The Alethris Hub

The Alethris Hub, at app.alethris.com, is the one place where everything that belongs to you sits together: what you are learning, the academies you belong to, what you have paid, the credentials you have earned, and the notices every academy sends you. It opens on Overview, which tells you first what needs you, wherever it is. The Hub is the same for everyone; what it holds depends on whether you learn, work at an academy, or both.

The Overview

The Overview greets you by your first name, by your own clock, such as "Good morning, Amaka." Under the greeting, one line says what matters most: how many things need you and when the first is due, or how many assignments are waiting for you to hand in, or "Nothing needs you right now." Below it come up to four sections, each shown only when it has something in it:

• Needs you: what is waiting on you, soonest deadline first.
• Continue learning: up to three programmes you have not finished, the most recently used first. All learning opens My learning.
• My academies: every academy you belong to, each with Open. All academies opens My academies.
• Recent: your two latest notifications. All notifications opens Notifications.

A Skills Passport card sits beside the Overview on a wide screen, or under it on a narrower one, once there is something on your passport, with Open your passport.

Needs you

Needs you lists up to five things that only you can deal with, each with one action:

• "Pay for programme" shows the academy, the amount and the date the place is held until. Pay opens the payment page.
• "Reply to your offer for programme" shows the academy, the cohort and the date the offer expires. Open offer opens the offer.
• "Number submissions are with you for review" appears for assessors, for work you have taken on at an academy and not yet decided, with the date the oldest has waited since. Review opens that academy's queue.

Things with a deadline come first, soonest first; review work follows. A place at an academy that has closed is never listed, because nothing is owed to it.

The menu

The menu lists the Hub's pages: Overview, My learning, My academies, Credentials, Passport, Payments, Notifications, Guides, Support and Account. Notifications shows how many notices are unread. On a phone, the menu opens from the button at the top left.

Four rows, My learning, Credentials, Passport and Payments, appear only once you learn somewhere. They show when you hold the Learner role at any academy, hold an offer or a place waiting for payment, hold a credential, or were a learner at an academy that has since closed. If you have only ever worked as staff, the Hub leaves them out, because nothing would ever fill them.

Two more things are always to hand. The round help button in the bottom corner opens Alethris Help, which answers questions about using Alethris from the Guides. The menu under your name holds Account settings, Appearance for light or dark, and Sign out.

When the Hub is empty

If you belong to no academy yet and hold no offer or place at one, the Overview reads No academies yet: "An academy appears here once you apply to one or accept an invitation. If you came to run one, this is where it starts." Start an academy begins a new academy.

When something does not load

If the Overview cannot read your academies, it says "This page could not be loaded. Your memberships, enrolments and credentials are all intact — we just could not read them." Choose Try again. Nothing has been lost.

My learning in the Hub gathers everything you have applied to or enrolled in, at every academy, on one page. Offers waiting for your answer, applications an academy has not decided, programmes in progress, places waiting for payment and programmes you have finished each appear as a row, and each row has one action, such as View offer, Continue, Pay or View credential. As a learner, it is the quickest way back into anything you are studying.

My learning appears in the Hub's menu once you learn somewhere: when you hold a place, an offer or a credential at any academy.

Filter the list

The filters along the top read All, with the number of rows, followed by one filter for each kind of row you have: Offers, Applications, In progress, Awaiting payment and Completed. All shows every kind under its own heading, with a count beside each. Choose a filter to see only that kind.

What each row shows

Each row names the programme, then the academy and, where there is one, the cohort. A label beside the title appears only when a place is not simply under way. A line beneath says what comes next or what has happened, and a programme in progress shows how many of its required lessons you have completed, such as "4 of 12 required lessons".

Each kind of row and its action

Each kind of row in My learning has its own action:

• Offers. Labelled Offer: "Expires date. Accepting does not charge you." View offer opens the offer in the Hub, where you accept or decline it.
• Applications. Labelled Applied, or Waiting list once the academy has put it there, with the date you sent it. View application opens the application's page on the academy's website.
• In progress. Open before you have started, Continue after. Either takes you into the academy's learner workspace for that programme. The row says when a cohort starts, or how many assignments are waiting for you to hand in, when the next is due, and how many sessions you have attended. On a phone, the whole row is the link.
• Awaiting payment. "Fee · your place is held until date. Nothing has been charged yet." Pay opens the payment page.
• Completed. "Finished date", with "credential issued" when there is one. View credential opens it in the Hub. A finished programme with no credential offers Revisit instead, which opens its learner workspace again while it is still available.

A Deadlines card, beside the list on a wide screen or under it on a narrower one, repeats up to four of the things that run out soonest: an offer's expiry or a held place's payment date.

A paused place, or a suspended or closed academy

Some rows have no action, and say why instead.

• Paused. "Paused by the academy. Your record and progress are intact." While a place is paused, its workspace does not open. Ask the academy why, and when it will be restored.
• Suspended. "This academy is suspended for now. Your place, record and progress are kept." The academy cannot be opened until it is restored. A place waiting for payment there says nothing has been charged and that it cannot be paid while the academy is suspended.
• Academy closed. A place that was waiting for payment at an academy that has since closed carries this label, and reads that the fee "was never charged" and that there is nothing left to pay. A programme you had not finished there no longer appears on the list.

An application to an academy that has closed stays on the list, but no longer opens, because the academy's website no longer answers.

When the list is empty or does not load

My learning explains an empty list or one that failed to load:

• "Nothing here yet". "Applications, offers, enrolments and finished programmes from every academy appear here." My academies lists the academies you already belong to.
• "Your learning could not be loaded. Your enrolments are intact." Choose Try again.

My academies in the Hub lists every academy you belong to and what you are at each one. An academy's name opens your membership page: your roles, when you joined, what the academy can and cannot see about you, its announcement emails, and the way to leave. Open beside an academy opens the academy itself, at its own address, in a new tab.

The My academies page

Choose My academies in the Hub's menu. A line under the heading sums them up, such as "3 academies: you own 1, work at 1 and learn at 2." Start an academy begins a new one of your own.

Each row shows the academy's name and what you are there, such as "You own this academy" or "You learn here." A second line counts your enrolments and credentials at that academy. An academy that has been made read-only carries the label Read-only, with the line "You can open it and read your records, but nothing can be changed until the academy resolves it." A suspended academy carries Suspended and has no Open: it cannot be opened until it is restored, and your places and records are kept.

An academy appears here once you are a member: when you join its staff, or once a place you pay for or take up there is set up, without a reload. An offer or a place still waiting for payment appears under My learning instead.

Your membership page

To open your membership at an academy, choose the academy's name under My academies. The page is headed with the academy's name, with Open academy to go to it. The Your membership card shows:

• Roles: every role you hold there, such as Learner, or Instructor and Assessor.
• Member since: the date you joined.
• Enrolments: how many places you hold there, and how many are in progress or awaiting payment.
• Credentials: how many credentials you earned there.

What the academy can see

The card headed "What academy name can see" lists what this academy holds about you, and nothing more:

• Always: "Your name and email from your Alethris account".
• As a learner: "Your work, submissions and assessments at this academy" and "Your attendance and payments at this academy".
• As staff: "Everything you administer at this academy".
• As owner or finance administrator: "Billing and settlement you are responsible for".

Under Never visible to it, the card lists "Anything you do at another academy" and "Your password, sessions or account settings". This is true of every academy you belong to.

Announcement emails

Every membership page, a learner's or a member of staff's, has an Announcement emails card. With Email me this academy's announcements on, "When academy name sends an announcement by email, you receive it in your inbox as well as in Alethris." Switch it off to stop that academy's announcement emails: "Turned off, you still read every announcement in the app." The switch is on until you turn it off, and the link at the foot of an announcement email turns it off too. Announcements and notifications from your academy describes the emails.

The weekly summary

If you hold the Owner, Administrator, Instructor, Mentor or Assessor role at an academy, its page has a Weekly summary card. Turn on Send me the weekly summary to receive one email a week about what is waiting for you at that academy, such as learners who need attention and work to assess. It counts things and never names a learner, and a week with nothing waiting sends nothing. Choose Which day, in the academy's own timezone, and What time; the card then gives the date of the next one. An academy can switch the weekly summary off for all its staff.

Leave an academy

To leave an academy:

1. On your membership page, in the card headed "Leaving academy name", choose Leave this academy.
2. Read the dialog, Leave this academy?: "You lose access to its workspace, and any place or application you hold there ends. Fees you have paid are not refunded automatically: ask the academy. Credentials you earned there stay on your Passport and remain verifiable."
3. Choose Leave academy, or Stay a member to keep your membership.

The Hub returns you to My academies, where the academy is no longer listed. Your Alethris account is unchanged.

When you cannot leave

Leaving an academy is refused in three situations:

• "You are the last owner of this academy". An academy cannot be left with nobody to run it. Make someone else the owner first: in the academy workspace, open Academy settings, then Team, and choose Make owner… on their row. The Team, roles and permissions guide explains the transfer.
• "Leaving is unavailable while the academy is read-only." Leave this academy cannot be chosen. Wait until the academy is running as usual again.
• "You are not a member of this academy." You no longer hold a membership there. Choose Back to my academies.

Academies make you three kinds of offer, and you answer each in the Alethris Hub. An admission offer, the academy's yes to your application, has its own page in the Hub, where you choose Accept offer or Decline. An invitation to take a place on a programme, and an invitation to join an academy's staff, arrive by email; the link in the email opens a Hub page where you choose Take my place or Accept and join. Each shows the date it expires.

Answer an admission offer

To open an offer, choose Open offer under Needs you on the Overview, or View offer under Offers in My learning. The page shows the programme, the label Awaiting your reply, and "Academy name has offered you a place. The offer expires on date." Its card shows the cohort, the date of the offer, and the Price, or the fee, any discount and what is left To pay. When a sponsor pays for the place, Price reads "Paid by sponsor".

1. Check the price and the expiry date.
2. Choose Accept offer. Accepting reserves your place, and nothing is charged until you complete payment.

A free place is then set up, and the page opens it when it is ready. A place with a fee goes to the payment page, and the place is held for you while you pay. If you leave before paying, return with Complete payment on the offer page, or Pay in My learning.

To turn an offer down, choose Decline, then Decline offer in the dialog: "The academy is told, and this offer cannot be reopened. Applying again later is always possible." Keep it closes the dialog without declining.

Once answered, the label says what became of the offer: Accepted, Taken up, Declined, Expired or Withdrawn, with the date.

Take a place you are invited to

An academy can invite you to a place by email. The link opens a page headed "Academy name has a place for you", with the Programme, the Cohort if there is one, and when the invitation Expires. A note says who pays: a sponsor, the academy directly, or you on Alethris after taking the place.

1. If you are not signed in, choose Sign in to continue, or Create an account if this is your first programme. You return to the invitation afterwards.
2. Choose Take my place. "Accepting enrols you and adds this academy to your Hub."

With a fee to pay, the Hub takes you to payment, and the place is held for up to seven days. Otherwise it reads "Setting up your place on programme" and opens the place when it is ready.

Join an academy's staff

A staff invitation opens a page headed "Academy name invited you to join", with the Role you are offered and when it Expires, and the academy's name and logo beside it. Sign in, or create an account, as the address it was sent to, then choose Accept and join. The academy is added to your Hub, and you go to its academy workspace. Nothing declines a staff invitation: Back to my Hub leaves it open until it expires.

When it does not work

Offers and invitations explain each refusal in their own words:

• "You are signed in as someone else". The invitation was sent to another address. Choose Sign out and switch account, or the button to sign in as that address, and sign in with it.
• "This invitation is no longer valid". It has expired, been withdrawn or already been used. Ask the academy to send a new one.
• "The cohort is full", or "This place is no longer available; ask the academy to invite you again". The place cannot be taken any more. Ask the academy.
• "This academy is not taking new learners at the moment". The academy has no room for more learners. Ask the academy.
• "The admission offer has expired". The offer ran out before it was accepted.
• A staff invitation refused for the academy's plan. The academy's plan does not allow another member at the moment. Ask the academy.
• "Your place is taking longer than usual". The place is yours, and setting it up has not finished. It appears in your Hub on its own; if it has not after a few minutes, tell the academy.

Payments in the Hub shows what you owe and what you have paid, at every academy, on one page. Owed now lists each place waiting for your payment, with Pay. Payments made lists every payment you have made, and each opens its receipt, where you can download it and see any refunds. As a learner, your receipts stay here even after you leave the academy you paid.

Payments appears in the Hub's menu once you learn somewhere.

Owed now

Owed now lists every place you hold that is waiting for payment. Each row names the programme, the academy and the cohort, and reads "Fee · your place is held until date. Nothing has been charged yet." Choose Pay to open the payment page.

When nothing is owed, the page reads "You owe nothing right now." A place at an academy that has since closed is never listed as owed, because it can no longer be charged.

Payments made

Payments made lists each payment. Each row shows the programme, the academy and cohort, the amount, and a line such as "Paid date by card", followed by the total refunded, if anything has been paid back. A label gives the payment's standing:

• Paid: the payment went through.
• Partly refunded: some of it has been refunded.
• Refunded: all of it has been refunded.
• Reversed: the payment was reversed after it was made.

When your payments are in more than one standing, filters appear above the list, starting with All. A card headed "Paid in year", beside the list on a wide screen or under it on a narrower one, totals what you paid this year, less refunds.

Open a receipt

To see a receipt, choose its row under Payments made. The page is headed with the amount and its standing, and its card shows the academy, the programme and the cohort, with:

• Receipt number: the number to quote to the academy or to Support.
• Paid: the date.
• Method: Card, Bank transfer, USSD, QR code, Mobile money, Recorded by the academy for a payment the academy recorded itself, or Not reported.
• Refunded: how much has come back, every refund paid back added up, when anything has.
• Reference: the payment's reference with the payment provider, or its Payment ID.

The card notes "Issued by Alethris for the academy. It stays on your account." Choose Download receipt to save the receipt as a PDF, or View enrolment to open the place it paid for.

Refunds

Refunds are the academy's decision: ask the academy if you think you are owed one. Each refund shows on the receipt of the payment it belongs to, in a Refunds card. A refund paid back reads "Refunded date"; one still on its way reads "Requested date". Beside it are the amount and its progress — Requested, In progress, Being resolved, Refunded, Failed or Cancelled — and under it "Reason:" with the reason the academy gave. The row in Payments made also says how much was refunded, or "fully refunded".

A refund that has been paid back has a Refund receipt button. It downloads a PDF that records that one refund: the amount, the date, how it was paid back, the payment it came from and the reason. Once a refund is paid back, Download receipt gives the payment's receipt again with the refund listed and the net amount paid. A reversed payment's receipt says it was reversed.

How payments work

The How payments work card, beside the list on a wide screen or under it on a narrower one, sums up three facts:

• "Online payments go through Paystack straight to the academy. Alethris never holds your money."
• "Each receipt carries the academy's name and stays on your account, even if you leave."
• "Refunds are the academy's decision, and each one shows on the payment it belongs to."

When something is wrong

If the amount, the programme or the method on a receipt is not what you paid, raise it with Alethris Support. The Something wrong? card, beside the receipt on a wide screen or under it on a narrower one, has Ask about this payment, which opens a new support case about that payment.

• "No payments yet". You have not paid for a programme yet. "When you pay for a programme, the payment and its receipt stay here, even if you later leave the academy."
• "Your payments could not be loaded. The records are intact." Choose Try again.
• "This payment does not exist, or it is not yours." The link is wrong, or the payment belongs to another account. Choose Back to Payments.
• "The receipt could not be prepared. Try again in a moment." Choose Download receipt again.
• "The refund receipt could not be prepared. Try again in a moment." Choose Refund receipt again. A refund that has not been paid back has no refund receipt yet.

Notifications in the Hub is one inbox for everything every academy sends you, and everything Alethris sends about your account. Each notice says who sent it and what it is about, and opens the page it concerns. Opening a notice marks it read, and Mark all read marks every notice read at once. Most notices also arrive by email, so you do not have to visit the Hub to hear about them.

The inbox

To open the inbox, choose Notifications in the Hub's menu, or the bell at the top of any Hub page. Both show how many notices are unread. The page reads "Everything from every academy you belong to, and from Alethris, in one place."

Notices are grouped by when they arrived: Today, Yesterday, This week and Earlier. At the top, All shows every notice and Unread shows only those you have not read, with how many there are. Show older notifications, at the foot of the list, loads more.

Each notice shows:

• Who sent it: the academy's name and mark, or Alethris for its own notices.
• What it is about, such as Applications, Payments, Assignments, Assessment, Credentials, Announcements or Support, and how long ago it arrived.
• Its title and message, with a dot beside notices you have not read.

The Hub shows every notice addressed to you, whether you are a learner, a member of staff or both. Inside an academy, the inbox in the learner workspace or the academy workspace shows only that academy's notices.

Open a notice

Each notice ends with the one thing to do about it:

• Open takes you to a page in the Hub, such as an offer, a receipt, a credential or a support case.
• Open ↗ opens the page at the academy's own address, in a new tab, such as an assignment or a session.
• Mark read appears on a notice with nothing further to open.

Opening a notice marks it read. The same notice also appears in that academy's own inbox, so reading it in one place marks it read in both.

Read and unread

Reading a notice deletes nothing. As the How notifications work card beside the inbox says, "Opening a notification marks it read. Nothing is deleted, so older ones stay here." To clear every unread notice at once, choose Mark all read beside the heading; it appears while anything is unread.

What also arrives by email

Most notices reach your email as well as the inbox, including offers and application decisions, payments and refunds, a place that has started, session changes and reminders, new assignments, assessment results, credentials and replies to your support cases. In the card's words, "Important notices also reach your email, so an empty list never means you missed one."

Some arrive in one place only, and announcements depend on the academy:

• Only in the inbox: news about a file upload or an assistant request, and, for staff, learner risk alerts, interventions someone gives them, and their follow-ups.
• Only by email: the link to confirm your email address, a password reset link, invitations to take a place or to join an academy's staff, and the staff weekly summary.
• Announcements arrive in the inbox, and by email as well when the academy sends them that way.

The Hub has no setting that turns every notification email off. Two kinds can be stopped, academy by academy, on your membership page: an academy's announcement emails, which arrive until you stop them, and the staff weekly summary, which arrives only if you turn it on.

When the inbox is empty or does not load

The inbox explains an empty list or one that failed to load:

• "Nothing new". "Assessment results, announcements, and anything needing a decision from you arrive here."
• "Nothing unread". "Everything here has been read. Switch to All to see it again."
• "Your notifications could not be loaded. Nothing was lost." Choose Try again.