Add Users

Adding Users

To add new users, you are required to enter their login name, user (real) name, password, and email address in the appropriate, required fields (indicated by the red dots). Note that the type of security you select (cookie or Basic Authentication) determines how the users log in and whether or not they must enter their password each time.

Either login names or real names may identify users when they post messages. When adding or editing a board, the administrator dictates whether login names or real names are appended to messages. If you have self-registration on your board, you might want to let users know which form is used before they create a new account. Email addresses also identify users, although users have the option of hiding their email address.

Using the add users wizard

Administrators frequently have responsibility for creating multiple user accounts on intranets. The Add User Wizard is ideal for this job because it lets you add users one after another with basic setup information. It’s also useful for adding single users, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the process, as it provides detailed instructions.

To add a user with the Add Users Wizard, follow these steps:

From the management menu, click Add Users with Wizard. The Add Users Wizard window opens. Click Next to continue.
At a minimum, enter the required information (indicated by the red bullets) in the appropriate fields.
If you have more than one user to add, check the “Add another” checkbox.

To have WebBoard send the user a welcome message (welcome.txt), check the “Send welcome message” checkbox. The default message includes their login name and password, along with a welcome message you can adapt.

Note
Welcome messages are sent immediately after each user is added. If you happen to be disconnected from your mail server while adding users, WebBoard attempts to send the welcome messages but does not continue delivery attempts.

Click Add User to add the user to the board.
- If you entered an existing login name, the Add Users window reopens so that you can make the necessary corrections to add that user. The login name must be unique across all boards.
- If you selected the “Add another” option, the Add User page appears again. Repeat Steps 2-5 as necessary to add all your users.
When you finish adding users, a summary page appears with information about the last user you entered. Click Finish to complete user additions.

Adding users without the wizard

The Add User form lets you add a new user quickly, while specifying details that are unavailable via the wizard. Both methods are available from the WebBoard Administrator or Manager menu from the More Options menu.

To add a user with the Add Users form, follow these steps:

From the management menu, click Add Users without wizard. The Add Users form opens.
At a minimum, enter the required information (indicated by the red bullets) in the appropriate fields.
If you have more than one user to add, check the “Add another” checkbox.

To have WebBoard send the user a welcome message (welcome.txt), check the “Email this user a welcome message?” checkbox. The default message includes their login name and password, along with a welcome message you can adapt.

Click Add User to add the user to the board.
- If you entered an existing login name, the Add Users window reopens so that you can make the necessary corrections to add that user. The login name must be unique across all boards.
- If you selected the “Add another” option, the Add User page appears again. Repeat Steps 2-5 as necessary to add all your users.

Adding users to a closed board.

Frequently, closed boards draw members form a subset of members from various public boards on the WebBoard site. For example, on an intranet, each department maintains its own public board, but management has some additional closed boards for sensitive personnel or budget issues. In adding members to a closed board, the WebBoard administrator can select users from a list of existing user accounts, a much speedier process than creating a new account for each board member.

Note
Some administrators prefer to create the board as an open board and then email the prospective board members with the URL. After all users have logged in at least once, you can close the board. Then scan the user list to be sure no users slipped through that you don’t want on that board and delete them if necessary.

To add users from another board to the current board, follow these steps:

On the Management Menu, click Add Users to Board. This link is available only for closed boards. The Users in Boardname page appears with a list box showing current board members.
To add users to the Board Users list, click Show User List. The Select Users form appears in the left frame. You use Select Users to find the users you want to add as conference members. You can find any user with an account on the WebBoard site.
Search for users by first or last name or login name; search by first letter of last name; or list all users, as follows:
- To search by first or last name or login name, select First, Last, or Login, enter the text to search for, and click Search. WebBoard will try to match the text you enter with the information in the selected category on the user profiles. You don’t have to enter a complete word.
- To display a list of all users whose last name starts with a given letter, click a letter in the Show by Last Name area.
- To list all users leave the text box empty and select First, Last, or Login to tell WebBoard what to use in alphabetizing the list. For example, click Login to sort the list alphabetically by login name. Click Search.
WebBoard lists the names that match the search criteria. WebBoard displays 25 names at a time. Click the Show Next link to see the next batch of names.
Select the users to add to the board from the list generated by the search. As you click a name, it appears in the Board Users list. Continue clicking names until you have added all the users you want. If the list returned by the first search does not include all the users you want to add, search again and add names from the new list.
To remove a name from the Board Users list, click the name. Removing a user from the board does not remove the user’s WebBoard account.
Click Submit to add the users in the Board Users list to the closed board.