Overview
Learn365 External Training Registration is a solution designed for centralized external training and certificate management using Power Apps, Power Automate and SharePoint Lists. This solution helps users to submit their external training and certificates easily and securely for verification and accessing them anytime from within their Training Dashboard. The solution uses a Microsoft Power App as user interface to submit the training registration and certificates, Microsoft Power Automate to automate the approval process, and SharePoint Lists as a certificate storage mechanism and for configuration settings of the Power App.
In this article:
Use case
Learners can upload external training and certificates through the app without binding them to specific courses, ensuring flexibility. External training means training that is not part of Learn365.
Using the solution
Access the app
Learners can access the standalone Learn365 External Training Registration app. Although it's designed to seamlessly integrate with Learn365, it offers greater flexibility because it doesn't have to be embedded within a specific course.
Settings
The Settings page enables the App-Admin to configure the app:
- Course Catalog to upload the training into
- Selection of what can be registered
- Fields to enable or disable within the form
- Configuration of the approval process
- Selection of the App-Admin
The Settings page can be accessed only by the App-Admin. The App-Admin can be changed on the Settings page.
NOTE
When Custom Approval is selected, multiple email addresses can be entered, separated by a semicolon (for example, test.user1@zensai.com; test.user2@zensai.com).
The approval request will be sent to all specified addresses, and the process will continue once the first recipient responds.
Tutorial walkthrough
On entering, a concise tutorial guides learners through the app's functionality, helping them to become well-informed about the process. The language of the App will always be in the current users Browser language. It can be changed on the 'Globe' symbol.
Register certificates and/or training
Based on the Settings, the user will be able to register training, certificate, or both. After the tutorial, the user is directed to:
- Certificate form screen, when Training registration is disabled.
- Training registration screen, when certificate registration is disabled.
- Navigation screen, when both options are enabled.
Submission confirmation
On submitting their certificate or training registration, learners are immediately taken to a confirmation page. This page details the subsequent steps, emphasizing that their submission is pending approval or directly available, when no approval is set up.
Notification to approvers
If approval is enabled, designated approvers are promptly notified about the newly registered training and/or certificate submission via Microsoft Teams and email. This dual-channel notification ensures quick responses.
When Custom Approval is selected, multiple email addresses can be entered, separated by a semicolon (for example, test.user1@zensai.com; test.user2@zensai.com). The approval request will be sent to all specified addresses, and the process will continue once the first recipient responds.
Approval process
Approvers will get information about the registered training and/or certificate and can choose whether to approve or reject it. When approved, the user will find the registered training and/or certificate on their transcript and dashboard.
Feedback to learners
Once a decision is made, learners receive an email notification. If their registered training and/or certificate is approved, they're informed that's been successfully updated and stored in their Learn365 records.
Dashboard management
Learners can track and manage their uploaded registered training and/or certificates via My Training Dashboard. Admins can view and oversee the registered training and/or certificates in the Learn365 Admin Center for the relevant course catalog, to help ensure transparency and effective management.
Important notes
- The solution emphasizes centralized external training registration and certificate management.
- The link to the Power App is uniquely generated for each Office 365 Tenancy and will not work outside of your Tenant Organization.
- The solution works for one selected course catalog.
- Immediately after the installation, your first task should be to configure the Settings.
Installation instructions
Content of the download files
Contact your Customer Success Manager for the appropriate version of the solution.
Once you get the solution, you will see the following files:
- Learn365ExternalTrainingRegistration_1_X_X_X.zip. The Power Platform solution file. Don't unzip this file.
- Learn365 External Training Registration.csv. The SharePoint List template file.
- Learn365 External Training Registration – Configuration Settings.csv. There SharePoint List template file.
Where ‘X’ indicates the current version of the file.
Set up the SharePoint List
1. Navigate to the Learn365 course catalog site.
2. Create a new List
3. Select Import from CSV
4. Upload the provided CSV file Learn365 External Training Registration.csv
5. Select Next
6. Disable Show list in site navigation and select Create
7. You'll be redirected to the created list. Now you need to modify the permissions of this list to prevent learners from seeing each other’s submissions. To do this, please open the List settings
- Select Settings > Permissions for this list.
- Select Stop Inheriting Permissions and confirm.
- Retain owner permissions and remove all others.
- Grant unique permissions to site learners. To do this, select Grant Permissions from the ribbon menu. On the Share window, enter the name of your Site’s Visitor’s group into the names field by typing the name of your site and Visitors at the end. Select SHOW OPTIONS. Deselect the Send an email invitation checkbox to prevent learners from being notified of the permission change. Select the Contribute permission from the Select a permission level drop-down list.
- Refresh the page.
- Check that the permissions are properly set.
8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for the Learn365 External Training Registration - Configuration Settings.csv file.
When repeating these steps, note the following:
- In step 7, when granting unique permissions for the users, select the Read permission instead of Contribute from the Select a permission level drop-down list.
Set up the Power Platform solution
1. Navigate to the Power Apps home page.
2. Go to the Solutions section. This might be under the More menu on the left-hand side.
3. Select Import solution.
4. Select Browse.
5. Select the Learn365ExternalTrainingRegistration_1_X_X_X.zip file.
6. Select Open.
7. After the file uploads, select Next to open the Import a solution wizard. Verify the solution details.
8. When you get to the Connections page, connect each item. Use the drop-down for each item and select the required account for the solution. If no items are displayed, select Create or Sign in and complete the following for your LMS365 API Connector:
- In the subsequent dialog, enter API for the username and enter your Learn365 API Key (Full Control) as the password.
- Select Create then return to the main Power Apps tab.
9. For your SharePoint and Outllook connection, just Sign in with your preferred account. Please note that the Account needs to have access to the SharePoint Lists created in the previous step.
10. Once all the connections are set, select Next to show the Environment Variables page.
11. From the drop-down lists, select your Learn365 Catalog Site and the SharePoint Lists.
Ignore the warning.
12. Select Import.
13. Monitor the import progress via the notification bar at the top of the page. Wait for the status to confirm completion.
NOTE
If you use the SharePoint Templates in English (EN), then your App is ready. In this case, proceed to Configure settings after importing the solution. Otherwise, continue with the following steps.
14. Once imported, select the solution then Edit.
The details page shows all the components required for the solution. Your aim here is to adjust the Power App to reference the correct SharePoint list URL.
15. Select the Learn365 External Training Registration canvas app and select Edit.
16. Select Allow for the App permissions.
17. In the Power App editor, go to the FormScreen Certificate screen.
18. Change Attachments to the field name in your language, for example Anlagen.
19. Do the same on the FormScreen Training Record screen.
20. Save and publish the App.
Configure settings after importing the solution
On successful installation, follow these steps:
1. Open the solution.
2. Select the App and then Play.
3. Go to Settings.
4. Allow the App permissions.
5. Set up the approval. The default is No Approval.
6. Select a course catalog.
7. Select an App-Admin.
NOTE
Only the selected App-Admin will be able to access the Settings page.
To resolve issues when a wrong App-Admin was selected, the account that installed the Learn365 External Training Registration solution can update the App-Admin either directly in the SharePoint list 'Learn365 External Training Registration - Configuration Settings' or by editing the Power App.
8. Select Save Settings.
Share the Power App
1. Select the Share icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
This will open a new window, which shows a form designated for sharing your Power App. A message will be displayed, warning you about the implications of sharing connections. This alert is expected and is part of the standard procedure.
2. Choose who you want to grant access to the Power App. For broader access, consider adding the Everyone group because this ensures all organization members are granted the necessary permissions.
3. Determine user roles by setting them as co-owners if want to grant them edit permissions for the app. Additionally, set the Send an email invitation to new users toggle based on your preference for user notifications.
An error should be displayed at the top of the screen. This happens because the connectors you're employing are linked to the account that's the proprietor of the flow. By adding users, you're effectively giving them access to the owner’s flow connectors, which is a requisite for running the flow.
4. Select Share at the bottom of the screen.
Embed the PowerApp in a SharePoint site (optional)
To provide the solution to Learners, the PowerApp can be embedded to a SharePoint page.
The PowerApp can be embedded in an existing SharePoint page, or a new SharePoint page can be created within your vourse vatalog (via SharePoint > Create a page).
1. Once you've defined or created a page, select Edit.
2. Add a new WebPart and select PowerApps.
3. Insert the link to your PowerApp.
4. To get the App-Link, go to the App-Details of the solution and copy the link from here.
5. Republish the App.
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