24 Sep FranchiZeTrainer Intro
Applicable accounts: ‘Regular’ Account  ‘Enterprise’ Account
FranchiZeTrainer is a separate system to FranchiZeManager but they are related and share data. Following are some points that will help you understand how the two systems work together:
- FranchiZeTrainer (FZT) is an online learning management system (LMS) and this sits as a separate system to FranchiZeManager (FZM)
- There is a connector between both systems to push data back and forth
- Logically FranchiZeManager is used to store staff records, grant those staff members access to the FranchiZeTrainer system, assign courses to a staff member and report on the results of quizzes and completed coursework at both an individual, a franchise and a consolidated level (ie all franchisees)
- The FranchiZeTrainer system is used to create learning content and deliver that learning content to Staff
- The FZTÂ system is visually different to FZM, it will typically be heavily client branded, it works very well on mobile devices (where a large percent of on-line learning takes place), it is built upon a common Content Management System, called WordPress, so someone at your National Support Office can easily author learning content with only a short learning curve
- Hatchit is also able to provide support and contract services to assist with this instructional design and the transfer of your traditional training content into FranchiZeTrainer. If you are interested in this please contact Hatchit Support.
FranchiZeTrainer – Understanding Back-end and Front-end Access Levels:
There are two sides to the FranchiZeTrainer site:
- Frontend: this is the side where courses are delivered, lessons and quizzes are completed. This is where your franchisees and staff will see and use the system.
- Backend: this is restricted access to the site where Support Office staff members (i.e. Franchisor staff) can load and author content and control how the FranchiZeTrainer site works. It is restricted to those with Editor access (see below). If you have editor access you will have an Admin menu in the top right of your FZT site on the frontend.
FranchiZeTrainer – Access Levels
Note: these access levels relate to the FranchiZeTrainer site, not your FranchiZeManager system.
FranchiZeTrainer will come pre-configured with four main access levels (also called Roles), they are as follows:
- Editor:
This role is used by staff at the National Support Office. It provides access to the back-end of the FranchiZeTrainer site. It is the highest level of access and is used to author courses and lessons and quizzes. It can also be used to administer the FranchiZeTrainer site, such as creating badges, certificates and adding/editing content on the site. Typically this access level is used by the HR/Training manager at the Franchisor office.
- National Support Office Staff:
If you use the FranchiZeTrainer site to deliver training to staff at the National Support Office then you will assign them this access level. When users login with this access level they will see courses that are available for this access level. Note this level only has access to the front-end of the system, they do not have any back-end access to the FranchiZeTrainer system.
- Franchisee:
If you use the FranchiZeTrainer site to deliver training to Franchisee’s then you will assign them this access level. When users login with this access level they will see courses that are available for this access level. Note this level only has access to the front-end of the system, they do not have any back-end access to the FranchiZeTrainer system.
- Franchisee Staff:
If you use the FranchiZeTrainer site to deliver training to Franchisee’s Staff Members (ie the staff that work for franchisees) then you will assign them this access level. When users login with this access level they will see courses that are available for this access level. Note this level only has access to the frontend of the system, they do not have any backend access to the FranchiZeTrainer system.
Note: as a customisation Hatchit Support can add more access roles. However it is advised – for simplicity’s sake – to start initially with the four main access levels.
Additional access levels and roles can be added as a customisation.
Course/Lesson/Topic Structure & Quizzes:
Your learning content is structured into three levels. Note you don’t “have” to use all four levels for all courses, however it may be useful where there is a lot of content to be delivered.
1. Â Courses
A course is the highest level “container” for your learning content.  Lessons, topics and quizzes are held within a Course. A Course is usually targeted at a specific Role (eg Franchisee Staff). You can have unlimited courses.
2. Â Lessons
You can have an unlimited number of lessons assigned to a course. Â At the bottom of each lesson will be a MARK COMPLETE button that is auto-generated by FranchiZeTrainer. Â When clicked, the user is automatically redirected to the next lesson.
You can assign Quizzes to a Lesson so that it cannot be marked as complete until it is successfully passed. This is a great way to ensure that users understand the content before being allowed to move onto the next Lesson.
3. Â Topics
The Lesson Topics feature allows you to break your lessons into further “sub-lessons”. A lesson can have an unlimited number of lesson topics, much like a course can have an unlimited number of lessons. Lesson Topics adopt the same progression functionality as lessons. If you require lessons to be completed in a chronological order, then Lesson Topics also must be completed in chronological order. A lesson cannot be marked complete until all lesson topics have been marked as complete.
By no means do you have to use Lesson Topics to break-up your Lessons. Some Lessons may have more content than others, and the Lesson Topics give you the ability deliver it in smaller “chunks”. Just like you can do with your Lessons, you can assign Quizzes to a Topic so that it cannot be marked as complete until it is successfully passed. This is a great way to ensure that users understand the content before being allowed to move onto the next Topic.
Adding Franchisee and Franchisee Staff as FZT users:
FranchiZeManager has a directory of Franchise Partners (i.e. Franchisees) and Franchisee Staff, this is where you add staff and grant them access to the FranchiZeTrainer site.
To do this go:
Directory > Add Staff Member (for franchisee staff member), OR;
Directory > Add Franchise Partner (if they are a franchisee).
When you have completed their details be sure to set the Staff Role as either Franchisee Staff or Franchisee and click Save. Then click “Enable FranchiZeTrainer Account” – this will send an email to the user with their login details etc.
If you are a first time user it is wise to set up a dummy FZT user with your email address to test the process and login as them.
Customising Pages in FranchiZeTrainer
When you first login there are 2 main pages where you can add content about the site for your users, these are the Home page and the About page.
When you are logged into the front-end with your editor access level you will see a little “edit” icon on these pages that allows you to click and edit them directly from the front end. Alternatively, from the backend you can click on the Pages menu and find the Welcome and About pages, just click on one to edit. You can also change the featured images used in the top header to be more in line with your branding.
Getting Ready Before You go Live
When you first start using FZT there are a number of set-up steps you must undertake, these include:
- Set-up your Home-Page and About page, by logging in with editor access and writing some copy about your new training site.
- Consider branding & pictures. FZT comes with a number of standard pictures as headers and banners on the pages. You can customise these with your own branded content, pictures etc, just login with editor access and upload your own “Featured Image” on each of the pages.
- Set-up your Courses/Lessons/Topics and Quizzes. This is the most work, if you have existing content you can re-purpose it to work on FZT. Note you can also use Hatchit support services to help set these up for you, this is often wise as it gives you a starting point that you can then configure and use.
- Set-up your access levels that provide access to specific courses for certain roles. As described above there are four access levels by default, you may want more added to focus content to specific roles. Please contact Hatchit support if required.
- If you are using Certificates, you will want to customise the content of these.
- Test! There is only one way to ensure that FZT is working as you want, and that’s to test it. It can be boring but it is necessary. Create a dummy staff member in FZM (you will need a few), send an invite and work through the course material to ensure it is presenting as you wish.