Give Administrators a tool to simulate logging in to Portal under a reduced User Type and Role.

800
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11-24-2021 07:03 AM
Status: Open
GregCarlino2
Occasional Contributor

As my organization's lone dedicated GIS personnel, I often need to train new users on how to use Portal, or develop new workflows on their behalf.  However, having an 'administrator' Role, I have options and menus made available through my credentials that they do not.  As such, training other users becomes quite difficult when I access menus and links that do not even appear within their user interfaces.  Many times I have sent a screenshot, or explained over the phone, to a user explaining how to execute a particular workflow, to which they reply back saying 'I don't even see that option on my screen!', which of course, they don't, because they have a lower User Type or Role associated with their login, and that option isn't available to them.  In short, it is very difficult to train users on the system when it's not an 'apples-to-apples' comparison.

I've tried creating a 'test account' to simulate logging in at a reduced level, but our Enterprise utilizes Single-Sign On through our Active Directory, and our organization's IT policy prohibits me from owning two logins.  Any 'fake' Portal profiles that aren't fully fleshed-out inevitably encounter integration errors with the greater system and are not reliable as testing mechanisms.

Can the development team consider creating a tool for Administrators to simulate the Portal interfaces, as they appear to end-users with lower User Types and Roles?  This would really help out from a training perspective.

Thanks!

5 Comments
MichaelVolz

This would be very useful.  Does anyone know of a current workaround for this?

 

BillFox

Is having the portal adjusted to allow AD and internal portal users an option for your shop?

KellyKoenig

This is a great suggestion! I run into this a lot as well.

Related: an option to preview maps/apps as a specific user would be useful, too.

For example, if I want to send a link to a hub/site page that has a dashboard embedded in it to someone, I might remember to share the dashboard, the hosted feature layers and the web map that are within the dashboard, and the main hub/site with them, but forget to share the individual hub/site page. It would be nice to be able to preview the hub/site page under their user profile so I can catch that mistake before sending the email. 

GregCarlino2

Hi Bill,

Yes, our portal does have a few old internal logins (mine included) from before we implemented SSO. Those were never disabled. 

I previously tried using a 'test' login (with no email address) from our AD by adding it as a Portal member through the Portal Admin Directory, as described here:
https://support.esri.com/en/technical-article/000014706

It can sign in to Portal, but runs into all sorts of issues integrating with ArcGIS Pro.  The many data publishing options (from Pro to Enterprise) are a big part of what I'm hoping to test out.  If there is a way to use a legitimate internal login, instead, I certainly give it a try.  Is there a way to sign out of SSO and sign back in using an existing internal login?  Thanks!

soconnell_CMNH

This would be huge, something like how Facebook handles "View As" for verifying privacy settings on profiles. I'm new to ArcGIS Online, but it suddenly dawned on me today while explaining how to download some data that I know how I accomplish certain tasks but I have no idea what that experience looks like for others. It's honestly kind of surprising there isn't already an option for administrators to step into a specific users "shoes" or even just go about it by user type like Greg suggests.