Piece Status Management - Complete Guide

Understanding the difference between entry statuses and piece statuses is crucial for managing your call effectively. This guide explains how piece statuses work, when to use them, and how they relate to entry statuses.

Entry Status vs. Piece Status: The Key Difference

Entry Status: Applies to the entire entry (all pieces together). Think of it as the overall status of the artist's submission.

Piece Status: Applies to individual pieces (artwork) within an entry. Each piece can have its own status, independent of other pieces in the same entry.

Why this matters: An entry can contain multiple pieces, and you might want to accept some pieces while rejecting others. Piece statuses give you that granular control.

Available Piece Statuses

Pieces can have these statuses:

Submitted: The piece has been submitted (default status for pieces)
Accepted: The piece has been accepted for your show
Not Accepted: The piece was not selected
Waitlist: The piece is on the waitlist
Group A, B, C, D, E: Organizational statuses for grouping pieces (useful for multi-round jurying or categorizing)

Important: Some entry-level statuses don't apply to pieces: - ❌ Not Submitted - Pieces don't have this status - ❌ Show to Jury - This is an entry-level status only - ❌ Fee Paid - This is an entry-level status only - ❌ Partially Accepted - This is an entry-level status only - ❌ Withdrawn statuses - These are entry-level only

When to Use Piece Statuses

Use Piece Statuses When:

You want to accept some pieces but not others from the same entry
Example: An artist submits 5 photographs, but you only want 3 of them
You're jurying by piece (voting on individual pieces)
Piece statuses help you track which pieces were accepted/rejected
You need granular control over what gets accepted
Example: Accepting specific pieces for different exhibition rounds
You're organizing pieces into groups for different purposes
Example: Group A for main gallery, Group B for satellite location

Use Entry Statuses When:

You're evaluating entries as a whole
Example: Accept or reject the entire entry regardless of individual pieces
All pieces in an entry should have the same status
Example: Accept all 3 pieces from Entry #123
You're managing the submission workflow
Example: Moving entries from "Submitted" to "Show to Jury"

How Piece Statuses Work

Example 1: Accepting Some Pieces, Rejecting Others

Scenario: Entry #456 contains 3 pieces: - Piece A: "Sunset Over Mountains" - Piece B: "Forest Path" - Piece C: "Cityscape"

What you want: Accept Piece A and Piece B, but reject Piece C.

Steps: 1. Go to Entry #456's detail page 2. Find Piece A, change its status to Accepted 3. Find Piece B, change its status to Accepted 4. Find Piece C, change its status to Not Accepted

Result: - Entry #456: Automatically updated to Partially Accepted (since some pieces were accepted) - Piece A: Accepted - Piece B: Accepted - Piece C: Not Accepted

Note: When you use the bulk piece status update, the entry status automatically updates based on the outcome: Accepted (all pieces accepted), Partially Accepted (some accepted), or Not Accepted (none accepted). You can still manually override the entry status afterward.

Example 2: All Pieces Accepted

Scenario: Entry #789 contains 2 pieces, and you want to accept both.

Option A: Update pieces individually 1. Go to Entry #789's detail page 2. Change Piece 1 status to Accepted 3. Change Piece 2 status to Accepted 4. Update entry status to Accepted manually

Option B: Use bulk update (recommended) 1. Go to Entry #789's detail page 2. Select both pieces using checkboxes 3. Use bulk update dropdown to set both to Accepted 4. Entry status automatically updates to Accepted

Result: - Entry #789: Accepted (auto-updated when using bulk update) - Piece 1: Accepted - Piece 2: Accepted

Example 3: Organizing Pieces into Groups

Scenario: You're running a multi-location show. Entry #101 has 4 pieces, and you want: - Pieces 1 and 2 → Group A (Main Gallery) - Pieces 3 and 4 → Group B (Satellite Location)

Steps: 1. Go to Entry #101's detail page 2. Change Piece 1 status to Group A 3. Change Piece 2 status to Group A 4. Change Piece 3 status to Group B 5. Change Piece 4 status to Group B

Result: - Entry #101: Has its own entry status (e.g., "Accepted") - Pieces 1-2: Group A - Pieces 3-4: Group B

Use this to: Filter pieces by group, organize for different exhibition spaces, or track pieces for different purposes.

Managing Piece Statuses

On the Entry Detail Page

Navigate to an entry from your Entries list
Find the "Submitted Pieces" section
Each piece has a status dropdown - click it to change the piece's status
Or use bulk update: Select multiple pieces with checkboxes, then use the bulk update dropdown

On the Pieces Page (Pieces Wall)

The Pieces page shows all pieces from all entries in your call:

Navigate to your call and click "Pieces" (or "Pieces Wall")
Filter pieces by status, entry, category, etc.
Select pieces using checkboxes (individual or "Select all")
Use bulk update dropdown to change status of selected pieces
Click "Apply" to update

Advantage: You can update pieces from multiple entries at once on the Pieces page.

Piece Statuses and Jury Visibility

When jurors review entries, what they see depends on piece statuses:

Jurors can see pieces with status: - Submitted - Accepted - Not Accepted (Rejected)

Jurors cannot see pieces with status: - Waitlist - Group A-E

Use this to: Control what jurors see during different voting rounds. For example: - Round 1: All pieces start as Submitted (jurors see them all) - After Round 1: Change eliminated pieces to Group A (jurors no longer see them) - Round 2: Only pieces still Submitted are visible to jurors

Entry Status vs. Piece Status: Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Entry Accepted, All Pieces Accepted

Entry Status: Accepted
Piece Statuses: All pieces are Accepted

When this happens: You've accepted the entire entry, and all pieces are part of the acceptance.

What to do: This is straightforward—everything is accepted.

Scenario 2: Entry Accepted, Some Pieces Accepted

Entry Status: Accepted (or Partially Accepted)
Piece Statuses: Some Accepted, some Not Accepted

When this happens: You've decided to accept the entry overall, but only want specific pieces.

Example: Entry #555 is accepted, but you only want 2 of the 4 pieces.

What to do: 1. Set entry status to Accepted (or Partially Accepted if you prefer) 2. Set desired pieces to Accepted 3. Set unwanted pieces to Not Accepted

Scenario 3: Entry Status Doesn't Match Piece Statuses

Entry Status: Submitted
Piece Statuses: Some Accepted, some Not Accepted

When this happens: You've updated piece statuses but haven't updated the entry status yet.

What to do: This is fine! Entry and piece statuses are independent. Update the entry status when you're ready, or leave it as-is if you're still reviewing.

Note: When you use the bulk piece status update, the entry status will automatically update to match (Accepted, Partially Accepted, or Not Accepted). You can still manually change the entry status afterward if needed.

Bulk Updating Piece Statuses

On Entry Detail Page

Select pieces using checkboxes in the "Submitted Pieces" section
Use "Select All" checkbox to select all pieces at once
Choose status from the bulk update dropdown that appears
Click "Update" to apply changes

On Pieces Page

Filter pieces (optional) to narrow down what you see
Select pieces using checkboxes (can select across multiple entries)
Choose status from the bulk update dropdown at the top
Click "Apply" to update all selected pieces

Tip: Use filters before selecting to make sure you're updating the right pieces.

Filtering by Piece Status

On both the Pieces page and Entry detail pages, you can filter pieces by status:

All: Show all pieces regardless of status
Submitted: Only pieces with Submitted status
Accepted: Only accepted pieces
Not Accepted: Only rejected pieces
Waitlist: Only waitlisted pieces
Group A-E: Filter by specific group

Use this to: Quickly see which pieces are in which status, or prepare for bulk updates.

Examples with Real Scenarios

Example A: Photography Series

The Call: Accepting photography submissions, up to 5 images per entry.

Entry #100: Artist submits 5 photographs: - Photo 1: "Morning Light" - Photo 2: "Afternoon Shadows" - Photo 3: "Evening Glow" - Photo 4: "Night Scene" - Photo 5: "Dawn Breaking"

Your Decision: You want Photos 1, 3, and 5, but not 2 and 4.

What You Do: 1. Go to Entry #100 2. Set Photo 1 status: Accepted 3. Set Photo 2 status: Not Accepted 4. Set Photo 3 status: Accepted 5. Set Photo 4 status: Not Accepted 6. Set Photo 5 status: Accepted

Result (using bulk update): - Entry #100: Automatically updated to Partially Accepted - Photos 1, 3, 5: Accepted - Photos 2, 4: Not Accepted

Example B: Multi-Round Jurying

The Call: Two-round jury process. Round 1 eliminates half the pieces.

Entry #200: Contains 4 pieces (A, B, C, D)

Round 1: - All pieces start as Submitted (jurors see them all) - After voting, you decide to eliminate Pieces C and D

What You Do: 1. Set Piece C status: Group A (hides it from jurors) 2. Set Piece D status: Group A (hides it from jurors) 3. Pieces A and B remain Submitted (jurors see them in Round 2)

Round 2: - Jurors only see Pieces A and B (still Submitted) - After Round 2 voting, you accept Piece A, reject Piece B

What You Do: 1. Set Piece A status: Accepted 2. Set Piece B status: Not Accepted

Result (using bulk update): - Entry #200: Automatically updated to Partially Accepted - Piece A: Accepted - Piece B: Not Accepted - Pieces C and D: Group A (eliminated in Round 1)

Example C: Different Exhibition Locations

The Call: Art show with main gallery and satellite location.

Entry #300: Contains 3 pieces (X, Y, Z)

Your Decision: - Piece X → Main Gallery - Piece Y → Satellite Location - Piece Z → Not accepted

What You Do: 1. Set Piece X status: Group A (represents Main Gallery) 2. Set Piece Y status: Group B (represents Satellite Location) 3. Set Piece Z status: Not Accepted 4. Set Entry #300 status: Partially Accepted

Result: - Entry #300: Partially Accepted - Piece X: Group A (Main Gallery) - Piece Y: Group B (Satellite Location) - Piece Z: Not Accepted

Use this to: Filter pieces by group later to see what's going where, or export pieces by group for different locations.

Tips and Best Practices

Entry Status Auto-Updates with Bulk Piece Updates

When you use the bulk piece status update, the entry status automatically updates: - If all pieces are Accepted → entry becomes Accepted - If some pieces are Accepted → entry becomes Partially Accepted - If no pieces are Accepted → entry becomes Not Accepted

You can always manually change the entry status afterward if needed.

Use Groups for Organization

Group statuses (A-E) are perfect for: - Multi-round jurying (hide pieces between rounds) - Organizing pieces for different exhibition spaces - Categorizing pieces for different purposes - Temporary organization (you can change them later)

Filter Before Bulk Updates

Always filter pieces by status before doing bulk updates to ensure you're updating the right ones.

Check Entry Status After Individual Piece Updates

If you update piece statuses one at a time (not using bulk update), the entry status won't auto-update. Check if the entry status needs updating manually.

Common Questions

Do piece statuses automatically update entry status? Yes, when you use the bulk piece status update. The entry status automatically updates to Accepted, Partially Accepted, or Not Accepted based on the outcome. If you update pieces individually (one at a time), the entry status won't auto-update.

Can I have different statuses for pieces in the same entry? Yes! That's exactly what piece statuses are for. Each piece can have its own status.

What happens if I accept some pieces but not others? The pieces you accept will be marked Accepted, and the others will have whatever status you assign them. The entry status remains whatever you set it to (or whatever it was before).

Can jurors see pieces with Group A-E status? No. Jurors can only see pieces with status Submitted, Accepted, or Not Accepted. Group statuses hide pieces from jurors.

Should I update entry status when I update piece statuses? If you use the bulk piece status update, the entry status updates automatically. If you update pieces individually, you may want to update the entry status manually to keep them consistent.

Can I bulk update pieces from multiple entries? Yes! On the Pieces page, you can select pieces from different entries and update them all at once.