expired (solid), confirmed (underscored)

  • Requests: rejected (dashed, hidden by default)

• Filter by provider or status using checkboxes.

• Save provisional offers or publish responses to notify requesters.

• Supports Alternative Placements and Walk-In Requests.

Making Offers

• Offer As Requested: Matches the original request exactly.

• Make Offer: Customize dates, number of places, notes, and documents.

• Provisional offers can be deleted before notification.

• Actual offers can be retracted before confirmation by the requester.

Rejecting Requests

• Partial or full rejections possible; residual places remain for further processing.

• Rejections may be notified immediately or on the vacancy’s notification date.

Outcomes Page

Tracks all placements and their status:

• Placement providers: Focus on vacancies they manage.

• Education providers: Focus on submitted requests.

• Colour-coded sub-cards indicate offer/request status:

  • White: actual offers awaiting confirmation / requests submitted or in review

  • Green: confirmed offers / completed requests

  • Orange: offers nearing deadlines

  • Grey: rejections, expired, retracted, or cancelled offers

• Retract offers or confirm/decline offers as needed.

Placement Area

Allocations Page

• Manage confirmed placements and student allocations.

• Search and filter offers by status: confirmed, cancelled, allocated, or unallocated.

• Student allocation: Assign or unassign students to places; upload relevant documents.

• Track pre-requisites for students if required.

• Cancelling placements: Cancel all or individual places; late cancellations flagged.

• Bulk allocations: Download and upload CSV templates for large-scale student allocation.

Reports Area

Pre-formatted, filterable reports for monitoring and auditing:

1. Available Placements Report: Weekly available places for a selected date range, organisation, discipline, and sub-discipline.

2. Facilitation Liability Report: Upcoming placements, student numbers, training hours, and facilitator effort.

3. Placements Overview Report: Graphical timeline of confirmed offers per vacancy, with colour-coded provider bars.

4. Placements vs Cancellations Report: Breakdown of confirmed placements and cancellations (timely/late) by provider and school.

5. Previous Cohorts Report: Lists past students, attendance, and requester email.

6. Requests & Placements Snapshot Report: Education providers’ request progress by stage/year, showing requested, offered, and confirmed places.

Appendix A: Models of Operation

1. Supply First: Providers define capacity; education providers request; offers/rejections follow.

2. First In, First Served: Selected education providers’ requests auto-confirmed if capacity exists.

3. Demand First: Providers do not pre-define capacity; education providers submit requests; process continues as per Supply First.

Appendix B: Status of Entities

• Vacancies, Requests, Offers each have defined statuses determining permissible actions.

• Final statuses are denoted with a star (*).

• Status transitions guide workflow for planning, offering, and allocating placements.