User access and permissions in Schoolworks are controlled by their License type, Profile, Role, Permission Sets and Group.
License Types
The License type broadly determines whether a user has general access to Schoolworks as a user, or administrator access to the setup and advanced configuration settings of the platform.
There are two licence types - Salesforce Platform and Salesforce:
The Salesforce Platform license is for end users of Schoolworks and restricts access to Schoolworks features only. This is the most common license given to the majority of school staff.
The Salesforce license grants the user access to the advanced Salesforce platform features in addition to Schoolworks features.
This license in combination with the System Administrator Profile gives complete access to all areas of the system and should only be given to trusted users who have received extensive training on the system.
However, this license can allow additional functionality for end users such as managing new users (for example, giving teachers access to the Teacher Portal) and logging in as another user to help troubleshoot issues. Administrative permissions can still be restricted through the assigned Profile and Permission Sets, but this license can be given to trusted users who require this additional functionality.
Please note, if your school uses Sales Cloud functionality (for example, access to Leads and Opportunities), please see here for more detailed information on License Comparison.
User Profiles
The Profile determines another general level of permissions and can be configured to dictate access to particular objects, fields, page layouts, tabs, record types and other system permissions.
Typically, the following Profiles have been pre-configured in your org to suit the needs of Schoolworks users:
Profile | License required | Access given | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
Schoolworks User (Platform) | Salesforce Platform | Basic access to Schoolworks features | Most common; bulk of everyday users |
Schoolworks User | Salesforce | Basic access to Schoolworks features plus additional platform features permitted through the License | Rare; academic managers and IT support staff |
Schoolworks Administrator (Platform) | Salesforce Platform | Advanced access to Schoolworks features | Rare; IT support staff |
Schoolworks Administrator | Salesforce | Advanced access to Schoolworks features plus additional platform features permitted through the License | Rare; IT support staff |
System Administrator | Salesforce | Complete access to all aspects of the system --TRUSTED USERS ONLY-- | Usually only 1, possibly 2 users in each org. |
If you require further Profiles to be set up to meet a particular business need, please contact your System Administrator.
Permission Sets
Permission Sets give more granular permissions to allow access to particular screens, to view and/or edit specific objects and fields. This allows you to tailor permissions to a specific users' duties. They are seen as additional permissions on top of the permissions given by the Profile.
There are approximately 100 pre-configured Permissions Sets available to add to each user.
The naming of the Permission Sets is reasonably self evident, and also contain a description of the permissions. An example:
The Enrolment View permission set allows a user to view the Enrolment screen, but not to edit any of the details on the screen.
The Enrolment Edit permission set allows a user to view and edit the details on the Enrolment screen.
If you require further Permission Sets to be set up to meet a particular business need, please contact your System Administrator.
Adding/removing permission sets
To add or remove a permission set you can do this either via the user record, then navigate down to the Permission Set list and click 'Edit Assignments', OR you can do this via the permission set itself where you can add/remove multiple users to one permission set. Example user record:
Or, to manage the assignments through the Permission Set itself:
Navigate to the Permission Sets in Setup
Click on the required Permission Set
Select “Manage Assignments” at the top of the screen
Select “Add Asignments” at the top of the screen
Select the Users, then “Assign”
Permission Set Groups
A Permission Set Group allows a number of Permission Sets to be grouped together, to then assign to Users, saving the need to add each one individually.
When a Permission Set Group is assigned, the user receives the combined permission of all the permission sets in the group. It is possible to have a Permission Set in more than one group. This saves times as:
Any changes made to the Permission Set update automatically in all groups the Permission Set is used in.
Permission Set Groups mean that there is less need to apply individual permission sets to a user, one by one.
Often Permission Set Groups are created based on job function, for example “Academic” or “Accommodation” and are often applied in multi-site schools where there are multiple users doing the same job, requiring the same permissions, just in a different location.
Creating a New Permission Set Group
Navigate to Permission Set Groups in Setup, then select “New Permission Set Group”, enter the name and description and press Save:
Then in the Permission Set Group:
Click on “Permission Sets in Group”
Select “Add Permission Set”
Select all Permission Sets that are required and “Add”
Then back in the Permission Set Group you can “Manage Assignments” to apply to particular users.
This can also be done through the User Record.
Roles
A role hierarchy exists within Schoolworks which allows access to specific records on an Object based on the job role of the user. For example, the Head of Student Services requires access to all the data used members of the Student Services team, but the team only require access to their own records and not to their colleagues.
So a simple role hierarchy could look like this:
In this example, the School Director has access (usually through Reports and List Views) to all data pertaining to the Head of Student Services and Head of Finance, plus the data for their team members a level below.
The Head of Student Services does not have access to the data belonging to the Head of Finance and vice versa.
Schoolworks comes pre-configured with a single “General” role as often Roles are used in larger organisations and there is not always a need for Roles in smaller organisations.
Accessing the role hierarchy
Navigate to Roles in Setup
If set up already, this will show you the top line hierarchy which can be expanded or collapsed by clicking on the + or - signs
If you click on a role, it will show:
The role name
Who the role reports to
A list of all Users in the Finance Role
Further detailed guidance on setting up roles can be found on the Salesforce Trailhead here.
Public Groups
Further detailed guidance on setting up Public Groups can be found on the Salesforce Trailhead here.