Each person should have their own account

The Portal's access control was designed with the intention that every individual have their own username in the system, rather than usernames being created for specific positions (e.g. Jane Doe would have her own account, rather than using a generic "Tax Collector" account for the town). If multiple individuals share one username, there is the possibility that they may log in to the Portal at the same time. When this happens, errors can occur and there can be issues with saving data and accessing reports. If an individual takes a position with another entity (as often happens), their account can be reassigned to that entity, allowing them to keep their credentials and an uninterrupted log of their actions.

Choose unique, simple usernames

The recommended username format is to use the first initial and full last name of the account holder. Omit any spaces or special characters (e.g. Jane Smith-Doe becomes "jsmithdoe"). Occasionally, a user will already exist in the system with that particular combination (e.g. Jane Doe and John Doe both attempting to use "jdoe"). In this case, adding a middle initial is a good solution.

Disable unused accounts

If the account for a particular user is no longer needed or will not be needed for an extended period of time, we recommend that the administrator disable the account for security purposes and re-enable the account when it is needed (See: User Profile). This reduces the chance that an idle account might be compromised and used by an unauthorized individual.

Do not reassign existing accounts to new individuals

We recommend creating new accounts for new individuals, rather than sharing or reassigning existing accounts. The reason for this is that, behind the scenes, each user has a unique ID. This unique ID is used in different areas of the system to record actions that the user has taken, such as submitting data and uploading files. Reassigning the account would mean that records of the new individual's actions would carry that same unique ID, and any actions that the previous account holder had taken would be attributed to the new individual, as well.

Try to use a single account when accessing multiple entities

If a user requires the same level of access to multiple entities within the system (e.g. viewer access to multiple towns), they should use a single account rather than a separate account for each entity. This avoids issues with managing multiple sets of credentials and multiple profiles. The exception is if a user requires differing levels of access (e.g. municipal user for one town and municipal administrator for another): this can only be handled by using multiple accounts. If you are a user requiring access to multiple entities, you should first contact the administrative users for each entity to obtain permission, and then contact support to have the entities assigned properly.