• If you are troubleshooting this question, be sure you focus on the available data and be leery of other's interpretations as to the possible source of the access "problem." However well-intentioned, interpretations tend to obscure the facts and throw the troubleshooter off-track. Make sure you start off on the right track by collecting the facts and examining them objectively. If you don't have enough information to troubleshoot the problem, ask the reporter for more specifics.

• If a user isn't able to log into the site and thinks they should be able to, eliminate the most common and easily identifiable cause: the user is 'inactive'. Look up the user in the Manage a User tool. If this individual's Status is 'inactive', you have found the reason they can't access the site.

  If you need to know why the user has been flagged as 'inactive', check to see if their Purpose is Individual Member and they have an expired membership (or their Purpose is Company Representative and they belong to a company with an expired membership). Lapsed membership is the most common reason for deactivation. If the user is inactive but has a different purpose, click 'View Activity History' and look for 'Deactivated' in the 'Activity Type' column.

• If the user expects to have access to areas, lists or tools that aren't available to all users, look to see whether the user has permissions for the area or tools they were trying to access.

• What is this user's Purpose: an individual member, a representative of a member company, an organization staffer or administrator?

• Is this person an individual member?

  • If so, do they need any permissions beyond those usually granted through membership? For instance, is this individual an officer in the organization? Assign the User Type that adds just the level of extra access they need. Ideally, this is a custom User Type designed specifically for individuals who hold this position.

  • Does this person need permissions ordinarily granted through membership but there is some question about whether these types have been assigned? Look up their membership and be sure it is current. If it is, look up the membership type and see which types it confers. Now look up the user and be sure these types are assigned. If any are missing, Super Admins may assign the missing types by editing this user through the Upload Data tool.

  • Conversely, this person's permissions may be too high if they have downgraded their membership (although types assigned through the previous membership should have been automatically revoked, so this is rare) or if they recently resigned from a special position in the organization. In these cases, they may have been manually assigned administrative or editorial types that should now be revoked.

• Is this person a representative of a member company?

  • If this person is a regular member company representative, they should have inherited roles granting access to the Members area through the Company Type assigned to their company.

  • If this individual is primary contact for their company, they should be assigned the 'Primary Contact' default Contact Type.

  • If this person holds other special positions as company representative, they should be assigned whichever Contact Type confer the roles they need to perform their duties. If this is a standard position in the organization, there should be a Contact Type created specifically for this type of representative.

  • Conversely, this person's permissions may be too high if their company has downgraded their membership (although types assigned through the previous membership should have been automatically revoked, so this is rare), they have left the company with which they were associated, or they recently resigned from a special position in the organization. In these cases, they may have been manually assigned administrative or editorial types that should now be revoked.

• Is this person organization staff or administration?

  • This person may have inherited roles granting access to the Members area through the Company Type assigned to their company.

  • Other roles this person requires need to be granted through User Types. Depending on the position this person holds, they may be assigned one or more of the privileged default User Types, especially if the individual performs multiple functions for the organization. Ideally, these types should be correlated to standard positions in the organization and provide only as much access as this position needs.

  • Conversely, this person's permissions may be too high if they have assumed a different set of duties. If they have left the organization, their Status should be set to 'inactive'. Be sure to add an activity note explaining the reason you deactivated this user for future reference.

Super Admins:

• Super Admins can edit the list of associated roles for all types, even default types. The most common reason to add new roles to default types is to add custom roles that grant access to custom tools or areas of the Web site. With the exception of adding custom roles, default types should rarely require editing.

• New types should be created anytime there is a position in the organization that doesn't have a corresponding type. This especially includes User Types that correspond to the organization's leadership structure, administration and staff. Each type should grant exactly the privileges required by a specific position and no more. Additional privileges can always be granted to just those users who need them by layering on other types that reflect these additional responsibilities.

Organization Admins:

• Individual members should have acquired basic Members Area access through types assigned through membership. Types in the 'General (with membership only)' category cannot be assigned independently of membership. If for some reason these types haven't been assigned correctly, a Super Admin will have to correct the situation. If this member has a special position in the organization, assign whatever additional User Types reflect this position and confer the access necessary to perform the responsibilities of this position.

• Member company representatives should have acquired basic Members Area access through types assigned to their company through membership. Representatives who hold special positions such as Primary Contact acquire additional access by being assigned whichever Contact Type corresponds to this position. Representatives who hold multiple positions can (and should) be assigned multiple types.

  Whenever a new person takes over responsibilities from an administrator, staff person or company representative, be sure to revoke any unneeded permissions from the user who formerly held this position. See the instructions for Organization Admins on how to revoke user access.

• Staff and Administrators may acquire basic site access through Company Types assigned to their company, but this isn't always the case. These users acquire the additional access they need by being assigned User Types that correspond to their job descriptions. Newer, smaller organizations may rely almost exclusively on highly privileged default user types to grant permissions to these users. Organizations with a larger administrative staff will evolve towards more specialization of responsibilities, and add finer-grained custom types with a more discrete level of access privileges. As always, assign the custom User Type created just for that position or whichever default User Type grants the necessary privileges but no more.

  Whenever a new person takes over responsibilities from an administrator, staff person or company representative, be sure to revoke any unneeded permissions from the user who formerly held this position. See the instructions for Organization Admins on how to revoke user access.

Super Admins:

• Super Admins can edit the list of associated roles for all types, even default types. The most common reason to remove roles from default types is to remove custom roles that grant access to custom tools or areas that are no longer used. With the exception of removing custom roles, roles associated with default types should rarely require editing.

• Custom types should be created anytime there is a position in the organization that doesn't have a corresponding type that conveys the correct level of access. This especially includes User Types that correspond to the organization's leadership structure, administration and staff. Each type should grant exactly the privileges required by a specific position and no more, since additional privileges can always be granted to just those users who need them by layering on other types that reflect these additional responsibilities. If you have a custom type that grants a higher level of access than the corresponding position requires, you can edit the roles associated with that type to adjust the access. If you find that most (but not all) users who have been assigned a custom type require less access than the type confers, you have two options. You can downgrade the access associated with the type by removing roles and assign additional types associated with those roles to users who require extra access, or you can create a new type with less access and reassign users who don't need the higher level of privileges conferred through the current type.

• Removing roles from a Company Type will affect the access of every user who belongs to a company that has been assigned that type.

Organization Admins:

• Unlike other types, User Types and Company Types categorized as 'General (with membership only)' cannot be assigned or revoked manually. Although you can remove these types by deleting the membership, it is usually easier to revoke access by switching company or user status to 'inactive'. Deactivating a company or deleting a company membership will affect the access of everyone who belongs to that company. Always add an activity note when deactivating a member in case the member questions the deactivation or wants to be reactivated at some future date.

• Removing a Company Type with roles from a company will revoke these roles from every user associated with this company.

• If you need to replace a more privileged Company Type with one that has lower privileges, be sure to add the new type as you remove the old to minimize disruption to these companies' users. Use the Edit a Company tool and on the Admin Info step, be sure to check the new type and uncheck the old type before clicking 'Save' to commit both changes at once.

• To remove access from an individual member, member company representative, organization staff or administrator, use the Edit a User tool. On the Admin Info step, uncheck any types you want to remove.

Super Admins:

• Keep a streamlined set of types and roles by deleting types or roles when they are no longer required.

• As your organization grows and changes, you will probably need to add types for new positions. Not only are these types a useful, searchable classification mechanism—it is also easier to determine, add and revoke user privileges when these privileges are conveyed through just a few types.

• It's a good idea to generate a report whenever significant changes are made to the organization's membership or user classification system. If a new membership type is created or an existing type is altered, check to make sure members have the right types assigned. If the list of roles associated with an existing type is altered or a new type is created, see whether this type is assigned to users who should have it and absent from the records of users who should not have it.

Organization Admins:

• Whenever a person changes positions in relation to the organization, check the types they have been assigned against their new responsibilities. For example, a company representative designated as Primary Contact may have performed additional tasks such as Company Editor or Showcase Company Editor. Revoking the Primary Contact type won't affect these other types. If the new Primary Contact will be assuming these additional duties, you may manually remove the appropriate types from the former Primary Contact and assign them to the new Primary Contact.

• It's a good idea to generate reports whenever a major change occurs or just periodically to keep tabs on which users have been assigned privileged types and remove any types from users who should no longer have these types.