How To Add A User To Web Host

This topic explains how to add a user to the Web Host. It is easy to add a new user if you use the levels that ship with the Web Host. They are already set up for you and may be used just as they are. These are contained in HTML\Users folders ready to use. Each User Level has its own folder.

HTML Folder Contents

When you create or add a new user, in the Operator setup screen, you will give them a User Level that pertains to the access level you want them to have and switch on 'Allow browser signon' so that Collect! recognizes them as a web user.

To gain a better understanding of this, go to the HTML folder in the database subdirectory in your CV11 folder. For instance, if you log into MASTERDB, then you want to look in the HTML folder within the MASTERDB folder.

At the top level you will see four folders:

db
global
guest
user

The DB folder contains the report.dat, import.dat and a few key files. Collect! Web Host uses these separate files to store reports and imports that interact with the Web Host user. Please do not alter these files or you may get undesirable results.

The GLOBAL folder contains images, text and script files that are used by all levels and pages displayed in the browser.

The GUEST folder contains the necessary files for any user who happens to arrive at your IP address. The index.html is displayed with and associated *.gifs from the GLOBAL folder to anyone who accesses your server address. This is a great place for marketing new prospects. This page can also allow a user to sign on. You can modify this page as you wish to produce results that suit you.

We use a *.CSS file to give a standard look to all the pages that users see. This has been tested for Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher. Other browsers may render unpredictable results in cases where their interpretation of cascading style sheets differs from Internet Explorer.

The USER folder contains all the pages that interact with your operators. The root of this folder contains an index page to alert any user who tries to sign on with an invalid ID. Related script, style and *.gif files are read from the GLOBAL folder when the pages load.

Under the USER folder, you will see numbered folders. These correspond to the User Levels in Collect! assigned to your operators and clients.

Collect! ships with HTML folders for all the User Levels in the Demodb except User Level 99, as this level should not be used for Web Host for security reasons.

In Web Host, these levels behave as follows:

• User Levels 20 and 30 have the same functionality as Level 10 (OWN) pages.
• User Level 40 may create clients and debtors, but only view their accounts.
• User Level 50 cannot create, but may view all accounts in the database.
• Level 61 is a level with the same functionality as Level 60 (JC). It is used with web-based Auto Dialers.
• User Level 70 has the same functionality as Level 60 (JC) pages.
• User Level 80 has the same functionality as Level 85 (ACT) pages.
• Level 95 has been added for Legal pages. Please see adding a Legal operator further on in this topic.
• Level 97 is for a Client Group with functionality that is similar to Level 98 (CL1) pages.
• Level 98 is a Guest level used for Client.

Web Host User Authentication

When your user signs in as JC with the password JC, Collect! checks your operator list looking for the operator whose ID is JC. Collect! checks to see if JC has 'Allow Browser Signon' switched ON with a check mark. If not, Collect! will return the "You Are Not Authorized" index page to the user. If 'Allow Browser Signon' is checked, then Collect! takes one more step and looks at the User Level you have assigned to operator JC.

In the Demodb, JC is assigned user Level 60, so Collect! looks in the 60 folder in your HTML\User folder to see if there is a folder for operator JC. If there is, Collect! displays, to the user, the index page that is in the 60 folder. If the operator folder JC is not there, Collect! builds the folder and then returns, to the user, the index page in the 60 folder.

We have designed it this way to provide a common index page for all users. You can also create a custom index page for a specific user.

To pull this altogether, when an operator signs on successfully, Collect! will navigate to his specific operator folder and display the index page that is in the Operator folder. If there is none, then Collect! will back up one level and display the index page for the user level. This way, you can have one set of index pages for the whole set of operators in a particular user level, or you can customize an index page and place it in the folder for a particular operator.

Examples

The following two examples demonstrate adding a Client and an Attorney to your list of Web Host users. You may use similar steps to add an operator of any other User Level to your Web Host users. If the User Level is set up in your HTML folder, the steps are very straightforward, as shown below.

Add A Client To Web Host

If you wish to grant a new client access to your Web Host,

• Set up the client as a "Client" operator in Collect!
• Enter their Client # in the Operator form's Client # field
• Assign them to User Level 98.
• Switch ON 'Allow browser signon' in the Operator form.

For Example:

A new client named Relative Measures Corp. wants to access his accounts over the web. The client is already entered in the database along with several debtors. In Collect!, the Client Number for Relative Measures Corp. is 98.

Create an operator for the new client with these settings:

CL1: Client 98

Name: Relative Measures Corp.

Password: CL1

User Level: 98

Select Client from the Operator "Type" field. Now the field labeled Client # is visible. Set the Client # to 98. This tells Collect! Web Host to give this web user access ONLY to debtors belonging to the Client with Client Number 98 in your database.

You must enter a Client # for your Client operator or Collect! will fail the Web Host login.

Select the check box labeled Allow browser signon to place a check in the box.

If the operator's User Level does NOT exist in the HTML\USER folder, a few additional prompts are given to create the User Level. Please refer to Adding A User Level To Web Host.

Press OK to close the Operator form and save your settings. You have finished setting up Collect! to allow Relative Measures Corp. to sign in through the web.

To verify what the client will see, start your browser and sign in as the CL1 user. Click through ALL the menu choices and confirm that Web Host displays what you expect this client to see.

When this is finished and you have verified that the output is correct, you can let operator CL1 sign in. He can review the information in his reports and *.html pages or he can select Refresh to generate new pages with refreshed information.

Select Refresh whenever you want to refresh all the reports. This will refresh any files in the CL1 folder with the latest CL1 debtor information.

Add A Legal Operator To Web Host

If you wish to grant a new attorney access to your Web Host, the attorney is set up as a Collector with User Level 95. Since accounts are just assigned to the attorney and contacts passed, there is no Searching for accounts. This restricts the attorney from accessing other accounts in the database.

As of version CV11.6.1.1, the Web Host Legal Operator Level 95 uses the Search functionality. This level filters by the Debtor's @de.leg field. When a Legal level operator signs on they will only be able to find Debtors where the @de.leg = @op.id (the Operator ID they signed on with in the Web Host.)

To set up the attorney, we will use LEG as an example.

In Collect!, create an operator for the attorney with the following settings:

ID: LEG

Name: Legal

Password: LEG

User Level: 95

Select Collector from the Operator setup screen's "Type" field.

Check box labeled Allow browser signon in the Security Tab of the Operator window to turn this switch On.

If the operator's User Level does NOT exist in the HTML\USER folder, a few additional prompts are given to create the User Level. Please refer to Adding A User Level To Web Host.

Press OK to close the Operator screen and save your settings.

To verify what the attorney will see, start your browser and sign in as the LEG user. Click through ALL the menu choices and confirm that Web Host displays what you expect this attorney to see.

When this is finished and you have verified that the output is correct, you can let operator LEG sign in. He can review the information in his reports and *.html pages or he can select Refresh to generate new pages with refreshed information.

Select Refresh whenever you want to refresh all the reports. This will refresh any files in the LEG folder with the latest LEG debtor information.

Add A Sales Operator

A sales manager must be set up as a level 30 and a sales operator as level 70.

Add A Client Group

A Client Group operator has the ability to see more than one client's data. For example, you may have a big company that has a main office and then sub offices. Hence, your main office can be set up as a Client Group operator to see all the other sub offices.

This operator must be set up as User Level 97. The operator is set up a little differently from the Client operator. In the Operator settings, Collector is chosen instead of Client. In the title field, you must place a group ID. This can be alphanumeric. For every client you want this operator to see, you must place this ID in the Client User 1 field, as well. If data is already in the Client User 1, please allocate it to another field.

Change Access Rights To Web Host Forms

Using the default User Levels shipped with Collect! Web Host you may modify the pages to suit your needs. Also, access to editing the debtor information is controlled by the editvars.txt file in the GLOBAL folder. Please refer to Editing A Debtor In Web Host for more information.

Troubleshooting

Please verify the results displayed for each user who will access the Web Host. If any of the users display reports and results that you do not want them to see, perhaps you assigned an inappropriate User Level when you were setting up this web operator. For instance, this could result in a junior operator or a client seeing information that only the administrator or owner should see. WEB and 99 are administrative levels and should not be used for ordinary users. Please redo the setup and choose an appropriate User Level in the Operator form. Work with just one operator and one user level until you are satisfied with the results.

See Also

- Web Host Introduction
- Web Host Topics