User Roles in iSpring LMS

All complex Learning Management Systems require ongoing content and user management. iSpring LMS uses the concept of Roles, which are meant to designate what certain users can or cannot do. Assigning a role to each user brings clarity to the account structure and makes it possible to isolate several organizations within one account.

iSpring LMS has five user roles:

• Account Owner
• Administrators
• Organization Administrators
• Publishers (aka Teachers)
• Users (aka Students)

An iSpring LMS account initially has just one default organization. However, you can add more, so several organizations can coexist at the same time within a single account. In iSpring LMS, an “organization” can represent a department of your company, a single chain store in your franchise, etc. Each organization can have its own administration (Org Admins, Publishers) and learners.

Each role allows users to perform a set of tasks called privileges. Let’s figure out more about each role.

Account Owner

When you subscribe to an iSpring LMS account you become Account Owner automatically.

The Account Owner role allows a user to perform all possible functions within LMS. This user has full permissions to iSpring LMS account settings, billing information, content and users.

Note: When registering a new iSpring Learn account, choose the account owner's email address carefully because it will be problematic to change it in future and will require contacting the support desk for assistance. All other settings, including the URL of your iSpring Learn account, can be changed on your own.

Privileges:

• Full access to the account and all user profiles + billing and delete account options.

Administrators

Administrators help Account Owner to manage the system. Admins have the same set of permissions as Account Owner but doesn’t have an access to the billing options and can’t cancel iSpring LMS membership.

Privileges:

• Full access to the account and all user profiles (except billing/delete options).

Further roles are also limited by the organization they belong to. If an account has several organizations, it is necessary to isolate user permissions between organizations to avoid interference.

Organization Administrators

Organization Administrators have full access to user profiles within their own organization. There, they can add, remove, or edit user profiles that fall under the following roles: Org Admins, Publishers and Users.

Privileges:

• Manage users and groups within an organization.
• View and manage content in an LMS account.
• Assign content to users and groups within an organization.
• Generate reports for users and groups within an organization.

Note: Org Administrators don’t have access to the Account Settings for the LMS, so they cannot change the company logo and panel colors. Only Account Owner and account Administrators can do that.

Publishers

Also known as authors or teachers, because teachers in a learning system are responsible for the course management. A Publisher can add/remove content items within an LMS account and assign content to students within an organization. Ideally, a publisher owns a copy of an iSpring authoring tool (e.g. iSpring Suite) that is used to create and upload learning courses.

Privileges:

• View and manage content in an LMS account.
• Assign content to users and groups within an organization.
• Generate Reports for users and groups within an organization.

Users (aka Students)

In common terms, a user is usually a student or an employee who is enrolled to complete a set of courses. Students have access to courses assigned to them by Publishers, all Administrators or the Account Owner. Users also can check their score and see the progress of other users and groups in this organization.

Privileges:

• View and complete assigned courses.
• Generate reports for specific groups within the organization. This is optional and may be turned off. The option is called Allow users to run reports in the Account Settings.

For a visual overview representing user roles in iSpring LMS, see the diagram below:

FAQ:

Update changes

Q: I have been using an iSpring Learn (aka Online) for some time. There were groups Administrators and Publishers that determined permissions. Where did they go?

A: Previously, privileges in iSpring LMS were automatically determined by virtue of belonging to a special group (e.g. Administrators or Publishers). Now that User Roles have been introduced, users from these groups have been automatically assigned with the respective roles instead.

View and Manage permissions

Q: I am an Organization Administrator from ORGANIZATION 1. Can I delete a content item that was uploaded by another Administrator from ORGANIZATION 2?

A: Yes, you can, because content is shared among all organizations. Organization Admins and Publishers have equal permissions to view and manage content (add/remove/update) no matter what organization they belong to.

Generate report permissions

Q: I am a Publisher from ORGANIZATION 1 and I need to generate a Performance Summary Report for the user group called “Group 1” in ORGANIZATION 2. I want to know how they did on a training course that was uploaded recently.

A: No, you can’t generate a report for another organization. As a Publisher or an Organization Administrator, you can generate Reports for any course in your iSpring LMS account, but only for users in your own organization.

Assign content permissions

Q: I am a Publisher from ORGANIZATION 1. My colleague, another Publisher from ORGANIZATION 2, has recently uploaded a new course. I want to assign this course to my students in ORGANIZATION 1. Can I do that?

A: Yes, you can. No matter who uploaded the content item, you can assign it to any user in your organization.

Q: I am a Publisher in ORGANIZATION 1. I uploaded a content item, and now I want to assign it to a user in ORGANIZATION 2. Can I do that?

A: No, you can’t. Organization Administrators’ and Publishers’ ability to assign content does not extend to users from other organizations. Contact an Organization Administrator or a Publisher from ORGANIZATION 2 to assign this course to users in ORGANIZATION 2. Also, this operation can be carried out by the Account Owner and Account Administrators.

Account Owner permissions

Q: I am an Account Owner, and I want to delete a course that has a mistake and a user that doesn’t keep up well. Can I do the above-mentioned things?

A: Sure, Account Owner. I find it rather strange that you’ve asked that :-) You are an iSpring LMS account King – you can do anything!