Last updated on March 24, 2015

Getting Started with User Management (Cloud)

What is User Management?

The User Management extension provides management functions for Appspace administrators over users and user groups. This flexible and customizable framework allows for different user roles to be created and mapped to various extensions and resources across the server. Administrators are able to quickly browse through the list of users on the server and immediately identify the groups that belong in, as well as the roles that they currently possess or have inherited.

The User Management extension’s main (default) page is a dashboard that contains three major sections for which you would be working with:

Network Tree

The expandable/collapsable network hierarchical tree seen in this section is automatically populated from the Appspace server’s current network topology as created (and managed) through the Network Management extension. By selecting a particular parent (or sub) network, the interface will dynamically change to show and reflect the appropriate groups and list the known users in the Groups and main User Listing section respectively.

User Groups

The Groups section will list the user group(s) that currently exist in the selected parent (or sub) network. The interface/tools available in this section allow for the easy adding or editing of user groups. There is also an option (checkbox) to allow for any user groups that exist in sub-networks to be displayed immediately underneath (this option is disabled by default). By selecting a particular user group, the interface will again dynamically change to show and reflect only the users within that group in the main User Listing section.

User Listing/Management

The largest section of the User Management extension lists all user accounts that fall within user groups of the currently selected network (and sub-networks, if included). This dashboard also serves as the main interface for various user management workflows such as: inviting new users, deleting existing users, assigning roles, moving users across groups, and suspending user accounts. The user listing table also provides useful at-a-glance information regarding each user’s current roles, network location, user group that they belong to, and last known server login activity. A search bar is also included as a tool for quick searching of specific user names or accounts.

Section 1: Creating Groups

Within the User Management extension is the ability to define user groups. A group is a shared identity and is a collection of different users. A group will typically have at least one role defined/assigned, of which all users within that group will inherit said role(s). In addition to the common group role, a user will still have the ability to be assigned additional specific roles.

User groups are typically created and defined to separate users with different responsibilities. Organizations may differ greatly with respect to the way they choose to organize their users. Some may choose to have only one or two main groups defined, while others may choose to separate their users out into many several groups based on their exact duties or job titles – each with different roles and levels of accessibility.

Note

Each user may only belong (be assigned to) one user group.

Step 1

From within the User Management extension, begin by identifying the desired parent network (or sub-network) for which the user group is to be created under. Click to select the network (or sub-network) from the Network section. You should see the Groups section reflect the selected network (or sub-network) immediately.

Step 2

Click on the + (Add User Group) icon to begin adding a new user group to this network (or sub-network).

Step 3

On the Create a new group page, complete the Name and Description fields as necessary. In the Role section, check the desired boxes to assign roles that will be inherited by all users that are invited/joined to the group. Click Save to finish creating the new group.

Step 4

Back on the home page of the User Management extension, your newly created group should now be created and visible when selecting the network for which it belongs to.

Section 2: Assigning Roles

Appspace contains a set of predefined user roles that encapsulate the common activities that are applied to specific workflows (e.g. managing applications, content administration, network administration). The follow is a list of the system defined roles with a quick definition:

  • Portal Administrator: owner and administrator of the Appspace portal/server
  • Account Administrator: manages all accounts within the Appspace portal/server
  • Network Administrator: administers all areas within a network
  • Content Administrator: administers all content assets within a network
  • Content Producer: manages all assets within the Content Library
  • User: default role for new users

Note

For a comprehensive guide on these roles along with their extension accessibility (visibility) and a more in-depth comparison, please refer to the following Knowledge Center article: Group and User Roles

Assigning Roles to Groups

As previously described, all roles that are assigned to a particular group will be applied to every user within that group. The group roles are defined during the group creation process (see Section 1 – Step 3 above).

Step 1

From the home page of the User Management extension, begin by selecting the group for which you wish to edit (you will likely first have to select the appropriate network from the hierarchy tree). Click on the pencil (Edit Group) icon.

Step 2

In the Roles field, check the box(es) of the desired role(s) that all users of this group will inherit. You may select multiple roles for the group. When finished, click the Save button.

Note

If you are adding roles to a group that already contains users, those users will instantly and automatically inherit the newly added roles.

Back on the main User Management extension, you should now notice that all users within the group should be properly assigned/inherited the newly added role(s).


Assinging (Additional) Roles to Users

In addition to the group-inherited roles, users may be granted additional roles. This option is first available during the user invitation process (see Section 3 – Step 2 below) but may be further edited at a later point in time.

Step 1

From the home page of the User Management extension, find the user for which you would like to adjust roles for (you may have to first select the appropriate network and user group for the list of users to be properly displayed) and check the box next to their name. Proceed by clicking on the + (Assign User) icon.

Step 2

On the Assign Role(s) window, check the box(es) of the desired role(s) that you would like to assign to this user. You may select multiple roles for each user. When finished, click the Save button.


You should now see the table listing reflect the newly added role(s) for this user.

Alternate User Role Assignment Method

An alternate method to assign role(s) to a user is located on the Edit User page. The Roles field contains boxes for which you may check to assign role(s) for the user. Once you have finished, be sure to click Save to confirm your changes.

Section 3: Adding and Inviting Users

Every individual user who logs into an Appspace server (on-premise or Cloud) is defined by their own set of login credentials, profile information (name, phone number, e-mail address), and subject to the roles that they inherit according to the user group that they belong to. In Appspace Cloud, the workflow of adding users to groups within your network begins with the invitation workflow of selecting the proper group and sending out the invite via e-mail.

Step 1

From the User Management homepage, begin by selecting the network that contains the user group that you would like to invite new users to join. In the main user listing area, click on the + (Invite Users) icon from the toolbar.

Step 2

On the Invite Users window, proceed to enter the e-mail address of the user to be invited. Proceed to select the correct Group from the drop-down menu for which this user is to be added to.

Note

If you do not see the desired group from the drop-down menu, it is because you did not select the correct network (or sub-network) that contains the desired user group in step 1. You must return to the network tree to select the correct network (or sub-network).

Once the group has been selected, you have the option to add additional roles to this user. Some of the roles may already be checked (grayed out) by default – this reflects the roles that will be automatically inherited based on the group that has been selected. When finished, click the Send button to send out the invitation(s).

Note

You may choose to repeat this process using additional rows to send out multiple invitations at the same time.

Step 3

Back on the User Management homepage, you should be able to confirm the successful invite that was sent by clicking on the appropriate user group. These invites will appear with a “Pending” status.

Optional: Resending Invitations

Should there be a need, administrators have the ability to resend invitations from the user listing section. Select the user(s) to resend the e-mail invitations by checking the box(es) next to them. Click the Resend Invitations icon from the toolbar to continue.


A pop-up window will ask you to confirm before resending the invitation(s). Click Confirm to complete the process.

Section 4: Accepting Invitations

Once the invitations have been sent out, the user(s) invited should receive an e-mail sent from Appspace that contains a URL link to accept. Upon clicking the link, they will first be prompted to create an account (if they do not already have one) before they are added to an existing user group.

Step 1

Once a new user has been sent an invitation to join the Appspace instance and specified group, they should receive an e-mail containing options to accept or deny. Click on the “Thank you, I would like to join this team.” link to proceed to the registration process.

Step 2

The user should be redirected to a Sign Up page. Complete the sign up process by filling in all of the various fields and click the Sign Up button when finished.

Step 3

If successful, the user should be presented with a message confirming the successful Cloud account creation and group join. Click on the Enter Appspace.com button to login and begin accessing the Appspace server.

Recap

You should now be familiar with the User Management extension and be able to:

  • Create user groups
  • Understand the various available roles and how to assign them to groups and individual users
  • Invite users to join groups
  • Accept group invitations

For additional information, visit User Management.