Not seeing an Apply Now, Continue or Evaluate button? In most cases a round date or a publish setting is the reason. Here's what controls each button, so you can fix it in a few clicks.
Each round has its own Submission Dates, Evaluation Dates and Timezone. You'll find them in the round's Settings → General Settings.
No "Apply Now" button for participants
Check these in order:
The program is published. The switch at the top right of the program page is green.
At least one track is published. In the first round's Submission Form tab, the Select Track dropdown shows a Published badge. If it doesn't, select the track, click the pencil icon next to Select Track, switch on the Publish toggle in the Edit Submission Track Form dialog and click Save.
Submissions are open. Today falls between the first round's submission Start Date and Deadline.
Visibility lets people apply. On the Content tab (right side), check Visibility: Public, Logged-In Users, Invited Only or Private Domains. With Invited Only, only invited people can apply.
Tip: want a different label than Apply Now? See Renaming Program Buttons (Apply Now, Vote and More).
"Application Closed" shows before the deadline
Check the submission Start Date and Deadline, including the time.
Check the round's Timezone. Timezones use fixed UTC offsets and don't change for daylight saving. See Configuring Submission and Evaluation Rounds Settings.
Everything looks right? Message us in chat with the program link and we'll take a look.
A qualified participant can't continue to the next round
Check that the next round's submission dates are open. Participants can start a round until its deadline.
If a course is a prerequisite, the participant needs to finish the whole course, including every quiz.
The participant may need to switch to the new round in the round dropdown on their submission page.
No "Start evaluation" or "Evaluate" button
Move participants forward automatically
To qualify participants automatically, use Qualification Settings. See Configuring Submission and Evaluation Rounds Settings.