Managing Users

In the administration area you decide who gets access to online:academy, what role a person has, and which department they belong to. This page shows you how to invite people — individually or as a whole list — and how to maintain existing users.

Where this happens

You manage users in the Admin Portal — that's the separate administration interface. You send invitations, on the other hand, on the learning platform under Administration → Invitations; they moved there from the Admin Portal in September 2026, so that each product manages its own invitations.

Inviting a single person

The quickest way to onboard a new colleague:

1. On the learning platform, switch to Administration → Invitations.
2. Click Create.
3. Fill in the fields:

Field	Required	Note
Email address	yes	The address the invitation is sent to. There can only ever be one open invitation per address — a new one replaces the old.
Company	yes	As a company admin, only your own company is available here.
Invite for which product?	no	A pure display aid: the selection narrows the role list below to one product and is not sent itself. If it stays on All products, you can assign roles from both online:academy and azubi:web in a single invitation.
Roles	no	What the person is allowed to do. You can only assign roles that are below your own — as company admin, also company admin (see Roles and permissions). Without a role selection, an account without special permissions is created — for learners, choose the ROLE_USER role (basic user).

1. Save — the system sends an email with a personal registration link.

You add the department on the user after registration (see below). Only for admin invitations is it asked for directly during registration.

How long is the invitation valid?

The registration link is valid for 7 days by default and works exactly once. If it expires, simply invite the person again.

Inviting many people at once (CSV import)

If you want to onboard an entire team, the bulk invitation by file is worthwhile:

1. On the learning platform, go to Administration → Invitations → Import CSV.
2. Select a CSV file and upload it. Format:
3. One email address per line
4. No header row, no additional columns
5. Optional: choose the role(s) all invited people should receive — only roles below your own are offered, as company admin also company admin.
6. Start the import.

After the import, the system tells you how many invitations were created, how many rows were skipped (invalid email addresses), and whether there were any errors. Addresses that already have an open invitation get a fresh invitation (the old one is replaced).

Tip for the CSV file

A spreadsheet application like Excel or LibreOffice cleanly exports a single column of addresses as CSV. Make sure to remove any header row (e.g. "Email") before exporting — and that each address appears only once in the file.

Direct creation instead of invitation

In the Admin Portal, under Users there is additionally Create and a separate CSV import — both create accounts directly with a password, without an invitation email. This is meant for special cases (e.g. test accounts); the normal path for real employees is the invitation, where the person sets their own password.

What happens when the invitation is accepted

The invited person receives an email with a link. When they click it, they land on a registration page and fill in the following themselves:

• Required: first and last name, password (at least 10 characters)
• Optional: phone, mobile, address (street, postal code, city, country), position

After submitting, the account is active, the roles from the invitation are applied, and the person is redirected to sign in. From then on they can get started — a getting-started guide is available under Getting Started for Learners.

Editing an existing user

Has a person's data or role changed? You maintain that directly on the user:

1. In the Admin Portal, go to Users.
2. Find the person in the list (by name or email) and open them.
3. Adjust whatever is needed, in the appropriate tab:

What	Where	How
Change role	Roles & Permissions tab	Select a new role — again only roles below your own, as company admin also company admin. Details under Roles and permissions.
Department / user groups	Work information tab	Assign the person to a department and any number of user groups. User groups are handy for bulk actions (e.g. bulk mandatory assignments "By group").
Master data	General and Contact & Address tabs	Correct name, contact details, and profile fields.

1. Save.

A role change takes effect after signing in again

If a person's role changes, they should sign out and back in once so the new permissions take full effect.

Archiving / deactivating vs. deleting

When someone leaves the company or temporarily no longer needs access, there are two very different paths:

Action	What happens	When it makes sense
Archive / deactivate	The person can no longer sign in. But their data — completed lessons, learning progress, certificates — is retained.	The standard case, and in both directions: for extended absences such as maternity leave, parental leave, a sabbatical, or long-term illness, just as much as when someone leaves and the records should stay documented.
Delete	All personal data of the account (name, email, contact details, profile picture) is anonymized and access is permanently blocked. The email address becomes free again and can be used for a new account.	Only if the personal data really has to be removed (e.g. a data-protection request).

When in doubt, archive rather than delete

Archiving is almost always the right choice: access is revoked immediately, but certificates and learning history are retained, and the person can be unlocked again at any time. Deleting, by contrast, cannot be undone — name and contact details are permanently anonymized afterwards. Think beforehand about whether records (e.g. for training obligations) are still needed.

Maximum number of users

Depending on your contract, your company may have a cap on the number of users. It counts all created accounts — archived ones included. Once the cap is reached, the generation:l team increases it for you.

Deletion requests from employees

Every person can request in their own profile that their account be deleted. The account is not deleted immediately: you, as company administrator, decide.

1. As soon as a request arrives, you get a "New deletion request" entry in the bell and an e-mail.
2. Open the Admin Portal. On the start page, the Deletion requests card lists all open requests, with the earliest deadline at the top.
3. Click Approve or Reject:
   • Approve: The account is anonymized just as with deleting and access is blocked permanently. The person receives an e-mail about it.
   • Reject: Enter in the Reason field why the account stays (required). The person receives the reason by e-mail, and the account remains unchanged.

Decide within one month

If there is no decision one month after the request, the account is deleted automatically — the person is informed by e-mail. The deadline is shown in the bell and in the e-mail.

When to reject?

A reason can be, for example, that invoices must be retained or that proof of completed mandatory training is still needed. When in doubt, archiving is the better path.

Until a decision is made, the person can keep signing in and can withdraw the request in their profile at any time. You cannot decide on your own request — and the person who is the last remaining administrator of the company cannot submit a deletion request.

Frequently asked questions

The invited person didn't receive an email. Please have them check the spam folder first. If nothing arrives, invite the person again — this generates a fresh link. Make sure the email address is spelled correctly.

The invitation link says "expired" or "already used". Links are valid for 7 days and can only be used once. Simply invite the person again. If they've already registered successfully, they should just sign in normally instead.

I can't select a particular role. You can only assign roles that are below your own; as company admin, you may also appoint further company admins. Higher roles are assigned by the generation:l team — see Roles and permissions.

An archived person should regain access. Find them in the user list (archived accounts are shown there as well) and click Reactivate — after that they can sign in again.

Related pages: Roles and permissions · Company and branding