Overview
Competencies represent the qualifications Users hold. They record who is qualified for what, are checked when someone starts a Checklist, and control who can operate a ride or attend a position in RideOps. This article covers the model, creating and awarding Competencies, requiring them on Schedules and in RideOps, and where their status shows up.
At a glance |
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Who can do this | Super Users, or a Role with Competencies › View (see all Certifications) or Competencies › Administrate (create, edit, and delete; includes View). Without either, the Competencies menu is hidden; Users still see their own Competencies in the mobile app. Certification Processes needs Administrate. See Role permissions reference. |
Where | Competencies, Competencies › Certifications, Schedules, and Locations › RideOps Settings |
Works on | Backend (web), Mobile app, RideOps |
Availability | All organizations |
💡 Why this matters: Without Competency requirements, anyone with access to a Schedule or Location can do the work, trained or not. Requirements give you a record of who was qualified, and let Mobaro flag or stop work by people who aren't.
The Competencies model
Object | What it is |
Competency | The qualification itself (e.g. Coaster Operator – Tier 2) — a reusable name used across Users, Schedules, and RideOps. It persists over time. |
Certification | One User's record of holding one Competency, with optional expiration date, renewal date, attachments, and notes. Certifications are awarded, reach renewal, expire, or are deleted. |
Certification Process | An optional workflow that awards a Competency when an Assignee completes a training Checklist — after reviewer approval, if the Process requires validation. |
Create a Competency
A Competency must exist before you award or require it. Click Competencies in the navigation, click Create, enter a clear Name (e.g. Coaster Operator – Tier 2) and an optional Description, then Save. Only the name is required. See How to create a Competency.
Award a Competency manually
A User holds a Competency while they have an unexpired Certification for it. Create Certifications manually for credentials issued outside Mobaro (third-party training, regulatory licenses) or one-off awards:
In the Mobaro Backend, go to Competencies › Certifications and click Create.
Add one or more Users (each gets a separate Certification) and the Competency.
Never expires is ticked by default. To set an end date, untick it and choose an Expiration date (default: one year from today). Optionally tick Mark as due for renewal and pick a Renewal date (default: one month before expiry; can't be later).
Under Details, add notes and attachments (training certificates, ID cards) so reviewers can check the credential, then click Save.
⚠️ Heads-up: After saving, a Certification's User and Competency are locked — only notes, expiration, renewal, and attachments can change. Process-awarded Certifications can't be edited at all.
Award through a Certification Process
For recurring credentials (annual safety training, re-certifications), build a Certification Process. Assignees complete a training Checklist in the mobile app's Certification Center, and the Competency is awarded automatically with the Process's expiration and renewal settings. See Create a Certification Process.
Require Competencies on a Schedule
When a Schedule has Required Competencies, the mobile app checks that the User starting one of its Checklists holds an unexpired Certification for each. The Checklist stays listed for everyone; the check happens at start.
Go to Schedules and select the Schedule.
Click Edit (for Calendar Schedules, Settings).
In Required Competencies, add one or more Competencies.
Optionally turn on Restrict access based on required competencies (see below), then click Save.
A User missing a Required Competency sees a Missing Competencies dialog listing what they lack. What happens next depends on Restrict access based on required competencies:
Setting | What the User can do |
Restrict access ON | Can't start the Checklist — they can only close the dialog. |
Restrict access OFF | Can tap Start anyway. The Result records that the performing User was missing required Competencies and is marked as requiring validation, even if the Schedule doesn't otherwise require it. |
🛑 Critical: If only certified personnel may perform an inspection, turn Restrict access based on required competencies ON. With it off, an untrained User can still start and submit the Checklist; the Result is flagged for validation, but the work is already done. See Schedule compliance settings.
Require Competencies in RideOps
In RideOps, Competencies control who can be the Operator or an Attendant at a Location. Attendant requirements can apply to all Attendants, and each Attendant Position (e.g. Loader) can add its own.
Operators:
Go to Locations, select the Location, click Edit, then RideOps Settings in the RideOps section.
In the Operators section, add Competencies in Required Competencies.
Click Accept Changes, then Save on the Location editor.
Attendants:
Open the Location's RideOps Settings as above.
Optionally, add Required Competencies in the Attendants section to require them for every Attendant Position.
Click Add Position, give it a name (e.g. Loader) and an optional description, and add the Position's Required Competencies.
Click Accept Changes, then Save.
In the RideOps app, Users missing a required Competency are greyed out; selecting one shows a Missing Competencies alert and doesn't sign them in. One Competency can be required on both a Schedule and a RideOps Position — one award covers both.
The Certification lifecycle
Each Certification is in one of these states:
State | Meaning | Effect on access |
Valid | Awarded, not expired, and not past its renewal date (or never expires). | Counts as held for all requirement checks. |
Due for renewal | Not expired, but past its renewal date (set on the Certification or by the awarding Process). | Still held. Processes that award this Competency become available again to the User, if they're an Assignee. |
Expired | Past the expiration date. | No longer held — same as never having held it. |
Deleted | Deleted, or revoked because the Result that awarded it was disapproved or deleted. | No longer held. |
ℹ️ Note: There's no organization-wide warning window; each Certification has its own renewal date. The mobile app shows only Active and Expired, and Mobaro sends no reminders before expiry.
Where Competency status shows up
Certifications page — every Certification with expiration and status. Filter by Competency, User, and Certification Process. Expired Certifications are hidden until you turn on Include Expired (the clock icon in the filter bar).
User editor — the Competencies panel lists Competencies the User holds or has held, with status.
Competency editor — the Users panel lists every User with a Certification for that Competency, with status; the Usages panel shows the Schedules, Checklists, and Locations that require it.
Competency Overview widget — a Users × Competencies status matrix.
Certification Center (mobile app) — each User's own current Competencies under Active with expiry dates, and the Processes available to them. The app drops expired Competencies once it refreshes its data. See Using the Certification Center in the mobile app.
Example: certifying a new Loader
A Loader Training Certification Process awards the Loader Competency, with Require Validation ticked, expiry 365 days after award, and Mark as renewal after (days) set to 335. The Loader Attendant Position on every coaster requires it, and so does the pre-opening Loader inspection Schedule, with Restrict access based on required competencies ON.
On day one, new hire Maria can't start the inspection — the Missing Competencies dialog blocks her.
She completes Loader Training in the Certification Center. Once a reviewer approves it, she holds the Competency for 365 days from approval, can start the inspection, and can be signed in as a Loader.
After 335 days she's Due for renewal on the Certifications page and widget, and Loader Training reappears in her Certification Center. Once a reviewer approves her retake before expiry, she stays qualified without a gap.
Best practices
Name Competencies unambiguously. Everyone from leadership to frontline staff reads them. Add version or tier markers when requirements change, so a renamed program doesn't carry old Certifications forward.
Prefer a Certification Process for anything awarded more than once. It sets expiration and renewal dates and re-opens at renewal time, so nobody has to remember to add a Certification.
Review renewals regularly. Add a Competency Overview widget to a Dashboard and act on due-for-renewal or expired Users before a lapse takes someone out of a Restrict-access-ON Schedule or RideOps Position mid-shift. See Staying ahead of certification expiry.
Frequently asked questions
An operator is certified, but RideOps won't let them operate the ride. Why?
They need a current Certification for every Competency the Location's RideOps settings require, not just one. Check Competencies › Certifications with Include Expired on. If they were deleted and re-created as a new User, their Certifications were deleted with the old account, so add them again.
Can completing a checklist give someone a competency?
Only through a Certification Process. A Schedule's Required Competencies only control who can do its Checklists. To award a Competency when someone completes a Checklist, create a Certification Process that uses it. See Create a Certification Process.
What happens when a User's Certification expires?
It stops counting toward Required Competencies immediately. With Restrict access based on required competencies ON the User can't start the Checklist; with it OFF they can, and the Result is flagged for validation. In RideOps, they can't sign in to roles that require it until they hold it again.
I rescheduled a missed checklist and now it requires the wrong competency. Why?
Rescheduling creates an Ad Hoc slot with the Required Competencies set in the reschedule dialog, prefilled from the missed Schedule or slot. Later changes to the Schedule don't reach it. Edit the Ad Hoc slot to change them. See Ad Hoc Slots — setup and behavior.
Do I need to be a Super User to set up competencies?
No. A Role with Competencies › Administrate can create and edit Competencies, Certifications and Certification Processes. Competencies › View only lets you see Competencies and all Users' Certifications.
Can I link a competency to a user group or role?
No. Each User holds a Competency through their own Certification. You can pick many Users at once when you create a manual Certification, or add a User Group as Assignees on a Certification Process so each member can earn it.