--- title: "Functional Architecture" slug: "functional-architecture" tags: ["Tenant Management", "Multiple Domains", "Structures Audiences"] updated: 2026-09-30T14:51:28Z published: 2026-09-30T14:51:28Z canonical: "docs.thrivelearning.com/functional-architecture" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.thrivelearning.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Functional Architecture A guide to understanding the relationship between tenants, multiple-domains, structures & audiences, and collaborations. Find out what they’re for, when to use them, and their related roles and permissions. ## Tenant ### What is it? A **tenant** is a distinct instance of Thrive. For example, your production site is a separate tenant from your staging (test) site. Tenants are differentiated by their tenant ID, and the user base, content catalogue and platform configuration are distinct. ### What actions happen at tenant level? - User provisioning and management - Content creation and migration - Platform configuration - Collaboration creation - Structure & Audience creation - Spaces creation ### Who can see content and data at tenant level? - Super admins - Learning admin ### When do I need separate tenants? Separate tenants are necessary in scenarios where user bases need to remain separate for data privacy reasons, e.g. employees vs external users. ![Diagram illustrating user roles and structures within a single-domain tenant system.](https://cdn.document360.io/3a0609fb-d96c-4ce1-aabe-d9338fb1e858/Images/Documentation/image (13).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T17%3A37%3A13Z&se=2026-11-05T18%3A37%3A13Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=R9378ZOTvim91WBMHnstblyFJm5304K0CZj9X8d5GUg%3D) ## MDT (multi-domain tenant) ### What is it? **MDT** refers to a tenant with multiple domains, and can be thought of as different front doors to the same house. Domains are differentiated with different URLs, but share the same tenant ID. The user base, content catalogue and platform configuration of each domain are the same as the tenant. | Tenant ID | | --- | | mylearning-uk.learn.link | mylearning-us.learn.link | ### What actions happen at domain level? - User authentication - Platform theming (logos and brand colours) ### When do I need MDT? MDT is only technically necessary if users are authenticating to the same Thrive tenant from different SSO tenants. > [!WARNING] > Important: > > Our recommendation: Only opt for MDT if it’s technically necessary. While it’s possible to have separately branded domains, maintaining brand identity on a single-domain tenant can still be achieved. Collaborations, content thumbnails, campaign banners, and spaces can be utilised to support different brand identities. Using MDT solely for branding differences introduces unnecessary technical complexity with little value-add. ![Diagram illustrating user roles, structures, and collaboration in a multi-domain tenant system.](https://cdn.document360.io/3a0609fb-d96c-4ce1-aabe-d9338fb1e858/Images/Documentation/image (14).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-05T17%3A37%3A13Z&se=2026-11-05T18%3A37%3A13Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=R9378ZOTvim91WBMHnstblyFJm5304K0CZj9X8d5GUg%3D) ## Structures and Audiences ### What are they? **Structures** are parent orgs for audiences. They support dynamic user segmentation based on user profile data. **Audiences** are child orgs of structures. They support both dynamic and manual user segmentation. Both structures and audiences are used to create bespoke learning experiences relevant to specific user groups. ### What actions happen at structure and audience level? - Assigning content - Sharing content - Controlling content visibility - Homepage configuration - Spaces membership ### Who can see and/or manage structures and audiences? - Super admin (see and manage) - Learning admin (see and manage) - Structure admin (see, manage optional) - Audience manager (see, manage optional) ## Collaborations ### What are they? A **collaboration** is a single, identifiable entity, such as an internal team, subject matter area, or brand and consists of users authorised to post, share and manage content. ### What actions happen at collaboration level? - Content posting (all content types) - Managing any content owned by the collaboration ### Who can see and/or manage collaborations? - Super admins (see and manage) - Content managers (see only) ## Action, Role and Impact matrix The table below is a quick reference card to check who can do what, and the extent of their impact. | Category | What Needs Doing? | Who Can Do It? | Who Can They Impact? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Platform | Platform configuration and management | Super Admins | Everyone | | Users | User creation and management | Super Admins | Everyone | | Structure creation | Super Admins | Everyone | | Structure management | Super Admins | Everyone | | Structure Admins | Permitted structure | | Audience creation | Super Admins | Everyone | | Structure Admins | Permitted structure | | Audience management | Super Admins | Everyone | | Learning Admins | Everyone | | Structure Admins | Permitted structure | | Audience Managers | Permitted audience | | Content | Collaboration creation and management | Super Admins | Everyone | | Content creation and management | Super Admins | Everyone | | Learning Admins | Everyone | | Content Managers | Everyone | | Assigning content | Super Admins | Everyone | | Learning Admins | Everyone | | Structure Admins | Permitted structure | | Audience Managers | Permitted audience | | Sharing content | Super Admins | Everyone | | Learning Admins | Everyone | | Content Managers | Everyone | | Structure Admins | Permitted structure | | Audience Managers | Permitted audience | | Controlling content visibility | Super Admins | Everyone | | Learning Admins | Everyone | | Content Managers | Everyone | | Structure Admins | Permitted structure | | Audience Managers | Permitted audience | | Spaces | Spaces creation | Super Admins | Everyone | | Spaces management | Spaces Admins | Permitted Spaces | Any learning material in Thrive, including courses, quizzes, videos, documents, external links, and user-generated resources. Content serves to educate, engage, and assess learners, supporting a wide range of learning experiences across the platform. A scheduled content banner displayed at the top of the homepage. Multiple campaigns can run simultaneously, with visibility controlled through the audience feature. Campaigns help boost engagement and generate awareness for events or product launches.