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Swap user type/roles for administrators

1774
8
02-24-2021 02:03 PM
Status: Open
JeffreySchmidt3000
Regular Contributor

In software such as D2L, (frequently used in education) there is an option for teachers to view the website as a student.  This can be very useful for a teacher to emulate what the student can see.  The same holds true for administrators in AGOL and Portal.  It would be a great benefit to be able to swap between roles/user types to see what the experience is like for different users.  I would use it to assist staff that do not have the same permissions as I do.  

8 Comments
RobertBorchert

create a non administrator account to use to look at their work. 

by Anonymous User

I agree that administrators should not have to create a dummy account just to see how other roles experience AGOL/Portal. Having the ability to change how you're viewing the site would allow us to troubleshoot user issues better.

RobertBorchert

Who are you agreeing with? 

Well then have another administrator change your user level when  you need to review work. I think that would be more of a hassle.  Each of the 5 GIS people at my company have Administrative roles and access to a non administrative role that we can adjust to the desired level at will to do exactly what you are looking for.  I do this quite often.  

I will have the non administrator open in one browser and the administrator open in another so I can make adjustments quickly and refresh the other browser. 

 

by Anonymous User

@RobertBorchert I was agreeing with the original poster to voice my support for Esri adding this functionality to AGOL/Portal. 

While what you're suggesting is a great workaround with how the system currently works, I don't think it is an optimal experience for administrators or organizations as a whole to have to maintain an account for this purpose.

This is especially true for my organization, where we only have two administrators, 100+ users, many customized roles to manage permissions, and not enough licenses to hold one up as a dummy account. 

JeffreySchmidt3000

We have 10+ different roles and a user base of over 2500.  It would simplify the process of quality control and as Lucas states, I agree with him that we should not need to create dummy/non admin accounts simply to review content, groups, galleries, sites, etc through the lens of a particular role.  I am glad your workflow works for your company Robert, but this is an idea that would fit my company's needs.  

RobertBorchert

It is probably different for us. We are Enterprise GIS and hosting our own Portals.  We only have 3 user types and 6 roles. One of which we created to single out non employees who we have given access to our GIS.  But for those of you with only 2 administrators you would only need one extra account. 

I am not disagreeing with the idea, just the excuses people have.  I always test out the applications as the user role and type that it is intended for.  However, I mis-wrote how we do it. We have one Administrator for each Portal and I have my own log in.  We only have 850 employees and only 493 of them are registered with the GIS. We only have one customized role. 

Is it a dummy account if it is smart to have one.?

 

 

LarryMasters

This would be nice. We are getting close to limiting  out on our creator user type so I can't afford to waste one just for this. It is frustrating when you get something finished and tell everyone they are good to go, just to find out you have missed a permissions setting. Only negative to admin role,,,,,,everything works.

KBERG_EGLE

This is a great idea. I currently have two accounts set up for myself as admin and as a user, but I am using up a seat for this and that is definitely not ideal.