Managing Access to the Customer Portal: To Create User Types for the Customer Portal

In the following implementation activity, you will create user types to be used for contacts that will have access to the Customer Portal. When a user type is specified for a newly created user, it causes the system to insert default settings, including the entity type (an external contact for a Customer Portal user) associated with the user type and the roles that can be associated with the user account.

Story

Suppose that SweetLife Fruits & Jams wants to give access to the Customer Portal for users of customers' companies. To start configuring the access, you need to create specific user types first. You will need to create the Customer Admin and Customer User user types, which you will use for the Customer Admin and Customer User user roles, respectively.

Configuration Overview

For the purposes of this activity, the following tasks have been performed:

  • The MYOB Advanced application instance with the U100 dataset preloaded and the Customer Portal application instance have been deployed in the same database.
    Tip: These instances must be deployed in the same database. This deployment is outside of the scope of this training.
  • In the U100 dataset, on the User Roles (SM201005) form of MYOB Advanced, the Portal Admin role has been assigned to the gibbs user account. The role provides full administrative privileges in the Customer Portal. The user account is associated with Kimberly Gibbs, the system administrator in the SweetLife Fruits & Jams company.

Process Overview

In this activity, you will do the following on the User Types (EP202500) form:

  1. Create the Customer User and the Customer Admin user types.
  2. Select the role that can be assigned to the newly created user accounts with the selected user type and make it a default role.

System Preparation

Before you start creating user types, do the following:

  1. Sign in to the MYOB Advanced instance that uses the same database as the Customer Portal to be configured, as a system administrator with the following credentials:
    • Username: gibbs
    • Password: 123
  2. Make sure that you have performed the prerequisite activity Managing Access to the Customer Portal: To Create Roles for Employees of a Customer.

Step 1: Creating a User Type for Customer Users

In this step, you will create the Customer User user type, which will be selected for the Customer Portal users in the customers' companies who are not being given administrative access rights.

To add the Customer User user type, do the following in the MYOB Advanced instance:

  1. Open the User Types (EP202500) form.
  2. In the User Type box of the Summary area, type Customer User.
  3. In the Linked Entity box, select Contact. This setting indicates that Customer User is a contact-related user type: a user type associated with a contact in your system.
  4. In the Description box, type Customer user.
  5. On the Allowed Roles tab, click Add Row.
  6. Specify the following settings for this row:
    • Role Name: Customer User
    • Default: Selected

      With this check box selected, this role will be automatically assigned to any new user for which the user type is selected.

  7. On the Login Rules tab, select the Use Email as Login check box. This indicates that the email address of a contact will be used as the username of the contact for a new user of this user type.
  8. On the form toolbar, click Save.

Step 2: Creating a User Type for Customer Administrators

In this step, you will add a special user type because none of the existing types allows a user to manage user accounts in the Customer Portal. To add the Customer Admin user type, do the following:

  1. While you are still viewing the User Types (EP202500) form, click Add New Record on the form toolbar.
  2. In the User Type box of the Summary area, type Customer Admin.
  3. In the Linked Entity box, select Contact. This setting indicates that Customer Admin is a contact-related user type: a user type associated with a contact in your system.
  4. In the Description box, type Customer admin.
  5. On the Allowed Roles tab, click Add Row.
  6. Specify the following settings for this row:
    • Role Name: Customer Admin
    • Default: Selected
  7. On the Managed User Types tab, do the following:
    1. Click Add Row.
    2. In the User Type column, select Unrestricted External User.
    3. Click Add Row.
    4. In the User Type column, select Customer User.

      With these types listed on the tab, a user with the Customer Admin user type can create, manage, and delete user accounts that are associated with the user types listed on this tab.

  8. On the Login Rules tab, select the Use Email as Login check box.
  9. On the form toolbar, click Save.

You have created user types, which will be then assigned to the Customer Portal users.