User types and permissions: overview

Learn the 4 broad user types and their permissions within Safety Made Simple. 

User types define what features users can access. You set the user type when you create or invite users. 

The 4 user types are:

• Learner
• Instructor
• Manager
• Administrator

Learner

Learners hold the basic permissions required to log in to Safety Made Simple, and to take courses.

Their permissions let them:

• access the portal with an email and password
• change the information in their own profile, like their first name, last name, password, and any custom data fields - admins can customize users' profile access, if required
• view their course history and progress, including awarded certificates and credits
• launch courses they are enrolled in
• view resources, if resources are available
• enroll themselves in courses from the course catalog, if self-enrollment is enabled
• contact instructors, course owners and administrators, if messaging is enabled

Instructor

Instructors are users who lead courses. They hold the same permissions as learners, plus permissions to manage course details.

Instructors are further divided into:

• course owners, who are responsible for the course content
• course instructors, who teach content but do not own courses

Depending on how the admin sets up the instructor's account, instructor permissions let them:

• create courses
• edit course settings
• apply credits and certificates to courses
• change catalog options
• view course details, like the modules included, course reviews and course questions
• update course options such as valid periods, due dates, instructor messaging

For courses which the instructor teaches, instructors can:

• edit courses
• view all enrollments, aka the users who are enrolled on a course
• mark a learner's enrollment as complete 
• reset the number of exam attempts for learners
• run all reports related to their own course content, such as Course Status, Course Modules, and Exams reports 

By default, the course owner is the course instructor. They receive all the messages and assignments from learners.

Admins can change this default and assign another instructor for one or more enrolled learners.

Tip: If you do not assign dedicated instructors during your course setup, learners can choose their instructor when submitting assignments. 

Manager

Managers are users who can access some learner account information. The account information lets them manage enrollments and run reports. 

Admins must assign a manager's account to at least one group: one manager can manage several groups.

Manager permissions apply only to members of their own group. Managers do not have access to learner accounts outside their own group.

Depending on how the admin sets up the manager account, manager permissions let managers:

• invite or create users to a group
• view users within a group
• manage user profiles, such as resetting passwords and updating details
• move users between groups
• see how each user is progressing on their assigned courses
• run reports on group members' progress in their courses
• enroll and unenroll their group members in different courses
• delete learner accounts 
• manually mark a learner's enrollment as complete

Managers can also be given the same permissions as instructors, with instructor permissions.

See “Managers: set permissions to manage groups” for detailed instructions about manager and instructor permissions.

Administrator

Administrators are users with full permissions and access for their portal.

Their permissions include: 

• creating or inviting users
• deleting users
• assigning users to different user types
• creating and editing courses 
• enrolling individual users on courses
• assigning instructors to courses
• creating and editing course modules
• uploading resources, exams, and SCORM packages to the library
• creating groups and assigning managers to groups
• enrolling groups on courses
• running all reports available
• creating certificates and adding them to courses

See “Add users to your portal” and “Upload users by batch CSV file” for instructions about adding users to Safety Made Simple.