Trainer Workspace

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

The Trainer Workspace is one front-end page where trainers review the students in their cohorts: their progress, their logged treatments, their reflections, and (when switched on) the feedback trainers leave on those reflections. This guide covers who can use it, how to set it up, and what trainers can and cannot do there.

With only the free plugin active there is no Trainer Workspace, no Clinical Trainer role and no cohort assignment. The trainer-related settings described below only appear once Pro is active.

Who counts as a trainer

A user can open the Trainer Workspace if any of these is true:

1. They are an administrator (any user who can manage site options).
2. They hold the Clinical Trainer role. Pro creates this WordPress role when it is activated. It gives the user trainer access permanently, whatever the setting below says. It also lets trainers use evidence review (see Evidence review).
3. They are named as a trainer on a cohort. On Logbook Configuration → Cohorts, each cohort has a Trainers list. Anyone selected there has trainer access, whatever their role.
4. They hold the role chosen under “Additional trainer role” on Plugin Settings → Site Setup → Roles. The default is Administrator. Change it only when a role other than Clinical Trainer also needs trainer access. Changing it never takes access away from the other three routes.

Being a trainer is not enough to see students. The workspace only shows students from cohorts where you are named in that cohort’s Trainers list. That applies to administrators and Clinical Trainers too. A trainer who is not assigned to any cohort sees:

You need to be assigned to a cohort to view trainer dashboards. Contact your site administrator to be assigned to a cohort.

A trainer sees a student when both of these are true:

• the student has an active allocation (current, or starting in the future) in one of the trainer’s cohorts, and
• that allocation has not expired or been marked completed or archived.

⚠️ Students who are not in any cohort never appear to trainers. A student allocated to a level but not placed in a cohort is invisible in every trainer’s workspace, even for trainers who teach other cohorts at the same level. Nothing on this page changes that. To make the student visible, put them in a cohort. See Students without a cohort.

The Trainers picker on a cohort lists administrators, every user with the Clinical Trainer role, and every user with the Additional trainer role.

For the full permissions picture, see User roles and permissions.

Setting up the workspace page

The workspace is a shortcode on an ordinary WordPress page:

[dclb_trainer_workspace]

The shortcode has no attributes.

Automatic page. When Pro is activated, it looks for a page that already contains the shortcode and uses it. If there isn’t one, Pro creates and publishes a page called Trainer Workspace (address /trainer-workspace/). If that page is later deleted, the setup checklist in Logbook Configuration shows the step Publish the Trainer Workspace page.

Choosing a different page:

1. Go to Clinical Training Logbook → Plugin Settings → Site Setup.
2. Under Pages, set Trainer Workspace page to the page that holds [dclb_trainer_workspace].
3. Save.

The login redirect and the trainer dashboard widget (see below) both use the page chosen here. If you move the workspace, they move with it.

Before trainers start, check that:

1. Each trainer has an account with one of the access routes above (usually the Clinical Trainer role, set under Users → Add New or on the user’s profile).
2. Each trainer is selected in the Trainers list of at least one cohort.
3. Each student is allocated to a level within that cohort (see Student allocations).
4. If you want trainers to leave feedback on reflections, turn on Enable reflection feedback (see Leaving reflection feedback).

Using the workspace

The page has a Cohorts column on the left, a Students list, and three tabs: Overview, Treatments and Journal.

What visitors see if they can’t use it:

• Logged out: “Please log in to view trainer dashboards”, with a log-in link that returns them to the page.
• Logged in without trainer access: “You do not have access to trainer views. If you should have trainer access, contact your site administrator.”

1. Pick a cohort

The Cohorts column shows All my cohorts first, then each cohort you are assigned to, with its stream and intake year. Choosing a cohort narrows the student list to that cohort.

2. Pick a student

• The Students list shows 10 students at a time. Use Load more for the rest.
• Use Search by name or email… to narrow the list. It searches as you type.
• Each student shows their cohort tag(s) and a progress summary for each clinic type, for example outpatient 12/20. A clinic type with no minimum shows as 3 logged (no minimum).

If none of your cohorts has students allocated, the list reads: “No students are allocated to your cohorts yet. Your administrator assigns students under Student Allocations.”

3. Overview tab

Shows the student’s name, cohort tags, email address and a Progress group, using the same per-clinic figures as the student list.

4. Treatments tab

Lists the student’s entries at your cohort’s level(s). Each card shows the level and clinic, the treatment date and the client’s first name, with a View entry button. When you have chosen a single cohort, entries are limited to that cohort’s level.

The filter bar above the list has:

Filter	What it does
From / To	Limit entries to a treatment-date range. Both are optional.
Level	Limit entries to one of your cohorts’ levels. Default All levels.

Select Apply to filter and Reset to clear the filters.

5. Entry details

View entry opens the Entry details dialog. The heading shows the clinic and level. Below it are the student’s name and the treatment date. The dialog shows:

• the client’s first name and the treatment date
• the uploaded evidence files, as links that open in a new tab (cloud-stored files go through the plugin’s secure file link)
• Techniques, Diagnostics, Advice and Details recorded on the entry
• the Reflection, with a warning chip when it falls short: Reflection missing, or Reflection needs more detail (min N words) when the clinic type sets a minimum word count
• Evidence Review controls, but only when an evidence review track is switched on for the site (see Evidence review)
• Trainer Feedback, but only when reflection feedback is switched on

Close the dialog with Close or the Escape key. Focus returns to the button you opened it from.

6. Journal tab

Lists every entry that has a reflection, with the clinic, date, client first name and the full reflection text. View entry opens the same Entry details dialog, which is where you leave feedback.

What trainers can and cannot change

Trainers can:

• read entries, files, reflections and progress for students in their cohorts
• add reflection feedback, and delete feedback they wrote themselves (when feedback is on)
• use the evidence review actions when a review track is on: Mark Checked, Flag Privacy / Flag Incomplete (with a reason), Reset, Notify student of flagged issues and Email summary of all outstanding issues. See Evidence review.

Trainers cannot:

• edit or delete a student’s entry, or void it
• change allocations, cohorts or cohort membership
• see students outside their assigned cohorts, or entries at levels outside those cohorts
• edit or delete another trainer’s feedback

Limits and things to know

• The Treatments and Journal tabs list every saved entry at the cohort’s levels, including entries an administrator has voided. The workspace does not mark voided entries. Check Logbook Entries in wp-admin when an entry’s status matters.
• Choosing, searching for and opening students needs JavaScript. Without it, the page shows the cohort and student lists only.
• Each trainer only sees their own cohorts. Two trainers teaching parallel cohorts at the same level do not see each other’s students.

Leaving reflection feedback

Reflection feedback lets a trainer leave a written note on a student’s reflection. The student sees the note with their entry (see Reflections, journal and feedback).

Switching it on

Go to Clinical Training Logbook → Plugin Settings → Reflection Settings → Reflection Feedback:

Setting	Effect	Default
Enable reflection feedback (“Allow trainers to leave feedback on student reflections”)	Shows the Trainer Feedback section in the Entry details dialog and allows feedback to be saved	Off
Feedback email notification (“Send an email to the student when a trainer leaves feedback on their reflection”)	Emails the student whenever new feedback is added	Off

Save with Save Reflection Settings. Both settings need the Pro plugin. While Enable reflection feedback is off, the workspace shows no feedback section and refuses feedback requests with “Reflection feedback is disabled.”

Adding feedback

1. Open the student’s entry from the Treatments or Journal tab.
2. In Trainer Feedback, type into Add feedback on this reflection….
3. Select Submit Feedback. The note appears straight away with your name and the date.

Empty feedback is rejected with “Feedback cannot be empty.”

Deleting feedback

1. Select Delete under your note.
2. The button changes to Confirm delete?. Select it again within about four seconds to delete the note. If you don’t, the button goes back to Delete.

You can only delete feedback you wrote. A Delete button appears under every note, but trying to delete another trainer’s note fails with “Unable to delete feedback.”

The student email

When Feedback email notification is on, the student receives this email each time a trainer adds a note. Deleting a note does not send an email.

• Subject: New feedback on your reflection
• Body: “Hi first name,” then “Trainer name left feedback on your reflection:”, then the feedback text quoted, then a View your entry link.
• Link: opens the entry on the Entry form page set on Site Setup. If no entry page is set, it goes to the site’s home page.

The wording of this email cannot be edited.

Worked example

Dr Lee teaches the 2026 Outpatient cohort. The administrator gives her the Clinical Trainer role, selects her in that cohort’s Trainers list, and turns on both feedback settings. Dr Lee logs in and lands on the Trainer Workspace. She chooses 2026 Outpatient, searches for “Sam” and opens the Journal tab. One of Sam’s reflections opens with the chip Reflection needs more detail (min 75 words). She writes, “Expand on why you changed the point selection in session two,” and selects Submit Feedback. Sam receives “New feedback on your reflection” with a View your entry link.

Trainer login and dashboard

Where trainers land after logging in

When a Clinical Trainer logs in, they go straight to the Trainer Workspace instead of the WordPress dashboard. This applies to any user with the trainer capability that the Clinical Trainer role carries.

• Administrators are never redirected. They keep the WordPress dashboard.
• A login link that already asks for a page is respected. For example, a bookmarked link that sent the trainer to the login screen takes them back to that page.
• No page, no redirect. If no Trainer Workspace page is set, the trainer lands where WordPress normally sends them.
• Users who have trainer access only through a cohort’s Trainers list or the Additional trainer role are not redirected. Give them the Clinical Trainer role if you want them to land on the workspace.

This is separate from the free plugin’s Student login destination setting on Site Setup, which only applies to student roles.

Dashboard widgets

For Clinical Trainers: a Your Trainer Workspace widget on the WordPress dashboard reads “Review your students’ logbook entries, reflections and feedback.” It has an Open Trainer Workspace button. It shows for users with the Clinical Trainer capability who are not administrators, and only when a workspace page is set.

For administrators: a Clinical Training Logbook — Overview widget shows:

• Allocations: counts for Active, Completed and Archived. Each label links to Student Allocations filtered to that status.
• Treatment Entries: This week (the last seven days) and This month (since the first of the month). Each count links to Logbook Entries filtered from that date.

Trainers never see the administrator widget, because every screen it links to is for administrators only.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
“You need to be assigned to a cohort to view trainer dashboards.”	The user, administrators included, is not in any cohort’s Trainers list	Select them in the Trainers list on Logbook Configuration → Cohorts
“No students are allocated to your cohorts yet…”	The trainer’s cohorts have no current or upcoming allocations	Allocate students into that cohort on Student Allocations
A student is missing from the list	The student is not in a cohort, is in another trainer’s cohort, or their allocation has ended	Put the student in the trainer’s cohort. See Students without a cohort
“You do not have access to trainer views.”	The user has none of the four access routes	Give them the Clinical Trainer role, or add them to a cohort’s Trainers list
No Trainer Feedback section in the dialog	Enable reflection feedback is off	Turn it on under Reflection Settings
A trainer lands on the WordPress dashboard after logging in	They are an administrator, they don’t have the Clinical Trainer role, or no workspace page is set	Set Trainer Workspace page on Site Setup, and give non-admin trainers the Clinical Trainer role