Every person using Synergist needs a user account, and every user account controls how that person experiences the system. This covers what they can see, what they can do, and whether they need a resource for logging time, booking work or estimating jobs.
This article covers how to create a new user and what each tab on the user record controls.
Before you start: users and resources
A user account is not the same as a resource. The user account controls login and system-wide settings. A resource is what links that person to a specific company in Synergist, and is what allows them to log timesheets, appear on resource bookings, or be assigned to estimates.
If your organisation operates more than one company in Synergist, you still only need one user account. You'll need a resource set up in every company that person works in.
Creating a new user
There are two ways to create a user, depending on whether an existing user already has the access you need.
Go to File maintenance > Users.
To copy an existing user with similar access, select them from the list and choose Copy from the action bar. This opens a short form for the login, full name, initials and email address. If the new person needs the same access as the user you copied, save and close here. There's nothing else to configure.
To start from scratch, click New. This opens the full user record so you can configure exactly what the person can access.
Details tab
This tab holds the user's personal information, login and password settings, and a handful of options that shape how they experience Synergist day to day.
Disable tabs and hide unused tabs
These two settings both relate to how tabs display, but they affect different things.
Disable tabs changes the main Synergist display so that open records and lists don't show as tabs across the top. This is the default behaviour for that user on login, though they can switch it for their own session using the open tabs menu.
Hide unused tabs only affects jobs and phases. Switch it on and a job or phase will only display the tabs that actually contain data. For example, if no billing plan has been entered, the Billing plan tab won't show. Hidden tabs are still reachable through the Add tab on the right, which lists everything that's currently hidden. Once any user adds data to a hidden tab, it displays for everyone who opens that job or phase from then on.
Miscellaneous settings
- Not a handler: tick this and the user won't appear in the handler drop-downs on organisations, jobs or phases.
- User category: hover over the info icon next to this drop-down for a full explanation of each category.
- Calendar alerts: controls whether this user is notified when one of their resource bookings is amended.
- Exclude from calendar sync: if you've set up two-way sync between Synergist and an external calendar, this excludes an individual user from it. This is typically used for senior staff who need to keep their external calendar private.
- Booking feedback alerts: sets who receives an alert when this user marks a booking as Stalled or More time required.
- Default number of rows in lists: how many items show in a list view before the user needs to move to a new page.
Setup tab
This is where you connect the user to a company by creating their resource and, if needed, their expense account. It's also where you set which team they belong to within that company.
If someone works across multiple companies in your Synergist system, you'll need to repeat this setup for each one. Without a resource in a company, that person can't log a timesheet, be booked to work, or be assigned to an estimate there.
Other tabs on the user record
The remaining tabs each cover a specific area of access or activity. Most have their own dedicated article, linked below.
- Approval: controls what this user can approve, such as draft invoices or timesheets. [Link: Understanding the Approval tab]
- Permissions: controls which features and actions this user can access across Synergist. [Link: Understanding the Permissions tab]
- Access: controls which organisations, jobs or data this user can see. [Link: Understanding the Access tab]
- Delegation: lets this user's approvals or tasks be picked up by someone else, for example while they're on holiday. [Link: Setting up delegation]
- Licensing groups / Modules: controls which licensed modules this user can use. [Link: Understanding licensing groups and modules]
Weekly jobs and Saved settings tabs
Both of these tabs are read-only reference views, though you can select and remove items from either.
Weekly jobs shows the jobs currently appearing in this user's weekly timesheet interface. Saved settings lists the interface preferences this user has set up across different areas of Synergist, for example saved report views or column layouts.
Groups tab
This shows every group the user is a member of. You can add the user to a group using the Add button, or select one or more groups and choose Remove to take them out.
Group membership is normally managed the other way round, from the group record itself in File maintenance > User groups. Use this tab when it's easier to manage membership from the user's side instead.
Email issues tab
Any problems with this user's email address, such as bounces or permanent delivery failures reported by our email provider, are listed here. Deal with these promptly so the user keeps receiving system emails and alerts. You can mark historical issues as OK or clear their status from the Actions button.
Notifications tab
This lists all of this user's unread notifications. Select one or more and choose Remove from the action bar to clear them.
Tips
- Copy an existing user whenever you're onboarding someone into a role you already have set up. It's quicker and reduces the risk of missing a permission.
- Check the Setup tab first if a new user can't be found when booking work or logging time. A missing resource is the most common cause.
- Use Hide unused tabs for job and phase records if your team finds a lot of empty tabs distracting. It keeps the record focused on what's actually been used.
- Review the Email issues tab periodically, not just when someone reports a missing email. Bounces can sit unnoticed for a while.
- If someone is going to be away, set up Delegation in advance rather than leaving approvals stuck in their queue.
- Contact our Synergist helpdesk for new user training, support@synergist.co.uk.