This article provides instructions on manually adding a new Department to your Absorb LMS portal. Departments are used to organize Users into structured hierarchies, typically based on an organization's existing reporting structure. Unlike Groups, Departments directly impact the reporting structure of the Users within them. The Departments Report page offers various administrative actions to manage Department settings and communicate with Users.

It is important to remember the following rules about Departments:

• Every User is required to belong to a Department.
• A User can only belong to one Department at a time.
• Departments arrange Users into organizational hierarchies and may contain sub-departments, creating a Parent > Child reporting structure.
• A User can belong to multiple Groups, but only one Department.

Add a Department

The following steps detail how to create a Department from the Admin Experience (AE).

1. From the Admin Experience, open the Users menu from the left-hand side of the page.
   
    
2. Click the Departments option from the Users menu.
   
    
3. From the Departments Report, click the Add Department button under the Actions menu on the right-hand side. The Add Department page will open.
   
    
4. Enter the Name of the Department.
   
    
5. Click the Select Department button and select an existing Department that the new Department will exist underneath. This selection determines the Parent > Child Department relationship.
   
    
6. Optionally, enter an External ID to track or identify the Department.
   
    
7. Optionally, turn ON the Use Department Contact Details toggle.
   
    
   • When ON, the additional information entered in the Company Name, Email Address, and Phone Number fields may be included in messages sent to the Department.
     
   • When OFF, the system will examine the Parent Department. If the Use Department Contact Details toggle is ON for the Parent Department, the Company Name, Email Address, and Phone Number of the Parent Department will be used. 
      
8. The Message Template Image is an optional setting where you can upload or select a Department Image. Select either File or URL for the Message Template Image.
   
    
   • If File, click the Choose File button and use the File Manager to upload, or select an existing image for the Message Template Image.
   • If URL, enter a valid URL that directly links to a public-facing image file.
9. If E-Commerce is enabled, the Billing section will be available. Under the Billing section, optionally determine whether this Department requires a Billing Type, and if so, whether that type is Internal or External.
   
    
   • You can also apply the Department Billing Type to all Sub-Departments.
     
      
10. Under Field Values, optionally click the Add Job Title button to open a modal where you can manually enter a Job Title.
    
     
11. Under Field Values, optionally click the Add Location button to open a modal where you can manually enter a Department Location. Use this level of detail to further classify Users within a Department by specifying where an individual is located.
    
     
12. Required fields are indicated by a Required note in red and cannot be skipped. Once you have filled out the relevant form fields, click the Save button on the right-hand side of the page to finish creating the Department.
    
     
    • If the Save button is greyed out, required fields have not been filled out. Confirm that Name and Parent Department have been selected.

Message Template Image

The Message Template Image can be used to add a Department Image to a Message Template. This allows Users to receive relevant branding images in their communications, without each Message Template requiring manual alterations between Departments.

When uploading a file for the Message Template Image, ensure that the Visibility is set to Public. If the Visibility is set to Private, the image will not display correctly.

When editing a Message Template such as the Course Nudge Message Template, click the Department Image snippet from the list of available options to include the Message Template Image in the Message.

The following example adds a Department Image to the Online Course Enrollment Message:

Message Templates with Department Image

The following Message Templates support the Department Image snippet.

• AbsorbCreateInviteToReviewMessage
• AbsorbCreateMentionMessage
• ApprovalDeniedMessage
• ApprovalPendingMessage
• ApprovalRequestMessage
• CertificateExpiryMessage
• CouponTimedOutMessage
• CourseBundleEnrollmentMessage
• CourseDueDateMessage
• CourseNudgeMessage
• CourseUploadReviewedMessage
• CourseUploadSubmissionMessage
• CurriculumCompletedMessage
• CurriculumEnrollmentMessage
• DuplicateCourseFailureMessage
• DuplicateCourseSuccessMessage
• EnrollmentKeyMessage
• ExportDataMessage
• ExternalTrainingSubmissionApprovalMessage
• ExternalTrainingSubmissionLearnerApprovalMessage
• GeneratedCustomReportMessage
• GeneratedReportMessage
• ImportOnlineCourseFailureMessage
• ImportOnlineCourseSuccessMessage
• InstructorLedCourseCompletedMessage
• InstructorLedCourseEnrollmentMessage
• InstructorLedCourseFailedMessage
• InstructorNotificationMessage
• IntegrationSyncIssuesMessage
• LearnerApiCallLimitExceededMessage
• LearnerApiCallLimitReachedMessage
• MarkAttendanceReminderMessage
• NewLearnerConversationMessage
• NewUserActivationMessage
• NewUserMessage
• ObservationChecklistReadyForReviewMessage
• OnlineCourseCompletedMessage
• OnlineCourseEnrollmentMessage
• OnlineCourseFailedMessage
• PasswordResetMessage
• PaymentApprovedMessage
• ReceiptMessage
• ReviewerUserTypeEnabledMessage
• ScheduledCustomReportMessage
• ScheduledReportMessage
• SessionApprovalPendingMessage
• SessionApprovalRequestMessage
• SessionEnrollmentMessage
• SessionFullMessage
• SessionReminderMessage
• SessionUpdatedMessage
• TaskNotificationMessage
• UserImportFailureMessage
• WaitlistMessage

More Information

Additional information about Departments can be found in the following articles:

• Department Creation & Management
• Department Administrative Report
• Department Templates
• Locked Department
• Data Imports: Object - Departments
• Department Progress Report