Overview

Single Sign-On (SSO) with External ID Only allows learners to authenticate through their organization's Identity Provider (IdP) using an External ID without requiring a unique email address during the login process.

This feature is designed for organizations whose users may not have unique corporate email addresses, such as frontline employees, hourly workers, franchise employees, or other distributed workforces.

When enabled, users can log into NovoEd through SSO. The IdP sends NovoEd the user’s information (First Name, Last Name, External ID). Then, the user can set their preferred contact email address to receive course and platform communications.

Permissions

NovoEd Support Team: The Support Team would enable this feature for the customers during the Single Sign-On setup process. Org Admins can request to kickstart this process.

How It Works

When the feature is enabled:

1. The user accesses the organization’s NovoEd institution, and they choose to sign in with Single Sign On. (Or the user can be provided with an IdP-initiated Sign-In URL.)

2. The user is directed to authenticate on the organization's Identity Provider login page.

3. The IdP sends NovoEd the SAML Response, including the learner’s First Name, Last Name, and External ID.

4. NovoEd creates an internal placeholder email address for the user. (ExternalID@novoedlearning.com)

5. After the user is signed into NovoEd, they are prompted to provide an email address so they can receive course communications and notifications from NovoEd.

Email Address Collection

Learners who do not have a valid email address associated with their account will see a prompt requesting an email address upon logging into NovoEd. This contact email address is used for communications sent from NovoEd, including course communications from admins. 

The prompt may be dismissed temporarily but will continue to appear until an email address is provided.

After an email address has been set, learners cannot modify it themselves. Administrators must make any future changes.

Learner Enrollment

CSV Enrollment

When Single Sign-On with External ID Only is enabled, administrators must use CSV enrollment when enrolling new users.

The CSV should include:

• First Name

• Last Name

• Email Address - optional

• External ID
  

During enrollment:

• The External ID is used to associate the learner with their SSO identity.

• The Email Address is used for communications and notifications.

• Both values should be accurate and maintained consistently across systems.

Manual User Addition

The Manually Add Users option should only be used for existing users who already have an External ID associated with their account.

Because manual user creation does not support assigning an External ID, it should not be used to create new SSO learners.