The External Users role — for contractors, vendors, partners, and others who need Continu access but aren't internal employees.
External Users is a Department-based scope in Continu designed for audiences outside your full-time employee base. External Users only see content that's been specifically segmented to them. Internal content doesn't appear in their view, and they don't appear in internal user lists unless an admin filters to include them.
External Users is commonly used for:
- Contractors and consultants on temporary engagements
- Vendors and suppliers who need training on your processes
- External partners (channel, distribution, reseller)
- Temporary or contingent workers
- Pre-FTE employees (interns, future hires going through pre-onboarding)
For the strategic frame on user access, see User Management.
How External Users Work
External Users exists as a Department within Continu. The Department designation drives content visibility:
Content segmented to External Users is visible to them — and not to internal users unless also segmented to the internal user's Department.
Categories are visible to External Users only if content within them is segmented to External Users.
Internal content stays hidden from External Users unless explicitly shared.
How to Add an External User
External Users are added the same way as any other user, with Department set to External Users:
1. Open Admin → Users → Add a User.
2. Complete the form. Set Department to External Users.
3. Set the role. Most External Users are Learners. Granting Creator or Admin roles to External Users is unusual and should be deliberate.
4. Click Add User.
External Users can also be bulk-imported with the same flow as internal users — just set Department to External Users in the CSV.
Designing Content for External Users
For content External Users should see, segment it to the External Users Department. For content that should be available to both External and Internal Users, segment to both — content segmentation accepts multiple Departments.
See Segmentation For Content for the segmentation reference.
Common Questions
Can External Users be in Groups? Yes. Groups work the same way for External Users as for internal users.
Can External Users be tracked in Reports? Yes. Most reports support filtering by Department, so you can pull External User reports specifically.
Can External Users be Managers? Technically yes — the Manager role is independent of the External Users Department. In practice this is rare. Most managers of External Users are internal employees.
See Also
- User Management — strategic frame on user access.
- Segmentation For Content — controlling content visibility.
- Departments In Continu — how Departments work overall.
External Users is a Department. Set it on the user's profile. Content segmentation controls what they see. Internal content stays hidden unless explicitly shared.