What is the Preview User account?

When you enrol your colleagues on modules, you may have noticed that sometimes a ‘_PreviewUser’ account shows up in the list of users you can enrol.

What is it?

The ‘_PreviewUser’ account gets created in the My Dundee system automatically the first time an instructor clicks on the ‘Student Preview’ button in an Ultra module. This is the account that allows the instructor to interact with the module as a student, and ensures that actions taken in student preview mode (such as taking quizzes, responding to discussion boards, etc.) remain after the session has ended. 

The account is enrolled automatically as a student in the module where the instructor has entered the the student preview mode; however, it stays in My Dundee as an account. This is why it shows up as an account that can be added manually to modules where the user hasn’t yet entered the student preview mode.

Should I enrol the account?

No, you should not ever need to manually enrol the Preview User account on your module. This is not the instructor’s primary account – the only purpose of the Preview User account is to sit alongside the user’s instructor role to allow the student preview mode to function correctly. You should enrol the staff member’s normal account in the role you require, and ignore the Preview User account. Once the instructor enters the student preview mode, the preview user account will automatically be added the module. 

What if that is the only account I see?

If you search for a user, and the only account that comes up to be added is the ‘_PreviewUser’ account, that means the user is already enrolled in the module. You can use the magnifying glass icon in the register to search for the user, confirm they are enrolled, and change their role or access (if needed). 

I’ve already enrolled that account, what now?

If you have already enrolled a Preview User account on your module, simply change the role for this account to ‘Student’. Leaving the Preview User account as an instructor can cause problems for that user, including blocking them from being able to access the module as an instructor.