Add a panelist
How to add a person to your sensory panel.
Goal
Add a panelist to your list so you can assign them to tastings. All you need is a name; you can fill in the rest of the details later.
Pro plan and above. Adding panelists is part of the Sensory analysis module.
Steps
Open Panelists
In the sidebar, click Sensory analysis and, inside the hub, open the Panelists card. (Panelists doesn't appear directly in the sidebar.)
Click New panelist
The creation modal opens with the title New panelist.
Type the name
The only required field is Name or alias. When the modal opens, focus jumps straight to this field, so you can start typing right away. The field comes with a suggested text like Panelist N (where N is the current number of panelists plus one). If you press Enter without typing anything, it's created with that suggested name.
Add more data (optional)
Click Add more data (optional) to expand the optional fields:
- Email (for example, to send digital evaluation links).
- Phone.
- Panelist type: Internal (default), External, Guest, or Consumer.
- Internal notes: any data useful for your organization. It's private to the lead and not visible to the panelist.
Click Create and add
The panelist is saved and appears in the list. If instead you're editing an existing one, the button reads Save changes.
Expected result
The panelist appears in the list. From now on, you can assign them in the panel step of any tasting wizard.
Every new panelist starts at the Naive level of ISO 8586. Their level rises to Initiated, Selected, or Expert as they complete training tests. See ISO 8586 assessor types to understand each level.
View and edit the record from the tasting wizard
You don't need to leave the tasting creation flow to fix a panelist. In the Panel step of the tasting wizard, when you click Add panelist you can view and edit the record (name, email, and type) without losing your progress:
- In the Select existing tab, each panelist shows their email below the name and comes with an edit button (pencil). Click it and the record opens in an overlay window on top of the list; make your change, save, and return to the selection.
- In the chips of panelists already assigned to the tasting, the same pencil opens the record for editing.
This is especially useful to tell apart two panelists with the same name: the email shown under each name tells you which is which before you add them.
Avoid duplicates
The Panel step protects you from adding the same person twice:
- A panelist who is already in this tasting's panel is flagged as In the panel and isn't added again.
- When you create a new one from the Create new tab, if another panelist already exists with the same name and the same email, the wizard warns you and offers to use the existing one instead of creating a duplicate.
Repeated names with a different email remain valid: each panelist has a unique identifier, so you can have several people with the same name as long as you tell them apart by email.