Require Users to Accept Terms of Service
Some Enterprise networks may want to require users to read and accept the platform’s Terms of Service before creating or publishing content with Pressbooks. Requiring users to do so helps ensure that all users have a clear understanding of acceptable use (i.e. what they can and cannot do with the platform) and can limit your institution’s liability for user-generated content.
We’ve developed a Terms of Service plugin which can be used for this purpose on enterprise networks. If you had previously been using any other methods to present Terms of Service to your end users on your enterprise network, we recommend changing to this plugin.
To activate this plugin, navigate to the Administer Network dashboard and from the left sidebar menu, Integrations > Network Integrations. On this Network Integrations page, under User Management, you’ll find a button to activate the Terms of Service plugin. If you have any questions about activating this plugin or updating your approach to end user Terms of Service, please contact premium support or your account manager.
Conditions for display
Once the Terms of Service plugin is enabled, all users who have not accepted Pressbooks’ standard Terms of Use are prompted to do so upon their subsequent login, regardless of their login method and regardless of whether they are new or existing users.
Users are only prompted to accept the Terms of Use upon logging in to an administrative interface that would allow them to create or edit content (like a book dashboard or the chapter editor). Users are not required to accept the Terms of Use to read Pressbooks content.
Pressbooks keeps a secure record of the date and time at which individual users accept the Terms of Use. Once a user accepts the Terms of Use, users are not required to view and accept the Terms of Use again, unless and until the platform’s Terms of Use are updated.
Login flow
While the Terms of Service plugin is enabled for a Pressbooks network, all users who sign into the network and attempt to access any part of the admin interface are immediately shown a page with Pressbooks’ standard Terms of Use, followed by a confirmation statement with Accept and Cancel buttons.
Users are unable to navigate further until they have checked the box beside the text, “I have read and accept the Terms of Service,” and pressed the Accept button. Once a user does so, they are redirected to the location they were signing into and can proceed.
⚠ If a user presses the Cancel button (i.e. refuses to accept the terms), they are automatically logged out of the network. They next time they log back into the platform, they will again be prompted to accept the terms.
Using custom Terms of Use
Pressbooks’ standard Terms of Use are used by default. If you would like to present custom Terms of Use for your end users, they will need to undergo further legal review before publishing. Please contact your account manager to explore this option.
