Documentation & Help | Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything You Need to Know About the Xen Full-service Digital Learning Platform.

Subscriptions

Explore the flexible subscription models Xen offers, from prepaid plans for predictable costs to pay-as-you-go options for organisations that need maximum flexibility. Find out how active users impact your pricing, and learn more about upgrading, cancelling, and managing your Xen subscription.

What Subscriptions are available for Xen?

Prepaid - Peace of mind with predictable costs and maximum savings

This plan is perfect for institutions with fixed rosters who want peace of mind and the greatest savings. Prepaid plans are booked for 12 months, either paid monthly or upfront (with a 15% discount). If the user quota is exceeded, a surcharge applies ($2.50 per extra user). This option ensures predictable costs and is best suited for organisations that can forecast their user base.

Pay-As-You-Go - Flexible with the smallest commitment

This flexible model is ideal for organisations like startups or course-selling platforms that need a low-commitment solution. Customers pay a small fixed monthly fee (Standard: $250/month, Professional: $750/month, Premium: $5,000/month) and are only charged per active user. With no usage, there’s no additional fee, and there are no minimum or maximum user limits. As businesses grow and gain traction, they can move to the prepaid model to maximise savings once they can establish stable budgets.

What is an active user?

Xen distinguishes between “registered users” and “active users”.

Registered users have an account in your Learning Portal and can log in, and may browse your catalog of courses if you allow them. You can set any course to be open to all registered users or to be private.
Registered users typically do not count towards your monthly usage.
Active users are those registered users that are enrolled in one or more courses during a billing cycle. Depending on your setup, active users can include learners, teachers, instructors, or parents.
Active users count towards your monthly usage.

How do active users affect pricing?

Pricing is based on user tiers. You prepay a flat fee for each cycle (monthly/yearly), and if you exceed your user quota, a surcharge of $2.50 per additional active user is applied at the end of each month.

Can I cancel my subscription anytime?

Yes, you can cancel before the next billing cycle. After cancellation, you retain access until the cycle ends. Outstanding fees for exceeding quotas or using additional services (like video streaming) may still apply. Xen holds your data for three months after cancellation, allowing you to resume your subscription before deletion.

What upgrade plans are available?

The Starter plan includes basic learning tools, such as authoring tools, certificates, and gradebooks. Available upgrades include:

E-commerce and payment gateway support
Marketing site for courses and trainers
Badges and micro-credentials
Custom theming and domain names

The Premium plan offers custom implementations based on your specific needs, developed and maintained by Xen.

Product

Xen is designed to be a comprehensive, easy-to-use digital learning platform for organisations of all sizes. From intuitive content authoring tools to advanced customisation options, Xen provides everything you need to create, manage, and deliver high-quality learning experiences.

What are examples of ways Xen is used?

The Xen platform is powering multiple eLearning initiatives for customers worldwide, with very different implementation styles. We see the platform as a framework to construct advanced elearning solutions, from an already feature rich base-product.
- K-12 Schools maintaining the integrity of their Curriculum, ensuring knowledge preservation, consistency, and transfer; their learning portal provides remote learning capabilities for students as well as Parent access to the relevant parts of the learning for home use, and to all policies & guides.
- Universities selling self-paced and instructor-led courses, via the built-in ecommerce platform and Marketing capabilities.
- 2-way marketplaces providing authoring tools to content creators on one side, and managing the distribution to schools or companies, so they can onboard their learners and interact with the content.
- Registered Training Organisations (RTO) running remote training and mange learner progress/
Our Marketing materials showcases Success Stories from a variety of customers who have agreed to provide a case-study.
We can also share some particular examples of implementations upon signing an NDA.

How do I know which features are essential for me?

Our help center has many tips to help you in your decision. To determine which features you need in Xen, you can explore tips and resources in the help centre or chat with a member of the Xen Customer Success team. They can provide recommendations based on your organisation’s goals and requirements, ensuring you select the most relevant features for your needs.

How long does it take to create my Learning Portal?

In most cases, it is about 40 seconds. There is no manual work involved and the time is for deployment and delivery in the cloud.

How often is Xen updated, and how can I stay informed?

Xen is regularly updated with new features, improvements, and fixes. Updates are published directly in Xen from our Knowledge Base, and all customers who subscribe to updates will receive email notifications. You can subscribe to updates here: https://help.xen.education/updates/en.

We also have a status page where we publish information about upcoming and unplanned maintenance windows, or incidents. Customers can monitor and subscribe to updates from the status page to stay informed.

Does Xen have a language pack?

Yes, Xen provides a multilingual front-end with support for 22 languages so far (including English, French, and Portuguese), and the ability to add new language packs on demand.
In addition, we can use the Transifex service for building new language packs in collaboration with our customers, since the template of the learning portal can be customised for each tenant.

Does it come with documentation, how-to guides, training and online help?

An extensive knowledge base is available from within the application, supported by chat features (for premium plans) and a comprehensive service desk.
As part of their onboarding, Xen customers receive a complementary training session (to be booked with our CSM / Products team). Additional training or support packages can be purchased from CD.

How responsiveness is technical support (hours, days)? Is it available for instructors and students?

Support is available for instructors, Staff, and administrators, with various SLAs depending on the severity of the issue or urgency of the request. However, support is not available for students directly, and should be provided by the customer.
Standard support is 12/5 support via chat and the support portal in the customer timezones, with guaranteed SLAs. Optional support packages are available to extend live support to outside business hours or to upgrade the SLAs.

Is Xen customisable?

Yes, Xen supports several levels of personalisation and customisation:
- Front-end customisation
- Changes to business rules
- Side-loading of custom application
Available methods:
- Customers can edit and configure many features themselves using the GUI.
- The Xen team can apply some configurations and customisations upon request via the Service Desk.
- Dedicated customisations and plugins, for customers looking to expand the features or change how the application behaves, can be sourced by contacting the Xen Sales team.

Does Xen offer easy navigation, linking, and uploading features?

Yes, Xen is designed with user-friendly navigation and intuitive tools for linking and uploading content. Users can easily upload multiple files at once, embed multimedia, and seamlessly link to external resources. The platform’s clear structure and drag-and-drop functionality make course creation and management straightforward, even for users without technical expertise.

Access

Learn how Xen manages user roles, permissions, and scheduling. From instructors and tutors to students and administrators, Xen ensures seamless access and control for every role within your organisation

Can instructor manage user profiles, define roles, assign tutors?

Yes. Instructors have access to teh instructor view for each course, where they can manage memberships and tutors/moderators.

Is there course authorisation where instructors approve enrolment?

Yes. Enrolments can be controlled via acceptance, or be open.

Can schedules be managed for learners, instructors, and classrooms or synchronise with database managements systems?

Yes, via an integration.
Immediate availability will depend on which systems to connect with. Some systems have already been integrated while others are on the roadmap and can be commissioned for a custom integration.

Does it offer username and password with forgotten password routine? Is this instant?

Yes. A reset process is available out of the box and is immediate (uses email address).

Content Authoring

Xen’s powerful authoring tools support a wide range of content types, from multimedia and quizzes to SCORM packages and embedded third-party applications. In this section, explore the capabilities that make course creation simple yet dynamic.

Does Xen allow for easy course structure and design?

Yes. The Authoring tool is simple in usage but very powerful, to build web content and complex layouts, with responsive support, without coding knowledge.

Does Xen have course templates?

The look & feel of courses is function of both the Learning portal theme and the course content itself.
- Every customer gets a standard Learning portal theme which can be customised via custom code, or upgraded by CD on demand (optional).
- Courses can host advanced HTML, and the editor supports templates, so instructor designers can create templates of preferred layouts and organisational structure, or design.

Does Xen support all content?

Xen supports:
- HTML, Javascript, and CSS styles,
- Python code,
- Videos & audio medias,
- Embedded medias (Youtube, Vimeo, …),
- Native quizzes & problems,
- Open response assessments,
- Peer-reviewed assessments,
- Discussion forums,
- LTI,
- SCORM,
- H5P,
- Game libraries (Gsap, Construct, WebGL, … ),
- Embedding any hosted content via iframes,
- video conferencing softwares (Teams Zoom, Google Meet, Bigbluebutton, …),
- Messaging apps (Slack, teams).
Additional content can be supported upon request.

Does Xen support integration of common types of software (e.g., MS Word, Google Docs, etc.) - For example, if you create something in Word and paste in Xen, do you then have to go into the HTML editor and clean it up?)

Xen supports embedding Google drive documents and calendars. Support for Microsoft OneDrive can be implemented on demand.
There are options in the content editor to paste safely from Microsoft and similar software, to avoid cleaning up post operations.

Can Xen import and manage content and courseware from other products?

Existing content can be imported and played back using the IMS Common Cartridge and the SCORM formats, allowing for transferring courses from product such as Canvas, Moodle, Brightspace, and Blackboard.
Support for many vendors and large volumes can be achieved by leveraging the on-demand paid Crane Migrate services which converts and imports automatically large volumes of courses between learning platforms.

Does Xen support web-based authoring?

Yes. Authoring is 100% web-based.

Does Xen support and allow the designer to embed multimedia, video, interactive learning objects/third-party applications (Java-enabled applets, etc.)?

Yes.

Does Xen adhere to such specifications as SCORM and Tin Can/Experience API?

Yes. SCORM is fully supported as a hosted content, and customers can send learning records to their preferred LRS or use the default supported in Xen. Xen does not export course content as SCORM, but our friendly Sales team can assist you with a migration project from and to SCORM.

Does Xen support accessibility compliance and Universal Design for Learning?

Yes, thought this heavily depends on the template used for the learning portal and how courses are built or imported – creating accessible content in Xen is possible. Existing non-compliant content cannot automatically be converted for compliance upon import.

Agreements with content creation vendors (e.g., Captivate or Storyline?)

While there are no formal agreements in place, Xen can run SCORM packages and many customers are happily running content produced in Articulate, Captivate, and Coassemble through Xen.

Is there drag-and-drop functionality? Can multiple files be uploaded at once?

Yes.

Does it allow for third-party apps, social media, widgets?

Customers can integrate any first-level third-party apps (widgets, social medias, chatbots, …) via custom code directly via the theme editor.
In addition, the Xen team can implement third-party widget via API or LTI.

User Management

Xen supports flexible registration and authentication processes, allowing for both manual and self-registration. Understand how Xen handles user roles, permissions, and integrations with CRM, ERP, and student management systems

How are students registered and authenticated?

Xen allow registrations via the onboarding tools.
Students can also self-register if the self-signup setting is turned on by the administrator.
Exhaustive API endpoints allow customers to easily integrate with their CRM, ERP, or Student Management systems.
The Xen team can create a custom integration upon request, to allow third parties to implement with the registration and enrolment features.

Can Xen support the self-registration process we see in MOOCs?

Yes. There is native support for allowing the Learning Portal to be public and allowing visitors to browse the courseware catalog, sign-up, and enrol for free or against payments.

Does Xen have its own Student Information System?

No. A powerful API and support for LTI standard allow interacting with any compliant vendor.
Custom integration can also be performed on demand.

Dos Xen support Roles and Permissions?

yes. An easy-to-use system allows customers to set specific permissions for specific users in specific parts of the Learning platform.

Reporting

Xen’s built-in reporting tools provide detailed insights into course performance, learner progress, and user engagement. Learn how to access standard reports, create custom dashboards, and track analytics to improve your learning outcomes

What kinds of learning analytics does Xen provide?

There are 2 sets of analytical datasets available in Xen

Within the Learning Portal Course, Instructors & Staff can view students activities, submissions, grades, discussions, enrolments, and download this data as csv/xls.
A Business Intelligence powered by Apache Superset allows customers to create their own advanced dashboard, creating custom advanced queries & data-visualisation, for explorations and download of complex data-sets.

Does Xen track detailed user analytics?

By default, Xen only tracks the essential data for course progress and grading to ensure compliance with privacy regulations globally. We respect your users privacy and do not push analytics on customers and their users. If your organisation wishes to implement additional analytics, you can do so using the custom code option. Popular choices include Google Analytics, Hotjar, Hubspot, and MS Dynamics.

Online Collaboration and Communications

Engage learners and educators through Xen’s communication tools. From integrated chat systems to forums and whiteboards, this section outlines the collaboration features that support dynamic online learning environments

Are there chat rooms?

Not natively. Xen can connect to chat softwares such as Slack, Discord, or Teams.
Xen does support discussions via threads in any page (comments) or forums at the course-level.

Is there a whiteboard?

Not natively. This can be easily added via LTI, by using Miro, Mural, Padlet, or any similar white-boarding software.

Are there discussion groups/forums?

Yes. Discussions are supported both as threads within the content itself or as forums at the course-level.

Assessment capabilities

Xen supports various assessment types, including quizzes, peer reviews, and surveys. This section details how to create and manage assessments, automate grading, and track learner performance with ease.

What types of assessments does itXensupport? Does Xen support multiple types of assessments (quizzes, essays, tests, …)?

Xen supports all standard problem types (QTI) which can be easily inserted into any part of a course:

Quizzes
- Dropdown,
- Multiple choices,
- Radio buttons.
User input
- Text,
- Numerical,
- Mathematical & scientific
- Pre-evaluated (requires Javascript or Python code).
Drag & drop.
Open response.
Peer review.
File upload.
Graded SCORM, H5P, and LTI content.

Each problem can be graded and linked to the course’s Grading Policy, or be placed as practice/training.

How easy are assessments to create?

All assessments can be inserted via an easy to use visual editor, and be immediately tested to review how they perform and operate.

Each problem supports relevant options to allow learners to re-take, view their own responses, view the correct answers, get feedback per question or wrong/right answers, change how many tries are allowed, and enforcing delays between submissions.

Does Xen support automated testing and scoring?

Yes. Most problems support automated scoring, with the exclusion of Open Response, Peer Review, and File Upload which should all be reviewed and scored manually.

Does Xen support Surveys?

Complex surveys can be created using combination of any of the listed problems, and adding conditions.

Does Xen support blogs?

No. Learners cannot create blogs or journals.
This can be supported via third-party integration (LTI, iFrames) or be implemented as a custom feature upon request.

Does Xen support competency mapping/skill gap analysis?

Not directly. Learners can be enrolled in various cohorts, manually or from an external system (optional) to fit them into different part of courses to match desired mapping, and any custom meta data can be attached to courses to support specific mapping.
Gap analysis is not provided directly in Xen, but can be observed via reporting or by connecting the platform to a third-party HRMS or similar.

Is there a portfolio feature?

Xen does not have a built-in portfolio feature for student work. However, it supports integration with Mahara ePortfolios via LTI for students who need to maintain a portfolio of their learning.

If you're referring to portfolios as a collection of courses or programs, Xen allows you to group courses into portfolios or programs to offer to learners.

Are there easy ways to create rubrics and use them seamlessly to assess student work?

Yes. The Rubrics feature is available when using open response and peer review assessments.

Is there a gradebook? Can it be easily exported and imported to Excel and to/from an external grading system?

Yes. Each course runs an independent Gradebook which can be accessed and exported.
The data across all gradebooks can be connected to and external system such a Student management System like Schoology, or and ERPs like Netsuite and SAP, or a CRMs like Saleforce and Hubspot (may require a customisation/integration based on the software).

Can the instructor create standard and customised reports on individual and group performance?

Built-in standard reports are in the form of raw CSV and Excel file. A custom Excel template can be implement upon request.
The provided Business Intelligence Software allows customers to connect and manipulate any of the available data-sets via queries, and build their own custom dashboards and reports, then download the results.

Does it track student participation, progress and performance and inform the instructor when/if there is a potential problem in any areas?

Learner progress is tracked, in terms of participation and performance.
There is no automatic analysis of potential problems. Xen customers usually leverage the Xen data in their own SIS or SMS, where such analysis can take place, though the Xen team is interested in developing this feature in the near future.

Mobile and Tablet

Xen is fully responsive, providing a seamless experience across mobile and tablet devices. Learn more about the mobile-optimised platform, and how customers can request a native mobile app as a custom solution

Does Xen have a mobile app?

While there is no native mobile app by default, Xen’s web-based platform is optimised for mobile use. For customers who prefer a native app, this can be developed as a custom project through Xen:Solutions. However, for most users, the responsive web version will meet their needs effectively.

Can Xen be used on a mobile or tablet?

Xen is fully responsive and works seamlessly on mobile and tablet devices, ensuring a smooth experience without needing a dedicated app.

Can I use Xen offline?

No, Xen requires an internet connection to ensure that all users access the most up-to-date content and features securely via the cloud. This supports academic integrity by safeguarding assessments and personal data through a controlled environment, ensuring no content is manipulated or accessed without proper authentication. By being fully online, we can also deliver real-time collaboration and updates across your learning portal.

Branding

Customise your Xen learning portal to reflect your brand with personalised themes, logos, and fonts. Explore how you can tweak your portal’s appearance and functionality using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Can I apply my organisation’s branding to Xen?

You can personalise the Learning Portal and email notifications by customising fonts, colours, logos, favicon, and banners in the Branding settings under the Configuration section.

Can I preview changes before applying them?

Yes, you can preview changes before publishing. Once published, the updates will be visible across the portal and notifications.

What file types and sizes are allowed for logos and favicons?

Primary logo: under 60 KB
Secondary logo: under 30 KB
Favicon: up to 32x32 pixels and 20 KB in size.

How do I change the default banner?

Upload a long rectangular banner (max 120 KB) for the Login, Signup, Dashboard, and other non-course pages. Avoid text in the banner to ensure visibility on all screen sizes.

Can I use custom fonts?

You can select fonts from Google Fonts. For custom fonts, please contact your friendly Xen Customer Success team.

Can I tweak the HTML of the Learning Portal theme?

You can add HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (including jQuery) to every page of your Learning Portal to customise its design and functionality. This will also reflect in all the courses hosted in your Portal.

Can I insert server-side code like PHP or .NET?

No, only client-side code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) is supported in the Learning Portal theme. Server-side languages such as PHP, Ruby, or Python are not allowed there. You may however create your own custom assessments using Python in any course, in addition to Javascript.

Can I add Google Analytics or other third-party tools?

Yes, you can add third-party tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, Messenger, HubSpot CRM, and virtually any external library by inserting the necessary scripts into the Custom Code sections.

Where should I add my custom JavaScript code?

While we support inserting in both the Header and the Footer (before </body>), It's recommended to place most JavaScript in the Footer to improve page load performance. Your third-party provider will usually recommend the best location for their script.

What are the risks of using custom code?

Like any customisation, your own code could conflict with Xen’s built-in functionality and may cause unexpected behaviour. Please note that the Xen’s Customer Success team cannot assist with troubleshooting your code.

Privacy and Security

Your data security is our top priority. In this section, discover how Xen handles authentication, encryption, compliance with privacy laws, and protection of your digital content. Learn about the tools available to secure assessments and intellectual property.

How does Xen handle authentication and security?

Xen uses secure authentication protocols to manage user access. Passwords are encrypted and hashed, and we enforce a single active session policy to ensure that users cannot be logged in from multiple devices simultaneously, which helps prevent cheating or misuse of accounts.

Can users log from multiple devices at the same time?

No. To deter cheating, learners can only be logged into a single session at a time, across any of their devices.

Does Xen offer multi-factor authentication (MFA)?

At present, Xen does not offer multi-factor authentication (MFA). However, customers can enhance security through strong password policies and by monitoring user activity for any irregularities. For custom security configurations, please contact our Xen:Solutions team.

Can I track my users’ activity securely?

Yes, Xen allows you to track user activity within the platform, including course progress, assessment submissions, and user logins. However, by default, Xen limits data tracking to the minimum required for compliance with privacy regulations. Customers who wish to implement additional tracking or analytics can do so via custom code, with third-party tools like Google Analytics or Hotjar.

Can Xen be used for secure assessments?

Yes, Xen supports secure assessments through its cloud-based infrastructure. All content, including quizzes and exams, is delivered in real time, ensuring that no sensitive data is stored on local devices. By preventing offline access, we help maintain academic integrity and control over content distribution.

Is my data encrypted on Xen?

Yes, all data is encrypted both at rest and in transit. We use industry-standard encryption methods to protect sensitive information, ensuring that personal and organisational data is secure. Passwords are salted and hashed, never stored as plain text, and all communication between users and Xen is secured via HTTPS.

Does Xen provide digital rights management (DRM)?

While Xen does not offer DRM, it does allow administrators to configure permissions for any content.

Additionally, Xen’s optional Hosted Streaming Video platform enables customers to secure their streams, videos, images, and audio files, ensuring they are only accessible to authorised users within the Learning Portal. These assets cannot be shared or accessed outside the platform, protecting intellectual property from unauthorised distribution.

Can I prevent users from downloading content or reselling it?

Yes, your Learning Portal allows content to be locked, preventing unauthorised downloads of videos and other content assets unless explicitly allowed. This ensures that only certain individuals or groups have access to the relevant materials. This feature is particularly useful in protecting your intellectual property, especially when you need to ensure content is not downloaded, shared, or resold without authorisation.

Are my course assets safe from unauthorised access?

All uploaded course assets are stored in safe AWS servers to prevent unauthorised sharing or copying, giving you complete control over your digital content.

How does Xen protect against data loss or corruption?

Xen utilises AWS infrastructure, which provides world-class security and reliability. All data is backed up daily, with offsite backups across multiple geographic regions to protect against data loss. Additionally, each Xen tenant has an isolated configuration, ensuring that data integrity is maintained and that issues affecting one tenant do not impact others.

What privacy protections are in place for minors using Xen?

For organisations that enrol minors in courses, we enforce strict privacy controls. We do not sell or rent personal data, and we do not build personal profiles of minors for advertising purposes. Only authorised personnel can access user data, and any data shared with third-party tools must comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR and COPPA.

How does Xen ensure compliance with global data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA?

Xen complies with global data privacy laws, including GDPR and CCPA, by ensuring that all personal data is processed and stored securely within our AWS infrastructure. We offer transparent data management practices and allow users to request access, correction, or deletion of their personal data. If you have specific compliance needs, please refer to our Privacy Policy or contact our Customer Success team for more details.

How do I know if there is a security incident affecting my data?

In the unlikely event of a security incident, Xen has procedures in place to notify customers as required by law. We will inform you promptly and work with you to mitigate any potential risks. Our Data Security page provides more details on our proactive approach to incident prevention and response.

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