Getting into the dashboard
Follow the invitation link you received by email, or go to dashboard.fourwaves.com and sign in.
Once signed in, select the event you were added to as Track Chair.
You'll land on the event dashboard with a left-hand menu showing Overview, Website, Submission > Submissions, Peer Review > Reviews, and Program.
Click any section in the menu to expand it and see its sub-pages.
What is a Track Chair?
A Track Chair is a committee member responsible for one or more tracks (can be viewed as a theme or topic). You assign submissions to reviewers within your track, decide on outcomes, and manage sessions, but only for the track(s) you've been assigned to.
Note: Everything you see and do here (submissions, reviewers, and sessions) is scoped to your assigned track(s).
Overview
The Overview page gives you a snapshot of the event: its dates and location, and quick counts for submissions and reviews.
Submissions
The Submissions page lists every submission in your track(s), with columns for the submitter's name, email, track, presentation type, decision status, assigned reviews, review score, and more.
For each submission in your track(s) you can:
View and edit submission details.
See the reviews for that submission.
Edit decisions (accept, reject, or change the decision on a submission).
Assign reviewers to one or more submissions, limited to reviewers in your track(s).
Add submissions to sessions in your track (Program).
Contact authors and presenters by email.
Withdraw or delete a submission.
Export the submission list to Excel.
To open a submission:
Hover over its title and click Quick view to see a summary panel on the right (submitter info, decisions, and scheduled sessions) without leaving the list.
Click Full view inside that panel (or the title itself) to open the complete submission page, with Info and Reviews tabs. The Reviews tab shows every review assigned to that specific submission.
From this page you can also edit the submission or withdraw it.
To act on one or more submissions:
Select the checkbox next to each submission you want to act on (or the header checkbox to select all).
A toolbar appears above the table with: Contact, Assign reviewers, Add to sessions, Edit decisions, Edit, and Delete.
Click the action you need:
Contact opens an email composer addressed to the selected submissions' authors/presenters. See Select recipients for submission emails and Send mass emails for more details.
Assign reviewers opens a short wizard where you pick the reviewer(s) (limited to those in your track(s)), the assignment method, and review settings. For more details, see the Assign submissions to reviewers article.
Add to sessions shows the sessions in your track(s), so you can add the selected submission(s) to any of them. See Add presentations in your schedule for more.
Edit decisions lets you set the decision (Accepted, Rejected, Pending) separately for all/any of your presentation types. See Change the decision of one or more submissions for more.
Edit opens the submission(s) for editing.
Delete permanently removes the submission(s).
Peer Review
The Reviews page lists every review tied to your track's submissions, in one place.
From here you can:
View any completed reviews or reviews that still need to be completed, including their scores and written comments.
Edit a review on a reviewer's behalf if a correction is needed.
Contact a reviewer directly from this page.
Delete a review.
See which reviews are To review, Completed, or flagged as a Conflict of interest; reviewers can declare a conflict of interest themselves, from inside their own review, which is how a review ends up in that state.
Use Search, Filters, and Columns the same way as on the Submissions page to narrow down what you're looking at.
To open a review: click the submission's title. You'll see the full submission (abstract, presentation type, uploaded files) and the reviewer's score: an overall score, plus a score for each criterion the form asks about, and their written comments.
To edit a review: click Edit next to the reviewer's name, then update any score or comment and save. Useful if a reviewer made a mistake.
To act on one or more reviews:
Select the checkbox next to each review you want to act on.
A toolbar appears with Contact and Delete.
Contact opens an email composer addressed to the reviewer(s) you selected; it's the same composer used from the Submissions page, just addressed to reviewers instead of authors/presenters.
Delete permanently removes the review.
Reassigning a review to someone else? There's no separate "reassign" button, deleting the review is the mechanism. If a reviewer declares a conflict of interest, or you simply need a different person on it: delete their review here, then go to Submission > Submissions, select the submission, and use Assign reviewers to assign it to someone new.
Program
The page opens on a day-by-day, time-blocked view of the schedule. If your event runs across several days, use the date tabs near the top to switch days. Each time slot shows the sessions scheduled then (name, room, track, and description).
For sessions in your track(s), you can:
Edit sessions (description, and Presentation times: Equal length or Unequal length).
Add presentations to a session and set their order and individual time slots.
Tag sessions for filtering.
Export the schedule.
To edit an existing session in your track: hover over the session and click the Edit (pencil) icon. This opens the session's form, where you can update its Description and set Presentation times to either Equal length (split evenly) or Unequal length (set individually).
To tag a session: click Add tag on the session card and choose (or create) a tag. Tags give you a way to mark sessions for filtering beyond track (for example, by theme or format). See Creating and using tags on sessions in the schedule for more.
To see what's inside a session: expand Presentations (#) on the session card. Each presentation has six dots on its left you can click and drag to reorder it, or you can set an individual time slot for each one. See Set presentation times for more on the different ways to schedule presentation times.
To add a presentation to a session: click Add presentation inside the session, which takes you to the Submissions page. See Add presentations in your schedule for more.
To export the schedule: click Export in the top right corner of the Program page.
Not available to Track Chairs: creating brand-new sessions, and changing a session's room, track, or livestream link. Those stay with the Organizer and Program Chair roles.
Quick reference: where do I go to..
Task | Where to go |
Check event stats at a glance | Overview |
See every submission in my track(s) | Submission > Submissions |
See the reviews for one specific submission | Open the submission → Reviews tab |
Email an author or presenter | Submission > Submissions → select row(s) → Contact |
Assign a reviewer to a submission | Submission > Submissions → select row(s) → Assign reviewers |
Accept/reject a submission | Submission > Submissions → select row(s) → Edit decisions |
Check on a reviewer's progress | Peer review > Reviews |
Correct a review's score or comments | Peer review > Reviews → open the review → Edit → Save |
Email a reviewer | Peer review > Reviews → select row(s) → Contact |
Edit a session in my track | Program → hover the session → Edit (pencil) |
Add or reorder a presentation in my track's session | Program → open the session → Presentations |
Export my track's submissions or the schedule | Submission > Submissions → export to Excel, or Program → Export |
What's outside your access
As a Track Chair, you will not be able to:
See or act on submissions, reviewers, or sessions outside your assigned track(s).
Create new sessions, or change a session's room, track, or livestream link.
Open or edit the event website, pages, or branding (the Website tab is visible in your menu, but access to it stays with the Organizer role).
Manage registrations, payments, invoices, or coupon codes.
Change event settings or add/remove other committee members (that's managed under Settings > Committee, which only Organizers can access).