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Available in Open domain (October 15, 2026 update)
These features were previously limited in Open domain and now work in the following ways:
- Domain settings: Saving changes and the Show text editor button.
- Courses: Copy a shared course, for courses shared with the domain you opened through a subscription, including a subscription a parent domain extends to its subdomains.
- Courses: Create new with a Template, when the domain you opened has a subscription to the course the template was built from (or that course is in the opened domain or its subdomains).
- Teacher Course tools: Home, Activities, Grades, People, Editor, and Copy course for teacher enrollments on the opened domain.
When administrators log into their own domain and navigate to a subdomain, they see their own customizations rather than those of the subdomain they're viewing.
When you need to view another domain's customizations, Open domain gives you a secure and efficient way to do it. To protect your administrator credentials, Open domain enforces some limitations.
How to use Open domain
Sign into the domain where your user is located, or your "home domain." To confirm that your user is located in the domain, you can find it in the Users tool for the domain.
- In the Admin app, open your User menu and select Open domain.
- Search by domain (name, userspace, or ID) and see search results: Domain name | userspace | ID
- If needed, click the Domain button to browse domains.
- Select the domain and click Open.
The domain opens to Domain details in a new browser tab, so you aren't navigated away from where you're currently working. You can see the opened domain's userspace in the URL.
You can review the domain's customizations, navigate as though you had signed into the domain, and switch between it and the domain you signed into. When you're done, sign out of the domain as usual.
Note: In an Open domain tab, your name doesn't appear on the User menu. This is expected.
If your session ends: Buzz doesn't ask for your password in an Open domain tab. Go back to the tab for your home domain and use Open domain again.
What to expect when using Open domain
Most of Buzz works as normal when using Open domain. To keep your account and anything your account has access to, Open domain uses a separate session that can act only within the opened domain.
As a result, in Open domain, you are able only to navigate to domains that an admin in that domain with the same privileges is able to.
| If you want to... | Use |
|---|---|
| Manage domains, users, courses or enrollments | The domain your user is located in |
| Proxy as another user | The domain your user is located in |
| Change your own password, multi-factor authentication or profile | The domain your user is located in |
| Subscribe the domain to a course in another domain | The domain your user is located in |
| See Buzz the way another domain's users see it, with its settings and metadata | Open domain |
What's limited in Open domain
Features that save to your own account or reach outside the opened domain are restricted, unavailable, or disallowed:
- User menu: Change password, Choose theme, Multi-factor authentication, and Enroll in course are disallowed. Proxy and Open domain are unavailable.
- Settings page: User settings can't be saved to your account.
- App switcher: Community is disallowed.
- Courses: Create new with a Template works only when the course the template was built from is in the domain you opened, or the domain you opened has a subscription to that course. Otherwise, Buzz shows a message that the template can't be used.
- Subscriptions: You can't subscribe the domain to a course outside it. Create the subscription from your home domain.
- Admin reports: In User activity reports, Domain user activity and Domain users not logged in are disallowed. Some reports on the Other reports tab may not be available.
- Admin: Restoring domains is disallowed.
- Gradebook: Sync grades to SIS is disallowed.
- Search functions: Library searches, Resource library searches, and personal Notes searches are unavailable.
- Personal Notes: Creating notes is unavailable.
- Resource library: Insert Community catalog link is unavailable.
- Syllabus editor: Adding to My Library is unavailable. Under Add activity > My templates, only activity templates from courses in the domain, or courses the domain subscribes to, are listed.
- Teacher Course tools: Reports can be run, but the finished report can't be downloaded.
- Teacher home: Order courses is disallowed. View courses opens, but hiding courses is disallowed.
- Teacher Clipboard: Save and Delete clipboard quick lists are disallowed.
- Teacher Calendar: Sync (the calendar subscription link) is unavailable.
- Student home: Order courses is disallowed.
Signing in with userspace/username
The same limits apply when you sign in to another domain using userspace/username.