Creating a new user
Creating a new user is a very straightforward process. There are three things you need to know before adding a new user:
- What type of login experience do I want to give to this user?
- What's his e-mail address?
- What's his name?
Incidentally these correspond to the required fields in the grid of the user administration view.
What information is stored
Very little is stored when it comes to personal data of the users:
- Name
- Time zone
- Language
Besides the master data, a lot of information can be associated with users. Two categories can be distinguished:
- Data-driven security entities such as groups, filter values, categories and time markers
- User-generated content like layouts and profiles
Adding a user
Adding a new user to Dime.Scheduler is done via the grid in the user administration view. Simply click the 'Add' button and start filling out the empty (and required) cells of the new row. Depending on the type, you may need to enter different information.
Adding a forms user
A forms user is the simplest type. It is an account that is not attached to any external systems and is managed by Dime.Scheduler. However, because Dime.Scheduler is an identity service, these credentials may be used by other applications.
Because of the unattached nature of this user type, the administrator only needs to fill out the required fields, which are the e-mail and the language. A password will be created automatically which the administrator can pass on to the user. However, this is just a temporary password as the user will be prompted to reset the password when he logs in
Note that the language and time zone fields are optional. Even if the administration doesn't specify a value,the user will be prompted to set a value when logging in.
Adding a Windows user
Adding a Windows user requires the presence of an Active Directory on the network. The server that hosts Dime.Scheduler therefore needs to be configured in such a way that it can connect to this Active Directory. Given the right setup, users can be identified with the pattern Domain\username. The 'Windows account' field in the user grid is explicitly designed for this authentication type.
It is likely that users won't even have to enter their credentials when logging in to Dime.Scheduler on a Windows computer. When that computer is attached to Active Directory, Dime.Scheduler will be automatically passed the user's information without having to reauthenticate the user.
This is a secure option and provides a pleasant experience for the user, as it eliminates the need for storing another set of credentials for yet another application.
Adding an Azure AD user
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is the equivalent of Facebook and Google in terms of adoption as an external identity service. It enables you to reuse existing user accounts which are managed centrally, and it is developed - and secured - by a behemoth that is Microsoft.
Given the straightforward setup process (which is described here), the creation process is the same as with forms users: you simply enter a name and an e-mail address. The only caveat here is that the e-mail address must be somehow connected to a Microsoft account and Azure AD.
Azure AD provides the same advantages as Windows AD except it is a cloud-based service. This allows users to log in from any device from any location in the world. This being Azure also means it can be configured to a great extent to cater to the needs of any kind of organization.