Security Note: This Feature Requires Administrative Access
To access the System Settings views, your 25Live user must have administrative security permissions. If you would like any of the described settings changed for your instance of 25Live, contact your 25Live administrator.
The administrative feature to log in as another user (masquerade) is conveniently available from within the System Settings menu in 25Live Pro. This login functionality is limited to CollegeNET domain names and will not affect Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication (SAML, Shibboleth, LDAP, etc.).
Why Log In as Another User?
- Support: Administrators can troubleshoot user issues or fix user issues
- Testing: The features can help administrators check permissions for what objects and functions the user/group can view and access
- New User Setup: This feature can also be useful to set new user preferences, customize the dashboard, and select starred favorites
- Generic User Login: Administrators can masquerade as generic users, such as the viewer25 or publisher
How to Masquerade As Another User
1. Go to the System Settings View, and Access the General Settings Section
After logging into 25Live Pro as an administrator or user with permissions to access System Settings (-1), open the More menu in the top navigation bar, then select System Settings.
Image: Access System Settings from the 25Live More menu under Navigate To
Best Practice Tip: Use Your Browser’s Incognito or Privacy Mode
It’s recommended that you open an incognito or private browsing tab/window in your browser to avoid overwriting your own saved user credentials, interfering with other open 25Live tabs/windows, or affecting your experience with SSO authentication.
Masquerade is located in the left-hand menu of the General Settings section.
Image: The setting to log in as another user is in the General Settings section of the System Settings.
Image: Search for a 25Live contact in the Select a User field.
2. Search for Target User
Select the 25Live contact you wish to login as via the Select a user dropdown search menu. You cannot choose to masquerade as another administrative user.
Use the Masquerade as User button to confirm your choice then wait for the application to refresh automatically.
Note: About the Permissions Warning
Because you will be logged in as your target user after 25Live Pro refreshes, you may see a warning to let you know the target user doesn’t have permission to access the System Settings area. Go to the home dashboard as instructed in the next step to continue.
3. Go to the 25Live Pro Home Dashboard First
Image: A banner will indicate the user you are masquerading as once you have successfully entered a masquerade session.
Use the link on the 25Live Pro logo in the top navigation bar to go to the home dashboard before performing any other actions.
A banner will show that you are successful. Verify that you are now logged in as the intended target contact.
4. Continue Through 25Live Pro As Target User
You may now continue through the application as the target user to troubleshoot support issues, check permissions, or set up a new user.
Reminder: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Any action you take in 25Live Pro will be logged as being performed as the target user you are masquerading as. Use your responsibility with caution. The audit trail will show that your own user logged in as the target user.
How to Return to Your Own 25Live Pro User
1. When You Are Finished, Exit Masquerade
Image: Exit Masquerade button in the top navigation bar.
Use the Exit Masquerade button in the top navigation bar to leave the masquerade session.
2. Log In With Your Own Username
Sign back into 25Live Pro with your own user credentials or Single Sign-On authentication. You may then continue with your own actions in the application or go back to System Settings to masquerade as a different user.
Viewing Contact Sign-in Audit Trails
Contact sign-in history is available to view in System Settings > General Settings > User Activity > Signed-In Users.
When an administrator masquerades as another user, the administrator’s audit trail will show they logged in as the target user.
Troubleshooting
You See the Error: "You cannot masquerade as another admin."
- No users (including system administrators) are permitted to masquerade as users in the System Administrator (-1) security group.