Trainual Reviews

Pros

It's simple, pretty, and functional. No real complaints.

Cons

There are some nitpicky features and functions that I wish were available or that don't work quite the way I'd want them to. The search functionality gets on my nerves sometimes as it seems to load exactly the search result I'm looking for immediately but then a second later SEVERAL results load and the one I actually want (that's most relevant) jumps further down the list. If you are a speedy clicker and try to click it before the rest of the search results load (like me), it will take you to something completely different as the rest of the results will load right as you click. I do like that it *has* search functionality and when we have had to make wide-sweeping changes it is really nice to be able to hit the enter key and see not just results in whatever category you're in but in every aspect of your company. We have used other comparable software in the past and have never had true search functionality like this before.

Pros

Trainual's ease of searching and editing as an administrator is one of my favorite features. To be able to search for any subject, topic, test, etc. and find all associated trainings and topics with that field is amazing. This is a time saver when trying to help my team.Being able to edit an existing topic and training and have it instantly available to my team is another key feature when our processes change. This has helped with any outdated information that a team member could have had with hardcopies of training material.

Cons

In some instances, if a member does not have the proper access, they are unable to see all available topics when they search. It takes an administrator to search and assign the topic or show the team member the material.It can be time consuming to get everything in to Trainual, at first. Once everything is documented, though, it is easier to keep updated.

Pros

In theory, it makes the process of onboarding and training easy and efficient.

Cons

The set up process, even with already having the documentation is burdensome and the flow of how to use the software is confusing. There is no real start and finish or defined, or even suggested, workflow. There are tons of integrations, but no suggestions really as to how to best use them or under what circumstances these things would be useful. It is also incredibly expensive to say that it is ongoing expense that will forever need to be paid for the life of your business. Theres no tapering off or build up. It has to be implemented immediately in order to show it's value and does not account for the set up process.

Alternatives Considered

Google Cloud Operations Suite

Reasons for Switching to Trainual

It's already included in my usage account and by simply creating a table of contents, I can get essentially the same functionality that I was supposed to with Trainual.

Pros

I like the ability to segment training modules/lessons and dictate the order at which the user goes through them.

Cons

I would like the user permissions to be a little more flexible. I have some team leads that need to be able to monitor new users as they go through the training, but I do not want to give them access to edit content.I would also like a better way to add an mp4. Maybe I'm just not doing it the right way, but currently, I am putting in text like "Training Video 1" and attaching a URL to the video. It would be nice to imbed the mp4 just like a YouTube video.

Pros

Intuitive to start using and set up, clean and modern design.Seems to be very capable and scalable so far, believe it will easily grow with us. Friendly, helpful and well trained support team, great people.Very good self help resources including articles, videos, and webinar recordings.Free onboarding/success coaching for customers, in groups or one to one, very helpful.

Cons

Experienced a few glitches, but the support team were communicative and got the issues escalated and resolved reasonably quickly.Would be great to see more reporting and implementation dashboard features, to help new companies get going, we ran a launch project on Smartsheet which could possibly be handled within Trainual. Also would be handy to have the ability to add 'RACI' (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) so different team members can be automatically updated or give approval for subjects to be published and updated.

Pros

I have to say I love Trainual. It is easy to use, was easy to learn being a new user. The help feature, How-to's, and pro tips is a great resource for knowledge. The Trainual support team is very responsive and helpful.

Cons

The card view! Card view vs outline view - Feel that all users should have the option for the outline view to help organize trainings and search for trainings easily.

Pros

I like that Trainual is always growing and developing new features and capabilities. Often times when I message them about an issue I'm having or a feature I am seeking, they are already working on it in the background. The options with Trianual are practically endless!

Cons

Trainual needs to work on the formatting abilities within the platform. Continuing numbers and bullet points after inserting a photo isn't possible. You can only indent bullet points once there are two or more. Integrations are a work in progress and new ones are added all the time. It's little things like this but overall, very manageable to deal with.

Pros

Easily Searchable and easy to build new pages.

Cons

its not a trainual issue, sometimes if you dont organize things on the front end it gets hard to handle later on.

Pros

I can assign content to individual users, track progress, and require acknowledgment whenever the process or policy updates. The interface is very intuitive which is great for onboarding new employees.

Cons

I wish it included a few more native EOS tools (we are a company running on EOS). They have clearly taken this into consideration, and a few additional options compatible with EOS would be very helpful.

Pros

Can go back and retake trainuals. Can assign the trainuals to groups.

Cons

nothing. I haven't had any issues with trainual.

Pros

Trainual allowed our company to finally have ONE place to store training collateral. The user interface is friendly and functional, with features that appeal to all learners. I love the option to embed video, something we could never do with stand-alone PDFs. I also value the search that allows me to find every training piece with keywords. When we complete quarterly/yearly audits this allows me to easily locate all items that need to be updated.Lastly, I love being able to parcel training out and not overwhelm new hires with all content at once. Our training modules allow me to give them only access to that day's material, which is topic specific. This allows me to create a learning journey for them at the pace they need.

Cons

The testing process. I like the idea of testing employees, but being allowed to retake a test immediately after not passing leads the employee right back to the quiz, where they then try to guess the answer based on elimination. I would like to see the option when we build tests to link it back to the step in the process that is where the answer resides. Then when the user misses that question they are routed back there to actually re-read the content for the answer.

Pros

Trainual is an excellent tool for training and learning industry best practices because it ensures that all employees have received all relevant instructions, handouts, and training programs designed for their roles. I'm grateful for all the ways I can create the system to speed up the integration process with the rest of the team and get new employees up to speed faster. The tools are great because management can evaluate employee performance completely verbally. The ability of senior management to manage the organizational structure, as well as to organize the relationships between the different departments and to establish functional partnerships between them, is a precious asset provided by Trainual.

Cons

Trainual is adaptable to the needs of any organization, has a user-friendly interface, is generally easy to use, is pleasant for employees, and offers enough customization options to ensure that all relevant information reaches employees promptly.

Pros

Trainual has impacted us greatly in the time we spend with our new hires. In the past, we would physically be in the same room for 8 hours with the person before they could get to work! Sometimes 2 people which meant 16 hours of 2 people time to get 1 person, possibly to understand! Well, those days are gone. 45 minutes in person! Everything else is completed via Trainual. Retention from the new hires has also significantly increased!

Cons

It took longer than anticipated for implementation. We had all the documentation in another system so the information was available. There was a definite learning curve in getting the system set up for our company. But we stayed the course, and we would do it all over again!

Pros

The support behind it is superb - [sensitive content hidden] is an email away and answers questions and provides back-office support whenever requested.

Cons

The product is very much tailored for small businesses, so it can be challenging to scale its use across organizations with multiple operators (such as franchisees).

Pros

Some things that I love about Trainual are the features where I can add media like videos and gifs.

Cons

There are a lot of ideas I have that would make Trainual more effective. For example, being able to play the videos right in Trainual without having to click a link and open a new tab. COLOR CUSTOMIZATION! I hate the light gray color for all of the buttons (save, next, etc) I wish it was literally any other color. But if it was customizable that would be even better. Also when creating a test there NEEDS to be an option to select how many questions/possible answers for a given test. Clicking “new question” every time and then clicking “new answer” 4 times for each question is just way too time consuming and outright annoying. There could also be different types of quiz questions! What about definition matching or something else more interactive than multiple choice. And I wish you could turn off the feature where it shows the User what they got wrong. And the “essay” exams are NOT FUNCTIONAL because there is no way for the Administrator to review and approve the submissions. It just says 100% no matter what they write. For the Quiz portion of Trainual I rate it a 2/5. There is so much more development that needs to be happening here. Otherwise it’s a good platform.

Pros

Honestly, I like how modern it looks the most. Previously, our company used Zoho and it had a lot of features, but it didn't look smooth. When you're trying to learn something new, you need as few distractions as possible. With Trainual's polished look, you're able to focus. On the administrator side, you can create everything you need without any training. Just take a moment to plan out your training, and you'll be alright.

Cons

The only gripe I have is the assessments. Zoho had a lot of options for the question types, and in Trainual I was hoping for the same. I adapted many of the questions that I migrated over, so it's okay, but having different question types helps break up the monotony. We have to ask a lot of questions in certain training modules, so this really helped, but this technical limitation hasn't actually held us back in practice. We continue to love Trainual.

Pros

Trainual has been great for getting us organized and having all our policies in one location. Assigning subjects and ease of use for employees has been really helpful.

Cons

I would like a signature page option for the agreements and handbook acknowledgement receipts.

Pros

Passing knowledge onto our customers is of the utmost importance to us, thus our team members need to be provided with quick access while they're working live to access these situations with quality solutions. Having Trainual open and accessible during the work day is key to achieving that!

Cons

I honestly cannot say a bad thing about Trainual. My only point of improvement would be to allow for a directory that does not need to be accessed teamwide for its creation.

Pros

The process of building out training in Trainual is very easy and organized well. Also, the process of adding new users, onboard, tracking and assign trainings is straight forward.

Cons

I don't love the users interface. It isn't as organized and it can be a little hard for teammates to find information if they don't know exactly what they are looking for.

Pros

I like the Learning paths and the ease of use of the system overall.

Cons

None that come to mind that I like least.

Pros

We didn't have written processes previous to using Trainual. This software has helped us get everything out of our heads and onto "paper" so that there is clear understanding across the board for what is expected from our employees and what they should expect from us as a company. It's easy to set up, easy to modify/customize, and easy to use. We are an HVAC contractor and not all of our employees are tech savvy. We've had no issues whatsoever in any of our employees using the software. And living in the new normal of social distancing this software has allowed us to hire, onboard, and train people virtually. We're better at these three items now than we ever were before and it's due to our use of Trainual.

Cons

I can't think of any issues we've had with the software.

Pros

The use and navigation of the Trainual platform is simple and clear. My trainers are easily able to create new subjects within minutes. Also, having the ability to move entire sections from one subject to another makes life so much better. It would never work if we had to copy/paste and delete. We also love the reporting in Trainual. We can monitor our new trainees' progression and identify areas for improvement at a glance.

Cons

I cannot think of anything I don't like about trainual. It would be nice if we could choose our own color scheme to match that of our company.

Pros

I like all the template options and YouTube videos available for helping us create materials. With the new sections of process, company, etc. it has been helpful to be able to divide up content more specifically.

I didn't know there was integration possible with trainual and will look more into that.

Cons

It has been a process to get all the information into Trainual. It feels very overwhelming, but the templates help. I find it is sometimes difficult to get GIFs to load and then just skip them because it is taking too long.

Pros

The ease of creation is immense. Tests really ensure the team consume AND understand what they are learning.

Cons

Hmmm I genuingley cannot think of any cons right now

Pros

I love how easy to use the systems are.
Everything is very clear and user friendly. You do not have to be administratively inclined to learn and get good at using Trainual and it's systems.

Cons

I don't have a lot of complaints about Trainual, other than when linking a document into a process step, it reduces the size significantly so it can be hard to read. But that is a small detail on the larger scale of amazing products and user interface!