When you first sign into the platform, we recommend configuring your overall platform settings first. This can be done by clicking on the Settings button in the upper-right corner.

Start off by clicking on the System Configuration button. This area contains most of the initial customization settings — once they’re set up, you generally won’t have to update them again outside of very specific circumstances, so it’s a great place to start!

The first tab you’ll see is the Welcome Screen. This area lets you create a message that is displayed when a Learner logs into the platform. This can be used for anything from an initial platform walkthrough to important updates to training.

The Title and Description will be shown to your Learners. The Pick From Existing Content dropdown menu allows you to attach content that’s in your Materials section (we’ll be covering that area later in this walkthrough), such as a video, PowerPoint, or PDF file. Once you’re done, click Save. You can have as many slides in your Welcome Screen as you’d like — Learners can cycle through each slide, as well as opt to dismiss it. If dismissed, it will reappear if changes are made.

Next, the Settings tab contains the bulk of your platform’s configuration settings.

Default Platform Language: Sets your platform’s main language. This can be overridden on a per-user basis — if no language is specifically set for a user, this will be the language their platform interface uses.

Default Platform Time Zone: The time zone that will be used if no specific time zone is set on a user’s profile. Times will be converted according to what time zone is set.

Reply-to Email: Sets the reply-to email for all outgoing email notifications. When a user replies to any SkyPrep notification email, their replies will be sent to the email address specified. It’s recommended to have a generic email address that all (or most) admins have access to, such as [email protected] or [email protected].

Email Course List When User Enrolls Into a Group: Users will receive an email that lists the courses they’ve been enrolled into via Group enrollment.

Notify Users When a New Course is Assigned to Their Group: Adding on to the above setting, this will send emails to users when a new course has been assigned to a Group that they’ve already been enrolled in.

Enable Announcement Board: Enables a platform-wide announcement board that can be used to post messages. If you only want course-specific message boards, leave this setting off.

Allow Learners to post on Announcement Board: This option on will also allow Learners to post.

Admin-Only Mode: Turning this on prevents non-Admin accounts from logging in. If enabled, you will be able to enter a message that will be displayed when a non-Admin attempts to log in.

Hide Users With Logins Disabled: SkyPrep allows you to “disable” user accounts which will prevent them from being able to log in while retaining all of their profile and training data. With this setting enabled, disabled accounts will be hidden from all user lists in your platform — to view them, you can click on View Users With Logins Disabled in your Users area.

Allow Learners to Update Their Account Information: If enabled, Learners will be able to update their own profile information, such as Address, Company, and whatever other profile fields you have enabled. This does not allow them to change their role in the platform (Learner vs Admin).

Terms and Conditions Message Displayed on Login: If you require a basic Terms & Conditions message to be accepted prior to logging in, you can enter the text in this area. If you need something more in-depth, such as SHA hash fingerprints (to verify signing), multiple versions, or custom post-acceptance behavior, you should skip this and use the Custom Terms feature we’ll be covering later.

Document Viewer: Determines the service that is used to view content within the platform. If your network runs strict firewalls, PDF.JS and PDF.JS Express are our native viewers which will require less whitelisting.

Valid Email Domains: This setting allows you to specify what email domains (gmail.com, outlook.com, mycompany.com, etc.) are allowed to be used for user creation. Do not include the @ symbol.

Invalid Email Domains: Similar to the above, but prevents the use of the entered email domains.

API Keys: This area is used for generating and deleting API keys. Click on the API Key Manager button to access the area. On the next page, click Add API Key on the bottom right and give it a name. Once the API key is displayed, ensure you copy it since once dismissed, it cannot be viewed again and can only be deleted. If you want to limit the scope of what API calls can be used with the key, you can click on the Edit (pencil icon) button after it’s been created.

Allow Learners to Self-Register: Adds a button to allow user creation on the login page.

Social Login: Adds respective login buttons for each selected service on the login page. User account emails will need to match the emails used for each service in order to successfully authenticate and log in.

The next tab is the Certificate Templates tab.

This area is used to create, view, and edit your course completion certificates. To create one, click on Add a New Template.

The next page will contain the template’s HTML code. This can be freely modified to suit your needs.

Clicking on Documentation in the upper right will open a new tab that contains the dynamic placeholders that you can use throughout the certificate. For example, inserting [NAME] in the HTML code will insert the user’s full name in the certificate when it is generated. These placeholders need to be placed in the body text areas of the code.

You’ll be able to change the formatting after the certificate has been saved using the Create Template button in the bottom right.

Zoom Factor changes the overall size of the certificate, allowing you to zoom in or out to fit the page size.

Margins allow you to add padding. For example, entering 10 0 0 10 will shift the whole certificate down and to the right by adding 10 pixels of padding at the top and the left of the certificate.

Orientation allows you to toggle the certificate between portrait and landscape orientation.

Click Preview Certificate in the upper left to view your certificate and any changes you make.

Next, we have the Sell Settings tab. This tab will allow you to configure your platform for selling courses via PayPal or Stripe.

By default, the Enable Course Selling option will be turned off. Once enabled, set the currency that you want to use. This will apply to all courses that are available for sale.

Next, enter the email address associated with the PayPal account you want to receive money in. If you want to use Stripe instead, enter both the Secret Key and Publishable Key. Both can be enabled at the same time.

Both PayPal and Stripe have purchase buttons on the page. The Embed Code is used to embed the purchase form directly on your webpage. Alternatively, if you want users to be redirected to the purchase form, such as via a Buy Now button, use the Purchase Link option.

Both options will display a purchase form with a drop-down at the top of the page that lists all of the courses available for sale through your platform. Individual course options will be covered in the Course Settings portion of this document.

The Custom Labels area is used to customize the information that is displayed on your user profiles.

First Name, Last Name, and Email are always included in a user’s profile and are omitted from this page.

You can change the Labels to whatever you want to track. This will only change the label itself and not any associated data. For example, if you change the Company field to Reports To, any previously entered Company data will not be changed. For this reason, we recommend utilizing the CA (Custom Attribute) options at the bottom of the page before modifying any of the default values.

To turn fields on, check the box beside the field in the Enabled column.

The Default Value can be used for API calls (remove the parenthesis and replace spaces with underscores), as well as for placeholders in both certificates and emails (remove the parenthesis, replace spaces with underscores, and capitalize all letters).

Required sets a field as required, both when creating and editing users.

Only Admins Can See This Field will hide the field from users when they view their own profiles. This is used for keeping notes or information on users that you don’t want them to see.

Type allows you to modify the type and format of the data saved in each field, such as a plain text format, a date format, or a dropdown menu.

Navigate to the System Defaults tab.

Use the tabs on the left to navigate between Courses, Learning Paths, Assessments and Checklists.

The following lists all of the available settings that can have defaults applied. When a default is applied, all respective newly-created items will have the same settings, although the settings can be overridden once the item is created.

Custom Properties is accessible by clicking on the Settings button in the upper-right.

The User Properties tab has the same functions as the Custom Labels area we just covered.

The main difference is that this page only shows the labels that are currently active. You can add a new label by clicking the Add a New Label button.

However, this area also includes the Course Progress Properties tab.

The Add a New Label button in this area lets you add custom trackable parameters to your courses, such as Instructor Name, Training Location, or any other information you want to track on a per-course basis.

Enter the Label, which is the text that will be shown in your platform and in reports, and the Key, which functions like the Default Value in the Custom Labels area.

Next, we have Security & Compliance.

This area contains all of your security settings, as well as audit logs for all admin actions taken in the platform.

Maximum Login Attempts limits the number of allowed failed login attempts. If a user incorrectly enters their credentials more than the set number of times, their accounts will be locked. If locked, you can click on the View Suspended Accounts button to view them and reset their allowed login attempts. Set this to 0 if you want to allow unlimited attempts.

Time Before Inactive Warning and Automatic Logout enables an inactivity (no mouse movement or clicks) timer. After the set amount of inactivity, a warning message with a five-minute countdown will appear, and if it is not dismissed, the user will be logged out. Set this to 0 if you don’t want users to be logged out after periods of inactivity.

High Security Passwords sets a requirement for passwords of at least 8 characters, with one number, upper-case letter, and lower-case letter.

Email Signin Verification Code will send a code to the user’s email that needs to be entered prior to logging in.

Require any MFA verification codes on all sign-in types will enable MFA for all sign-in formats, including signing in via a single sign-on service (Okta, OneLogin, etc.) and API calls.

Password Expiry Interval lets you set how long a password is valid for. After the set number of days, users must change their passwords. Set this to 0 to allow passwords to be used indefinitely.

Account Inactivity Lock Period sets the number of inactive days that must elapse before a user’s account is disabled. This will prevent them from being able to log in until their accounts are reactivated. Set this to 0 to turn off automatic disabling of inactive accounts.

System Logs will generate an audit log that tracks and displays all administrative actions (course creation, user deleting, course progress modification, etc.), along with the actor. After clicking the button, you will be asked to enter a date range. The date range must have at least a one-day separation (June 1st, 2025 to June 2nd, 2025). After confirming the date range, the report will be generated and emailed to the Admin that requested it.

The Notifications and Reminders area of the Settings panel lets you modify the email notifications that are sent from your platform.

To turn emails on/off, use the checkboxes in the Send to Learners and Notify Admin(s) columns. Click on the name of the email notification to customize what the email says.

You can make changes to the text, including formatting, inserting HTML code, and adding images. The Placeholders allow you to enter dynamic content that will change based on what triggered the email, as well as who the recipient is. You can also use the Default Values from the Custom Labels area as placeholders (just make sure to follow the same formatting conventions). For example, entering the [COUNTRY] placeholder will insert whatever is in the recipient’s Country field.

The Custom Terms section lets you create custom terms and conditions messages that users must accept prior to logging into the platform.

To create a new T&C message, click Create New Custom Term in the upper right.

On the next page, you can configure your Terms and Conditions as required.

Enter the Title for the message at the top of the page.

The Terms Message should contain the actual text that the user is accepting prior to logging in.

Published enabled will display the Terms to the user. You can freely toggle messages on and off without losing any records of past acknowledgements.

Position determines the order the pages are displayed, if you have multiple active.

Single Acknowledgement, if enabled, will require users to only accept the terms one time.

Format allows you to change how the formatting, letting you change between plain text, markdown formatting, and HTML formatting.

Confirmation Text is the text that will be shown on the confirmation button, such as I Accept, I Agree, Confirm, etc.

Once created, it will be listed on the page:

Click the title to edit it, or click Download CSV to generate a report listing all users that have accepted it.

The CSV contains a sha256_hash column that acts as a fingerprint, allowing you to verify that they accepted the terms shown. To use the column, copy and paste the full Terms Message (including any markdown or HTML formatting) into any SHA256 encrypter (there are many free options available online) — the resulting string of text should exactly match what’s shown in the CSV.

The Integrations area lists all of the native integrations that we currently support, including integrations with webinar services (Zoom, Webex, etc.), HRIS (ADP, Oracle, etc.), Identity & Access Management (Microsoft Entra ID, JWT, etc.), and more.

To set up an integration, click on the Add to SkyPrep button.

The initial configuration can differ based on the integration that you are setting up — some require a username and password while others might require you to log into the service to complete the integration.

For HRIS integrations, some settings are shared between many of them.

Auto-Create New Users on SSO creates user accounts when a user signs in via the HRIS SSO if they don’t already exist in SkyPrep.

Sign-in Page Flow if SSO is enabled via the HRIS, you can choose how SSO is achieved:

None: No SSO option is displayed on the SkyPrep login page and will require you to provide the SSO link.

Create Link to (service) Login: Adds a button to the login page that redirects users to the SSO login page.

Auto-Redirect to (service) Login: Skips the SkyPrep login page and redirects users to the SSO login page. Only use this option if every user will be using SSO via the HRIS.

Termination Date Action determines what happens if a termination date is detected on a user’s profile in the HRIS: either ignore the date, or disable the user account in SkyPrep.

Auto Import New Users will automatically add new HRIS users to your SkyPrep platform, as long as they match the Import Rules.

Enable Email Notifications on New User Creation will turn on Email Notifications for any users created via the integration.

Remove users from groups they are no longer a part of (service) will remove users from SkyPrep groups upon group unenrollment in the HRIS platform, if they were initially added to the SkyPrep groups via the integration.

Deactivate users in the LMS that are no longer in (service) will disable the SkyPrep account associated with users deleted from your HRIS.

Reactivate terminated users in the LMS that are no longer terminated in (service) works together with Termination Date Action — users disabled due to having a termination date added to their account will be reactivated if the termination date is removed.

Deactivate existing users who do not match import rules will disable the SkyPrep accounts of users who no longer match the import rules you’ve set if they were created via the HRIS integration.

Update the profiles of existing deactivated users will keep deactivated SkyPrep accounts updated with the most up-to-date information from your HRIS rather than skipping their syncs.

Next, configure your Data Mapping.

The SkyPrep Property shows all of your active Custom Labels. Set the Primary and Secondary Values — these will be mapped from the chosen HRIS values to the SkyPrep values, with the secondary value being used if the primary value is blank in the HRIS.

Click Update Rules to save your changes.

Next, configure your Import Rules to determine which users are pulled from your HRIS and added to SkyPrep.

Click Add Rule to add your first import rule.

Add as many rules as you need, selecting Match All or Match Any as required. You can opt to have the users who match the rules imported (Import the User), or have the users who do not match the rules imported (Skip Importing the User) with the last drop-down.

Once this has been completed and the changes saved, your integration will be up and ready to go!

The Users tab shows all users in your HRIS platform, regardless of whether they are going to be imported — SkyPrep applies the Import Rule filters to that list to determine which will be added or skipped. If you scroll to the right of the table and click Actions, you’ll be able to click the View Payload button to see all of the information that is being passed from the HRIS to SkyPrep.

Next, we’ll move to the Dashboard Customization area.

This area lets you customize what the Learner dashboard looks like. Hover over the Default Dashboard tile and click the Edit button.

The following page contains the settings you’ll need to create a fully branded and immersive experience for your Learners when they log in.

Dashboard Name: You can use this field to name your dashboard.

Dashboard Visibility: Only visible if you are editing a non-default dashboard. This setting will allow you to set rules to determine which users will see the dashboard you are currently editing. For example, you could have a holiday theme that turns on December 1st and off January 2nd, or you could have a stripped-down dashboard for new hires that are currently in the process of being onboarded.

Dashboard Theme: Use this dropdown to apply custom themes to this dashboard, which will be covered in the next section.

Logo: The logo that will be displayed in the upper-left corner of the platform.

Favicon: The small icon that will be displayed in the browser tab.

Navigation Bar Style: Sets whether the main navigation bar is displayed at the top or on the left of the platform.

Default Course Overview Layout: Sets whether newly created courses default to the full-width (left) or split-width (right) course portal. This can be overridden in a course’s settings page.

Default Image Display Style: Chooses between Contain and Scaled for course images. Contain will show the entire image while scaled will adjust the size to take up the entire area — images will be scaled via cropping to prevent distortion.

Course Catalog Display Style: Chooses whether the Course Catalog defaults to a list or tile view. This can be changed by each user when in the Course Catalog.

Dashboard Welcome Banner: Sets the banner that is shown at the top of the dashboard. If enabled, you will see the following settings:

Height: Sets the amount of vertical space that the banner takes up.

Content Alignment: Changes the text to be left, center, or right-justified.

Welcome Message: This is where you enter the text you want displayed. You can use the [NAME] placeholder to insert their full name, or [FIRST_NAME] to insert just their first.

Main Text: The main, large text that is displayed within the banner. It’s best to keep this short and simple.

Sub Text: Smaller text that is shown below the main text. This can be longer.

Show Current Date: Shows the current date above the Main Text area, with these formats:

Long: Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Short: Jan 1, 2025 (Month Day Year, Day Month Year, and Year Month Day)

Numeric: 01-01-2025 (MM-DD-YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD)

Cover Image: Sets the image that is displayed in the banner along with the text.

Learner Dashboard Widgets: This area is split into two separate sections, the Active widgets at the top and the Currently Disabled widgets below. To turn a disabled widget on, hover over it in the list and click on the + icon that appears.

Hovering over an active widget will show the Edit and Delete buttons, as well as six dots on the left — click and drag the six dots to reorder the widgets.

Quick Links: Use this widget to add links to external websites or internal SkyPrep pages.

Announcement Board: Lets you post announcements for your Learners to view in a carousel format. The announcements are unique per dashboard, allowing you to customize them based on the intended audience.

Recent Activity: Allows a Learner to quickly resume from where they last left off.

My Current Learning: Displays all of their enrolled courses and Learning Paths. By default, upcoming and overdue courses will be hidden.

Recently Completed: Shows all of the training that the Learner has completed.

My Learning Calendar: A calendar that shows all important course-related dates, such as Start Dates and End Dates.

ILT Calendar: A calendar that shows all important instructor-led training dates. Learners can use the calendar to directly register for available time slots.

Performance: A breakdown of the skills and competencies that the Learner has achieved

My Learning Overview: Shows overall percentages of not started, completed, in progress, and failed courses in a pie chart.

Gamification: Tracks and displays the learner’s gamification points and their progress towards the next badge threshold.

Pinned Resources: Allows direct access to material within the Resource Center from the dashboard.

Learner Dashboard Image: Allows you to upload and add any image to the dashboard.

Embed URL: Embeds an external website onto the dashboard. Only websites that support iframing can be added — it’s recommended to confirm that iframing is supported prior to adding this to the dashboard.

Custom Link: Adds additional links to the navigation bar.

Enable Chatbot: A chatbot that learners can use to find courses, materials, and additional training.

Now that you’ve configured the learner dashboard, the next thing to set up is the platform theme. Click on the Settings button again and then on Branding and Customization.

Click on the Theme Customization tab and then on the Edit button after hovering over the Default theme, or alternatively, click Create a Theme.

On the next page, you can customize the look and feel of the platform, ranging from the background image all the way to the font that’s used.

When using the color picker function, click on RGB to change it to HSL (hue, saturation, and luminance) and Hex (hex code for perfect color recreation based on your branding standards).

Click Update Theme to save your changes.

You’re now almost done with the initial platform customization!

Next, we’ll set up Gamification. This will allow Learners to earn points by completing training and doing other actions within the platform, fostering an environment of healthy competition.

To turn it on, click on Dashboard and then Gamification.

Once you’ve turned Enabled Gamification on, you’ll see more settings appear.

The first setting is Restrict learner leaderboard visibility to the groups they are enrolled in. By default, Learners will see everyone in the points leaderboard. If you want to limit their visibility to only others in their groups, enable this option.

Below, you’ll find fields to set the base number of points that Learners will earn. For example, the Pass a Course field will set the base number of Gamification points that a Learner will earn when they pass a course — this is in addition to any Gamification points that are awarded for completing that specific course, which is set in the Course’s Course Settings area.

At the bottom of the page, you’ll see the Badges that Learners can earn once they have the required number of points.

Click on one of the badges to rename it, change the image, as well as set the required number of points. Click Update Settings once you’re done.

Next, the Performance Management area of your platform contains many powerful features that can be used to track, appraise, confirm, and report on skills that your users have.

This section will also cover grading performance reviews.

To get started, click on Performance Management then on Skills.

Click Set Skill Levels in the upper-right to customize the different skill levels users can achieve.

Click on the New Skill button to add a skill.

Give it a name and description. If you want to specify what is required for each skill level in the particular skill, click on the Rubric button to expand the fields. When you're done, click Create Skill.

Once a skill has been created, you can edit its name and description, and view the point leaderboard and rubric. Clicking on the trash icon will delete the skill.

Once you’ve finished creating your skills, click on Performance Management then on Competencies. Click the New Competency button.

After giving it a name and description, click on Edit Skills Required.

In the list, use the checkboxes to select the ones that should count towards this competency, then set the skill level required. A user needs to meet the required levels for all of the selected skills in order to earn the competency. Click on Create Competency to save your changes.

You’ll be able to use the checkboxes to specify which skills are earned, as well as the number of points that will be awarded for each of them. Once you’re finished, click on Save Skills.

To create a job, click on Performance Management, then on Jobs. Click on Create New Job.

After naming your Job, use the Skills Required dropdown to specify which skills are required, if any, along with their Skill Level. You can also use the Competencies Required dropdown to specify which competencies are needed for the Job. Both dropdowns allow you to select multiple items.

Click on Add User Rules. Rules determine which users will be assigned the Job.

Click on Add User Rule to add your first rule.

In the list on the right, choose the parameter you want to base the first rule off of.

Use the dropdown to select the style of filter, and enter the value you want to filter against in the text box. Once done, click Apply Filter.

Once you've created a rule, you can click on Add Filter to add additional rules. At the bottom, select whether any or all filters must be met in order for users to be added to the Job. Once done, click Confirm.

You will see your rule set added to the page. If you want to add additional rule sets, click on Add User Rule again and repeat the process until you have all of the rule sets you require — users who match any of the rule sets will be assigned to the Job. Clicking on Preview Users will show you a list of users who currently match the rules.

Click Save once you're done.

Finally, click Create Job to add the job to your SkyPrep.

Clicking on the name of a Job in the list will take you to the overview page. On this page, you'll see an overview of which Skills and Competencies are required, a list of users who are assigned the Job and whether they are below or are meeting expectations, as well as any Performance Reviews which include the Job as one of its components.

Performance Reviews tie everything together and allow users to appraise the skills of others or themselves, all within the platform.

Click on Performance Management, then on Performance Reviews. Click on New Performance Review to create one.

Give your Performance Review a name and an optional description. Next, use the Based On dropdown to select which Skills, Competencies, and/or Jobs the Performance Review will be based on. These will be graded using the Skill Levels you created, along with text comments. You can also use the Open Ended Evaluation option to add additional areas that users will be appraised in — the text you enter will be the appraisal area title.

Click Next once done.

Use the Add User Rules button under Employees to determine who will be appraised using the Performance Review.

The Reviewers toggles determine who will be doing the appraisals. For both Peer and Manager, you will need to add rules to determine who the reviewers are.

After adding a rule, you can click on Add Filter again to add an additional rule and set whether any or all rules must be matched using the toggles at the bottom. The Preview Users button will show a list of users who match the rules.

Click on Save.

Click Next to move to the next section.

Set the Start Date — this will be the first date that a Performance Review is available for completion.

The Due Date specifies how many days users have to complete the Performance Review. You can use the Due Date Reminder to automatically send reminder emails for incomplete Performance Reviews. This field is comma-separated, so entering "3,5" will send emails five and three days prior to the due date.

Finally, set how frequently the Performance Review should be run. You can choose between a one-time review with Not Recurring, Annually, Semi-Annually, Quarterly, and Manual which allows you to specify the frequency in either days, months, or years.

Click Next once finished.

On the next page, you can choose to enroll users into courses if they do not meet Job expectations. The expected levels are the levels you specified in Jobs during the creation process.

You can also add Recommended Courses that will always be shown regardless of the appraisal outcome.

Click Next once finished.

Confirm that all of the settings are correct, then click on Create Performance Review.

To complete a performance review, you have two methods. You can click on the Pending Performance Review number, then on the number in the list of available Performance Reviews.

Click on the User you wish to appraise.

Alternatively, you can click on Performance Management, then on Performance Reviews.

Next, click on the Performance Review you want to complete.

Navigate to the My Reviews tab then click on the user you want to appraise.

Both methods will lead to the next screen. Click on the Skill Levels to choose the appraised level, and enter any comments if necessary.

Use the Save Progress button to save your progress without submitting the appraisal, or submit it using the Submit button.

To see all users and where they stand in terms of proficiency, click on Performance Management then on Users.

This page will list users and their current Status based on assigned Jobs. To view more information on a user, click on their Name.

You will be taken to their dashboard where you can see their overview.

At the top, you'll find the number of Skills and Competencies acquired, as well as the number of Performance Reviews they've had done, along with the resulting status.

Below, you'll find the history of the Skills they've earned, including time stamps showing when their skill levels changed.

Beside that, you'll find the Skills Map that overlays their current skill levels on top of the required skill levels to give quick, at-a-glance information of where they are meeting or falling short of expectations.

Below, you'll see a chart that shows their skills earned over time beside a chart that shows training they completed that count towards skill levels.

Beneath the charts, there are two lists that show their Competencies and related statuses, and their Performance Reviews and related statuses.

At the very bottom, the section shows their recommended courses based on their appraised skills, with buttons to Recommend or Enroll the user.