# Users and User Categories | Top Previous Next

In order for a user to sign in to the system, he/she must have a user account created by an administrator. Users who do not have an account and cannot sign into the system can only access the system as a Guest user with limited functionality. Every user is assigned to a user category that describes his/her role in the organisation. There are by default three user categories: Guest, User and Administrator. A user can only belong to one user category at a time; however, users can be easily assigned to another user category. Use the User Categories to group users of a certain criteria together and to ease the assignment of broad access rights. Create a new User Category 1.Click the New User Category... button. 2.Enter a name for the new user category. 3.Check the Is Administrator checkbox if users that will belong to this category should have administration privileges. 4.Click the Save button. 5.Wait for confirmation that the operation succeeded. Edit an existing user category 1.Select the User Category from the “Select User Category...” drop-down list. 2.Alter the name of the user category or check/uncheck the Is Administrator checkbox. 3.Click the Save button. 4.Wait for confirmation that the changes have been saved. Users The User panel allows an administrator to create or edit individual user accounts. A user is defined by several properties: •First name •Last name •Username When you create a new user, you must insert a (unique) username. The system automatically creates a unique username for a new user, but it can be replaced with a personalised username. The username should be at least six characters long and may only contain alphanumeric characters. •Password The password can only be set, it can never be recovered. If a password is lost, assign a new password for the user account. The password must also be at least six characters long and may only contain alphanumeric characters. •Activated Indicates whether the user account is active. Change the user’s status by checking or unchecking as appropriate. •Expiration Date You can specify the date on which this user account will be deactivated. •User Category •Last Sign-on Shows the last time an existing user signed into the system. It will be blank for new users. Creating a new user Before you can create a new user you have to have created the user category under which the new user should fall. 1.Select the appropriate user category from the Select User Category... drop-down list. 2.Press the New User... button. 3.Enter the first and last names of the user in the fields provided. 4.A username will automatically be generated for the user. Note: You do not have to use this username, but note that all the usernames must be unique. 5.Enter a password for a user in the password field. Note: Once the user has been created you will not be able to view the password, you will only be able to change it to a new password. 6.Confirm that the Activated checkbox is selected. Note: You can always deactivate a user account by deselecting the Activated checkbox. 7.Set an expiration date; refer to Setting a user expiration date. 8.Click the Save button. 9.Wait for confirmation that the User was created successfully. Edit an existing user 1.Select the user’s user category from the Select User Category... drop-down list. 2.Select the user from the Select User... drop-down list. 3.Alter the user’s first name, last name or username. 4.You cannot alter a user’s password; you can only specify a new password for this user. 5.By unchecking the Activated checkbox you can easily disable this user account. 6.You can also alter the expiration date of this user account. 7.Alter the user category under which this user is listed. 8.Click the Save button. 9.Wait for confirmation that the user has been altered. Setting (or change) a user expiration date In order to set an expiration date for a user, you must first select the user category and then the relevant user. Refer to steps 1 and 2 of the Edit an existing user procedure to see how this is done. 1.Click the button. 2.A calendar will be displayed. 3.Select the user account expiration date on the calendar. 4.The selected date will be set as the expiration date for the user account. Note: You can only select a date after the current date. Note: To close the calendar without selecting a date click on the button. 5.Save the changes made to the user account by clicking the Save button. Note: To remove an expiration date from a user account, click the button to remove the expiration date.