In addition to communicating and providing access to the LMS, Absorb would like to offer a few best practices to help Admins prepare for User Login questions. In this article, we will address the different ways a User can log into the LMS and best practices regarding these different login methods. 

Best Practices for Access Point

 A common question we receive from Users is: 'How do I access my LMS?' There are multiple ways that a User can access the LMS, including:

• A unique URL
• Single Sign On (SSO)
• A Sales site

Regardless of how Users access the LMS, it is important to provide clear communication and multiple methods of access.

Some clients download links to the User's desktop or provide a link on an internal system they would use often. If you are linking to the LMS from a website where you sell your training or from Salesforce, there should be communication on how these systems connect. 

Best Practices for Passwords

One of the most common queries an Admin will receive is, ‘What is my password?’ or 'I forgot my password'. Please advise the following the scenarios to address password-related queries.

Initial Password

For a User's initial password, it is recommended that it is something they may already be familiar with, such as an Employee Number or a unique code that they already use internally. This password should be changed once the User has access to the LMS.

Resetting a Password

There may be instances where a User is required to reset their password. On the Login page, there is a Forgot Password link. When the User selects this link, they will be prompted to enter in their Username or their Email Address. If the User is active and has a correct Email Address associated with their LMS account, they will receive an email with a link to reset their password.

When the User selects the link from the Password Reset email, they will be redirected to a page where they will be requested to enter in their new password into two fields. Once they enter the new password, they will be asked to log in. The User will need to select Login, in order to enter their username and new password.

Alternatively, Admins can also send the User a Password Reset link through email if the User requests it. You could also make it best practice to send the Password Reset email to Users who have not logged in for while (filter by Last Login Date in the User grid), prior to a rollout of required training. This ensures that Users have a new password and are ready to log in before you roll out the new training.  

Password Requirements

When configuring your LMS, you will have the option to choose your password required format. This option can be updated at any time by contacting Absorb Support or you Customer Service Manager. The three options are as follows:

• Weak: Can consist of any characters, but must be a minimum of 6 characters.
• Medium: Must consist of at least one letter and number, and must be a minimum of 8 characters.
• Strong: Must consist of at least one uppercase and lowercase letter, one number, one symbol, and be at least 8 characters in length.

Login Page Customization

System Admins are able to customize the Login page to include a Public Dashboard in Setup > Templates. The Dashboard offers ways to link to the Company’s Help Site or to a Help Document. Please see the Department Templates article for more information.

If you have the resources available, consider implementing Single Sign-On (SSO). To learn more, please visit our Incoming SAML 2.0 SSO Account Provisioning article. Additional details regarding SSO can be found in the subsequent section.

Best Practices for Single Sign-On (SSO)

As mentioned above, Single Sign-On is a great way to eliminate recurring password questions. We understand that not all clients have the ability to set up SSO. For those who are interested in implementing SSO, please consider the following:

• All SSO methods must use SAML 2.0 integration or Open Connect. 
• For details on how to set up SSO, please visit our Incoming SAML 2.0 Single Sign-On article.
• Absorb allows multiple URLs where clients can either set up more than one SSO method, or have the option to allow some Users to log in manually and some to login via SSO.
• The User can begin the SSO login process by using the LMS URL or by following the link from your identity provider.  
• Clients can SSO into other applications from their Absorb LMS. Please review the Outgoing SAML 2.0 Single Sign-On article for details on how to set this up. 

Service Provider Initiated Mode is recommended over Identity Provider Initiated Mode as SP-Initiated allows LMS Deep Links to work without modification, and it also allows you to use SSO to log in to the Absorb Learning Mobile App.

• For more about Deep Links, please click here. 
• For more about the Absorb Learning Mobile App, please click here.

Best Practices for User Sign-Up

If the User does not have an account on the LMS and Sign-Up is enabled, the User can select the Sign-Up button to create a User Account. This link will launch the Sign-Up page where Users can fill out the required fields to create a new account. The specific fields on this page and whether they are required or optional can be defined by Admins when they create an Enrollment Key in User > Enrollment Keys.

A Default Enrollment Key can be added to the Public Signup Enrollment Key field within the Setup > Templates > Login > Advanced section, so that Users do not have to enter in the Name of the Enrollment Key to proceed with the Sign-Up process. 

Enrollment Keys are tied to a specific Department in the LMS. Once the User is created in the LMS, the User's Department will match the Department of the Enrollment Key. If the clients set a Default Enrollment Key, all Users who create an account through Sign-Up will be assigned to the same Department.

The Admin can manually manage the User's Department after they are created in User > Departments. If Users require different Departments within the LMS, the Admin can create more than one Enrollment Key. If there is more than one Enrollment Key, a Default Enrollment Key cannot be set up and the User will be prompted to enter in the Name of the Enrollment Key when sign-up is selected on the Login page. 

An Enrollment Key can be set up to allow Users to manually sign themselves up into the LMS and they can be created to automatically enroll users into Courses. If you are an E-Commerce Organization and would like to provide a User with a free course for signing up into the LMS, you can attach the Course(s) to the Enrollment Key they will use to sign into the LMS.