The Users section

  • Applies to: All Board Cloud subscriptions

WHAT: Introduction to the Users section

The Users section allows you to create and manage users on your Board Cloud platforms, import users from external files, export users to a CSV file, and set up the authentication data retrieval from Board to external applications and services. You can also configure automatic users synchronization between the Subscription Hub and individual Board Cloud platforms.

From the User section you can assign roles and access permissions in a granular way for each Board Platform, diversifying the permissions at the level of individual user, or you can assign authorizations through a Permission Group. Thus, you can allow some users to develop and modify the structure of Capsules and Screens, while others can only consult and interact with data in Play mode.

HOW: The users list

In the Users home page, you can see all users of each platform and their main information: the table is sortable and searchable using the interactive header fields. You can also show or hide columns to your liking, by clicking the Column chooser button in the upper right corner of the table.

 

By default, you can view:

  • The user’s image
  • The user’s name
  • The user’s account name
  • The user’s email address
  • The user’s license
  • The user’s role for each associated platform
  • The platforms the user has been granted access to
  • The user’s authentication method
  • The last time the user logged in
  • The user’s account status (Active or Disabled)
  • The user’s enrollment status (Completed, ImportedPending or New Request)

 

The enrollment status is marked as Completed in the following cases:

  1. The user's authentication type is "Board authentication" and his/her email address has been successfully validated
  2. The user has successfully logged into Board through an enrollment process (with direct approval or with manual approval)
  3. The user account has been manually created by an administrator and the selected authentication type is an external identity provider (IDP)

The enrollment status is marked as Imported when the user has been imported from a newly associated platform or a CSV file, his/her authentication type is "Board authentication" and an administrator has not yet sent him/her the invitation email to continue the registration process.

The enrollment status is marked as Pending when the user's authentication type is "Board authentication" and his/her email address hasn't been successfully validated.

The enrollment status is marked as New Request when the user has completed the manual approval enrollment process and his/her account is still to be approved by an approver or an administrator.

You can perform different actions on one or more user accounts by selecting them and by clicking on the different buttons above the users list.

  • Once you have created a new Board authenticated user account in the Subscription Hub, the user will have to verify the associated email address and set a password.
    All the necessary instructions will be sent to him/her through email
  • You can modify multiple user accounts at once, by selecting the checkboxes at the beginning of each row. This option is available for Authentication type, License and Culture attributes, along with Office, Mobile and Disabled checkboxes. You can also bulk assign roles and licenses for each individual platform in the Platform authorization table (see next paragraph for additional details).
    Please remember that the platform license must be equal to or lower than the main user license for all selected users: the system will only show platform licenses you can actually assign to selected users.
    By clicking on the "SAVE" button, all the changes will be applied to all selected user accounts: all unchanged information will be retained
  • You can delete multiple user accounts at once, by selecting the checkboxes at the beginning of each row and by clicking the "DELETE" button: this button will appear when at least one row is selected
  • You can export multiple users at once, by selecting the checkboxes at the beginning of each row and by clicking the "EXPORT" button. See Export users for more details
  • You can download an Audit log file which keeps track of events related to users accounts managed through Board's Subscription Hub of a customized date range by clicking the "AUDIT LOG" button. See Audit log for more details
  • If you edit a user's Name field and that user is associated with one or more platforms affected by a Sync rule, the new value is automatically synced between the Subscription Hub and the associated Databases and Entities. Users synchronization is also performed whenever you associate a user with one or more platforms affected by a Sync rule
  • If you delete one or more user accounts associated with one or more platforms affected by a Sync rule, the prefix "#del#" is added in the corresponding entity members' description, thus keeping historical data
  • If an Enrollment process is in place, users will be able to register directly in Board or request access to Board right from the sign-in page. If the request is accepted, a new account will be automatically created.  See "The Enrollment section" for more information

 

HOW: View user details

From the Users home page, click anywhere on the corresponding row to view that user details. A User profile panel on the right-hand side of the page will appear, showing the complete user information.

 

User profile panel in Board's Subscription Hub

If a user's enrollment status is marked as Imported and his/her authentication type is "Board authentication", you will see a "SEND EMAIL" button in the lower right corner of the User profile panel: click on it to send the user an invitation email to continue the registration process.
If a user hasn't received the first invitation email, you can always send him/her another by clicking the "RESEND EMAIL" button in the lower right corner of his/her User profile panel.
You can also bulk send invitation emails by clicking the "SEND EMAIL" button that appears in the upper left corner on the page when there are users with enrollment status marked as Imported.

 

Permission Group

The "Permission Group" drop-down menu allows you to manually assign a Permission Group to the user. See The Permission Groups section for more details.

Click the link icon () to open the Permission Groups home page.

 

Subscription Hub authorizations

In the "Subscription Hub authorizations" table, you can manage authorization levels for each Administrator: you can grant or deny access to specific sections of the Subscription Hub to other Administrators, thus enforcing a deeper level of security and access control.

The amount of information displayed and the ability to edit it is defined by two authorization levels:

  • Edit - The user can access the corresponding sections and make changes
  • Not authorized - The user cannot access the corresponding sections

To edit authorizations, click the downward-facing arrow at the end of each row and select the desired setting.

The "ALL TO EDIT" button sets all authorizations to "Edit", while the "REMOVE ALL" button sets all authorizations to "Not authorized".

When a user has at least one authorization level set to "Edit", he/she will automatically be considered a Subscription Hub Administrator, regardless of his/her Board license and Platform-specific permissions. Consequently, he/she will be eligible to become an approver in a manual approval enrollment process.
When an Administrator logs into the Subscription Hub, the side menu and the administration tiles will reflect his/her authorization settings: sections set to "Not authorized" won't be visible and won't be reachable, even using a direct URL.

 

Collaboration Groups

In the "Collaboration groups" table, you can review all User groups the user is a member of. Checked checkboxes in the "Feed author" column indicate in which groups the user has been granted the "News author" role. Two icons at the end of the row indicate which Collaboration feature is enabled for each group (Feed and/or Chat).

By clicking the "GROUPS" button, the table will show all existing user groups: check or uncheck checkboxes at the beginning of each row to add or remove the user from the listed groups. Click the "DONE" button when you've finished editing and click "SAVE" in the bottom right corner of the page to update the user information. 

Read more about Collaboration groups in the Collaboration section.

The list of groups can be created and configured in the Collaboration services area accessed by the icon (  ) "Go to Groups" next to the Collaboration groups title.

 

 

Authorization hierarchy

The Authorization hierarchy section displays an overview of the user's authority access. This includes every instance for which a user has access to in terms of the role and license assigned to them. If the user has full access to every area of the instance, only the name of the environment will display. If the user has a Data model-specific Security profile or Folder security profile assigned to their role, a drop down appears underneath the instance name with the corresponding information for that security filter assigned role.

 

 

WHAT: Fields formats and information

Field name Description Examples
Account name
  •     Function: used for logging into Board
  • Required value, must be unique
johnbarry

Email

  • Function: used for receiving notification emails, screens and presentations a users has subscribed to
  • Required value. Must be unique. String type field which accepts complete email addresses
johnbarry@acme.com
Name
  • Function: used in the user profile page within Board and in selected entities when a Sync rule is in place
  • Optional value. Should be specified when a Sync rule is in place
John Barry

Phone number

  • Function: displays the user's phone number in the user profile page within Board
  • Optional value
111-111-1111
Culture
  • Function: applies a specific number, date and time format to the user's data visualization within Board. Leave it blank to apply the default date and time format
  • Optional value
English (India)
[Custom fields] (User metadata section) -
Permission Group -
License
  • Function: defines the set of Board functionalities available for a single user account.
  • Required value. Must be one of the available options. The license is automatically applied as the main user license
Developer
Office (Checkbox)
  • Function: allows the user to use the Board Office Add-in
  • Optional
-
Authentication type (Sign-in section)
  • Function: used for verifying the identity of the user before logging into Board
  • Required value. Must be one of the available options
  • The "Board Authentication" authentication type is available out of the box, while other external identity providers have to be configured in the Identity Provider Federation section
  • Board supports identity provider based on SAML2 and OIDC standards
Board Authentication
Password never expires (Checkbox)
  • Function: overrides the password expiration policy (default value: 365 days).
    This option only applies to the "Board Authentication" authentication type
  • Optional
-
Disabled (Checkbox)
  • Function: prevents the user to access Board with that particular account.
    When a user account is disabled, its license is immediately available to assign to other accounts.
-
Role (Platform authorization table)
  • Function: grants access to the corresponding platform and its resources (Capsules, Capsules Folders, Data models). Roles are configured in Board Platforms (the "Admin" role is available out of the box)
  • Optional value. Must be one of the available options
Admin
License (Platform authorization table)
  • Function: grants access to the corresponding platform and locks/unlocks Board functionalities for the user.  It is always equal to or lower than the main user license
  • Optional value. Must be one of the available options
Power user
Admin (Platform authorization table - checkbox)
  • Function: grant the user administrator privileges for the corresponding Board platform
  • The Admin checkbox is only available when a "Developer" platform license is selected.
-
Authorization (Subscription Hub authorizations table)
  • Function: grants the user administrator privileges for the corresponding Subscription Hub section
  • Optional value. Must be one of the available options
Edit
Feed author (Collaboration groups table - checkbox) -

 

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