Passwords
When a new user is added to the system, the password is set to 'password' when you click on the Defaults button. (You can also return it to this default using the same button.) Potentially this creates the possibility of unauthorised access until it is replaced by a proper password. A new user should therefore be instructed to set up a proper password immediately. They should be advised to use a combination of letters and numbers which must be at least six characters long. Users should be encouraged to change their password at least once a term. If the member of staff (e.g. a non-teacher) will not be accessing the database, set the User level to 0. These fields can be reset by clicking the Clear system button. The Reset password button resets the user's password to 'password' or generates a new password Email depending on which system you are using.
Note: if you are using the Alternative Password Method then an Email is created containing a system-generated password when you click the Defaults button. You must have already set an Email address for you new user.
Menu allocation
You can set up any number of menus on SchoolBase®. You can choose the names and content of these as you wish. For your own record (as DBA) and for anyone else whom you want to have access to all menus, you should tick the Full menu system box (arrowed in red above). This causes a dropdown to appear at the bottom of your menu page, where you can select any menu. For other users you can select as many menus as they need. If you select two or more menus all the selected menus will be listed on the left of menu form when they log on. The default menu is the first one in the list. For a user with access to the full menu system, you should add only the default menu to this list.
Typically the list of menus will include:
Staff - members of the teaching staff
Secretarial - school office staff
Senior Management - the Senior Management Team
Heads of Department
Admissions - the Registrar
Director of Studies
Examinations Officer
Lookup Tables - the system dictionary
Bursary
Medical Staff
Other menus may be added where people have special responsibilities such as Calendar Secretary or Transport Manager.
When a new user is created the Database Manager assigns them one or more of these menus. Each menu has a number of forms or reports allocated to it by the Database Manager and only these are accessible to the user.
Other settings
AD Log on name - this is the Active Directory log on name used by the user if the school makes use of SchoolBase Online. These can be generated centrally using the Active Directory Username Generation form.
User level (access level). This is selected from a dropdown. If a form or report has an access level lower than the one allocated to a user, it will not appear on their menu, even though it appears as an item on one of their allocated menus. It is a good idea to give forms which have a specialised and limited use a higher access level than those accessed by most staff. (See Forms and Reports.) If this level is set to 0 the member of staff will not be able to access SchoolBase.
Secure documents access - if this box is ticked then the user will be able to view documents attached to a pupil record which are marked as secure. See Secure documents for more information.
Security level - Only if a level is selected here will the user see the Secure notes button on the pupil record. The level determines which documents the user sees and at what maximum level they can themselves create secure notes.
Protected - Where the norm is to allow access to the records of other staff, you can place selected records off limits, allowing only certain staff to see them. Ticking this box places this record in the protected category. Ticking the adjacent box allows this user access to protected records.
