Managing Users

Topics

Adding a User

As your agency’s staff changes, you might need to add new users to your system. You can determine the ID and password information that the user needs to log in to Civic Platform. You can also determine the department and the user group to which the new user belongs.

Note:

If a specific user is an inspector and you choose to automatically assign and schedule inspections, you must identify the inspector profile. For instructions, see Inspections.

To add a user

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

  3. Click the Add New User button.

    Civic Platform displays the User-Add page.



  4. Complete the fields as described in Table 1.

  5. In the User Group/Privilege section, mark the check box next to each module you want the user to be able to access.

  6. For each module that you marked, choose the user group you want to assign the user to within that module. A single user can belong to only one user group for each module.

  7. Click Save.

    Table 1. User Fields
    Access Mode Mark either the Standard or Alternate option.

    In Standard access mode, pop-up windows sometimes display. In Alternate access mode, Civic Platform displays information in a new window instead of in pop-up windows.

    This accommodates users who depend on accessibility devices to interpret the content of web pages, because these devices typically cannot interpret the JavaScript used with pop-up windows.
    Account Disable Time Frame Enter the number of days a user account can remain inactive before it becomes disabled. Enter this value as a non-negative integer. When the number of days since the Last Login Date is greater than the value in this field, the account becomes disabled. Mark the Enable option for the Status field to manually reactivate an account.

    If you leave this field blank, Civic Platform uses the agency account disable time frame. If both the user and agency Account Disable Time Frame fields are blank, Civic Platform uses the default value of 90 days.
    Billing Rate Enter the billing rate per hour for the user.
    Cashier ID Enter the cashier identification number for the user. Civic Platform uses this number in the receipt number to identify the cashier and workstation. The ID number must be no more than 10 characters.
    Confirm Password This field displays on the User Profile Edit page; Civic Platform uses this field together with the New Password field to change a user password. Enter the same password you typed in the New Password field.
    Daily Inspection Units Enter the units the user is available for inspections each day. Typically, a unit is one hour.
    Department Use this button to choose the department that this user belongs to. You must choose all six levels or organization.

    For the user account of a contract inspector or a self-certified inspector, this field is ready-only and Civic Platform sets the department to <agency>/<agency>/<agency>/PUBLIC/NA/NA/NA.
    Display Initials in Citizen Access Civic Platform uses this field to indicate the display of the user’s initials in Citizen Access. Mark the check box to display the user’s initials or clear the check box to display the user’s name in Citizen Access.
    Distinguished Name If you previously authorized this user for a LDAP services, enter the LDAP identifier. Agencies often use LDAP as user’s repository.
    Email Enter the user’s email address. Public users in Citizen Access can have permissions to view the email address provided in this field to notify the agency user of the completion of an action item or an inspection.
    Employee ID Enter the ID, abbreviation, or code your agency uses to represent this user.
    Initial Enter the user initials you want displayed in Civic Platform. For example, initials display as an indication of who re-scheduled an inspection or completed a task in workflow. Clear this field if you do not want user initials to display.
    Initial (Default) This is a read-only field displaying the default user initials based on the user’s first, middle, and last name.
    Inspector Status You can identify users as inspectors and assign them to inspections.Mark the Enable option to identify users as inspectors; otherwise, mark the Disable option. For the user account of a contract inspector or a self-certified inspector, Civic Platform marks the Enable option by default.
    Integrated This field displays only if you are integrating an Active Directory user into Civic Platform. Mark Yes if you want to add an integrated user. Mark No if you do not want to add an integrated user.
    IVR User Number An interactive voice response user number automatically generates in this field.
    IVR Pin Number Enter the user’s IVR pin number.
    Last Login Date This read-only field automatically populates with the most recent date the user logged into their account.

    When an agency administrator manually changes the Status from Disabled to Enabled, this field resets.

    Mobile Phone Enter the user’s mobile phone number.
    New Password This field displays on the User Profile Edit page; Civic Platform uses it together with the Confirm Password field to change a user’s password. Enter the user’s new password in this field. Then, enter this same password into the Confirm Password field.

    Note that the password strength indicator displays a visual representation of the password security strength against the agency's minimum password requirements. If you have trouble entering a valid password, click the Requirements link to view the agency’s minimum password requirements.
    Password Enter any combination of alphanumeric characters that the new user wants to use to log in to Civic Platform. As a security measure, Civic Platform displays an asterisk instead of the actual characters you enter.

    Note that the password strength indicator displays a visual representation of the password security strength against the agency's minimum password requirements. If you have trouble entering a valid password, click the Requirements link to view the agency’s minimum password requirements.

    You cannot use special characters (@ * ! % $ #) in a password.

    Password Change Use these options to determine who sets the user’s password when the old password expires.

    Select the By User option to allow users to change their own password when their previous password expires.

    Select the By Administrator option to require the administrator to change passwords.

    This field defaults to agency settings. If your agency allows users to change their passwords, Civic Platform automatically selects the By User option. If your agency requires an administrator to change passwords, Accela Automation automatically selects the By Administrator option.

    Password Time-out Time Frame Enter the number of days a user password can remain valid before Civic Platform requires a password change. Enter this value as a non-negative integer.
    Preferred Channel Select which contact information to expose as the preferred method of contact on Accela’s Contractor app. Choices include Email, Mobile Phone, Office Phone (uses Agency level phone number), and None (default).
    Section 508 Support If you want to enable the Accessibility mode for the user, mark the check box next to the field; otherwise, clear the check box. For more information about configuration and usage instructions for the Accessibility features in Civic Platform and Citizen Access, see the Accessibility Configuration and Compliance Guide.
    Status If you want the user to be able to access Civic Platform, mark the Enable option; otherwise, mark the Disable option.
    Title Enter the user’s job title. For example, enter “Building Inspector” or “Supervisor.”
    User cannot log in to Civic Platform and does not consume a Civic Platform license When selected, the user cannot log in to Civic Platform with this account, and does not need a Civic Platform license. However, the user can log in to Accela apps with this account but he must obtain an Mobile Office license for app access. For user accounts of public users, Civic Platform selects the check box by default.

    When cleared, the user must obtain a Civic Platform license and can log in to Civic Platform with this account. If the user wants to log in to Accela apps with this account, the user must also obtain an Mobile Office license.
    User Group Permission Use this section to define user access permissions, and to assign the user to the to the appropriate user groups.

    Select each module for which you want to grant access.

    Select each user group for which you want to grant access.
    User Login ID Enter a unique combination of alphanumeric characters that the new user wants to use to log in to Civic Platform.

    You cannot use special characters (@ ! # $ % *) in a login ID. You can, however, use the underscore symbol.
    User must change Password at next Logon Use these settings to control when you want the user to change their password.

    Select Yes to force the user to change their password at next login; which is best practice if you feel the password is not secure.

    Select No to allow the user to change the password when they reach the designated password Time-out Time Frame.
    User Name Enter the first, middle, or last name of the user.

Viewing a User

You can search for any user on your system, including those that you previously disabled. If you are using Active Directory and integrating users, you can also search for Active Directory users. You might need to search for a user to update information or change the user’s status. You can also view all users.

To view users

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

    Civic Platform displays the User—Search window.

  3. To display all users, click the Browse All Users button.

  4. To search for a user, complete the applicable fields:

    User Login ID Enter the user login identification.
    User Name Enter as much of the user name as you know.
    Status Select the status types you are searching for.
    Exclude Public Users Choose Yes to display only agency users. Choose No to display agency and public users.

  5. Click Submit.

    Civic Platform displays the User Browse window. If you have activated this feature, Active Directory users see a “Yes” in the Integrated column.

  6. Click the red dot next to the user you want to view.

    Civic Platform displays the User - Edit page.

Editing a User

After you create users in Civic Platform, you might need to change certain details about the user’s profile. For example, you might need to update the users email address if it changes. If you use Active Directory, administrators can also either convert external users to Civic Platform users, or convert Civic Platform users to external users.

Although you cannot delete a user from Civic Platform, you can disable a user that should no longer have access to Civic Platform. This feature is useful when an employee leaves your agency.

To edit a user

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

  3. Search for the user you want to modify. For instructions, see Viewing a User.

  4. If you use Active Directory, choose either Civic Platform user or External User, according to your agency’s needs.

  5. Update the fields as necessary. For a list of fields, see Table 1.

  6. In the User Group/Privilege section, select each module you want the user to be able to access.

  7. For each module that you select, choose the user group to which to which the user belongs within that module.

    Note:

    A single user can belong to only one user group for each module.

  8. Click Save.

    Civic Platform updates the user profile.

Setting a User's Default Module

Civic Platform provides enhanced user group management functionality, including the ability to: view and search all users in a group, add/remove a user from a group, move a user from one group to another, and view/change a user's default module setting.

Administrators can view and change users' default module settings using their Administrator login account to make such changes.

To view and change a user's default module setting

  1. Log in to Civic Platform as an Administrator.
  2. Navigate to Classic Administration > User Profile > User.
  3. Edit the user profile to change the user's module setting:

Setting a User Account Disable Time Frame

Configure your system to disable individual user accounts that are inactive for a set period of time. When an account becomes disabled, the user must contact the agency administrator, who can manually reactivate accounts. To manually enable an account, see Manually Enabling a User Account.

You can set account disable time frames at the agency and the individual user level. The user account disable time frame defaults to the agency-level account disable time frame, if you specified one. If you have not set an agency disable time frame, Civic Platform uses the default time frame of 90 days. Any value you set at the user level overrides the default value or the agency value. If the Account Disable Time Frame field in a User Profile is blank, Civic Platform defaults to the agency‑level time frame. For information on setting an agency‑level account disable time frame, see “Adding an Agency” in the Civic Platform On-premise Administrator Supplement.

To set an account disable time frame

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

  3. Search for the user profile for which you want to create an account disable time frame. For instructions, see Viewing a User.

  4. In the Account Disable Time Frame field, enter the number of days an account can be inactive before it becomes disabled.

  5. Click Save.

    Civic Platform updates the user profile and begins checking its activity.

Setting a User Password Time‑out Time Frame

You can require users to regularly change their password to increase your system’s security. If you choose to allow users to change their own password, they begin receiving messages prompting them to change their password 15 days before it expires. Users can change their password immediately, at a later log in, or at any time during their Accela session. If users fail to change their password within the time frame, they must change their password or have it changed by their administrator before they can log in. To change a password during an Accela session, see Changing a User Password.

You can set password time‑out time frames at the individual user level, and multi‑agency administrators can set a password time‑out time frame at the agency level. Any value set at the user level overrides the default time frame or the agency time frame, if you have set one. If the Password Time‑out Time Frame field in a user profile is blank, Civic Platform defaults to the agency‑level time frame. If you have not set an agency time frame, the default value is 90 days. For information on setting an agency‑level account disable time frame, see “Adding an Agency” in the “Agencies and Functions” chapter in the Civic Platform On-Premise Administrator Supplement.

To set a password time‑out time frame

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

  3. Search for the user profile for which you want to create a password time‑out time frame. For instructions, see Viewing a User.

  4. Complete the following fields:

    Password Time‑out Enter the number of days that a password can remain active.
    Password Change Select By User to allow users to change their own passwords. Select By Administrator to only allow agency administrators to change passwords. For information on changing a password, see Changing a User Password.
    Must Change Password Next Login Civic Platform automatically sets this option to Yes after the password time‑out time frame has passed. When the user or the administrator changes the password, Civic Platform sets this option to No. You can also set this option manually.

  5. Click Save.

    Civic Platform updates the user profile and begins monitoring its password time‑out time frame.

Manually Enabling a User Account

After a user account becomes inactive longer than the agency or user account disable time frame, or if the account password has expired, the user cannot access Civic Platform. The agency administrator must manually enable the account.

To manually enable a disabled account

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

  3. Search for the user profile you want to enable. For instructions, see Viewing a User.

  4. Select Enable in the Status field.

  5. Click Save.

    Civic Platform clears the Last Login Date field and enables the user account.

Changing a User Password

When you set the password time‑out time frame, you can choose to allow users to change their own passwords or require that administrators change their password. For instructions on setting a password time‑out time frame, see Setting a User Password Time‑out Time Frame.

To change a user password

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

  3. Search for the user profile you want to change the password for. For instructions, see Viewing a User.

    Civic Platform displays the User - Edit page.

  4. Complete the following fields:

    New Password Enter the new password for this user. If you experience trouble entering a valid password, click the Requirements link to view your agency’s minimum password requirements.
    Note:

    The password strength indicator displays a visual representation of your password security strength against the agency's minimum password requirements.
    Confirm Password Enter the new password again.

  5. Click Save.

    Civic Platform updates the user’s password

Synchronizing External User Data

You can synchronize external user data with user data already in your agency’s database. To do this, you must add an Active Directory server to your Civic Platform security policies. After you do this, when a user logs in and Civic Platform validates their credentials, Civic Platform compares the external user data with the existing user data on the Civic Platform server and updates the Civic Platform data as needed. Administrators can also add external users to the Civic Platform database if you activate this feature.

Additionally, administrators can either convert external users to Civic Platform users, or convert Civic Platform users to external users. For instructions, see Editing a User.

Note:

An administrator user (ADMIN) and public users cannot be external users.

The Civic Platform user login procedure authenticates the user directly against the Civic Platform database. When an external user logs in, Accela sends the authentication request to the external source for validation. If the user passes the validation, Civic Platform compares the attributes of the external source and the Civic Platform database. If there are any changes in the external source, Civic Platform corrects the data in the Civic Platform database.

Because this procedure affects the Civic Platform database, it also affects all Accela products, including add-ons. This means that all external users who Civic Platform has validated using this process can log in to products such as Civic Platform, Accela Wireless, or Citizen Access.

Topics

Adding an Active Directory Server

To synchronize external user data with user data already in your agency’s database, you must add an Active Directory server to your Civic Platform security policies.

To add an Active Directory server

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose Agency Profile > Security Policy.

    Civic Platform displays the Agency Security Policies—Select Policy page.



  3. Click the External User Policy link.

    Civic Platform displays the Agency Security Policies page.



  4. Complete the External User Policy fields. For a list of field descriptions, see Table 2.

  5. Click Save.

    Table 2. External User Policy Fields
    Provider URL Enter the IP address of the external user server for the specified domain controller. For example, enter the LDAP server URL. You can use SSL LDAP with “ldaps://” URL.
    Provider Port Enter the external user server’s IP port for LDAP access to Active Directory. This port number is usually 389.
    Access User Name Enter the ID of the user who can access Active Directory when performing a search to add new integrated users. Enter the CN (common name) from the DN of the access user entry.
    Access User Passwd Enter the password for the user ID that can access Active Directory.
    Access User OU Enter the base organization unit you want to use for searches. Access User OU is the location within Active Directory where Civic Platform should search for users. The Active Directory administrator provides this information.
    Access User DC Enter the DC (domain component) of the parent entry of the access user entry. The Active Directory administrator provides this information.
    Note:

    Civic Platform accesses the LDAP server with the following user information: CN=<Access User Name>,<Access User OU>,<Access User DC>.
    OU Filter Required. OU Filter defines the organization unit from which to filter users in the Access User DC and Additional Directory Entries from the LDAP server. If undefined, Civic Platform searches all the OUs in the Access User DC and the Additional Directory Entries. You can specify multiple filters, separated by comma, joined by OR.
    Additional Directory Entries Enter more organization units from which to retrieve user entries. Note that you must specify the DC and root of each organization unit. In case you want to enter multiple additional organization units, separate them by comma.
    Status To use Active Directory to synchronize the Civic Platform server, select Enable from the drop-down list; otherwise, select Disable.

Integrating a User from Active Directory

You can synchronize existing external user data with user data already in your agency’s database. After you have added an Active Directory server to your Civic Platform security policies, you can search for external users to add to your database. You can also indicate the department and user group to which an added external user belongs.

Note:

An administrator user (ADMIN) and public users cannot be external users.

To integrate a user from Active Directory

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose User Profile > User.

    Civic Platform displays the User—Search page.

  3. Click Add.

    Civic Platform displays the User—Add page.

  4. Select External User.

    Civic Platform displays the External User Search button on the User—Add page.



  5. Click the External User Search button.

    Civic Platform displays the External User—Search page.



    -

  6. Complete any of these fields:

    OU Search Root Enter the base organization unit to search.
    Common Name Enter the given, or first, name of the user you want to locate.
    Surname Enter the family, or last, name of the user you want to locate.

  7. Click Search.

    Civic Platform displays the search results.



  8. Click Select for the user that you want to integrate from Active Directory.

    Civic Platform auto-populates the User Login ID field with the selected user.

    Note:

    If you specify an Active Directory attribute (for example, Common Name) in the Standard Choice DEFAULT_USER_LOGIN_ID, Civic Platform uses the attribute value of the selected user to populate the User Login ID field. Otherwise, Civic Platform uses userPrincipalName of the selected user from Active Directory to populate the field.

  9. Do one of the following:

    • Enter the department that you wan to associate the integrated user with.

    • Click the Department button to choose a department from a list and click Submit.

  10. In the User Group/Privilege section, select each module you want the user to be able to access.

  11. For each module that you selected, choose the user group to which the user belongs within that module.

    Note:

    A single user can belong to only one user group for each module.

  12. Click Save.

    Civic Platform displays a confirmation massage indicating that you successfully integrated the user.