Workflow for Creating and Enabling Users

Creating users and enabling different features and privileges for them is a common task. This overall task is broken up into subtasks that are managed by Account Administrators, Space Administrators, and the users themselves.

There are three possible interfaces for configuring user accounts:

• Using the UIs
• Executing administrative commands at Admin - Manage Space - Command Window.
• Writing a program that uses CommandWebService calls. See Web Services.

Use the following suggested workflow for creating new user accounts and assigning privileges.

• The Account Administrator...
  • Creates new user accounts
  • Updates user settings
  • Updates the language locale
  • Updates add-on products
  • Updates access to new features
• The Space Administrator...
  • Invites users to spaces
  • Adds user to groups
• Users update their own settings
  
  
• To recap, see the Quick Reference for Adding and Enabling New Users.

Account Administrator creates new user accounts

Implementation options:

• UI: Home - User Administration - User Management - Bulk User Creation. This method uploads a file listing new users. See Creating a User.
  
• Command Window: createuser, addopenid, addopenidconnect
• Web Service: addUser, addOpenID

Optional user account settings:

• The interfaces for creating a user let you optionally set whether the user is an Account Administrator.
• Additionally, administrative commands and web services let you optionally set whether users can log in with their OpenID or OpenID Connect credentials. See Configuring OpenID or OpenID Connect.

Account Administrator updates user settings

Once an account exists, there are additional user configurations. Some are at the user level and some are ACLs applied to groups.

Implementation options:

• UI: Home - User Administration - User Management - Search/Modify Users
  • Set Dashboard View - whether to use Original Dashboards, Original Dashboards with HTML5, or Dashboards 2.0.
  • Update Release Usage - sets the Birst Cloud release version
  • Set Add Space - whether or not the user can create their own spaces. Any user who creates a space is automatically designated as the Space Owner with Space Administrator privileges. By default this is yes, so for business users you probably want to set this to no.
  • Update Mobile Status - whether or not the user can use Birst Mobile
  • Set Warehouse - whether the account containing the user is on the Birst Cloud or an Appliance external cloud

• Command Window:
  • setdenycreatespace
  • setuserrelease
• Web Services:
  • setDenyCreateSpace
  • setUserRelease
  • AddAllowedIp
  • setDashboardView

Account Administrator updates the language locale

By default the locale is US English. Account Administrators and users can change the language locale.

Implementation options:

• UI: In the UI, users can set their own language. Go to Home - My Account - User Settings - Edit and select a Language from the dropdown menu. See Changing the Language Locale.
  
• Command Window: setlanguageforuser
• Web Service: setLanguageForUser

Account Administrator updates add-on products

Add-on products are provisioned at the account level, and then users are given access to the products. For provisioning contact your Birst representative.

Implementation options:

• UI: not available
• Command Window: addproduct
• Web Service: AddProductToUser

Account Administrator updates access to new features

Some new features are deployed in a limited manner for a period of time. The Feature Management area allows Account Administrators to roll out early-release features to a limited set of users.

Implementation options:

• UI: Home - User Administration - User Management - Feature Management
• Command Window: Not available.
• Web Service: Not available.

Features at the User Management level include:

• End User Mashups (Self-Service) - user can import Excel spreadsheets into Visualizer
• OCI - ODBC Driver for integration with Tableau, Excel, and other ODBC-enabled clients for the user

Space Administrator invites users to a space

The Space Administrator controls what users have access to a space. The Space Administrator explicitly gives a new user administrative permissions, or not.

Implementation Options:

• UI: Admin - Manage Access - Share Space
• Command Window: addusertospace
• Web Service: AddUserToSpace

Space Administrator adds users to a group

Certain functionality, such as the ability to see and create Designer or Visualizer reports, to download (export) reports, or to edit Dashboards 2.0, is controlled by group Access Control Lists (ACLs).

Best Practice: Segment users into logical groups based on their activities in Birst, then add new users to a group or groups. See Creating Groups and Adding Users to Groups and Group ACLs.

Implementation Options:

• UI: Admin - Manage Access - Manage Groups
• Command Window: addusertogroup
• Web Service: AddUserToGroupInSpace

Users update their own settings

At any time, users can go to Home - User- Settings and update the following:

• Email
• Default Space
• Default to Dashboards (UI opens showing dashboards instead of Home page)
• Language
• Password
• OpenID Associations

See User Settings.

Quick List for Adding and Enabling New Users

Activity	SOAP Web Service	Administrative Command	UI
Add a user account	addUser	createuser	Home - User Administration - User Management - Bulk User Creation, Home - User Administration - User Management - Update Admin Status
Specify OpenID	addOpenID	addopenid or addopenidconnect	Home - User - Settings
Permission to create spaces	setDenyCreateSpace	setdenycreatespace	Home - User Administration - User Management - Set Add Space
Set release version	setUserRelease	setuserrelease	Home - User Administration - User Management - Update Release Usage
Set dashboard module	setDashboardView		Home - User Administration - User Management - Set Dashboard View
Allow IP address	AddAllowedIp
Set language	setLanguageForUser	setlanguageforuser	Home - User - Settings
Assign add-on products	AddProductToUser	addproduct
Assign spaces	AddUserToSpace	addusertospace	Home - User Administration - User Management - Add To Space or Admin - Manage Access - Manage Groups
Assign groups	AddUserToGroupInSpace	addusertogroup	Admin - Manage Space - Manage Groups
Set Warehouse			Home - User Administration - User Management - Set Warehouse
Allow Mobile access			Home - User Administration - User Management - Update Mobile Status
To manage permissions at the group level...
Set ACLs	addAclToGroupInSpace	addacltogroup	Admin - Manage Space - Manage Groups