Managing roles effectively within your learning site is crucial for maintaining organization, efficiency, and security. Understanding the default roles available and their respective permissions is fundamental to configuring your platform to suit your organization's specific needs. In addition to the default roles, you have the flexibility to create custom roles tailored to your requirements, granting precise permissions to users.
This article will guide you through the process of inviting individuals to default roles or creating custom roles tailored to your unique requirements.
Use Case Information
There are five default roles for your learning site, including Admin, Course Author, Customer Service, Instructor, and Learner. Additionally, there are two default roles for Panorama (client) accounts (Client Admin and Client Manager).
You can view the appropriate permissions for each default role, as well as invite anyone from your organization, to any of the default roles or custom roles.
If you have a use case for a dual role, which combines a manager and a learner into one role, see our article on dual roles for guidance, keeping in mind that an email address can be linked to only one account.
Tip
For information on inviting a new learner, see the Inviting a New Learner to Your Site article.
Inviting a Manager
You can invite managers individually to the role you want them to have. Although learners can be bulk uploaded, managers cannot currently be uploaded in bulk.
- From your homepage, select Users > Managers.
- Next, locate the default role that you want to assign to your user, and click on that role (e.g. Course Author).
- Click on the Gear icon in the top right of the screen, then click Add User.
- Enter the user's first name, last name, and email address. (The user will receive an email invitation to the learning site, so be sure to enter a valid email address.)
- If applicable, specify what content the user should have access to.
- If you would like to send a customized message in the user's email invitation, complete the Invite Message field.
- Click Invite.
Note
Manager invitations do not expire. If you would like to revoke the invitation, you can disable the user and the invitation will no longer be valid.
Tip
You can search across manager roles to locate a user. If your user search comes up with no results, check to see if the user's account is disabled by clicking on "View Disabled" for any manager role, then execute the search again.
Viewing Role Permissions
Effective role management is paramount for optimizing the user experience, maintaining security protocols, and facilitating seamless operations within your learning environment. By following these steps, gain insights into the permissions associated with each default and custom role, empowering you to make informed decisions when assigning roles to users within your organization.
- From your homepage, select Users > Managers.
- Next, locate the default or custom role that you want to view permissions for, and click on that role (e.g. Course Author).
- Click on the Gear icon in the top right of the screen, then click View/Edit Role Permissions.
Tip
If you have permission to edit role permissions but simply want to view what permissions are enabled, click Edit Role Permissions, then click Next to see a summary of chosen permissions.
Tip
For guidance on setting password and timeout requirements, see this article.
Creating a Custom Manager Role
- From your homepage, select Users > Managers.
- In the left roles list, click Add Custom Role (button located after Default roles).
- This will launch a guided four-step process to create a new custom role, outlined below.
Create a New Role
- First, you'll want to enter a name for your custom role in the Name This Role field.
- Main site roles are designed to provide access to main site settings, content management, general reporting, and learner management. Default roles should not be provisioned access to Panoramas.Next, choose a Role Type - Main Site or Panorama.
- Panorama roles are designed to provide access to Panorama license and sub-licenses for content management, user management, and reporting. Client roles should either be provisioned directly to a Panorama/sublicense or be granted permission to all (via the "Manage Multiple Clients" permission).
- Click Next.
Select a Template
- Choose a template as a starting point before you customize permissions.
- If each user assigned to this role should have access to all courses, click the Has Access To All Courses? toggle to Yes in this step. If the toggle remains set to No, you'll be able to assign access to one or more specific courses when you invite each user.
- Once you click on a template, scroll down to review the current permissions enabled for that template. You can also choose and review other templates before you move onto customization.
- Click Next.
Customize Permissions
Now comes the fun part: customizing your manager role to fit your unique use case!
- Read about each permission in the definitions column to get an idea of what you are granting access to.
- Permissions are organized in categories - expand or collapse the list of permissions in the top right.
- Click the check marks in the right column to enable a permission. Repeat for as many permissions as you wish to include.
You can always edit permissions later (after creation) by going to Users > Managers > click the Custom Role Title > click the Gear Icon (top right) > Edit Role Permissions > Customize step. - Click Next.
Note
If you selected Panorama Role Type, you'll see asterisks next to the permissions that should be used with caution. If enabled, these permissions could allow the custom role to see learner information or site information that doesn't apply to their assigned Panorama.
Summary
- Review which permissions you've enabled before creating the custom manager role. Hover over the info icons to see the definitions again. To update a permission while on this screen, simply click the Customize step again to go back and edit.
- If you're ready to invite users, click Create Role.
- Next, start inviting users to this role by following steps 3-8 in the Inviting a Manager section above.
Tip
You can rename Custom Manager Roles! Click on the role name > gear icon > Edit Role Permissions > Back button x2 > Rename and Save.
Note
Emails in reports will only be linked to profiles if you have Manage Learners permission.
Deleting a Custom Role
Need to clean up some custom roles? First, move users currently in the role to another role, or if no longer needed, disable the user's account. Then follow the steps below.
- Once the active user count is zero, go to Users > Managers.
- Next, locate the custom role that you want to delete, and click on that role.
- Click on the Gear icon in the top right of the screen, then click Edit Role Permissions.
- Click Delete Role and confirm.