[DEV] Change Effective User — QA 101

Authenticated user

Authenticated UID: dev@example.com

Authenticated name: Dev User

Authenticated course role: Owner

Authenticated course instance role: Student Data Editor

Authenticated mode: Public

Authenticated date: 2026-08-04T20:42:03-05:00

Connecting from IP: 172.18.0.1

The authenticated values above are the ones that you logged in with. The effective values below allow you to view PrairieLearn as if you had a different course role or as if you were a specific other person with a different UID. This can be used to test out how PrairieLearn will look from different points of view. The “Reset to these values” button above will reset all effective values below to your authenticated values. Effective values are also reset when you choose a course instance or when you switch to a different course.

Effective user

Effective UID: dev@example.com

Effective name: Dev User

Changing your effective user identity to another person allows you to see PrairieLearn exactly as they would see it. You cannot emulate an effective user with a higher access level than your own.

Effective course role

Effective course role: Owner

Change effective course role to:

Your course role determines the permissions that you have to view and edit course content in PrairieLearn. It is specific to this course, so you can be an Editor in one course but a Previewer in a different course.

Effective course instance role

Effective course instance role: Student Data Editor

Change effective course instance role to:

Your course instance role determines the permissions that you have to view and edit student data in PrairieLearn. It is specific to this course instance, so you can be a Student Data Editor in one course instance but a Student Data Viewer in a different course instance.

Effective date

Effective date: 2026-08-04T20:42:03-05:00

The date of the server determines which assessments are available. Changing the effective date to something other than the current date allows you to check if homework and exam assessments will be available to students when you mean them to be. The date has the format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS, with a suffix that gives the offset from UTC (i.e., the time zone) in the format ±HH:MM.