Managing training records in Confluence
Asked by M_S_:

We would like to keep employee (=Confluence user) training records in Confluence. The model would be pretty straight-forward:

Roles (Groups) have required trainings associated and users have roles associated, so a user has a list of roles each with a set of trainings. We would like to track what user finished what training and when.

![training records.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/4889i9F11E043B209DCF0/image-dimensions/440x223?v=v2 "training records.png")

This is not about hosting the actual training in Confluence and we are not looking for a full LMS, just a way to keep records without introducing another software.

Has anyone done this? Is there a plugin or can plugins be combined and configured to provide this?


Answers:
author: Susan Ostreicher
body: Hi M.S.,

If you're using the Server version of Confluence, maybe you could consider the [Learndot Pathways](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.servicerocket.confluence.pathways.lite/server/overview) plugin. There is a Lite and a Pro version. The downside is that it's designed for training that's already in Confluence, so if your training is kept somewhere else, you might have to create "dummy" pages in Confluence with links to the actual training.


author: Kate (izi)
body: Hi M.S.,

You can create training courses using the **[izi for Confluence - LMS](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1214110/izi-for-confluence-lms-training-courses-quizzes?hosting=cloud&tab=overview&utm_source=atl_community&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=quizzes-traffic-sources&utm_content=Managing+training+records+in+Confluence)**add-on. It allows you to make courses for employee and customer education right in Confluence.

I can see you don't need a fully fledged LMS. But I think this app can be suitable for you if you have your training content available on Confluence pages.

The app doesn't require integrating with a third part software.

It allows you to add existing pages as course modules. So you can reuse the existing content. Course reports allow you to track participants' progress. And we plan to add categories in courses shortly. There will be a page in Confluence header with a list of all courses available for enrollment. It will have a filter by category. Categories can be used for associating courses with job roles.

A user will open the page with courses, select their job role and see a list of relevant courses.

Kind regards,

Katerina Kolina


author: AnnWorley
body: Hello M.S.,

Perhaps a plugin designed for approving publishing of pages would work. Trainees could "approve" the training page after completing the training:

[Page Approval](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/net.customware.confluence.plugin.pageapproval/server/overview)

Here is another plugin that provides similar functionality:

[Comala Workflows](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.comalatech.workflow/server/overview)

I look forward to hearing how you proceed with this use case.

Cheers,

Ann

comments: author: M_S_
body: Interesting approach. We actually already use Comala Workflows, however for approving controlled documents.

I do however not see how this would solve assigning trainings to groups (roles), for example:

* group X gets a new training assigned, this should show up for everyone in that group as pending until completed
* user is added to group X, so the new user should have all trainings assigned to that group as pending until completed

My apologies if this aspect was not clear based on the original question.


author: Ashley
body: M_S_

Was your original question ever answered? I am having a similar issue and would like some assistance.

comments: author: M_S_
body: We went with RadBee's Read \& Understood Training Genius plugin. This is not exactly what we had originally been looking for, but does a good job.

Each training is represented by a Confluence page. Each role is represented by a user group. Each user is part of one or more groups (actually managed in AD anyway).

Completed trainings are documented by users signing off on the page.


author: Robert Reiner _smartics_
body: I assume that you would need to provide blueprints or user templates for the entities of your domain (training course, certificate, ...) and some [dynamic linking features](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/gACsAw) so that references to related documents are found without the need of manual editing.

That is: if - for example - a user has a new certificate, only the new certificate needs to be added by a user and pages referring to the certificates of this user or to certificates of all users are automatically updated. You already mentioned the use cases of assigning a new role to a user or adding a new training course for a role, which also need the *dynamic linking feature*.

You could do it with macros from the (commercial) [projectdoc Toolbox](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/1YEp) for Confluence server.

I have compiled a [space that shows a possible solution](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/oYDAB). Since the solution does not necessarily provide enough information to quickly understand what is going on, there is also [a short explanation](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/u4DAB) on how it has been created.

Some notes on the solution:

* Since no blueprints are provided for the domain entities, there is some manual editing on a new page (e.g. a new certificate) required. But existing pages get updated automatically. Blueprints would remove the need (or at least reduce the amount) of this editing.
* There are a number of queries on a page that need to be resolved at request time. Especially if you merge query results.
* The solution uses user information from an existing ['address book' show case](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/4IGLB).
* Creating the blueprints certainly has some complexity, but once installed, it should be easy for users to add new pages (for certificates, roles or training courses).

I remember that you already had a look at the projectdoc Toolbox and considered it as not suited as a solution because of its complexity (see [Content Properties vs Page Properties - choose your limitation](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-questions/Content-Properties-vs-Page-Properties-choose-your-limitation/qaq-p/626426)). I hope that the show case provides some hints on how to get started to lower the learning curve a little. If you encounter difficulties, [please get in touch](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/5gCJAQ)!

Biased alert: I'm one of the authors of the projectdoc Toolbox ([available on the Atlassian Marketplace](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1212629)). Therefore I do not know if the solution I describe could also be done with native Confluence macros (using labels, page properties, cql, and related macros).