Overview

Policies help administrators tailor the platform to their company’s needs, including which features learners, instructors, and administrators can access. Configuring the policies for your site is a key step in creating a learning platform tailored to your business or school.

1. Hover over Admin on the primary navigation menu.
   
2. Click Policies from the fly-out menu.
   

General

The first tab is the General tab, were you can configure settings that apply to everyone in your organization. 

The Log in section is first, and includes the following settings:

1. Use the email as User ID: If enabled, email addresses are used as the the userid for all accounts on the site. If the setting is enabled, the platform checks that every account has an email address and that no accounts share the same email address. If any accounts do not meet these requirements, a notification lists the accounts that need to be updated. Once the setting is enabled, users no longer need to enter a separate User ID when creating an account, and the login field displays Email instead of User ID.
1. Note that this feature is disabled by default.
   
2. Strong passwords: If enabled, this option allows you to require a more complex password when creating accounts.
   
1. Click Edit to select a requirement for password complexity. If you do not want add password restrictions, select Weak password (no restrictions).
   
3. Number of last passwords that cannot be re-used: This settings allows you to restrict users from re-using previous passwords.
   
1. Click Edit to change the number of last passwords that cannot be reused.
   
4. Number of attempts before account lockout: This settings allows to set how many times a user can attempt to login to an account before they are locked out of the account.
   
1. Click Edit to set the number of login attempts allowed by users before lockout.
5. Remember Me expiration limit: This settings allows you to set a limit for the system to remember a username and login.
   
1. To set the expiration limit, select the desired limit time from the drop-down menu.
   

Two-factor authentication

1. Hover over Admin on the primary navigation menu.
   
2. Click Policies from the fly-out menu.
   
3. On the General tab, locate the Two factor authentication section.
4. Select the checkbox for each account role that must use an authenticator when signing in.
5. Set the authentication frequency settings:
   
1. Enforce after: Select the numbers of days users have to set up two-factor authentication before it becomes required.
2. Remind every: Select how often users are reminded to set up two-factor authentication.
3. Expire on a device after: Select how long a device is remembered before users must complete two-factor authentication again when signing in.
   

Logging in with two-factor authentication

Note: Two-factor authentication is not enforced when you log in using single sign-on (SSO).

1. Access your portal and click Log in.
   
2. Enter your username and password. The Log in pop-up displays with a QR code.
   
3. Open an authenticator app on your device. If you do not have one, download one of the following supported apps, available for both Android and iOS:
   
1. Authy
   
2. Duo Mobile
   
3. Google Authenticator
   
4. LastPass Authenticator
   
5. Microsoft Authenticator
   
4. Use the authenticator app to scan the QR code.
   
5. Enter the code generated by your authenticator app in the numeric fields in the pop-up.
   

Once authentication is complete, your portal’s homepage displays.

Resetting two-factor authentication for users

An administrator may need to reset a user’s two-factor authentication if the user can no longer access their authenticator app—for example, if they lose or replace their phone, or set up a new device without transferring their authenticator accounts.

Before resetting two-factor authentication for a user, you should verify their identity.

To reset two-authentication for a user, administrators:

1. Access the user's profile.
   
2. Click Log in as this user in the Account widget in the right panel.
   
1. Please note this setting must be enabled for administrators on your platform.
3. Click the user's profile picture in the top menu.
   
4. Click Settings.
   
5. Click Disable in the Two factor authentication section.
   

Resetting two-factor authentication allows the user to set it up again and regain access to their account. 

Authentication remote check

The remote check feature performs an additional authentication step before the user logs in or signs up. To enable this feature:

1. Click Configure authentication remote check in the Authentication remote check section.

The Authentication remote check pop-up displays.

1. Enter the Remote check URL.
   
2. Select the Request type: GET or POST.
3. Select the preferred Validate response: by status code or by response text.

Validation by status code

If you select the validation response of by status code, the server will check the HTTP status code from the response.

When selecting by status code, enter the appropriate values for Code to approve and Code to decline.

Note that the code to accept/reject can not be “100”. This code is informational only and indicates that the process is fine and that the user should continue with the request or ignore it if it is already finished.

Validation by response text

If the validation type is set to by response text, the server will check the response body (JSON format) and will approve/decline the authentication or signup.

When selecting by response text, enter the appropriate values in the Attribute to check field that the server will validate and the Text to approve and Text to decline values.

Note that when using the validation by response text option, this field is case sensitive.

Disabling Remote Check

To disable the Remote Check feature:

1. Click Configure authentication remote check in the Authentication remote check section.
2. In the popup, delete the remote check URL from the input field and leave the field empty.
3. Click Save.
   

News feed settings

1. Allow comments on home news feed announcements: If enabled, users can add comments on home news feed announcements.
   
2. Allow disabling of announcement notification: If enabled, users will be able to turn off notifications from announcements.

Profile settings

1. Require email addresses to be unique: If enabled, the platform checks to make sure that all existing emails are unique. If they aren't, the platform sends a notification of duplicate emails which must be addressed. Once successfully enabled, your portal will ensure that any new accounts do not have duplicate email addresses.
   
1. Note that this feature is disabled by default.
   
2. Require mobile phone numbers to be unique: If enabled, the platform checks to make sure that all existing mobile phone numbers are unique. If they aren't, the platform sends a notification of duplicate phone numbers which must be addressed. Once successfully enabled, your portal will ensure that any new accounts do not have duplicate phone numbers.
1. Note that this feature is disabled by default.
   
3. Picture moderation: If picture moderation is enabled, administrators will receive notifications to moderate profile background pictures before they go live.
4. Set time zone of all accounts to site time zone: If enabled, set all user time zones to the time zone of your business.
   
5. Disable edit profile: If enabled, it prevents all users (except admins) from editing user profile pages.
   
6. Allow admins and instructors to upload their own profile background: If enabled, instructors and administrators can customize their profile backgrounds.
   
7. Allow learners to upload their own profile background: If enabled, learners can customize their profile background.
   
1. This option is disabled by default. 
   

Monitoring

The next section on the General tab is the Monitoring section. Monitoring is a feature that lets you look at the communications between members of your school or business. It can also send you daily alerts of any communications that contained potentially offensive words.

1. Hover over Admin from the primary navigation menu.
   
2. Click App center from the fly-out menu.
   
3. Install the Monitoring app from the Monitoring section.

If the app is installed, there are two settings available on the General tab of the Admin Policies page.

1. Monitoring: This enables monitoring, which allows administrators and instructors to view the communications of learners in their courses.
   
2. Let members know that communications are monitored: If you select this option, learners will see the following message when composing messages or using chat rooms: Your organization monitors communications for offensive language.
   

To view the communications sent by a specific user:

1. Access the user profile.
   
2. Click Monitoring in the Communication widget in the right panel of their profile.
   
3. You will see a summary of their messages, postings, and chats. Click on the communication type (for example, Messages) to view more details.
   

Miscellaneous settings

The final section on the General tab is the Miscellaneous section, and includes the following settings:

1. Display last name before first name: This option allows administrators to disable the default "Last-name, First-name" format for name listings. If disabled, names will be displayed as "First-name, Last-name" instead.
   
2. Automatically capitalize names if they are all upper case: Here administrators can disable the "Automatically capitalize names if they are all upper case" option. This is useful if you want to enter the name "IBM", for example, without it being automatically converted to "Ibm".
   
3. Walled community: By default, a company is a walled community. This prevents your learners from interacting with any members that are not registered at your company. For example, they cannot send or receive messages with members from a different company, enroll in another company's open enrollment courses, or join groups that are not created by other members of their own company.
   
4. Use month names instead of numbers for PDF certificates: If enabled, certificates will display the month's name instead of its number.
   
5. Allow Maybe as a calendar event RSVP option: If enabled, users can select Maybe as a calendar event RSVP option.
   
6. Display final scores with two decimals: If enabled, final course scores (or grades) will display with two decimals. For example, a final score would display as 94.32%, instead of a 94%. If enabled, the final course score is updated in multiple places, including the Scores grid and Gradebook, CSV and XLS exports, transcripts, report cards, course status reports, learner profiles, certificates, and completion emails.
   
1. It's important to note that enabling this setting does not change learners’ letter grades. For example, a learner whose score currently displays as 90% with an A will retain the A even if the more precise score displays as 89.88%. 
   
2. This setting is disabled by default.
   

Path

1. Disable old-style paths: Older platforms may continue to display "Old-style paths", which are no longer supported by the platform. If you've migrated to new-style paths and have no use for the old left-bar navigation associated with old-style paths, you can disable old-style paths and remove the associated button on the primary navigation menu.
   
1. Please note that once disabled you can't re-enable the Old-style paths.
   

Administrators

The second tab is the Administrators tab, were you can configure settings that apply to administrators. To access administrator policies:

1. See all user ids: This setting allows administrators to see the user ids of everyone in their company. This setting is enabled by default.
   
2. See all passwords: This setting allows administrators to see the passwords of everyone in their company. This setting is enabled by default.
   
1. Please note disabling this feature cannot be reversed. If this feature is disabled, administrators will not be able to view passwords, but they can still reset passwords for users.
   
3. Receive notifications of users that sign up: Enabling this feature notifies administrators anytime a new user signs up for an account on the platform. 
   

Instructors

The third tab is the Instructors tab, were you can configure settings that apply to instructors. To access instructors' policies:

• Monitor their learner's communications: This setting  allows instructors to view the communications of learners in their courses. Monitoring communications is available through the Communications widget in the right panel of a learner's profile.

Learners

The fourth tab is the Learners tab, were you can configure settings that apply to learners. To access learners' policies:

1. Prevent simultaneous logins: If enabled, learners can have only one active login session at a time. Starting a new session automatically ends any previous sessions.

1. Messaging between learners: This setting allows learners to send messages to other learners on the platform. 
   
1. Please note that if you disable messaging between learners, this includes learners within a course.
2. Chat: This setting enables learners to chat with other learners who are online, either through a course chatroom, or directly through an online user's profile.
   
1. If messaging and chat are enabled, instructors can configure their courses to prevent them from being used during course hours. To learn more, visit the Configure courses and classes article. 
3. SMS integration: This setting enables notifications or messages to be sent to a learner's mobile device, if they have allowed access and added a SMS email address.
   

Please note that while the platform can send messages to an SMS email address, many mobile carriers, including T-Mobile and AT&T, no longer support email-to-SMS functionality in an effort to reduce spam and bulk messaging.

The next section is the Navigation section, and includes the following settings: 

1. Users tab: This setting allows you to enable or disable the Users tab on the primary navigation menu for learners. 
   
2. Groups tab: This setting allows you to enable or disable the Groups tab on the primary navigation menu for learners. 
   
3. Resources tab: This setting allows you to enable or disable the Resources tab on the primary navigation menu for learners. 
   
1. Note that learners will only be able to access their uploaded files from the Resources menu item.
4. Full users catalog: If enabled, learners can visit the users catalog through the Users tab on the primary navigation menu. In the Users Catalog, learners can access lists of the Learners, Instructors, and Administrators on the platform. Each of these lists displays the users within the role, but only shows their name and picture.
   
1. Note that this option is disabled by default.
   
5. Select default home tab: If enabled, learners can select which tab is their default home tab. To select their default home tab, learners:
   
1. Click their profile picture in the upper menu.
   
2. Click Settings from the secondary navigation menu.
   
3. Locate the Default home tab setting in the Miscellaneous section.
   
4. Learners can select Dashboard or News, based on the set up of their platform.

The next section on the Learners tab is the Profile section, and includes the following settings:

1. Add social media links to profile page: This setting allows learners to add social media links to their profile.
   
2. Enable public profiles: This setting allows learners to enable public profiles, which can be accessed by users who are not logged in to the platform.
   

1. Home news feed: This setting enables the News tab on a learner's homepage. By default, learners can view the News feed, but cannot post to it.
   
2. Post to home page feed: This setting allows learners to post to the News feed on the homepage.
   

1. Friends: This setting allows learners to send and approve friend requests on the platform. A list of the learner's friends can be accessed through the Users tab on the primary navigation menu.
   
2. Personal blog: This setting enables the Blog option on a learner's profile. If enabled, learners can access the Blog option from their profile secondary navigation menu, and create a personal blog.
   

The next section on the Learners tab is the Groups section, and includes the following settings:

1. Groups members tab: If enabled, learners can view the members of groups they belong to.
   
2. Group assistants tab: If enabled, learners can view the assistants of groups they belong to.
   
3. Group admins tab: learners can view the administrators of groups they belong to.
   

1. Online display in left bar: If enabled, the Online widget displays in the right panel of the homepage.
   
2. Show fellow learners in online display: If enabled, other learners on the platform will display in the Online widget when they are online.
   

The final section on the Learners tab is the Miscellaneous section, and includes the following settings:

1. See nicknames instead of full names: If you enable this feature, then if a learner has a nickname, other learners will see that nickname instead of the learner's full name. This is useful if you want learners to be able to hide their real names from other learners. 
   
1. Please note that the nickname is only seen by other learners. Instructors and other account types will see the learner's full name. Users can set up their nickname by editing their profile information.
   
2. Reporting other users: If enabled, learners can report a problem with another user from the user's profile.
   
1. To report a user, learners access the user's profile and click Report user from the Communication widget in the right panel.
   
3. Allow data export via profile Privacy/Data tab: If enabled, an Export button becomes available on learner profiles from the Privacy option on the secondary navigation menu. Learners can export information about their user account, messages sent, postings, chat messages, comments, and files.
   
4. Use simple text editor in forums: If enabled, the full html editor is not available to users when posting to forums. Instead, a simple text editor is available for use.
   

Managers

Under the Managers tab, you have the option to enable/disable the ability of managers to enroll learners in courses and learning paths. Please note that this option is enabled by default.

Parents

Note that the Parents policies tab only appears if you have enabled parent account types via Admin/Accounts/Types. This section allows you to set features that only apply to parent accounts. By default, a parent can see their child's modules, resources, assessments, submissions, and transcript. You can enable it if you want parents to see the "Course catalog". Also, here, you can allow parent accounts to see the Resources tab in the left navigation by enabling the "Resources tab" option. Please note that this option is enabled by default.

Network

If your business is in a network and you're a network administrator, network policies are displayed in this area and can be edited. The options are:

• Allow instructors to teach any course in their network
• Allow learners to enroll in any course in their network
• Allow learners to message any learner in their network
• Allow learners to join any group in their network
  

Documents

If you installed Policy documents from the App Center, the Documents tab will be enabled in the Admin/Policies area. Here you can manage your policy documents if you have any, and you can see how many versions there are of each policy and how many responses they have so far. To learn more about policy documents, visit the Policy documents article.