A few years back, we posted about the new Clone Users feature in HIFIS. We said how it would help you “drastically reduce your likelihood of configuration errors.” While this may have been a true statement, I suspect that many communities don’t really know how to use this tool effectively.
Why?
Well, it requires you to know that one user account is set up completely perfectly. If you know a user account is set up perfectly, then you can clone them no problem. But in reality, you might not remember which ones were set up correctly and which weren’t. And you need to know which users are set up as supervisors or with special permissions and which ones are standard front-line staff.
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Check out our Audit Boot Camp report: Rights Templates Usage!
I myself have some communities that I work with and I set up user accounts for them. I definitely thought this feature would save me time. After all, I know I set up the previous user account correctly, so all I have to do is clone that one, right? Now… which user was the one I recently set up, again? Started with an “A”… April, maybe? Ashley? Amanda? Ariel? Ah shucks, I’ll just make this next user from scratch and then clone them next time.
Here’s where I have a solution for you: set up a template for user accounts. I previously advocated for the ability to set up “user templates” that you could clone, but then the Clone User feature was implemented instead. Close, but not exactly what I was asking for. But more recently I realized that hey, no one is stopping you from creating a user account that is not intended to be used by anyone. In fact, you don’t even have to activate it, ever. Throw away the password. Then use that user account as a template that you can clone.
Here’s an example:
You have a shelter called “Munchkinland Shelter” and front line staff there get a template called “Front Line Shelter Worker.” Create a fake user account and name it something like “Munchkinland Front Line Template.” Give it the access to Service Providers and Rights Templates that a standard front line staff at Munchkinland Shelter will have. Then, as I said before, don’t actually activate it or give anyone the password. Instead, the next time you have to set up a user account for Sharon or Lois or Bram, click the Clone User button for the user Munchkinland Front Line Template, and you’ll know that your new user account will be set up perfectly.
Et voilà! You now have templates for your users, without actually having a feature called user account templates.
What do you think? Will this trick save you some time and hassle? Let us know in the comments!
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