ASTM INTERNATIONAL

Helping our world work better

ASTM Learning
Management
System (LMS)
Guide for System
Administrators
www.astm.org

For support please contact the LMS Administrator

LMS_Support@astm.org

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

Table of Contents
Introduction

Users

Hierarchies

Reports

3 How to Register

Accounts

Positions

13 Manage Reports

4 Accessing the
Administration Block

5 Browse List of Users

Edit a Users Profile

Adding a New Position

Manage Positions

14 Report Settings

Audiences
9 Manage Types
6 Create an Audience

Edit and Manage

Audiences

Create a New Report

Creating and Editing

Position Types

Editing a Position Type

Permissions

Organizations

7 Define User roles

10 Managing
Organizations
Adding a New
Organization
11

Manage Types

Creating and Editing

Organization Types

Editing an Organization
Type

Competencies
12 Setting Up Your
Competency Hierarchy

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

How to Register
Welcome to the ASTM Learning
Management System (LMS).
As a site administrator you will
have many capabilities within
the ASTM LMS. This guide
will walk you through the Site
Administration Menu and explain
step-by-step what capabilities
are available to you as an
Administrator.

To begin go to compass.astm.org. All users

will need to register in the ASTM Compass
and then click on the Training link located
on the Compass homepage. If users have
a registered account within Compass, they
will need to sign in and then click on the
Training link. By clicking on the Training
link, it will automatically register you in the
Learning Management System. You can
follow the 2 steps below to register, sign in
and click on the Training link:

Step 1
Register and Sign In

Step 2
Click on Training

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

The Administration Block

As a site administrator you are
able to manage all of the users
within your organization, manage
audiences, hierarchies, learning
plans, and reports.

The Administration block is located at the

bottom right hand side of your home screen.
Learning Plans are created by ASTM as
part of the training package based on
information provided by your organization.
Learning plans are automatically created
by ASTM as a convenience to you the
Site Administrator. If you prefer to create
the Learning Plans manually please
contact our LMS support who will provide
additional training on Learning Plans.

Administration Block

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

Users, Accounts, Permissions

Users has two subsections, Accounts and Permissions. Site
Administrators in the Accounts section can browse or search from
the listing of all users within their organization; and in the Audiences
section can edit an existing audience or create a new audience.

Accounts
Browse List of Users
You can search for a particular user, using
their name, user name, or email address.
Once a user is selected their user profile
can be viewed and edited. Editing a users
profile enables the Site Administrator to
reset the users password.
When searching for users you can refine the
search by using a particular criteria or filters.
These criteria can be configured to display
data as per the following limits:

Accounts
>> Browse list of users
>> Audiences

>> Contains
>> Doesnt contain
>> Is equal to
>> Starts with
>> Ends with
>> Is empty
For example, if you wish to search for all
users with Smith in their First Name or Last
Name, then you would enter Smith in the
Full name filter and select the contain limit.
Clicking Show More will provide additional
search filter and data limit options.
After applying a filter to a user search, click
the Add Filter to run the user search. All
filters applied to the search are listed above
the search results. You can add or remove
(using the corresponding tick box) filters to
your search criteria as required.

Edit a Users Profile

As a site administrator you can edit a
users profile:
1. Click Browse List of Users from the site
administration menu.
2. Find and click the users name to open
their profile.
3. Click Edit Profile to update the users
details.
The fields here are self-evident; the most
frequent reason to access this page is to
reset a users password or make a change to
the username.
Click Update Profile to save changes.

Audiences
Audience management allows site-wide
user groups to be dynamically populated
via unlimited combinations of rules built on
supplied HR data, user completion records,
and other collected user metrics.
You can use these groups to enroll learners
in particular courses and programs. There
are two groups that can be used:
1. A Set group allows you to manually
select and add any user to the group
2. A Dynamic group allows you to create a
rule that will automatically place a user
in a group. These can be based on job
position, email address, etc.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

Users, Accounts, Permissions

Within the ASTM LMS, site administrators
can create Set and Dynamic Audiences
and edit and manage already created these
audiences.
Create an Audience
To create an audience group:

Accounts
>> Browse list of users
>> Audiences

1. Click Users > Accounts from the

site Administration Menu and click
Audiences.
2. The Audience Management page
appears and any groups already set up
are displayed here.
3. Click Add to set up a new group.
4. Type in the group name. This is a
mandatory field.
5. Select Context. An Audience can be set
up at a system context or in a particular
category context.
6. Select Set or Dynamic from the Type
dropdown field.
7. You can use ID Number and Description
if required. The ID number needs to be a
unique identifier.
8. Set the Start Date and End Date. These
dates control when the group is live
in the system, allowing you to set up
a group for a particular period of time.
If you set a group with no start or end
date, the group is live immediately and
remains live until an end date is added
to the group or the group is deleted. This
is most applicable to temporary labor
groups who will only be accessing the
LMS for a specific time frame.
9. Set Alerts, which controls the
notifications sent to the audience group
members.

>> Do Not Send Alerts prevents alerts from

being sent to the learners in the group
>> Send Alerts to Affected Members Only
allows you to only send notifications to
audience group members affected by
changes in the membership of the group
>> Send Alerts to All Members sends all
alerts to all audience group members
(Note: Some audiences may be very large)
>> Select Save Changes. The audience now
appears in the Audience Management
page.
10. For Dynamic audiences you will be
required to enter the guidelines for the
set of rules that will place users into the
audience.
Edit and Manage Audiences
Once created, an Audience group can now
be edited.
To edit an audience follow the steps:
1. Once you are in the Audience
Management page, you can see any
groups already set up.
2. Click Edit in the Actions column
3. Click the tab that holds the details you
wish to edit:
>> Edit Details allows you to edit the name,
description, start and end date of the
audience group.
>> Edit Members allows you to add/remove
users from the audience group.
>> Enrolled Learning allows you to add/
remove courses and programs from the
enrolled learning list.
4. Click Back to Audiences when finished.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

Users, Accounts, Permissions

Permissions

Within the Define Roles page there

are four tabs:

As an administrator of your organization,

you can define users roles within your
audience.

Manage Roles contains a list of roles for

your site. The Edit column contains icons for
editing and deleting roles, and for moving
them up or down in the list. Below the table
is an Add a new role button.

What is a user role?

A role is a collection of permissions that
you can assign to specific users in specific
contexts. The role is available site-wide and
can be assigned to a user at site, category,
and course or activity level. This option
defines what your managers, and learners
will be able to see and access as well as
other organization specific created roles.
For example, you may have a role called
Manager set up to allow managers to do
certain things (and not others), once this
role exists you can assign it to someone
in a course to make them a Manager for a
specific course or group. This will give the
user those capabilities just in that forum. A
role must have a name.

Permissions
>> Define Roles

Allow Role Assignments enables

employees who have assigned roles to
assign some of the column roles to other
employees.
Allow Role Overrides enables you to
designate which roles can be overridden
in the left column. These settings will
only apply to those users who either have
the capability moodle/role:override or
the capability moodle/role:safeoverride
allowed.
Allow Role Switches enables you to
designate which roles a user may switch to
based on the role(s) they already have.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

Positions, Organizations, Competencies

As a Site Administrator you can:
>> Manage and create positions within your
organization or audience.
>> Manage and create organizations and
types.
>> Create and manage competencies,
manage types within your own audience.
>> Manage and create goals within an
audience.
Every organization has a structure around
the positions or roles that staff members
hold and a hierarchy of organizations
or areas of expertise.
Often these positions and organization
define the training a learner should receive
as well as the skills the learner should be
proficient in. ASTM hierarchies allow you to
replicate these structures and apply them
for automated assignment of learning as
well as reporting functions.

Positions
Positions
>> Manage Positions

The Position hierarchy allows you to set

up one or more position structures. The
position structure defines the job roles
found in your company.
As a site administrator you will be able to
manage positions and manage positions
types from the Site Administration Menu.

Manage Positions
To set up a new Position framework:
1. Go to the Administration block and click
on Site Administration > Hierarchies >
Positions > Manage Positions.

Click Add new positions framework.

Enter a Name for the position framework
Enter an ID number.
The Framework Description is a text
field for storing additional information
about the framework. It is displayed on
the Manage Positions page, just above
the table of positions.
6. Click on Save Changes.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Adding a New Position

Go to the Administration block and click
on Site Administration > Hierarchies >
Positions > Manage Positions
1. Click the linked name of the position
framework to add positions.
2. Click Add new position.
3. Give the position a Name. (Example:
Director, Manager, Support Analyst).
4. The Parent position allows users to
build parent/child relationships between
the individual positions in a hierarchy
framework. There must be at least one
position item set up in a framework for
this option to be available. The default
value is Top.
5. Enter the Position ID Number.
6. Enter a Description. This data is
displayed when viewing the hierarchy
listing and the individual position page.
7. Click Save Changes.
The new position now appears. If you wish
to continue setting up positions, click Return
to position framework.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

Positions, Organizations, Competencies

Manage Types
Types allow you to set up custom fields and
apply those fields to position items set up
within your framework. They allow you to
apply different custom fields to different
items within your position framework, or to
the same custom fields to all position items.
Types are optional and can be applied in
two ways:
1. When the hierarchy items is set up
2. By editing a hierarchy item
To manage types you go to Site
Administration > Hierarchies > Positions >
Manage Position Types
Creating and Editing Position Types
To create a position type:

Positions
>> Manage Types

1. Click Hierarchies in the Site

Administration menu and click Positions.
2. Click Manage Types, a list of all position
types already set is displayed.
3. Click Add a New Type.
4. Complete the required fields and click
Save Changes.
Your type is now set up and can be used to
classify position items in your framework(s).

Editing a Position Type

1. Click Hierarchies in the Site
Administration menu and click Positions.
2. Click Manage Types, a list of all position
types already set is displayed.
3. Click Add a New Type.
4. Complete the required fields and click
Save Changes.
Your type is now set up and can be used to
classify position items in your framework(s).

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

10

Positions, Organizations, Competencies

Organizations
The Organization hierarchy replicates
the structure of a business or institution.
There are two components to setup in an
organization hierarchy:
1. The Framework: An overall Organization
Framework is created which holds the
structure of the business.
2. The Organization: Individual
organizations, such as departments,
regions, or teams within the business
structure.

Manage Organizations
To set up a new Organization framework:

Organizations
>> Manage Organizations

1. Go to the Administration block and click

on Site Administration > Hierarchies >
Organizations > Manage Organizations.
2. Click on Add New Organization
framework.
3. Enter a name for the organization
framework.
4. Enter an ID Number. This is the value
used to identify organization for Totara
Sync.
5. The framework description is a text field
for storing additional information about
the framework. It is displayed on the
Manage Organizations page, just above
the table of organizations.
6. Click on Save Changes.

Adding a New Organization

To set up each of the organizations in
a framework go to the Administration
block and click on Site Administration >
Hierarchies > Organizations > Manage
Organizations.
1. Click the linked name of the organization
framework to add new organizations.
2. Click Add New Organization.
3. Give the organization a name. (Example:
Headquarters, Region: Americas, Client
Services, Finance).
4. Enter the Organization ID Number.
This is the value used to identify
organizations in Totara Sync.
5. Enter a Description. This data is
displayed when viewing the hierarchy
listing and the individual organization
page.
6. Click Save Changes.
The new organization now appears. If you
wish to continue setting up organizations,
click Return to Organization Framework.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

11

Positions, Organizations, Competencies

Manage Types
Types allow you to set up custom fields
and apply those fields to organizational
items set up within your framework. They
allow you to apply different custom fields
to different items within your organizational
framework, or the same custom fields to all
organizational items.
Types are optional and can be applied in
two different ways:
1. When the hierarchy item is set up
2. By editing a hierarchy item
To create and manage types go to
Site Administration > Hierarchies >
Organizations > Manage Organization
Types.

Organizations
>> Manage Types

Creating and Editing Organization Types

1. Click Hierarchies in the Site
Administration menu and click
Organizations.
2. Click Manage Types, a list of all
organization types already set is
displayed.
3. Click Add a New Type.
4. Complete the required fields and click
Save changes.
5. Your type is now set up and can be used
to classify organizational items in your
framework(s).

Editing an Organization Type

1. Click Hierarchies in the Site
Administration menu and click
Organizations.
2. Click Manage Types, a list of all
organization types already set is
displayed.
3. Click Edit in the Actions column for the
Organization type you wish to edit.
4. Make the required changes.
5. Click Save Changes.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

12

Positions, Organizations, Competencies

Competencies
Competency Frameworks are set up to
hold the skills, knowledge, and behavioral
competencies staff need to achieve.
Competencies can include skills the
learners will be trained on through the
ASTM LMS as well as skills learned on the
job or outside of the platform which need to
be observed and recorded.
Competencies are grouped within
frameworks based on the area of the
organization, type of skill or other logical
grouping. For example, one framework
could hold all industry national competency
standards (taken from an industry body),
while another framework could hold specific
competencies for a particular department.

Competencies
>> Manage Types

There are two steps to setting up your

Competency hierarchy:
1. Set up your competency scale this
enables you to define the criteria by
which a competency can be measured,
for example a scale might have three
values:
>> Competent
>> Competent with Supervision
>> Not competent
2. Set up the framework: the space
ready to capture the details of your
Organizational Competencies.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

13

Reports
Reports
The Report Builder feature allows you to
create and edit reports. Building a report
allows the site administrator to select:
>> The columns of data that will be available
>> The filters a user can use to search with
>> Content controls that restrict the records
that are available when a report is viewed
>> The user role(s) that will be given
permission to access the report
>> Performance settings such as restricting
reports to run with search criteria entered
and caching versions of the report

Manage Reports
User generated reports: User Generated
reports are reports created by a Site
Administrator.
Any existing reports appear at the top of the
Manage Reports page. Listed in the table
is the name of the report, which source it is
based on, and options to view, edit or delete
the report.
Reports
>> Manage Reports

>> Click Edit to change the report settings of

an existing report.
>> Click Delete to remove an existing report.

Create a New Report

To create a new report:
1. Enter the report name.
2. Select the report Source. The source
of a report is the primary data used to
create the report. The source will also
determine which columns and filters are
available for your report.
3. If Hide in My Reports is checked the
report is not shown in the My Reports
for any users. This can be useful if you
want to link to a report from a different
location.
4. Click Save Changes.

For questions, comments, or suggestions please contact LMS Support

LMS_Support@astm.org

14

Reports
Report Settings
When you create a new report or edit an
existing report, the report setting options
will be displayed. Use these settings to
customize the options that are available
within your report.
The report settings are speared our across
five tabs so remember to click Save
Changes before moving on to another tab.
To view the report, click View this Report.
To return to the manage reports page click
All Reports
1. The basic information about the report
can be found under the General
Settings.
Once the report is created the Source
cannot be changed.

Reports
>> Manage Reports

2. The Columns Tab allows you to select

the columns that will appear in our
report. The available columns are
determined by the date source of the
report. Each report source is set up
with a different set of default columns.
Columns can be added, removed,
sorted, and renamed to suit your needs.
3. The Filters Tab allows you to customize
the filters or search options which
appear on the reports. Which filters are
available to you will depend on the data
source selected for your report.Filters
can be added, sorted, or removed.
4. The Content Tab allows you to restrict
the records and the information that is
available when the report is viewed.
5. The Access Tab provides the controls to
restrict who is able to view the report.
6. The Performance Tab provides access
to the performance based settings for
each report.

Restrict Initial Display controls how

the report is initially displayed and is
recommended for larger reports where
you will be filtering the results. The default
setting is for the report to automatically run
as soon as the report page is loaded. For
reports with a larger quantity of unfiltered
data this can take an extended period of
time. By enabling this setting, the speed
of the report is increased as the requestor
must apply search filters and click the
search button before displaying the report
data.
Enable Report Caching generates a
report on set scheduled and users will
see the results of the stored or cached
version report. This report will display and
filter results faster as it does not have to
generate new results every time the report
is accessed. It is important to remember that
the information displayed will be from the
last run of the report and not current with
live data.
Cache Schedule determines the schedule
that will be used to control how often a new
version of a report is generated. The report
will be generated by the background server
job (cron job) that immediately follows a
specific time.
Please note that both the Restrict Initial
Display and Enable Report Caching
features are set up on a report by report
basis. Reports do need to have both or
either of these options enabled.
For support please contact the LMS
Administrator at LMS_Support@astm.org.