Question

You want to know the steps involved in setting up a shared multi-user ACT! database.

Answer

There are several steps to setting up a shared multi-user database in ACT!. It is recommended that you read through all the sections before starting to set up your database.

Setting Up a Multi-User Database
You can set up an ACT! database on a network so that other ACT! users have access to it. The shared database must be on a networked computer to which others have access. If you need help sharing the database on the network, see the following knowledge base article:

How to Share an ACT! Database on a Local Area Network (LAN)
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To set up a multi-user database, you must:

• Specify the location of the shared database in each user’s copy of ACT!
• Add users to the database.

Specifying the Location of the Shared Database
For all users who will be sharing a database on a network, it is recommended that you specify the location of the shared database on the General tab of the ACT! Preferences dialog for each user by following the procedure below:

Note: For best results, map the network drive containing the shared ACT! database to the same drive letter on each user’s computer. If the database is not on a mapped network drive, you will not be able to back up, or compress and reindex the database. For information about mapping network drives, see Microsoft Windows online help.

Caution: All users of a shared ACT! database must be using the same version of ACT!.

To specify the location of the shared database:

1. After installing ACT! on each user’s computer, open ACT!.

2. Click the Edit menu, then click Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

3. Under the General tab, in the Default locations section, ensure that Database is displayed as the File type.

4. In the Location field below, enter the exact path to the folder containing the shared database, or click Browse and locate the folder where the shared database is stored.

5. Click Apply, then click OK to close the Preferences dialog. ACT! will now automatically go to the folder location you specified every time you open a database.

Adding Users to a Database
When you create a database, you are its only user. However, you can give other users access to it. For example, you may want to give access to your assistant who schedules your appointments and to sales representatives who need access to the data. To give your assistant and sales representatives access to the database, add them to the list of database users.

Note: Do not confuse the term user with contact. A user is someone with access privileges to a database, whereas a contact is a record in the database. Users can also not be confused with the User fields that are present in ACT! databases. The 15 predefined User fields are blank fields supplied to ACT! customers to customize as you see fit.

When you add access for users, you specify their security level, which determines the actions they can perform when they log into the database. Each database user has his or her own My Record in the database.

Tip: It is strongly recommended that each user of a database have their own user name and password. If two users log into a database using the same login name, they may not be able to lock the database. They also may not be able to perform database maintenance or other tasks requiring a locked database.

To add users to a database:

1. Open ACT!, then open the shared database you want to add users to.

2. Click the File menu, point to Administration, then click Define Users. The Define Users dialog appears:

3. Click the Add User button, then enter a User name and Password for the user. The Password field can be left blank if desired.

Note: Each user should have a unique user name and password. Make a note of the name and password, so that you can tell the user their password. If users lose their passwords, they will not be able to open the database. However, a database Administrator will be able to reset their forgotten password. .

4. Select a Security level for the new user:

·   Browse: These users can see the records in the database, but cannot add, modify, or delete records.

·   Standard: These users can see the records in the database; they can add, delete, or modify records; also synchronize with another database or user. However, they cannot add users to the database, perform maintenance on the database, or modify database fields.

·   Administrator: Administrators can perform all the functions as a user with Standard security level. In addition, they can add users to the database, perform database maintenance, and modify the database fields.

5. (Optional) Check the Enable logon option. In most cases, you will enable this option. However, if you are setting up a user for synchronization only, you may not want this user to be able to log into the database.

6. Do NOT check the Enable synchronization checkbox at this time.

7. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for additional users. Click OK when you finish adding users. The Assign My Records dialog appears:

8. You must create a 'My Record' for each user who will be logging into your database, or synchronizing with it. To assign a My Record to a user, follow the steps below:

a. Select the desired user from the list, then click Assign Now. The Enter "My Record" Information dialog appears:

b. If you have previously created a contact record for this user in your ACT! database, click Select, then locate the appropriate contact record.
- OR -
If you have not previously created a contact, do so now by entering the requested information. Click OK when Complete.

c. Repeat the preceding two steps for any other users.

9. Should you choose not to assign My Records, you will receive a warning dialog:




The first time any user who does not already have a My Record assigned attempts to log in, ACT! will prompt them to create their My Record. The database will always open to the My Record of the user that is logging in