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Frequently Asked Questions

Answers apply to Dantian Attestation Core 1.0.0 (Free and Pro).

Is there a free version?

Yes. The free plugin is available to download from the Dantian Health store, and once installed it updates itself through the store’s update channel. It has also been submitted to WordPress.org and is awaiting review.

The free plugin is fully functional on its own. It includes:

  • Compliance profiles for every staff member, with credentials and workforce categories
  • Bulk CSV import of up to 500 people per file
  • Document management with expiry tracking, verification and email alerts at 30 days, on expiry, and when an annual review is due
  • Sign & Attest: staff sign a dated declaration that their credentials are current
  • Evidence submission from the staff portal and an admin review queue
  • Compliance reports: print, save as PDF in your browser, or download CSV
  • the five staff-portal shortcodes
  • a setup wizard, a notification log and an Admin Action Log

There’s no limit on the number of staff profiles, and no feature is time-limited.

What does Pro add?

Pro is an add-on that needs the Free plugin active. It’s sold through the Dantian Health store with a licence key. It adds:

  • Annual plans: staff submit a yearly currency plan on the portal, and you approve or return it. Each submission records a declaration hash, a timestamp and the submitter’s IP address
  • RTO industry module:
    • Unit of Competency Matrix
    • Credential Policy categories (1A–1E, 2A–2C)
    • training.gov.au unit sync
    • qualification delivery summary
    • RTO milestones and validation panels
  • Reporting:
    • XLSX and PDF downloads
    • an audit preparation bundle (ZIP)
    • scheduled reports sent by email
    • extra reports: Annual Plan Status, Administrative Staff Compliance, plus Competency Matrix, Currency Gaps, Under Direction Register and Qualification Delivery Risk for RTOs
  • Storage: Google Shared Drive as an alternative to private server storage
  • Portal: four more shortcodes (annual plan, own compliance record PDF, personal calendar, upskilling plan)
  • Automation:
    • extra document-expiry reminders at 90, 60 and 7 days
    • escalation workflows
    • webhooks
    • SMS notifications through Twilio
  • People and admin tools:
    • departments with Department Coordinators
    • administrative staff with upskilling plans
    • a compliance calendar
    • custom branding

See Welcome and overview for the full comparison.

What happens if my Pro licence expires?

Pro keeps working for 7 days after a licence becomes invalid or expires. After that, Pro screens and settings tabs are hidden, and Pro portal shortcodes stop showing content to staff (administrators see a “licence inactive” notice instead). The Free features keep working and your Pro data is kept. Reactivate under Settings → Licence to restore everything. See Licensing and updates.

Is it only for RTOs?

No. The plugin is industry-neutral by default and uses generic terms such as “Staff Member”, “Evidence” and “Compliance Plan”. It suits any organisation that has to keep staff checks and professional development current, for example:

  • clinics and allied-health practices
  • childcare centres
  • community services
  • construction businesses
  • training providers

When you choose RTO — Registered Training Organisation (Australia) under Settings → General (Pro), the wording switches to “Trainer/Assessor”, “Currency Plan”, “Units of Competency” and so on, and the RTO features appear. You can also rename the key terms yourself on the Labels tab. See Settings.

Will it make my organisation compliant with ASQA (or any regulator)?

No software can do that on its own. Attestation Core helps you collect, organise and evidence staff compliance information:

  • documents and their expiry dates
  • currency evidence and its validation
  • signed declarations
  • approved plans
  • audit-ready reports

Whether that evidence meets a regulator’s requirements is still a judgement for your organisation and its auditors.

Does it replace a student management system?

No. Attestation Core manages staff compliance: credentials, documents, professional currency and evidence. It doesn’t handle student enrolments, learner results, USI verification or AVETMISS reporting. Use it alongside your student management system.

Does it work with multisite?

Multisite isn’t supported. The plugin is designed and tested for single-site WordPress installs.

Will it clash with my LMS, membership or e-commerce plugin?

It’s designed not to. Portal access comes from the link between a WordPress user and an active compliance profile, not from the user’s role. The plugin never changes an existing user’s role. A trainer who is also a LearnDash group leader, TutorLMS instructor, WooCommerce customer or member of a membership site keeps that role and its access.

The only role the plugin creates is Trainer / Assessor, which is a label with no plugin permissions. See User roles and permissions. If you do find a compatibility problem, contact support (see Troubleshooting).

How are uploaded documents stored and protected?

  • Where: by default, in a private folder outside your website’s public folder (one level above WordPress), so no web address can reach them. If your host doesn’t allow that, the plugin uses wp-content/uploads/attestation-core-private/, protected by deny rules for Apache and IIS and by randomised file names.
  • Self-test: every day the plugin checks that the folder can’t be read over the web, and warns administrators if it can. Nginx needs an extra rule, which the plugin shows you.
  • Downloads: every download goes through the plugin, which checks the person is logged in and owns the file (or is an authorised administrator or coordinator). Each download is recorded in a file access log.
  • Files accepted: PDF, JPG, PNG, DOC and DOCX, up to 25 MB (or your server’s limit if lower).
  • Pro: you can store files in Google Shared Drive instead.

See Privacy, security and data.

What happens to my data if I deactivate or delete the plugin?

Deactivating stops the daily background task and hides the menus. All data is kept, and reactivating restores everything.

Deleting the plugin (Plugins → Delete, after deactivating):

  • always removes the plugin’s settings and security keys
  • keeps your compliance data, uploaded files, the Trainer / Assessor role and its capabilities by default, so an accidental delete and reinstall doesn’t lose your records

To remove everything on delete, first tick Erase all data on uninstall on Settings → Advanced. This can’t be undone. See Privacy, security and data.

How does the plugin handle personal data requests?

Attestation Core works with WordPress’s built-in privacy tools:

  • Export: Tools → Export Personal Data includes the person’s compliance profile and records.
  • Erase: Tools → Erase Personal Data, or deleting the WordPress user, anonymises the person’s profile and removes their uploaded documents. Audit records such as validated evidence, approved plans and the notification log are kept with identifying details scrubbed, to support record-keeping obligations.
  • IP addresses: a Sign & Attest declaration and an annual plan submission (Pro) record the submitter’s IP address as part of the declaration. The privacy policy text the plugin suggests (under Settings → Privacy in WordPress) explains this.

Whether this meets your obligations under the Privacy Act, the GDPR or other laws depends on how your organisation uses it.

What versions of PHP and WordPress do I need?

  • PHP: 8.1 or higher
  • WordPress: 6.5 or higher

See Requirements and installation.

Can I import my existing staff?

Yes. Go to Compliance Profiles → Import profiles and download the CSV template:

  • Required columns: first_name, last_name and email
  • Optional columns: phone, credential_category, employment_type (employee, contractor, casual or volunteer) and status (active or inactive)
  • Limit: up to 500 rows per file
  • Existing people: rows that match an existing email update that profile

Past documents, evidence and plans aren’t imported. Upload or record those against each profile. See Bulk import staff from CSV.

How do I give staff access to the portal?

Link each person’s WordPress user to their compliance profile, or create the WordPress user with the same email address as their profile and the plugin links them automatically. Then publish the portal pages, which the setup wizard or Settings → Portal pages → Auto-create missing portal pages can do for you. See Quick start.

How do the signed declarations work?

  • Sign & Attest (Free): a staff member ticks the declaration on their portal dashboard and signs. The plugin records:
    • the date and time (UTC)
    • their IP address
    • a tamper-evident hash of their document record at that moment
  • Annual plan declaration (Pro): submitting a plan records the submission time, the IP address and a keyed hash (HMAC-SHA-256) of the plan, its items and the submission details. If the stored plan is changed afterwards, the admin screen shows a Tamper Detected badge.

These records give auditors a clear, time-stamped trail. They support your evidence but aren’t a legal guarantee. See Annual currency plans.

Does it send SMS?

The Free plugin sends email only. Pro adds SMS through your own Twilio account. See Email notifications.

Can I change words like “Staff Member” or “Evidence”?

Yes. Turn on Show advanced label customisation tab under Settings → General. A Labels tab then appears where you can rename the key terms used across the admin screens and portal. Workforce category names can be changed under Settings → Library → Workforce types.

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