Explore Refresh Checklist

Review your Explore site once a year, usually in summer or early fall, so it's accurate and ready for your next enrollment cycle. This checklist walks you through what to check, what to update, and what to send to Avela.

Give yourself time before enrollment opens. You can make data updates yourself, but changes to filters, layout, or features go through your Avela CS rep.

🧰 Before you start

Gather your team. Explore often draws on information owned by several departments. Consider inviting people from:

• Communications or marketing
• Enrollment or school choice
• Zoning, planning, or GIS
• Transportation
• Partner organizations or providers that appear on your site

Have these ready:

• Your Explore site link
• Edit access to your Explore data sheet
• Access to Google Analytics, if it's connected to your site

1. 📊 Review how families used your site last year

If your site is connected to Google Analytics, look at last year's traffic before you make changes. Look for:

• When traffic peaked. Spikes usually match enrollment windows, open houses, and deadlines. Plan your refresh to be done before the first one.
• Where visitors came from. If most families came from one page or email, that's your most important link to keep current.
• Phone vs. computer. If most visits came from phones, check your updates on a phone.

Don't have Google Analytics set up yet? Send your Google Measurement ID to your Avela CS rep or help@avela.org, and Avela adds it to your site.

2. 🏫 Make sure your list of sites is up to date

Each row in your data sheet is one site on your Explore map.

• Confirm which sites should appear. Compare your data sheet against your current list of schools or programs.
• Remove closed sites. Delete the entire row for any site that has closed or should no longer appear. Don't clear the cells and leave an empty row.
• Add new sites. Add a row for each new site, directly below the last one. Every row needs an ID, site name, latitude, and longitude. Fill in as much other information as you can.
• Use unique IDs. Never reuse an ID, even one from a site you removed. If you use Explore to Apply, each ID must match the school ID in Avela Apply.
• Add photos for new sites. Name each photo with the site's ID and upload it to your shared folder. See [School photos].

Don't add blank rows anywhere in your data sheet, including at the bottom.

3. ✏️ Update your existing data

• Update anything that changed: grades or ages served, programs, hours, contact information, school leaders, websites, seats available, and so on.
• Coordinate with other teams. Some updates depend on other departments or partner organizations. Ask them to review the rows for their sites.
• Keep filter values consistent. If a column is used as a filter, every value must match a filter option exactly, including spelling and capitalization.
• Remove formulas. Paste values instead. Formula errors like #VALUE! show up on your site exactly as they appear in the sheet.

Don't edit, rename, or reorder column headers without telling your Avela CS rep or help@avela.org first. Explore uses headers to find your data, so changing one can break filters and profiles.

See [Updating your Explore data after launch] for step-by-step instructions.

4. ✨ Add new information or refresh your layout

Use your refresh to make your site more useful for families.

Start with what families ask about. Look at the questions your enrollment office, schools, and family support teams heard most often this year. If families keep asking about something, like transportation, before- and after-care, language programs, or application deadlines, consider adding it to Explore.

Then decide what to change:

• Add new information. Add a new column to your data sheet for each new data point.
• Remove information you no longer need. List the columns you'd like removed.
• Refresh your layout. Consider whether your filters, list highlights, and profile tabs still put the most important information first. See [Anatomy of an Explore site], [Designing filters for Explore], and [Designing school profiles in Explore].
• Update your text. Check your header links, disclaimer (including the school year), and Apply Now button. See [Branding your Explore site].
• Update boundaries. If attendance zones changed, send updated boundary files. See [Boundaries and zoned schools].

When you're ready, email your CS rep or help@avela.org with:

• The new columns you added, and where each should appear (filter, list, profile tab)
• Any columns or features to remove
• Any layout or text changes

5. 🚀 Take advantage of advanced features

These features may be available, depending on your Explore tier. Ask your CS rep if you'd like to add one or are unsure whether a feature is included in your Explore license.

6. 🧭 Check how families find your site

Families can only use Explore if they can find it.

• Link Explore prominently from your enrollment or school choice page, and from your homepage during enrollment season.
• Consider embedding Explore on your website so families can explore schools without leaving your site.
• Check your links. Make sure every link to Explore (website, emails, flyers, QR codes) goes to the right place.
• Share school profile links. Each school has its own Explore link you can use on school pages and in newsletters.

See Promoting and embedding your Explore site.

7. 🔍 Test your site

After your updates are live, check your site as a family would. Changes can take a few minutes to appear, so refresh your browser if something looks out of date.

Data

• New sites appear, and closed sites are gone
• No blank rows in your data sheet
• No formula errors or placeholder text (like #VALUE! or "TBD") on any profile
• Hours, phone numbers, and links are correct

Filters and search

• Each filter option returns the sites you expect
• No sites go missing from a filter because of a spelling or capitalization mismatch
• Address search returns the right zoned schools for a few test addresses, if you use boundaries

Text and links

• Disclaimer shows the correct school year and contact information
• Header links and the Apply Now button go to current pages
• Each language you offer displays correctly

Devices

• The site looks as you want it to on a phone as well as a computer

Found a problem? Fix it in your data sheet, or email help@avela.org with your site link and what you found.

8. 🎉 Launch your revamped Explore site!

Include your Explore link in family communications or website pop-ups to encourage families to visit your newly refreshed Explore page. 

💬 Get help

Email help@avela.org or your Avela CS representative with questions at any point in your refresh.

Related articles

• Preparing your Explore data file
• Updating your Explore data after launch
• Anatomy of an Explore site
• Promoting and embedding your Explore site
• Colored pins · Conditional filters · Inline video · Compare schools · Google Analytics integration