Part III (C): Submission via WordPress Plugin

This option is best if your organization uses a public WordPress and has IT support in uploading grant opportunities. Note that agencies using the WordPress Plugin to submit grant opportunities must submit post award data via WordPress Plugin as well. See instructions.  

Add Grant Information via the WordPress Plugin  

Follow the steps below to enter a grant opportunity into the Grants Portal via WordPress Plugin.

Step 1: Navigate to your organization’s WordPress admin dashboard and log in using your WordPress credentials. 

Step 2: Hover over “Plugins” on the left-hand toolbar. Select “Add New.” 

Step 3: Type California State Grants in the search box. When the California State Grants plugin appears, select “Install Now”. The installed plugin will appear in both the left-hand toolbar as well as under “Installed Plugins”. 

Step 4: Hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar and select “Getting Started”. 

Step 5: Select “Add First Grant”. This will take you to the grants submission form. Fill out the form per the definitions in the Data Dictionary

Step 6: Select “Save Draft,” or select “Publish” if you’re ready to post your grant on the Grants Portal. Note: Your published grants will not be posted on the Grant Portal until you submit the Endpoint URL and Authorization Token (per instructions below). 

Step 7: When you’re ready to post your first grant on the Grants Portal, make sure that you’ve published the opportunity on the WordPress admin dashboard. 

Step 8: To submit the Endpoint URL, visit grants.ca.gov in a separate browser page and select “For State Agencies” and then “Agency Login.” Log in using your Grant Contributor credentials. 

Step 9: When you arrive at your Grants Dashboard, select “Add Grant” and then “Submit an Endpoint”. 

Step 10: Return to your WordPress admin dashboard, hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar and select “Settings”. 

Step 11: Copy and paste the Endpoint URL and the Authorization (Security) Token into the designated fields on the Grants Portal. Select “Submit”. 

Step 12: If there are any incomplete fields in your form, you’ll be notified at this stage. Make any needed changes to your grant in the WordPress plugin and follow step 11 to complete submission.   

Step 13: Once any errors are corrected, you’ll see a summary of your grant. Review your grant and complete the consent agreement. Select “Submit”. Note: if you’re submitting multiple grants, you’ll only see a summary of the first grant. You’ll receive a validation email if there are errors in any other grants.  

Step 14: Once you’ve submitted your published grants, you’ll be taken to your Grants Dashboard. Any published grants should appear under the Forecasted, Active, and/or Closed Grants tabs. Note: You only need to submit the Endpoint URL and Authorization Token once. After, the Grants Portal will automatically sync every 24 hours. Grant Contributors can initiate a force sync if they’d like the Grants Portal to update immediately. See the following set of instructions for more information. 

Note: By default, the WordPress plugin will not create public grants posts on a department’s website, so you do not need to be concerned about any new posts/content being displayed if you’d like to use the plugin. 

Edit Existing Grant Opportunities via WordPress Plugin 

Step 1: Navigate to your organization’s WordPress Admin dashboard and log in using your WordPress credentials. 

Step 2: Hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar and select “All CA Grants”. 

Step 3: Select “Edit” under the opportunity you’d like to update. 

Step 4: Select “Update” when complete. The Grants Portal will automatically sync any changes once every 24 hours. You also have the option to force a sync. See instructions below for more information. 

Force Sync a Grant via WordPress Plugin 

Step 1: Visit grants.ca.gov and select “For State Agencies” and then “Agency Login” on the homepage. After logging in using your Grant Contributor credentials, you’ll arrive at your Grants Dashboard. 

Step 2: Select “force sync” next to any grant opportunity. Note that this will update all published grant opportunities, not just the grant opportunity “force sync” was selected on. 

Submit Post Award Data via WordPress Plugin 

Follow the steps below to enter post award data for a grant opportunity into the Grants Portal via WordPress Plugin. 

Step 1: Navigate to your organization’s WordPress Admin dashboard and log in using your WordPress credentials. 

Step 2: Hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar and select “All CA Grants”. 

Step 3: Select “View award data,” “Enter award data” (to enter a single award entry), or “Bulk upload award data” (to upload multiple entries via csv) next to the opportunity for which you’d like to submit post award data. See instructions below for each option.  

Enter Award Data via Single Award Entry Form 

Step 1:  After selecting “Enter award data,” follow the steps in the form to enter your post award information. The system will validate data entered each field. All fields with an asterisk are required.  See the data dictionary for more information on the data elements and definitions. 

Step 2: Save as draft or select “Publish.” If you choose to publish the award, a consent statement will appear in a popup window. After consenting, your data will be published for public viewing within an hour.  

After your data is published, review the data on the grant details page to ensure that the information and formatting is visually appealing for users. 

Enter Award Data via Bulk Upload 

Grantmakers should download and complete the .csv template in advance of working through the steps below. Form field guidance is available in the data dictionary and is also included as annotations in the column heading for each element in the .csv template. The Grants Portal will automatically validate data upon submission.   Before starting: Download and fill the .csv template

Step 1: After selecting “Bulk upload award data,” select the fiscal year then “Upload Complete File”. You’ll be prompted to upload the file through your computer’s file browser.    

Step 2: A pop up window will validate your data and inform you if you need to address any  errors. Correct any errors per the specified rows and columns and reupload the file. Data will not be available for viewing immediately and may take up to an hour to upload to the plugin and 24 hours to post on the Grants Portal. You should receive an email confirming your data has uploaded. Please confirm your entry to ensure the data is displaying accurately on the public-facing grant details page. If you have difficulties uploading your data, contact the Grants Portal team at CAGrantsPortal@library.ca.gov.  

Last Updated: 9/12/2022