What is a Power User?
The Power User feature in the People application allows extra rights to be designated to chosen users, meaning they can access Admin > People to make changes to other accounts.
Power Users can perform administrative tasks for the user accounts their extra rights relate to, without being made a full People application administrator.
Assigning Power users is an optional feature, as the user base can be managed effectively by People administrators already without them.
The point of Power Users is to give some users the extra responsibility to manage parts of the user base, if this is appropriate for your use case.
Extra rights available:
- Create new accounts and be able to edit them
- Create new People Roles and Groups
- To edit existing accounts within a particular extranet or specific People Role(s) & Group(s)
Who assigns Power Users?
Power users are assigned and managed by application administrators of People.
The extra rights given allow Power users to access the admin side of People (Admin > People), when usually only People application administrators can open this area.
This means any Power User should also be given the ability to view the 'Admin' icon in their Application List so they can open the admin side of People and use the extra rights they have been given.
What is the difference between a People application administrator and a Power User?
Becoming a Power User does not make these individuals capable of everything that a People application administrator can do, and People application administrators remain the accounts with the highest level of access to all user data in People, even if Power users are assigned.
Instead, the feature is a way to delegate extra responsibility or power to users so they can perform certain administrator actions in People for particular extranets, Roles or Groups.
If, instead, an individual should be able to access and manage every user account on a site by default, they should be made a People administrator to fulfil this need and not a Power User.
When should I consider assigning power users?
Power Users are simply given extra abilities for certain accounts, Roles or Groups.
It's possible that the unique circumstances of your company structure or the requirements your teams have could lend themselves to Power users being set up, but this is completely optional.
For example, if your main People administrators are not always available to make changes to user accounts it could be helpful to assign Power Users to perform these duties in these scenarios instead.
Or it's possible that a certain Power user is already responsible for a group of users in some capacity in real life and may be in closer contact with them than People administrators day to day.
Logically, it makes sense for them to be able to update these accounts rather than an administrator.
e.g. User Abigail Clark works in HR in the London office, it makes sense for them to be able to create, edit and manage new user accounts for this location.
How to assign Power User rights
People application administrators can assign Power User rights to individuals.
Step 1: Head to Admin > People, and locate the user you want to give extra rights to.
Step 2: Click on their profile and then the 'Other settings' tab:
Step 3: Click on 'Edit power user rights'
Step 4: The next screen allows the Power User rights to be assigned to this user.
First, consider whether you want this user to be able to create new accounts. If yes, you will also need to decide which area of the site they can create users in (which extranet) and put this in the permissions box with at least 'assign/unassign' rights for this to work.
Next, consider if you want this user to be able to create new People roles and groups. If so, check the box.
Leave any of the first 4 checkboxes deselected if they don't apply for this particular Power User.
Next, add in the extranet and/or Role or Group that you want to give the user extra rights for, and then select what these should be.
Once ready, click 'save' to apply the rights to the user.
This power user can:
- Add new users: Give this right if you want the Power user to be able to create new accounts (an extranet must be placed in the next section for this to work and allow the 'add new user' button to appear for them in Admin > People)
- Add new Roles: Create new Roles in Admin > People
- Add new Groups: Create new Groups in Admin > People
- Alert global People administrators when a power user makes a change: Check this box to ensure all People application administrators are notified when this Power user makes a change
This power user can manage the following:
- Permissions: Enter an extranet into the box, e.g. primary area or a specific extranet (if your site uses these). Additionally, enter any Roles or Groups you also want the Power User to have extra rights for.
- View users: The Power user can see these profiles listed on the admin side of People (Admin > People)
- Edit/delete users in selected groups/roles/extranet: The Power user can edit the profile fields on user profiles in Admin > People, and will see the option to delete them
- Assign/unassign users to selected group/role/extranet: Required if you want the power user to be able to create new accounts. Power users can also change the group, role or extranet membership of users
- Edit/delete role/group properties: Only appears selectable for Role/groups entered. Allows the power user to edit the properties of that Role or Group.
Example
e.g. User Abigail Clark works in HR in our London office. I want them to be able to add new users to the site, as well as edit and manage all users within the People group 'London office'.
As I want Abigail to be able to create new accounts, I need to specify which area of the Intranet they can create new accounts within. I want this to be the 'main intranet' as extranets are not in use on our site.
So, I will include 'Extranet area: Primary Area' in the permissions box and select 'assign/unassign' rights only. This is telling the system I want Abigail to be able to add new users to this area.
(If our site did use extranets, I could specify one of these if that is the area I want Abigail to be able to create users under, rather than the primary area, e.g. 'extranet area: supplier 1'. This would then mean Abigail can only create new users in this area and not the main Intranet 'primary area')
With the rights set up as below, Abigail can add new accounts in Admin > People, as well as make edits to all profiles of users within the 'London Office' group.
When they navigate to Admin > People, the only accounts they will see listed and can edit are those for the 'London Office' group.
If I only wanted Abigail to maintain the user profiles that already exist in the 'London Office' group (and not be able to create new accounts at all), then I would remove the 'Add new users' right and the extranet area group from the permissions box as this is no longer necessary, leaving just the extra rights selected for the 'London Office' group.
Remember: If a user should be able to freely see and edit all users on the admin side of People, they should be made a People application administrator (not a Power user)
Step 5: On-screen confirmation that the power user rights have been saved will appear.
Step 6: An application administrator of Menu Builder can update the permissions on the 'admin' icon to include the Power user so they can see this in their Application list and allow them to open Admin > People.
Step 7: The Power user can now test that they can access Admin > People and the abilities given work as expected. e.g. they can add a new user, create a new group, edit a user profile within the Role/group, etc
Where are Power Users listed?
People application administrators can view and edit Power Users in Admin > People > Power Users
Rights can also be edited from the 'Other options' tab on user profiles directly when in Admin > People.
Power users can have their abilities revoked or updated at any time by People application administrators from either area.
