So, you need to control who can do what in Lessonly, but you’re tired of vague advice and endless menu-hunting. This guide’s for admins, ops folks, or anyone stuck managing Lessonly and just wants to know how to actually set up user roles and permissions—without wasting a whole afternoon.
If you’ve ever thought, “Wait, why is the intern able to edit all the courses?” or “Why can’t my team see the reports they need?”—you’re in the right spot. Let’s keep this practical.
Why Customizing Roles & Permissions Matters
You already know the basics: not everyone should have the same access. But Lessonly’s default roles might not fit your workflow. Sometimes you need more nuance—maybe you want team leads to see reports but not edit lessons, or you need to keep sensitive content private.
Here’s what customizing roles and permissions can actually do for you:
- Reduce mistakes (and panic) from the wrong people editing or deleting training.
- Keep sensitive info safe.
- Make sure people only see what’s relevant to them—less distraction, less risk.
- Help with compliance, if that’s on your plate.
But, heads up: Lessonly’s permissions system is good, but it’s not as granular as some enterprise tools. You’ll need to work within its limits.
Step 1: Understand Lessonly’s Role System
Before you start clicking around, know what you’re working with. Lessonly uses built-in roles—Admin, Manager, Creator, and Learner—but you can tweak what some of those roles can do, and you can assign permissions to Groups for extra control.
Here’s the real talk on the default roles:
- Admin: Full control. Can do anything. Only give to people you trust completely.
- Manager: Can view reporting, assign content, and manage users in their groups. Sometimes this is too much power for a new team lead.
- Creator: Can build and edit lessons, but not manage users or see all reports.
- Learner: Can complete assigned training, and… that’s about it.
You can’t create brand new roles from scratch, but you can get pretty far by mixing and matching Groups, permissions, and careful assignment.
Pro tip: Lessonly sometimes changes what each role can do with product updates. Double-check the latest in their help docs if you’re seeing something weird.
Step 2: Map Out Who Needs What
Don’t skip this. If you try to set everything up from memory, you’ll miss something and end up with people locked out or with too much access.
- Make a quick list: Who needs to create content? Who just needs to see reports? Who should only be learning?
- Pay special attention to “edge cases” (like contractors, execs, or people who wear multiple hats).
If your org is big, a spreadsheet helps. Otherwise, paper’s fine. The goal is to avoid the classic “Wait, why can Janet delete everything?” scenario.
Step 3: Assign Default Roles
Let’s get into the Lessonly admin interface:
- Head to the Users tab (sometimes called “People”).
- For each user, pick the role that matches what you mapped out.
- Don’t hand out Admin like candy—stick to the “need to know” principle.
What works: This covers most basic needs fast.
What doesn’t: As your org grows, default roles can feel either too broad or too restrictive. If you’re hitting walls, Groups and permissions are your friends.
Step 4: Use Groups for Extra Control
Groups are Lessonly’s secret weapon for permissions. They let you cluster users (by team, location, job function—whatever fits) and then manage access more precisely.
How to set up Groups:
- Go to the Groups section in Lessonly.
- Create a Group for each major function (Sales, Support, New Hires, etc.).
- Add users to the right Groups. You can bulk-assign if you’re dealing with a big team.
What can Groups do?
- Limit who can see or assign certain lessons or paths.
- Let managers only see reports for their Group.
- Keep sensitive materials (like HR or exec training) private from the rest.
Pro tip: You can put people in more than one Group. This is handy for cross-functional folks.
Step 5: Fine-Tune Permissions with Content Visibility
You can control who sees what content—courses, paths, or lessons—using Group visibility.
Here’s how:
- When creating or editing a lesson or path, look for the “Visibility” or “Assign To” section.
- Choose specific Groups or users who should have access.
- Double-check that the right people have access—and nobody extra.
What works: This keeps sensitive or irrelevant content from cluttering up everyone’s dashboard.
What doesn’t: Visibility settings don’t always cascade—if you update a Group, check your content assignments too.
Step 6: Give Managers the Right Reporting Access
Managers often need to see stats for their team, but not the whole company.
Here’s what to do:
- Assign Manager roles to users who need reporting access.
- Tie them to the right Groups, so they only see data for their people.
- Check their permissions by using the “View as” feature, if available.
Heads up: If a Manager is in multiple Groups, they might see more than you expect. Always double-check.
Step 7: Review and Test Your Setup
You don’t want surprises. Test with a dummy account or ask a trusted colleague to poke around.
Checklist:
- Can learners only see what they should?
- Can creators edit the right stuff (and not the wrong stuff)?
- Do managers see just their team’s reports?
- Is anyone accidentally an Admin?
What works: Catching mistakes before they become problems.
What doesn’t: Skipping this and cleaning up later. It’s a headache you don’t need.
Step 8: Keep It Simple (and Document Everything)
Lessonly isn’t a full-blown IAM (identity/access management) system. If you try to get too fancy, you’ll end up tangled in your own rules.
- Stick to the fewest roles and Groups you can get away with.
- Write down your role and Group logic somewhere others can find it (Google Doc, Notion, whatever).
- When people change jobs or leave, review their access as part of your offboarding.
What to Ignore (Most of the Time)
If you’re tempted to:
- Give everyone Manager so they can “see everything”—don’t. It’s a security mess.
- Use Groups for every tiny difference (“Remote Marketing Contractors in Boise”)—don’t. You’ll never keep up.
- Overengineer with complex naming or nested Groups—Lessonly’s UI isn’t built for it.
Keep it practical. If you need more advanced access controls than Lessonly offers, honestly, you may need to combine it with another tool or rethink your process.
Wrapping Up: Start Small, Iterate Often
Customizing roles and permissions in Lessonly isn’t rocket science, but it does take some thought. The trick is to set up just enough structure to keep things safe and sane—without drowning in admin work. Map out your core needs, use Groups and visibility wisely, and don’t be afraid to adjust as you grow.
Simple beats perfect. You can always tweak things later. Now get your team set up—and get back to work that matters.