About Users

Any individual that needs to interact directly or indirectly with your Issuetrak system is a User. Users that can log into your Issuetrak site may interact directly. Users that cannot log in may interact indirectly through other users and/or email. Every user must be given an Agent or End User designation from a dropdown. Any user granted an Agent designation can then be granted any of the Agent specific permissions.


 

Terminology

It’s best to be familiar with several terms going forward:

Term Definition

User Record

Used to associate who reported, who worked on, and who can view an issue. Each User Record has a record type, a user type, and permissions defining what that user can do.

Record Type: User

A user record that can have a role on an issue, view issues in searches and reports, be the site administrator, log in to the site, or send emails that create issues.

Record Type: Template

A user record used when creating another user account to pass setup information, permissions, and group membership. Templates can’t have a role on an issue or log into the site.

User Type: End User

A user in Issuetrak with no agent-level permissions.

User Type: Agent

A user able to be granted agent-level permissions including one or more of the following: can assign or be assigned issues, can assign or be assigned Next Action, can submit on behalf of another user, or handle the administration of the site. The number of users that can be designated as agents is controlled by your software license.

User ID

A unique identifier used to log into the Issuetrak site. Can contain letters and numbers, but no spaces. Only able to be changed using the User ID Maintenance section of the Administration menu by another user with administrative permissions.

Group

Allows you to associate users together. Members of a group inherit the permissions granted to the group.


 

Creating Users

Users can be automatically added through authentication and Identity Management as well as incoming email messages using Incoming Email (IEM), or the optional Self-Registration feature.

Each of the above methods requires the use of templates to set the default permissions and group membership for the users. Templates are also utilized when agents need to create new users when submitting issues on behalf of a user that doesn’t yet exist on the site.

Users can also be manually added from:

  • Click the Settings lightbox (gear) icon in the upper right > click on Users beneath Entities > click on Add on the right context menu.
  • Click the Settings lightbox (gear) icon in the upper right > click on Users beneath Entities > click on Clone By ID on the right context menu.
  • Submit New Issue screen
  • API

Users may also be created through a user import process. This is done with the assistance of the Support team and may have a fee involved. For more information, please see our information about Data Services.


Please note that the video below contains navigation steps and naming conventions that apply to versions prior to Issuetrak 14. The actual use of the features depicted remains largely unchanged.  You may also notice that the terminology displayed in this video differs from what you see in your instance of Issuetrak.

Click here to see more of our training videos.

The table below shows an overview of the information contained in User Records:

Section Description

Basic Information

End-User or Agent designation, user ID, password, name, email, phone, address, and time zone

Security Details

Authentication Type (on the Edit User screen), Password Satus, Last Login, "Manage Multi-factor Authentication" button, "Close User's Sessions" button

Extended details

Authentication Type (on the View User Details screen), Phone Number, Email Address, (Physical) Address, Organization, Department, Location, Time Zone, Information stored in User Defined Fields

Attachments

Documents or images in any electronic file format

Permissions

What the user can see or do when using Issuetrak

Memberships

Any larger entities the user belongs to

All user records include a view issues link to a list of all issues submitted by and on behalf of the user. If Record all login attempts setting is activated in Defaults, they also include a history link to all login attempts by the user. If using the Asset Management (AM) Module, they also include a view assets link to a list of all assets related to the user.

From issue-related screens, a submitter's issue history can be accessed using the history link next to the Caller/Submitter field. An organization’s issue history can be accessed using the history link next to the Organization field.


Using Add option

The most common is by adding them through the Settings Lightbox. In this method, you can grant permissions directly to that specific user. Once created you can add the user to a group to more effectively manage permissions.

To add a new user with no pre-existing details or permissions:

  1. Click the Settings lightbox(gear) icon in the upper right > click on Users beneath Entities > click on Add on the right context menu.

  2. Select User as the Record Type.

  3. Choose the appropriate User Type. If you have a Team license, then this step doesn't apply since the field will not be visible.

  4. Enter the new User ID. The password can be set later if desired.

The User ID cannot be modified once the record is saved without going to User ID Maintenance. If no user ID is entered, a numeric user ID will be assigned by the system.

  1. (Required) Enter their First and Last Names. The Display Name will automatically populate. However, you may enter a different display name if you choose.

  2. If this user is allowed to log in, select Can Log In.

  3. Under the "Security Details" header: Select the Authentication Type this user should have. Authentication types other than "Issuetrak" require additional configuration.

  4. Under the "Extended Details" header: Enter their Phone number, Email address, and Mobile/SMS Email address.

  5. If no system-generated email notifications should be sent to this user, select Suppress All Email.

  6. Select the appropriate Organization memberships by clicking Select Organization(s) (this field is required). Keep in mind the following:

    1. You must select a primary organization for this user (designated by a "Star" icon). This organization will determine a large degree of information visibility for the user.

    2. If desired, you can add organization memberships beyond the primary organization. You can find organizations by typing part of their name into the "Search & Filter..." field.

      If an organization's name contains the sequence of characters you entered, it will appear in the "Available Organizations" column.

      For each organization membership you add can optionally add "Edit Issues" for this user (subject to "Can Edit Issues" permission), designated by the "Pencil" icon. Additionally, toggling the "People" icon on an organization membership will allow this user to have the ability to list users belonging to this organization.

      You can add organization memberships...

      1. By clicking Add Visible, which will add every organization currently displayed in the "Available Organizations" column (up to its 100 organization limit) to the "Organization Memberships" column.

        • If there are more than 100 organizations in the site, the next available batch of previously-undisplayed organizations will populate the "Available Organizations" column. You can keep clicking Add Visible until all organizations have been added to the "Organization Memberships" column, if you wish.

      2. By clicking and dragging the available organizations to the Organization Memberships column.

  7. Select the appropriate Department and Location memberships, if applicable.

  8. (Required) Select their TimeZone.

  9. Enter their mailing Address.

  10. Enter/Select any user-defined details, if applicable.

  11. Under the "User Permissions" header: Select any Menu Options/Pages Allowed to display for these users.

  12. Select the Default Home Page to display.

  13. Select Redirect To screen to be displayed immediately after submitting an issue. This value defaults to a new submit screen. Choose between Submit screen, Issue View (displaying the newly entered issue), Dashboard, or Issue Hub screen.

For more detailed information about each of the available permissions described in the steps below, please access the following article.

  1. If the user type selected was Agent, select Agent (license-related) Permissions.

    • An Agent license must be available for each user created from this template to have any of these permissions.

  2. Select any administration-related permissions.

  3. Select any data access-related permissions.

  4. Select any task-related permissions.

  5. Select any issue maintenance-related permissions.

  6. Select any reporting-related permissions.

  7. Select any email-related permissions.

  8. Click Save.

    • Clicking Reset will clear all current entries and selections.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.


Using Clone Option

Cloning an existing user brings over common information like organization, permissions, and group memberships.

When users are cloned, their permissions and details can be changed before their records are saved. However, no changes to the original user or user template will be applied to records already created from them.

User Administrators cannot clone Agents, templates, user permissions, or users with non-Issuetrak authentication. Group memberships, however, will be cloned. If you are using a User Administrator account to clone a user account, it is necessary to use group memberships to manage the resulting account permissions.

The following field information is cloned:

  • User permissions
    (if performing the clone while signed in as a sysadmin or other admin that is not a User Administrator)
  • Record Type
  • User Type
  • Group memberships
  • Organization
  • Time Zone
  • Address 1
  • Address 2
  • City
  • State
  • Zip Code
  • Country
  • Issue Hub screen display format
  • Default Home Page
  • Redirect to (Page) after submit
  • Any custom email notification flags, such as:
    • On Escalation of ANY/ALL Issues
    • On Submission of ANY/ALL unassigned Issues
    • When Note Added to ANY/ALL Issues

To add a new user by copying details and permissions from an existing user or user template:

  1. Click the Settings lightbox(gear) icon in the upper right > click on Users beneath Entities > click on Clone By ID on the right context menu.
  2. Enter the User ID of the existing user or template to copy and click Clone. (Clicking Reset will clear any current entry.) This will open the Add User screen with the details and permissions that have been copied.

OR

  1. From the View or Edit User screen of the existing user or template record to copy > View User Details > Clone beneath Edit User - <User ID> section on the right context menu.
  2. This will open the Add User screen with the details and permissions that have been copied.
  3. Verify that the User is selected as the User Type and enter the new user’s ID and password.

    If you have a Team license, then the User Type field will not be visible.

The User ID cannot be modified once the record is saved without going to User ID Maintenance. If no user ID is entered, a numeric user ID will be assigned by the system.

  1. Enter the user's first and last name (required). Their display name will automatically populate. However, you may enter a different display name if you choose.

  2. Modify any appropriate details and/or permissions copied from the original record.

  3. Click Save.

    • Clicking Reset will clear all current entries and selections.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.


Using the Submit Issue Screen

Permissions for these users are based on the ‘New Caller’ default template defined in System Defaults. If no template has been defined, no permissions will be granted without editing these users and/or adding them to one or more groups.

To add a new user using the Submit Issue screen:

  1. Click the add link next to the Caller field. This will open the Add New Caller window.

You can also access this window from the user search by clicking on the Add New Caller link in the lower right of the Select User Record window.

  1. Enter the new user's ID.

The User ID cannot be modified once the record is saved without going to User ID Maintenance. If no user ID is entered, a numeric user ID will be assigned by the system.

  1. If name values were entered prior to clicking add, these values will be pre-filled when the window opens. If no value appears, enter their first and last name (required). Their display name will automatically populate. However, you may enter a different display name if you choose.

  2. Enter/Select their Organization (required), Department, and Location memberships. The Organization may be prefilled for you if entered prior to clicking add.

  3. Enter their phone number, email address, and mailing address.

  4. Click Add New Caller. (Clicking Cancel will close the Add New Caller window.)

The message "The User ID of the caller is entered onto the Submit Issue page – This window will close in 5 seconds" will then appear in the Add New Caller window. This window will then close and you will be returned to the Submit Issue screen.


 

Managing Users

Users are maintained primarily from the Settings Lightbox menu. The Users Management menu includes Summary, List All, Clone By ID, Search, User Defined Fields, and User ID Maintenance sub-menu options. Users with Sys Admin, Can access and maintain Administration functions, or Allowed Read Only access to Administration information permissions may access these options, however, those with read-only access will not be able to add, edit or delete information.

Menu Option Description

Summary

From here, you may click on the number next to a specific summary item to open the item’s User Summary List. You may click on a column heading to sort the User Summary List by a column’s values. You may click on a user ID to view the user’s record. You may use the edit or del links next to a user ID to edit or delete the user.

List all

This menu option displays a list of all existing users and user templates available. From here, you may select a Search On option, enter a search value, and click Search to filter/search the list. The list will re-populate with users/templates matching the criteria. You may use the previous and next buttons to page through the list. You may click on a column heading to sort the list by the column’s values. You may click on a user ID to view the user’s record. You may use the edit or del links next to a user ID to edit or delete the user.

Clone By ID

This menu option will open the Clone User screen. User records may also be cloned directly from the View or Edit User screens as mentioned above.

Search

This menu option allows you to perform detailed user searches.
User search output options include: Brief List, Count Only, Detail to Excel, and Email to User List. Brief List will display the search results in a format similar to the List All Users screen – where user records may be viewed, edited, and/or deleted. Count Only will display only the total number of users in the search results. Detail to Excel will export the search results to Excel. Email to User List will open a screen where you can compose and send an email message to users with an email address in their record based on the search results.
If using the Surveys Module, your output options will also include the Email Survey Invitations User List. This option will open a screen where you can compose and send an email message that includes a survey invitation to users with an email address in their record based on the search results.

User Defined Fields

If using one or more list user-defined fields in your user records, you can access these settings by performing the following steps:

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right.

  2. Click on Users beneath Entities.

  3. Click on Settings beneath User Defined Fields section on the right context menu.

This is where the drop-down values for these fields are maintained. Within the User Defined Fields sub-menu, select the option that corresponds to a field’s label to maintain its values. This will open the List screen. From here, you may select the Add option that appears below the field’s sub-menu option to add a new value to the field. You may use the edit or delete links next to an existing value to edit or delete the value.

Maintenance

This menu option offers two utilities that allow you to Merge Duplicate Users and Change User's User ID.

Existing user records can be manually edited to adjust contact details or individual permissions from

  1. Settings Lightbox(gear) icon > Users beneath Entities.
  2. If you need to add permissions to multiple users, you can create a Group to grant them. If you need to remove permissions from all users in a group, simply remove the permission from the group itself.

If you’re using the Identity Management module, then any changes to contact details must be done within your identity provider. Permissions must be changed either on the template used to do the import and update or on the groups that the user belongs to.

Deleting users is not recommended. When a user is deleted, any references are eliminated, causing missing data and errors on issues. This can also cause corruption in your database, and stop issues from reporting properly. If a user no longer needs access to your site or needs removal, the user record should be edited, and the “active” checkbox disabled.


Using Settings Lightbox > Users

As a best practice, you should always deactivate rather than delete any existing items within your system. To deactivate a user, edit the user and deselect the Active parameter.

To edit an existing user or user template using the Settings Lightbox and subsequently the right context menu:

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Users beneath Entities > click on List on the right context menu.
  2. Perform a Quick Search for the record by selecting a Search Users List option, entering a search value, and clicking Search. The list will re-populate with users/templates matching the criteria.
  3. Click the Edit link next to the user ID. The Edit User screen will then appear.

OR

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Users beneath Entities > click on Search beneath User Search section on the right context menu.
  2. Perform an advanced search for the record by entering criteria, selecting the Output Option of Brief List, and clicking Search. The Users Search Result screen will then appear.
  3. Click the Edit link next to the user ID. The Edit User screen will then appear.

OR

  1. From the View User screen, select the Edit sub-menu option on the right context menu.
  2. To deactivate, unselect Active.
  3. To add or remove login permissions, select/unselect Can Log In.
  4. To grant full access to all System menu options, select Sys Admin.
  5. To add attachments, use the Attachments sub-menu option.
  6. Modify any other appropriate details and/or permissions.
  7. Click Update.
    • Clicking Reset will return all entries to the values defined during the most recent save/update.

You will then be returned to the View User screen and the message User successfully updated will appear.


Using issue-related screens

To edit an existing user using issue-related screens:

  1. Click on the user's name from any of the following screens:
    • View Issue
    • Add Note
    • Assign Issue
    • Next Action
    • Close Issue screen
  2. A popup window will then open with the user’s details. Click Edit User in the lower right. The Edit User screen will then appear.
  3. Modify the appropriate details and/or permissions.
  4. Click Update.
    • Clicking Reset will return all entries to the values defined during the most recent save/update.

You will then be returned to the View Issue screen and the message User successfully updated will appear.


User ID Maintenance

The User ID field is protected during routine user record edits as it is used by many other records throughout the system. This utility offers two options that allow you to update a User ID.

If a user has been duplicated and you would like to merge two records with different User IDs into one record,

  1. Click on the Merge Duplicate option beneath the Maintenance section on the right context menu.
  2. Enter the User ID for the user you wish to keep as the primary user. This User ID will be used to replace all occurrences of the secondary User ID, effectively transferring all of their records to the primary User. While all records such as issue submissions and assignments will be transferred to the primary user, the user records themselves will not be modified.
  3. If you wish to delete the secondary user record after the transfer, check the Delete after Processing option.
  4. Click the Merge button.

The Change User’s ID option is more likely to be used if an employee has a name change or if the User ID was entered incorrectly. In this case, all records containing the old value will be updated to the new User ID value. The user record is then updated with the new User ID value.


User Memberships

What a user can see and do can be influenced by their Memberships within larger entities. You can add a user to a number of other entities, including:

Entity Description

Organization

A primary organizational unit (companies, subsidiaries, etc.)

Department

The functional unit (accounting, administration, marketing, IT, etc.)

Location

Physical/geographic unit (cities, sites, buildings, offices, rooms, etc.)

Group(s)

Role-based unit (end users, managers, technicians, etc.)

These entities structure the user base to provide the overall framework for capturing and reporting information related to users and issues within your system.

Users and organizations are the only entities required in all systems since every issue must have a submitting user and every user must belong to an organization. The use of departments, locations, and/or groups is optional.

Using entities to influence a user’s experience is also optional. For example, users that belong to a certain organization may see a different Site Title and Site Colors. Users that belong to a certain department may see only issues submitted by or assigned to other members of their department. Users that belong to a certain group may see additional Issue Templates, Issue Types, and Tasks that cannot be seen by other users.

The table below shows the field and object filters that can be controlled at the entity level.

You can define user access to specific...

Based on Organization

Based on Department

Based on Location

Based on Group

Issue Types & Subtypes

Issue Templates

Tasks

Assets

Users

Issues

Global Issues

Knowledge Base Articles

Projects

Site Title and Logos

Site Colors

As you decide which entities to use in your system, keep in mind that how the system responds to issues can be automated based on these values. This includes Auto Assignments, Subscribers, Workflows, Service Contracts, and Service Level Agreements.


Notes on User Authentication

Third Party Authentication

Users that authenticate to Issuetrak via a third-party identification provider (AD Federation Services, Azure AD, OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect) will have some extra fields displayed when viewing their account in Issuetrak:

  • Domain:  This is the domain they are authenticated to.
     
  • Authentication User ID:  This is the key identifier (such as email or SID) used by the identification provider to uniquely identify this user.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA has its own article to inform and show you what's involved with configuring it.


Closing Thoughts

If you have any questions or would like the assistance of our product experts, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.