Adding Users

Before people start to use the website, they need user accounts. There are three ways to create user accounts:

  • Creating superusers

  • Creating users from the backend

  • Using the sign-up form

Creating a Superuser

A superuser is a person who has all possible access to view, delete, and change records. You should assign superuser status sparingly, as these accounts are very powerful.

To create a superuser, use the Django manage script to create a superuser. This script is available in the container running the Django application.

# If running the development version of the app:
podman-compose -f compose.dev.yml exec app python manage.py createsuperuser

# If running the production version of the app:
podman-compose -f compose.prod.yml exec app python manage.py createsuperuser

Creating Users from Admin Site

Only a superuser with access to the administrator application (accessible at /admin/) has the ability to create new users. To start the process, go to the admin site, and click Users.

Users link in admin app

Next, click Add User.

Add User link on User admin page

You will be asked to create a username and password for the user. Fill these out and click Save and continue editing.

Save and continue editing link on User create page

Next, fill out their name and email address. If you want to make the user a staff member, check the Staff box, and assign them to the archivist_user group. If you do not assign them to the archivist_user group, they will be able to see the admin app but it will be empty since they won’t have any permissions.

Adding extra information to user object

Finally, click SAVE at the bottom of the page.

Creating Users with the Sign-up Form

The simplest way for a new user to be created is to use the sign up form. The Sign Up form can be accessed by clicking on “Sign Up” link in the header, or the “Sign Up Now” button on the Home page. Both of these links are only available when the user is not logged in.

Sign Up link

Note

You can disable the sign up function by setting SIGN_UP_ENABLED to False in recordtransfer/settings.py

Filled in sign up form

After clicking Sign Up, an email will be sent to the email the user entered. They can click the link in the email to activate their account.

User activation email

When the user clicks the link or copies and pastes the link into their browser, their account will now be activated, and they will be able to log in.

Account activated message