This article...

• Explains how the Impersonation feature lets Super Admins log in as other users to troubleshoot user-specific issues.
• Describes configuration settings for Impersonation, including enabling, duration, authorized admins, and notification options.
• Details two impersonation types: general (test account) and specific (known member), outlining when each is appropriate.
• Discusses security features like terms acceptance, member notifications, and impersonation activity reporting.

As a Super Admin for your site, users will likely contact you if they're experiencing an issue.

Even though you can access the site as an Admin, much of your users' experiences are dependent upon their permissions. As a result, your experience could be very different than theirs, which could make helping them a challenge.

The Impersonate feature circumvents this limitation by letting you:

• log in to your site as a different user ("impersonate" the user) so that you can
• experience your site from that user's perspective.

This makes user-based and user-specific issues much easier to replicate, troubleshoot, diagnose, and correct.

There are two ways to impersonate:

• General Impersonation - view your site using a member or non-member test account in order to get an idea of the state of the site, in general, from a non-Admin perspective.
• Specific Impersonation - view your site as a known member in order to troubleshoot an issue that the member has reported.

Watch the video

The following video provides a look at Impersonation, including:

• What it is
• How to get started
• Where to manage the settings
• Best practices and tips

TIP: Check out the Higher Logic Academy Paths page for product- and role-specific videos.

Impersonation settings

Super Admins can configure several settings that control the Impersonation feature for their site.

1. Access the Admin Interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Security > Impersonation.
3. Use the information in the following sections to configure these settings.

Impersonation Status

By default, the impersonation feature is OFF (the status is set to Inactive).

Super Admins can use the dropdown to:

• turn it ON (set the status to Active) or
• turn it OFF permanently (set the status to Deactivated).

NOTE: If impersonation is deactivated for your site, you must create a case with Higher Logic Support and request that it be reactivated.

See the Manage Impersonation section of the Manage User Data Privacy article to learn more.

Authorized for Impersonation

By default, Super Admins and all Site Admins can have impersonation privileges.

Super Admins can use the dropdown to:

• restrict impersonation privileges to select Site Admins.

A secondary field appears from which at least one eligible Site Admin must be selected.

Session duration

By default, impersonation sessions are set to 30 minutes.

Super Admins can use the dropdown to:

• choose a different default duration for impersonation sessions.

When the set duration is reached, the session automatically ends and the Admin is logged out.

Member notification

The Member Impersonation Notification email is available in all accounts and is automatically sent to users when their account is impersonated.

NOTE: The template must be Active in order to automatically send.

To view and manage this email template:

• Access the Admin Interface.
• Navigate to Email > Email Management > Email Templates.
• In the Category dropdown, click Data Privacy.
• Click the Edit button in the Actions column.
• Make your changes to the properties and/or text of the message and click Save.

TIP: If this template doesn't display in your list, it might be set to Inactive and the inactive templates might be hidden. Toggle Inactive to On to make it display. Click Edit and toggle Active to On at the top of the Message Template Edit page.

Impersonation Terms and conditions

All authorized Admins must accept the Impersonation Terms and Conditions that have been defined for the site.

The prompt displays the first time an authorized Admin initiates an impersonation session. Assuming the Impersonation T&Cs are accepted, the prompt will not display again; future impersonation sessions will proceed without the prompt.

To view and manage the Impersonation T&Cs for your site:

1. Access the Admin Interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Security > Terms and Conditions.
3. Click the dropdown to the right of the page title and click Module.
4. In the list, click Impersonation TC, and then click Edit.
5. The Name, Description, and Terms and Conditions Text fields are required. These are prepopulated but you can edit them as you want; click Save.

Impersonation report

All instances of impersonation (including those by Higher Logic staff) are logged in the Impersonation Log report.

To view this report:

1. Access the Admin Interface.
2. Navigate to Pages > Reports.
3. On the Logins tab, click the View Report button for the Impersonation Log report.

General impersonation

This method of impersonation allows you to view your site using a member or non-member test account. This is the better option if you're not troubleshooting a specific user's problem but want to just quickly view your site from the perspective of a general member or non-member.

To do so:

1. In the Admin Toolbar, click Impersonate.
2. Select Member or Non-Member.

You are now experiencing your site with the Member or Non-Member status.

An impersonation reminder displays at the top of the page.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to click Stop Impersonating to end the impersonation session.

Specific impersonation

If you want to impersonate a specific user, you have to access their profile. Then:

1. Click the Impersonate button.
2. Explain why you're impersonating the user, and then click Start Impersonation Session.

The impersonation session has an Admin-set duration. This is configurable on the Admin > Settings > Security > Impersonation page. See Manage User Data Privacy for more information.

NOTE: When impersonating a user, a black notification bar sticks to the top of the page as a reminder of the "impersonation" state. Because you're literally logged in as another user for the session, remember to stop impersonating when you're finished so that you don't accidentally perform actions under that user's account (e.g., posting to a Discussion, removing a subscription, deleting an email). To do so, click the Stop Impersonating button at the top or bottom of the page.

Related articles

• Logins Reports
• Manage User Data Privacy