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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Setup for Operational Users |
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You can set up different access rights for each person who uses the User Program. This is helpful when people have different responsibilities and when there are restrictions on certain types of information. The Users Screen also allows you to create and assign Security Groups to Users. Once you set up your User Types to be assigned as Security Groups, this becomes the quickest way to assign access rights to users who have the same or similar access requirements. Additionally, the program allows you to selectively customize the rights of any user.
Attention: You cannot add or delete users in the Users Screen. This must be done by an Administrator in the Administration Program.
This topic includes:
A Word About Access to Reports
To Add a User and Assign a Security Group
Checking a User's Access Rights
Looking Up Rights on the Users Screen
Log In as Another User to Verify Access
To Modify or Create Security Settings
Applying Security Settings to Objects
Limit User to These Departments
A Word About Limiting Users by Department
Load Rights from Another Dataset
Important: The program uses an interactive screen interface that allows you to selectively customize users. This means that you can assign the rights of Full Access, View Only, or Invisible to most of the program's screens and objects. We recommend that you first learn how to navigate the software and that you also get a good understanding of how it works before you start setting up users this way. Due to the flexibility of this feature, we recommend that you start simple, test, and work your way out from there. This is because you may get unexpected results if you overly tweak settings, before you fully understand the relationships of the data and the settings that you're trying to apply.
When new users are first added to the Administration Program, they basically have unlimited rights to the User Program for the datasets that they've been assigned. You use the Users Screen to limit their rights, if necessary. If you have users who share the same responsibilities, assigning them to the same Security Group is the quickest and easiest way to set them up. A Security Group is simply a predefined group of rights that are set up as a User, but is actually a user type. The program also allows you to apply a Security Group to a user, which assigns them a set of access rights, and then selectively go through the interactive screen interface to make additional modifications.
User Access to the Utilities pull-down menu - Only a user who has full access or view-only access to the Users Screen can access the Utilities menu.
A Word About Access to Reports
If you assign a user the setting of Invisible (no access) to a screen, that user will not be able to access any of the reports that pertain to that screen. For example, you set a user to Invisible for the Personnel Screen. Doing so will make the corresponding Personnel reports in the Report Menu inaccessible. However, users who have Full Access or View Only access can preview and print reports.
Preloaded Sample User Types as Security Groups
The program comes with six preloaded user types that are displayed when you look up a Security Group to assign. You cannot delete or edit the rights of any of these sample user types. They're loaded into the program as just samples, so you can see their Security Settings and understand how the feature is applied. You should consider creating your own user types, like these preloaded samples, that you can assign to your actual users as Security Groups. You add these just like users in the Administration Program, but give them names that reflect the Security Group and not an actual user's name.
The following is a general description of each of the preloaded user types:
Lead Locksmith: This user type has all of the access rights of the System Administrator but can't access the Users Screen or edit the assets that are assigned to departments and rooms. This user type was also not assigned a Security Group. The reason for this, is because this user type is only restricted to the two screens mentioned, so these restrictions were made selectively using the interactive screen interface instead of using a security group.
Locksmith: The Locksmith user type has inherited the rights of the Lead Locksmith. This means that the Locksmith user type has been assigned the Lead Locksmith as its Security Group. However, additional changes were made to further restrict the access of the Locksmith. In addition to the access rights inherited from the Lead Locksmith, this user type cannot access the Assets Screen, and has View Only rights for Department, Distributor, Manufacturer's Systems, Manufacturer, Personnel, Locksmith Setup, and System Setup.
Hardware Tech: This user type has the Security Group of Locksmith assigned but is further restricted. In addition to the access rights inherited from the Locksmith, the Hardware Tech cannot access the Personnel Screen and has View Only rights for Hardware Groups, Key Numbers, Key Systems, Keyways, and Products.
Manager: This user type has Full Access to all screens except for the Users Screen that is set to Invisible.
Office Assistant: This user type has the Manager assigned as its Security Group but many restrictions have been set up. The Office Assistant has Full Access to Personnel that is restricted to the Locksmith and Hardware Tech user types. However, this user type is restricted from viewing and/or editing locksmith information. The Office Assistant is set to Invisible for Locksmith Setup, Key Systems, Manufacturer's Systems, Cylinders, and Pinning Charts, and cannot view the Bittings (cuts) of keys. The View Only settings include Assets, Buildings, Rooms, Doors, Distributors, Products (Hardware), Key Numbers, Keyways, Hardware Groups, Manufacturers, and System Setup.
Office Tech: The Office Tech is assigned the Office Assistant as its Security Group but is further restricted. Additional settings for Invisible include Assets, Contacts, Distributors, Hardware Groups, Keyways, Manufacturers, and System Setup. Additional settings for View Only include Asset Types, Departments, Edit Receipt Text, Room Functions, Key Rings, and Positions.
To review the specific rights for each of the preloaded user types, select one of the user types and read the rights that are listed in the Security Settings list. For user types that have another user type assigned to them as a security group, look up that other user type to review the additional security settings that were inherited. See Checking a User's Access Rights.
For any selected user, this list displays the access rights that are specific only to that user. In addition to the rights that are displayed in the Security Settings list, every user has additional rights. These additional rights are inherited from the Security Group that is assigned to a user. If the Security Group field is left blank for a user, the user has full access rights to all screens, except for any restrictions that are listed in the Security Settings List.
Important: The rights for a user that are displayed in the Security Settings List, and that are specific to that user, are assigned using the program's interactive screen interface, or inherited from other users. This interface allows you to selectively customize the rights for users.
A Security Group is a user type with a predefined set of rights. These are not actual users of the program but instead templates for quickly assigning rights to your users. When you want to set up your own user type as a Security Group, give the user type a name that allows you to distinguish it from a real user name (i.e., Locksmith, Manager, etc.).
Important: In this program, any user can be assigned to another user as a security group. In order to avoid confusion when setting up your users, we recommend that you create specific user type names.
Note: In the previous version of SiteMaster, we preloaded some user types (e.g., Locksmith, Manager, Office Assistant, etc.) that you can still find in the Security Groups look up screen. We left these in this new version, because sites that used these Security Groups, would require them when loading their data into this new version. With the new features in this version, there is greater flexibility and options to mass-assign rights without using these preloaded types.
To Add a Security Group (Example)
1. First create a user that will be used as a Security Group, by adding that user in the Administration Program. Give the user a name like Key Issuer, for example.
2. In the User Program, go to the User Screen and look up and select the Key Issuer user you added.
3. Assign rights to this user type that other users will share or inherit.
To Assign a Security Group to a User
Assigning a Security Group to a user, immediately assigns all the rights of that group. You can also selectively change the rights of any user or create users without assigning Security Groups. See Customizing Users.
1. From the pull-down Setup Menu, select Users. This displays the Users Screen.
2. Look up and select a user. This will display any users that have already been added in the Administration Program.
4. Click on the Binoculars button on the Security Group field. This displays the User Find screen.
5. Look up and select the user type that best matches the new user. You can click on the Find All button on the User Find Screen to display the list of existing users, select the one you want, and then click on the Accept button. The user type is now displayed in the Security Group field. The rights of this Security Group is displayed in the Security Settings list box. For the ones that we preloaded, you can select any one to see the rights of that Security Group in the Security Settings list. Use the Clear Record button on the Security Group field to remove the Security Group and the Security Settings. You may need to refresh the screen, so that they're no longer displayed.
6. If you want to change any of the rights that are inherited from the Security Group assignment, click on the Begin Set User Rights button in order to assign Security Settings.
7. See Customizing Users to learn how to modify Security Settings.
Any user may change their own password. Go to the help pull-down Help menu and select, Change Password.
Checking a User's Access Rights
There are a couple of different ways to look up or verify a user's access rights after they have been assigned. With the first method you use the Users Screen to look up the Security Settings that have been assigned and inherited by the user. With the second method you simply log in as the other user in order to verify the user's access.
Looking up Rights on the Users Screen
Important: The access rights for each user consist of at least two sets of rights, these being the Security Group and the Security Settings. If there is no Security Group assigned, then the user is only restricted by the Security Settings that are listed. If there is a Security Group assigned to the user, then those rights are displayed in the Security Settings list box, but the Security Group's name is attached to the settings. This allows you to make a distinction, between the inherited rights from the Security Group, and those that you have assigned directly.
1. After you have assigned a Security Group to a new user, those rights are displayed in the user's Security settings list box. The name of the Security Group is attached to the records.
2. If you have modified the user's rights by using the interactive screen interface (Begin Set Users Rights), then those modifications are also displayed in the Security Settings list on the user's record. The total rights or access restrictions for the user is then a combination of the Security Settings inherited from the assigned Security Group, plus the Security Settings that you have assigned by using the interactive screen interface.
Log In as Another User to Verify Access
The method that the program uses to restrict access is both visual and obvious. For example, when a user's access to a screen is set to Invisible (no access), the Main Button for that screen, if any, disappears from the Main Button Bar. Additionally, the screen item in the pull-down Setup Menu is deactivated. When a user has View Only rights to a screen, the Edit, Add, and Delete buttons at the top of the screen are grey and deactivated. By navigating the program as the other user, you can verify that user's access rights. If there is something that you need to change, you can modify the user's Security Settings by using the program's interactive screen interface. See Customizing Users below.
To Modify or Create Security Settings:
After you have added a user, you can selectively modify the user's rights by using the interactive screen interface.
Important: The following describes how to use the interactive screen interface to create a user's Security Settings. Do not attempt to modify security settings on any of the program's Wizard Screens. You can identify these screens by the "Lightning Bolt" icon in the upper left corner of the screen. The program will allow you to go through the motions of modifying the Security Setiings on Wizard Screens but in reality no change will take effect. Instead, you may get unexpected results.
1. In this example, we will modify a user's rights to have View Only access for Key Rings.
2. Begin by looking up and selecting the user on the Users Screen.
3. Click on the Begin Set User Rights button. This changes the color settings of the program's screens to indicate that you are in the Set User Rights mode. By the way, you can perform all of the normal program functions in this mode.
4. Open the Key Rings Screen by clicking on the Key Rings button on the Main Button Bar.
5. With your mouse, right-click on the background area of the Key Rings Screen and not on the large area of the Primary Records List.
6. The program displays the Current Rights drop-down box that includes the user's name who you're working with.
7. The Current Rights drop-down box indicates the current setting (Current) for this screen that in this case is Full Access (Green). Your other choices are View Only, Invisible (no access), and Set to Default.
Important: Whenever you select the Set to Default setting, the program reverts the access rights of the screen or object back to either the default setting of the Security Group that is assigned, or to Full Access if no Security Group is assigned to the user.
8. Select the View Only setting. The background area of Key Rings Screen turns yellow.
Important: When you change a user's rights to a different access value, the screen or object changes color to confirm the setting.
9. Go back to the Users Screen and click on the End Set User Rights button. If you were to review the rights for this user in the Security Settings List, you would now see that the Current Value for Key Rings is set to View Only. The program allows you to use this method to change the access settings for screens, subscreens, lists, and fields.
Applying Security Settings to Objects
In this next example we will selectively assign a user the access setting of Invisible to a specific field (object) in order to prevent the user from seeing the Bittings (cuts) of keys.
1. Perform Steps 2 & 3 above in "To Modify or Create Security Settings." For this example, the user currently has the access setting of View Only for Key Numbers. However, you decide that this user should not be able to see the Bittings of keys.
2. Click on the Key Numbers button on the Main Button Bar.
3. Click on the Find All button to display record Information.
Important: It is important that you take this step (3), because fields and other objects need to be active when changing access settings. The program normally has fields and buttons turned off until you look up records. Keep this is mind when setting access rights to the different objects in the program. If you don't, the changes you make may not take effect.
4. Click on the Mode button to display the Key Number information.
5. In the Bitting field on the Key Numbers Screen, right-click your mouse inside of the field.
6. On the drop-down Current Rights box that is displayed, select Invisible. The field's color changes to red.
7. Return to the Users Screen and click on the End User Rights button.
8. In the Security Settings List, the Current Value for the new object Bitting is set to Invisible.
Limit User to These Departments
This feature allows you to limit a user's access to records by Department. For example, you have users in the Personnel department who authorize keys or track assets. If you use this feature and assign the Personnel department to their records, they will only be able to access records belonging to the Personnel department. Another example is when you have a Building Proctor or Manager who is a program user but the building contains multiple departments. You can use this feature to assign this user to the different departments within that building. This user will then be limited to the departments that you add to the list. By leaving the Limit to These Departments List blank for any user, that user will have access to all departments' records.
Idea: You can combine this feature with the Limit Records to These Buildings feature described below. For example, this would allow you to limit a user's access only to a department's records within a building.
1. Click on the Binoculars button on the Limit Records to These Departments List. This displays the Department Find Screen.
2. Look up and select a Department. Click on the Accept button to add it to the Limit Records to These Departments List.
3. Repeat step 3 to add additional departments.
4. You can also clear a department from the Limit Records to These Departments List by selecting a department in the list and clicking on the Clear Record button (Red X).
5. When you are done, click on the Save button.
A Word About Limiting Users by Department
Key Numbers - When you assign a user a department(s), the program only limits a user's access to records that are linked to the department(s). This means that the program cannot limit access to records that are not directly associated with departments. For example, room records, personnel, and assets are directly linked to departments but key numbers are not. If a user is set up with the right to "View Only" for key numbers, for example, then that user will be able to see all key number records across all of your departments. What you can do is to combine the different access-restriction features of the Users Screen to limit what the user can see. For this example, you could set up the user to not see the bittings of keys by setting the Bittings field on the Key Numbers Screen to "Invisible" for that user. This would mean that even though the user could see all key numbers, the user could not see the bittings of keys that are keyed to rooms belonging to other departments. Additionally, if a user does not require access to Key Numbers, simply set the Key Numbers Screen to "Invisible" for that user.
Assets - In the program, departments can be assigned to rooms that they occupy. Additionally, assets that also belong to departments can then be assigned to these rooms as well. The program allows you to assign an asset that belongs to one department, to a room that may be occupied by a different department. This can create a conflict if the user does not have access rights to both departments. If this is the case, the user will be able to access the asset record, for example, but will not be able to access the room record (Location) for that asset. Another example is when the user has the department right to access the room record but one or more of the assets assigned to the room belong to another department. The user will only be able to see the assets that fall under the user's department assignments. Regardless of these situations, the two fields Asset Value and Initial Asset Value, on the Room Assets subscreen, will always display the total asset value for all of the room's assets.
This feature allows you to limit a user's access to records by Building. For example, you have users in a school building or at a bank branch who authorizes keys or track assets only for that building. If you use this feature and assign the school or branch building to their records, they will only be able to access records belonging to that building. By leaving the Limit to These Buildings List blank for any user, that user will have access to all buildings' records. You can also assign multiple buildings to a User's record.
1. Click the Binoculars button on the Limit Records to These Buildings List. This displays the Building Find Screen.
2. Look up and select a Building. Click on the Accept button to add it to the Limit Records to These Buildings List.
3. Repeat step 3 to add additional buildings.
4. You can also clear a building from the Limit Records to These Buildings List by selecting a building in the list and clicking on the Clear Record button (Red X).
5. When you are done, click on the Save button.
A user type can simply be any user who has a set of rights that you want to apply to other users. In order to keep your database of users simple and straightforward, we recommend that you separate your user types from your actual user names. For example, instead of setting up users where John has inherited the rights of Jill who has inherited the rights of Bob and so forth, create your user types with generic names such as Authorized Signer, Key Counter, or Asset Manager. Because all user names and user types are displayed in the same list on the Users Screen, this method will help you to identify your users from your user types. Another recommendation is to never use a user type as an actual program user. In other words, don't take the user type Key Counter, for example, and make it John's login. Instead, create John as a new user and then assign the user type Key Counter as his Security Group.
For users who will only have a few restrictions to access the program, you can also set them up without assigning them a Security Group. When you leave the Security Group field blank, the user has Full Access to the program. You can then modify their Security Settings to apply the few restrictions that are necessary.
Load Rights from Another Dataset
For your convenience, you can use the Load Rights from Another Dataset button on the Users Screen to import those user rights, so you don't need to go through the setup again. For example, you have users set up in another dataset, and you want to add those same rights to a new or different dataset that the users will be working in.
1. Look up and select the user in the Users Screen.
2. Click the Load Rights from Another Dataset button.
3. Select the dataset using the Select Dataset drop-down box that you want to load the rights from.
4. Click the Finish button.
Select a user who's rights are required for another user(s), and copy those rights to that user(s).
1. Look up and select the user in the Users Screen who will provide the rights.
2. Click the Copy Rights to Other Users button.
3. that you want to load the rights from.
4. Click the Accept button.
Select a user who's needs the rights from another user(s), and copy those rights to that user(s).
1. Look up and select the user in the Users Screen who will receive the rights.
2. Click the Copy Rights to Other Users button.
3. On the User Find screen, look up and select the user(s) that you want to load the rights from.
4. Click the Accept button.