WP Job Manager, Resume Manager and Applications each ship with their own apply form, and their default settings fight each other. This is the setup WorkPEI uses so there is only one: the Applications form.
What it gives us
- Only logged-in members can apply, and only with a published, visible profile (Resume Manager’s “online resume”).
- Jobs posted with an email address or a website URL are both applied for on WorkPEI. Every application lands in the employer’s WPJM dashboard, and the employer gets an email with a link to the candidate’s profile.
- No files are uploaded at any point. The profile is the application.
Why this way: Applications is the only one of the three that saves the application to the employer dashboard and emails the employer, for URL jobs as well as email jobs. Resume Manager’s own apply form is a second route that skips all of that, so we turn it off and use Resume Manager only to make sure the member has a profile.
Step 1: WP Job Manager (Job Listings → Settings → Job Submission)
- Application Method: Email address or website URL.
- Employers who choose a URL are still applied to on WorkPEI, not sent off-site. That is deliberate: it keeps every application in one place.
Step 2: Applications (Job Applications → Settings → Application Forms)
- Email Application method → Use application form: ON
- Website URL Application method → Use application form: ON
- Only allow registered users to apply: ON (production also hides the Apply button for guests with custom code; this setting is the backstop).
Then open Job Applications → Application Forms and edit the form your jobs use:
- Online Resume (Profile) field: tick Required and clear its Description. The default description (“You need a profile to apply…”) shows next to the dropdown for members who already have a profile.
- Upload CV field: delete it, if it is there. This is what stops file uploads at the point of application.
- Leave
[meta_data]in the employer email template. It is what puts the link to the candidate’s profile in the email.
Step 3: Resume Manager (Resumes → Settings)
- Resume Listings → Enable resume upload: OFF. We don’t allow an attached resume file because candidates rush through the online profile and attach one, and the resume search can’t read attachments.
- Apply With Resume → Email Based Applications: OFF
- Apply With Resume → Website Based Applications: OFF
- Apply With Resume → Force Apply With Resume: OFF
- Apply With Resume → Force Resume Creation: ON. A member with no usable profile sees a message instead of any apply form (see Step 4).
- Click Save Changes even if nothing looks different. The two Based Applications settings count as ON until saved once, which would show a second apply form.
Step 4: Add the code snippet (Code Snippets → Run snippet everywhere)
One snippet does two jobs. The first is explaining why a member can’t apply yet (logged out, no profile, or profile not published and visible), with a link to fix it. That code, plus two small template overrides, is in the Documentation entry “Apply Gate Messages (Logged Out, No Profile, Not Visible)”. The second is the filter below, which goes in the same snippet:
add_filter( 'resume_manager_get_application_form_resumes_args', function ( $args ) {
$args['post_status'] = array( 'publish' );
return $args;
} );Why the filter: Members can hide their profile from the employer directory, and we require a published, visible profile to apply. Out of the box, Force Resume Creation counts Hidden profiles but the Applications form lists only Published ones, so a member with only a Hidden profile would get the form with no profile field and could apply with nothing. The filter makes both use Published only. Use “Run snippet everywhere”, not front-end only, so it also runs on the AJAX job pane.
Check it works (on one email job and one URL job)
- Logged out: “You must be a member with a published profile to apply” with a Log in or join link.
- Member with no profile: “You must have a published profile to apply” with a link to create one.
- Member whose only profile is Hidden, pending, draft or expired: “You must have a published, visible profile to apply” with a link to manage it.
- Member with one published profile: one apply form, profile attached automatically.
- Member with several published profiles: a dropdown with no blank choice.
- After applying: the application is in the employer’s dashboard, and the employer email contains the profile link.
Things to watch out for
- Never turn Force Apply With Resume ON. It removes the Applications form, and applications stop appearing in the employer dashboard.
- Approval delay: new profiles need approval on this site, so a brand-new member sees the “published, visible profile” message until it is approved. A member who has only hidden their profile sees the same message and has to make it visible.
- URL jobs: the notification goes to the employer’s account email, not to the URL or any other address.
- Name field blank: the form pre-fills from the user’s first and last name. Accounts created in the WordPress backend without those fields show a blank name.
- AJAX job pane: the desktop split layout needs extra code to show this same form (see the AJAX job listings entry). On mobile, members are sent to the normal job page, where the plugins work as described here.
Critical Configuration Note:
Two settings together make a profile mandatory, and neither works alone. Required on the Online Resume field only applies when the field is shown, and Applications hides that field for a member with no published profile. Force Resume Creation is what keeps that member from seeing a form at all. Based on a read of Applications 3.2.0 and Resume Manager 2.2.0; if you change any of these settings, re-run the checks above.
