Custom Roles and Role Permissions - Genius CE & Enterprise

Introduction

In the Genius CE & Enterprise system, each account is established as a user account. After the account is created, the next critical step is to assign the user the appropriate permissions, commonly referred to as a role. It is essential to note that each account has the flexibility to hold multiple roles and can also be restricted to a specific organizational unit, such as a department, training group, college, or office.

Roles can be assigned or removed by an administrator or an authorized user. The system comes equipped with several default roles, but administrators can create and tailor custom roles to meet specific needs. The default roles available in the system include:

• Learner – This role is designated for individuals who are actively engaged in taking courses.
• Instructor – This role is responsible for managing and overseeing the course content.
• Coach – This role involves mentoring and guiding the learners through their educational journey.
• Affiliation (Manager) – This role is for individuals who supervise the learners within a specific organizational unit.
• Administrator – This is a comprehensive role that encompasses all permissions available in the system.

The majority of users within the system are typically categorized as learners. A smaller fraction of these users may also hold managerial positions, and an even smaller number will hold administrative roles.

Assigning a New Role to an Account

There are primarily two methods available for managing and assigning a new role to an existing user account.

1. The first method is through the Administration > Find Users section.
   This approach is predominantly intended for administrators who can utilize a filtering mechanism to search for a specific user and subsequently edit their account. By clicking the pencil icon (Edit), an administrator can access and manage a user's basic information, including affiliation assignments and roles. The primary role assigned to the account determines the landing page the user will see. For instance, if the primary function of the account is to act as a learner, the primary role should be designated as “Learner,” after which additional roles can be appended." Once all modifications are completed, it is essential to save the changes made.

2. The second method is through the Learner profile > Roles section.
   This method is generally reserved for managers, such as training officers, who are responsible for overseeing all learners within their organizational unit. This view is tailored to display only accounts that have a “Learner” role. An administrator should review and assign roles to determine if this permission should remain enabled.
   In this workflow, the designated manager can search for the specific learner in the Learners menu, click on the learner's name, and utilize the ‘Roles’ link to add additional roles for the learner.

CreatinrolesetoRole

In instances where none of the core roles meet the specific requirements or if a unique set of permissions needs to be configured, it is possible to create a new role and assign it to a user, as outlined above. The process for creating a new role involves the following steps:

1. Navigate to Administration > Users and Access > User-defined Roles > Add new role.

2. Begin by creating a name for the new role, and then click save. At this stage, you are simply assigning a name to the role. The next step involves setting the permissions associated with this role.
3. After the role name has been established, proceed to Administration > Access setup. Use the drop-down menu to locate and select the newly created role. Once selected, a list of permissions will be displayed.
4. Edit the role permissions individually from the list of available permissions on the left side. Additionally, you can copy permissions from an existing role and make any necessary adjustments. This copy functionality is handy when only minor modifications to an existing role are required. Selecting the role to copy from will refresh the screen to display the current permissions associated with that role.

5. Once you have configured the desired permissions, be sure to save the changes made.

It is also possible to modify any existing role to streamline the navigation panel menus and the links contained within each role. The permission sections listed can be expanded to reveal additional options.

Switching Between Roles

When a user has been assigned multiple roles, it is crucial to note that only one role can be designated as the primary role. The primary role is significant as it determines the landing page or area that the user will first encounter. For example, a manager who also holds a learner role can be configured to initially land on the manager dashboard, allowing them to review any pending requests before switching to the learner role. Currently, the primary role can only be established by an administrator within the Find Users section.

• When the user lands on the learner dashboard, the role switcher will be conveniently located on the left-hand side, just beneath the account name and the logout option.

• Conversely, when the user accesses the management side (as an instructor, administrator, coach, or manager), the role switcher will be positioned in the top-right corner of the page. Here, the user can click on the caret drop-down menu to view the various roles available for selection and switch accordingly.