Take panorama management to a new level by allowing your clients to create content for the panoramas they oversee. Once set up, panorama authors can create most content types and make the content available to their learners without intervention from main site Admin.
Use Case Information
To allow panorama authoring, you will need to create a custom role with certain permissions and reach out to Thought Industries support to ensure the right feature flags are enabled for your instance. Configuring a Panorama Author custom role will allow managers to create and provision content to panorama learners. These authors can create most content types within the panorama, without having access to the main content list. Content Types available to panorama authors include courses, microcourses, articles, videos, ILTs, SCORM, xAPI, and Learning Paths. You can use this feature to give panorama admin users more control over the content and assets that learners have access to. Some content settings and functionality will be restricted or hidden for panorama authors, in order to prevent security related risks.
When configured you can accomplish the following:
- Remove the bottleneck of content creation
- Managers creating and launching content specific to their learners
To recap, before inviting Panorama Authors to your platform, you will need to have two things in place:
A custom role based on the Panorama Admin template with additional content editing permissions
Panorama Content Creation Feature Flag needs to be enabled by a Thought Industries team member
Panorama Content Authoring is behind a feature flag.
Reach out to Thought Industries Account Manager to request to have this feature enabled on your site.
Panorama Created Content Access Overview
All content created by a panorama author role is automatically added to the panorama’s access settings, meaning learners in that panorama have access to the content.
Note
Anytime a client’s access settings are saved, the Main sublicense’s content settings are automatically updated. This is existing behavior in panorama.
The new content is also added to main site’s content list as unreleased content. Managers that have access to the main site's content list can filter for panorama authored content by using the Panorama filter category. From here, Site Admins have the ability to release the content to the main site catalog or provision it to another panorama.
Custom Role and Permissions Required
Panorama authors are custom roles based off the Panorama Admin template, with additional content permissions. It’s important that this role is at the level of a Panorama Admin because the user needs to have the ‘Manage Multiple Clients’ permission which gives them access across the entire panorama, versus specific sublicense access.
To create a Panorama Author custom role:
- Go to Users > Managers.
- Click Add Custom Role.
- Name your role and choose the Panorama Role Type. Click Next.
- Choose the Panorama Admin template. Click Next.
- On the Customize step, add the following permissions:
- Creating Content and Editing Content [required]: Both of these permissions are required in order to create any content type. Authors with this permission will be able to create courses, microcourses, articles, and videos.
- Deleting Content [optional]: Required in order to archive content.
-
Managing ILTs [optional]: Required in order to create ILTs.
Note
This permission is specific to Panorama roles since this capability is included in the Creating Content permission for main site roles.
- Manage Learning Paths [optional]: Required in order to create Learning Paths.
-
Creating SCORM, xAPI, HTML embed, and LTI content [optional]: Required in order to remove panorama security restrictions around these content and page types. When enabled, panorama authors can create these content and page types. When copying a course provisioned from the main site, these page types will carry over into the copy. By granting this permission, the Site Admin acknowledges and accepts the risk.
Note
This permission is specific to Panorama roles since this capability is included in the Creating Content permission for main site roles.
- Access Master Question Bank [optional]: Required in order to access the main site’s Question Bank. Panorama authors can add questions from the Question Bank to quiz and test pages they create. Once added to the page, they can edit the question from within the page itself. Any changes will only affect that particular quiz or test and will not have any broader impact on the Question Bank. Panorama authors will not be able to add, import, edit, or delete questions or categories within the Question Bank itself.
- Manage Central Assets (3 permissions: Editing Content, Creating Content, Destroy Content) [optional]: All 3 permissions are required in order to access the Asset Library (formerly called Central Asset Manager) to insert text blocks, certificates, and other assets (except for SCORM and xAPI). Please note there are not currently any restrictions preventing Panorama Authors from editing, deleting, or creating new assets in the Asset Library.
- Review the permissions and click Create Role.
Creating Courses, Articles, and Videos
Required permissions: Creating Content and Editing Content
Permissions to create and edit content are required for any panorama authoring role and allows the user to create courses, articles, and videos from within the panorama.
Limitations on Courses created by Panorama Authors
The Panorama Author is able to create content through a similar experience as main site authors. However, we do limit the role and the content in the following areas to prevent any security related risks. The limitations below apply to content that is created by a panorama role.
Content Tab Restrictions
- Lesson Access Level: All lessons will default to “Open to learners only”; other options are hidden.
- Copy Existing Page: Only pages that have been created by a panorama author within the user’s client will display. Panorama authors cannot copy pages that have been created at the main site.
- SCORM, xAPI, HTML Embed, or LTI launch pages: These page types cannot be added to panorama authored content. If a provisioned course from the main site is copied by a panorama author, the pages will be stripped out of the copied version. (Limitations can be bypassed if the role has the required permission.)
Design Tab Restrictions
Some options have been removed from the Catalog Settings area.
- Catalog tab: Tags, Custom Fields, Ribbons
- Detail Page tab: Detail Page Layout, Related Content
- Advanced Settings tab: External Detail Link
Enrollment Tab Restrictions
- Access tab: Limit Enrollments, Sample Lesson, Allow Rescheduling, Prerequisite Courses (Exception for Prerequisite Courses: available for Learning Paths)
- Ecommerce tab: Free Access with Registration
Release Tab Restrictions
- Release button: All content created by users will default to ‘Unreleased’ status
- Create a New Session
- SCORM Connect
Creating ILTs
Required permissions: Creating Content, Editing Content, and Managing ILTs
If your clients run their own events, they might need a way to independently create and manage ILTs within each panorama.
Tip
You can also use the ILT content type to run webinars by adding the webinar join link to Attendee Info.
Limitations on ILTs created by Panorama Authors
- Location: Dropdown will filter to only show locations added within the panorama.
- Instructors: Field is hidden in panorama.
- Pre/post learning: Similar settings limitations will apply that are enforced on Courses created in panorama.
Creating SCORM, xAPI, HTML Embed, and LTI Pages
Required permissions: Creating Content, Editing Content, and Creating SCORM, xAPI, HTML embed, and LTI content
These permissions allow panorama authors to create SCORM, xAPI, HTML Embed, or LTI course pages, as well as standalone SCORM and xAPI content types.
Note
If a panorama author without this permission copies a course, any SCORM, xAPI, HTML embed, and LTI pages are stripped out of the copied course. But if the panorama author does have this permission, those pages are copied to the new course.
Limitations for Panorama Authors
- Similar settings limitations will apply that are enforced on Courses created in panorama.
- Panorama Content Authors cannot access SCORM and xAPI assets stored in the Asset Library.
Creating Learning Paths
Required permissions: Creating Content, Editing Content, and Managing Learning Paths
These permissions allow panorama authors to create learning paths with content that the client has access to and utilize Assigned Programs if desired.
Tip
Check out the Assigned Programs article if you are interested in setting due dates for learning paths.
Panorama authors can add prerequisites--which can include other learning paths and content, as long as they are within the panorama’s Access OR Enrollment settings. Prerequisites can be used for different use cases--such as creating associations between pieces of content in order to create a larger curriculum of learning.
Limitations on Learning Paths created by Panorama Authors
- Milestone Content: User can only search/add content that the panorama has access to (Panorama > Settings > Access).
- Competency Assessments will not be available.
- Allow Learner to select and complete any session in the content setting will be hidden
- Completion Criteria: The only milestone completion criteria that panorama authors can configure is whether content is required or elective. Other types of completion criteria cannot be added.
- Similar settings limitations will apply that are enforced on Courses created in panorama.
Copying Content
The permissions that allow panorama authors to create a particular content type will also allow them to copy that content type when it’s provisioned from the main site. Any copied content created by the role will be saved as unreleased content at the main site. If a panorama author is restricted from viewing certain settings (e.g. tags), those settings will be stripped out of the copied version.
Copy Limitations specific to Learning Paths:- Prerequisite Content: If the original learning path is provisioned from the main site, then the prerequisites will not get carried over to the copy (this is because the panorama may not have access to all prerequisite content). However, if the original learning path was created within the panorama, then prerequisites DO carry over to the copy.
- Competency Assessments: If a milestone contains a competency assessment, the entire milestone will be removed from the copy.
- Allow Learner to select and complete any session in the content: If a piece of content has this setting enabled, the content will be removed from the milestone in the copy.