Users is where you decide who can sign in to èLyn and what each of them can see. You invite people by email, give each one a role, and use roles to switch whole modules on or off. It also keeps an activity log of what happened and when.
- Where System → Users
- Who can use it Anyone whose role includes Users. A Super Admin can manage every school; everyone else only ever sees their own school’s users.
- Set up first School Setup (every account except a Super Admin is tied to one school)
Super Admin, Admin and other roles
Every account has exactly one role. The role decides which modules appear in that person’s sidebar.
| Role | Schools | Modules |
|---|---|---|
| Super Admin | Every school on the account | All modules. Cannot be edited. |
| Admin | One school only | All modules (built-in role) |
| Staff | One school only | A starter set of everyday modules (built-in role) |
| Your own roles, e.g. Bursar, Front Desk | One school only | Only the modules you tick |
Use Admin for the person who runs one school end to end. Keep Super Admin for the few people who look after several schools, because a Super Admin can switch between all of them.
Only a Super Admin sees the School column, the Super Admins count and the list picker (This school, All schools (by username), Super Admins). An Admin only ever sees and adds people in their own school.
Invite a user
- On the Users tab, click Invite User.
- Type their Email. Display Name (optional) is how their name shows in the app, for example Kofi Asante.
- Choose a Role. If you are a Super Admin, also choose the School they belong to (this box is hidden when you pick Super Admin).
- Click Send Invite. They get a link to set their own password, by email and also by SMS when the school has an SMS gateway and their staff record has a phone.
If a staff record in the school has the same email, the login is linked to it straight away (the message says so). Teachers need that link to see their classes, lesson notes and clock-in. Otherwise use Link Login in Staff.
Their username is made from the part of the email before the @, with a number added if it is already taken.
Tip: If invites never arrive, check Communications → Delivery setup and send yourself a test. See Email & SMS setup.
Change someone’s role or school
Find the person with the search box (name, username or email). Pick a new role from the drop-down in their row; it saves straight away. A Super Admin can also move a person to another school with the school drop-down in the same row.
The eye button (View as (read-only)) appears for Super Admins only. It lets you look at the app as that person sees it, without being able to change anything.
The bin button deletes the account after you confirm. This cannot be undone.
Parent and student portal accounts show a label such as Parent/Guardian (portal) instead of a drop-down. Manage those from Portals.
Roles & Permissions
The Roles & Permissions tab lists every role, how many modules it grants and how many people hold it.
- Click New Role.
- Give it a Role Name, for example Front Desk or Accountant.
- Under Modules this role can access, tick each module. They are grouped the same way as the sidebar.
- Click Create Role. Now invite people with that role, or switch existing people to it.
To change what a role can see, click its pencil button, change the ticks and click Save Changes. People with that role see the change the next time the app loads.
If you name a new role something like Head Teacher or Headmistress, Staff Attendance is ticked for you. You can untick it before saving.
The Dashboard is not in the list. Anyone whose role has at least one module gets the Dashboard automatically.
The built-in Admin and Staff roles are shared by every school on the account, so only a Super Admin can change their modules (on an account with just one school, its Admin can too). If your school needs something different, make a new role instead.
Two-factor sign-in for a role
Two-factor authentication (2FA) means that after their password, a person also types a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on their phone. You can make it compulsory for chosen roles, for example Admin and Bursar.
The switch is in Settings under Mandatory Two-Factor Authentication. Once a role is ticked, people with that role can still sign in, but every screen except Settings is blocked until they set up 2FA for themselves. Nobody is locked out of their account.
Activity Log
The Activity Log tab shows recent events with the date, user, action, message, severity and IP address, 50 to a page.
To narrow it down, type an Action (for example login), pick a Severity, set From and To dates, then click Apply Filters.
Good to know
- Each email address can only belong to one account.
- A built-in role can’t be deleted. A role of your own can only be deleted once nobody holds it, so move its people to another role first.
- Roles your school creates are only visible to your school.
- You can’t delete your own account, and the last Super Admin can’t be deleted or changed to another role.
- Only a Super Admin can create another Super Admin.
- Deleting a user removes their sign-in only. Staff and student records stay in Staff and Students.