This article contains the following:
1. Overview
2. Portal Configuration
3. Identity Providers (IDPs)
4. Customizations and Login Hints
5. Updating your Tech Support Contact
6. Rolling out single sign-on (SSO) to your district
Overview
Clever single sign-on (SSO) enables users to be securely authenticated into connected applications via their Clever portals. Users log in to Clever just once with one set of credentials, or using a Clever Badge, and then click on the various app icons to be logged in automatically via SSO. Clever application partners rely on Clever's verification system of determining that a user is, indeed, who they say they are. Without Clever SSO, each application would need to maintain its own database of users and their credentials.
District Admin can set up Clever single sign-on (SSO) from their district dashboard > Portal > SSO Settings page. This article details the four main steps required to enable Clever SSO.
Portal Configuration
The first step is to set a custom Portal URL for your district, which your students and teachers will use to access Clever and connected applications. To set a custom Portal URL for your district, navigate to your district dashboard > Portal > Portal Settings.
The portal URL will be www.clever.com/in/<shortname>. Remember to use something that your students and teachers will remember easily. To change your district's Portal URL, click the URL text box to edit the shortname. Make sure to click 'Save'! For more resources on managing the portal, click here.
Identity Providers (IDPs)
Clever single sign-on (SSO) allows students and teachers to access education apps with the username and password they already use in your district. To add a login method for Clever, navigate to your district dashboard > Portal > SSO Settings. In the top right corner, click 'Add Login Method' and select the login method you wish to add for Clever.
Please visit the articles listed below for specific details about configuring Clever SSO for your district's Identity Provider (e.g. Google, Active Directory, Canvas, LDAP, etc.)
- Clever Passwords
- Active Directory (SAML)
- Active Directory (LDAPS)
- Azure / Office 365
- Canvas
- NCED Cloud
- Lenovo Stoneware / webNetwork
Customizations and Login Hints
Here are some key customizations to help ensure your district users experience a seamless login experience with Clever:
Login Hints
District admins can customize login hints that will appear on the district's Clever login page to help users with their login credentials. Some examples include:
- Student Password = 10-digit student ID number
- Teacher Username = Teacher number
- Staff Username = Staff ID
To add login hints, navigate to the Customize tab from your district dashboard > Portal > SSO Settings page. In the example below, hint have been provided for 'Login with Clever', but not for 'Login with Google' or 'Log in with Canvas'.
Customize Login Buttons
The Clever login page can be further customized by:
- Editing the login method text (e.g. 'Log in with Google' can be updated to 'Log in as Teacher')
- Editing the login method order
Updating your Tech Support Contact
To abide by Clever's stringent security and data policies, Clever support will never provide user login credentials through any of our communications channels if a district user reaches out to us directly.
For this reason, each district should have a Tech Support contact for users to contact in the event of Clever login issues. This information can be updated from your district dashboard by selecting Portal > SSO Settings
The Tech Support contact information will be displayed when users select Get help logging in! from your district login page.
Rolling out single sign-on (SSO)
Clever has provided some helpful resources for when your district is ready to roll out Clever single sign-on (SSO) at your district:
Distributing login information to teachers
Once you've configured your single sign-on (SSO) settings, we recommend sending an email letting your teachers and staff know how to log in to Clever to access their connected applications.
Clever provides both a downloadable PDF with login instructions (1) and an email template (2) for every connected application so district admins can easily share login information with teachers.
To locate these resources, navigate to your district dashboard > Home page, and click on the name of the specific application to open the app overview page.
The login instructions PDF include:
- Your district's Portal URL
- Basic instructions for how to log in to Clever
- Instructions on how to access the application from their Clever portals.
The email contains:
- Your district's Portal URL
- Your district's Tech Support contact
- Basic information about the app
- A link to a video providing an overview of Clever SSO
If you select 'View Email', you will see a preview of the email that will be sent to your teachers letting them know they now have access to that particular application. Select 'Send' to send the email to teachers.
Clever Tip: The district dashboard > Support Tools > Login Logs provide district admins with insight into all login attempts from district users for the past 14 days. This is a helpful tool when troubleshooting single sign-on (SSO) issues!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Clever support! We are happy to help!