Adding an External User to SOCS

This page explains how to create SOCS accounts for external members of staff that may require access to SOCS.

If your school uses Single Sign-On (SSO) for SOCS, staff will log in using credentials from another system e.g. Microsoft. However, if you need to add external members of staff who don’t have a school account, you'll need to set them up as an "External User" so they can access SOCS using SOCS login credentials.

How to Add an External User to SOCS

Step 1

Log in to SOCS Administrator

Step 2

Select User List from the SOCS Administrator menu

Step 3

Click on Add New User

Or if you are editing a user already added, find the user in the list and click on Edit next to their name

Step 4

In the user account details, tick the checkbox for External User. This allows the user to log in using SOCS credentials rather than Single Sign-On

Step 5

Click Save to apply the changes to the user account.

Linking the user to their staff record

A user will need to be linked to a staff record if they need to be added to an activity or lesson in SOCS.

In the User List, while editing or adding a user, use the Staff member dropdown menu to select their name.

If the external staff member isn’t listed (they may not be included in your MIS staff list), you can manually add them to the staff list:

Step 1

Login to SOCS Administrator 

Step 2

Go to Staff List in SOCS Administrator

Step 3

Click Add External Staff and complete the required fields 

Step 4

Once the external staff member is added to your staff list, they should appear in the Staff dropdown menu when editing or adding a user in the User List

Step 5

Select their name to connect their staff record with the user account and click Save.

Logging in as an External User

Once the user account has been created, external staff will login to SOCS using their SOCS login credentials from the External tab on your SOCS login page.

Activate account on first login: If a staff member is logging in for the first time, they will first need to activate their account by selecting Activate Account from the login page. They will then receive an activation link via email where they can set their password.