> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.puddin.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing Users and Roles in Puddin Core: Administrator Guide

> Invite teachers, assign roles, deactivate accounts, manage student enrolment, and bulk-import users from the Puddin Core Administrator dashboard.

User management in Puddin Core is handled from the Administrator dashboard. You control who has access to your institution's environment, what role they hold, and how students are enrolled in writing assignments. This guide covers every user management task an Administrator needs to perform.

## Understanding roles and permissions

Puddin Core has three roles. Each role has a distinct set of permissions — assign the least-privileged role that meets each person's needs.

<Note>
  Role assignments are made by Administrators. A Teacher cannot elevate their own permissions or invite other users. Students have no access to any administrative or teacher functions.
</Note>

<Accordion title="Administrator">
  Administrators have full access to all platform functions, including:

  * Institution settings and data retention configuration
  * All user management functions (invite, assign roles, deactivate, bulk import)
  * LMS integration setup and management
  * Access to all assignments and authorship records across the institution
  * Generating institution-level usage and compliance reports
  * Signing and managing the data processing agreement

  Grant Administrator access only to staff who need to manage the platform itself — for example, an academic integrity officer or a learning technologist responsible for the LMS integration.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Teacher">
  Teachers have access to the functions they need to run assignments and review student work, including:

  * Creating, editing, and managing their own assignments
  * Inviting and enrolling students in their assignments
  * Reviewing submitted documents and authorship records
  * Replaying writing sessions and examining event summaries
  * Generating verification records for individual submissions

  Teachers cannot access other teachers' assignments, manage institution settings, or view platform-level reports.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Student">
  Students can access only the assignments they are enrolled in. Within those assignments they can:

  * Open the Puddin writing environment for assigned tasks
  * Write and revise their work in the writing environment
  * Submit completed work

  Students cannot view their own authorship record after submission.
</Accordion>

***

## Inviting teachers and administrators

To add a new teacher or administrator to your institution:

1. Navigate to **Users → Invite User** in the Administrator dashboard.
2. Enter the person's institutional email address.
3. Select their role: **Administrator** or **Teacher**.
4. Optionally add a personal message to the invitation email.
5. Select **Send Invitation**.

The invited user receives an email with a link valid for 72 hours. They follow the link to set a password and complete their account profile. Once they do, their status in the Users list changes from **Invited** to **Active**.

<Tip>
  If a user does not receive their invitation email, check that the address is correct and ask them to check their spam folder. You can resend the invitation from **Users** by selecting the user and choosing **Resend Invitation**.
</Tip>

***

## Bulk user import

If you need to add a large number of teachers at once — for example, at the start of an academic year — use the bulk import tool rather than inviting users one by one.

1. Navigate to **Users → Import Users**.
2. Download the CSV template.
3. Fill in the required columns: **Email**, **First Name**, **Last Name**, and **Role**. Valid values for Role are `teacher` and `administrator`.
4. Save the file and upload it using the **Choose File** control.
5. Review the import preview — Puddin validates each row and flags any errors (duplicate emails, invalid roles, missing fields) before you commit.
6. Select **Import** to send invitations to all valid rows.

Users imported in bulk receive the same invitation email as individually invited users.

<Warning>
  Student accounts are not created through bulk import. Students access Puddin through LMS enrolment (if you use an LMS integration) or through direct enrolment in individual assignments managed by teachers.
</Warning>

***

## Managing student enrolment

Students are enrolled in assignments, not at the institution level. There are two ways to enrol students, depending on whether you use an LMS integration.

**Via LMS integration**

When Puddin is connected to your LMS via LTI 1.3, students who access a Puddin assignment through the LMS are automatically enrolled. No manual action is required from Administrators or teachers. See [LMS Integration](/core/admin/lms-integration) for setup instructions.

**Via direct enrolment**

Without an LMS integration, teachers enrol students in each assignment manually:

* Individually: the teacher goes to the assignment, selects **Enrol Students**, and enters the student's email address. If the student does not yet have a Puddin account, they receive an invitation email and are enrolled in the assignment when they complete their account setup.
* By class list: the teacher uploads a CSV of student email addresses through the assignment's **Enrol Students → Import** tool.

As an Administrator, you can view enrolment lists for any assignment in your institution but cannot enrol students directly — that is managed at the assignment level by teachers.

***

## Deactivating user accounts

If a staff member leaves your institution or no longer needs access to Puddin, deactivate their account rather than deleting it. Deactivation prevents the user from signing in while preserving their assignment history and any authorship records associated with their assignments.

1. Navigate to **Users** and find the user's account (use the search field if needed).
2. Select the user to open their profile.
3. Select **Deactivate Account**.
4. Confirm the deactivation when prompted.

The user receives no notification. They are immediately unable to sign in. Their assignments and authorship records remain intact and visible to Administrators.

<Info>
  To reactivate a deactivated account, open the user's profile and select **Reactivate Account**. The user can sign in immediately using their existing password, or you can trigger a password reset if needed.
</Info>

***

## Changing a user's role

To change a user's role from Teacher to Administrator, or to downgrade an Administrator to Teacher:

1. Navigate to **Users** and open the user's profile.
2. Select **Edit Role**.
3. Choose the new role from the dropdown.
4. Select **Save**.

The change takes effect immediately. The user does not need to sign out and back in for the new permissions to apply.

<Warning>
  Downgrading an Administrator to Teacher removes their access to institution-level settings, all assignments across the institution, and compliance reports. Ensure this is intentional before saving.
</Warning>