How to add a user and set permission levels

When you start a new Landscape subscription, you are the only user. You can add users to your account and set the permissions of those users according to their role within the organization. All qualified non-profit organizations get an unlimited number of users. Once someone is added as a user you can assign them as a Team Lead, Team Member, or assign tasks to them.

Adding a user

To add users to your subscription, click on the settings button in the upper right of the main navigation bar, then hover over 'Account' and select 'Users'. You will be taken to the user list. Note that you must be an administrator to add users. If you would like to become an administrator, ask an administrator at your organization to change your permission role.

Click on the '+' button next to 'User List' to add a new user.

Fill out the new user information.

Enter an email address to use as the user name - This is the email address the user will use to log in. It is possible for a user to access multiple Landscape accounts with the same email address. All they have to do is switch between accounts.

Choose a contact to associate with the user - Landscape needs to associate a contact record with the user information. You can either link an existing contact record in Landscape to this user, or you can create a new user (click 'Create New' in the bottom right). If you choose 'Create New', then you'll be prompted to enter a Display Name field.

Select a permission role for the user - There are several default permission roles (Administrator, Volunteer, User), however you can also add your own. See the next section of this article for more on that. Only administrators have access to settings. If a user is assigned to more than one role, then the least restrictive role will be applied.

Select what Landscape interface you want them to have

  • Standard - is the standard web experience that you see when you're in Landscape. You have access to any record, as well as access to the portfolio page, data viewer, projects, etc.
  • Dashboard - The user will only be able to see the dashboard. Note that you can choose which Dashboard is the default dashboard for added users in 'General' settings.
  • Portal - Is a special interface designed for volunteer users. The Portal interface presents users with a list of site visits that belong to records to which they are assigned to as Team members. Users can then fill out forms, generate reports, and see map data. They cannot interact with other work types, however they can see map data that belongs to those work records. The mobile app experience remains unchanged for these users. For more on the portal interface, see this article.
  • Mobile - The user can only use the mobile app to gather site visit data. They cannot sign into the desktop app. This setting applies the Portal settings to Landscape Mobile, so these users will only see records to which they are assigned as Team Members.

Tip: If you've created a special dashboard that you would like the user to be presented with when they log in, you can change which dashboard layout is the default for new users by going to Settings > Account > General Settings. Users can also manually switch between dashboards from the dashboard screen.

After you click 'OK', you'll be shown a confirmation message along with their temporary password.


If you select 'Yes', then an email will be sent to that user along with that temporary password. They can then log in and change that password. If you select 'No' then you can always send them an invitation to join later from the user list.

You can send an email invitation to a user at any time by selecting the check box next to their username and clicking the letter icon next to 'user list'. You can also use this feature to send multiple invitations at once by selecting multiple users at once.


Troubleshooting Common Login Problems

Password won't function - The user can use the 'Forgot Password?' link on the Landscape login page to reset their password via email.

'I'm in the wrong account!' - As long as the user has been added to the correct account as well, they can switch between accounts by going to the Profile page (person icon in the upper right corner) and selecting the correct account from the 'Current Subscription' list. If no list is visible from the profile page, it means that they haven't been added to both accounts.

User Status

Once added, a user can be either 'Enabled' or 'Disabled' according to this setting. If a user's status is set to 'Disabled' then they will no longer have access to your account.


Deleting a user

You can delete a user by selecting the check box next to their name and selecting the trash can next to 'User List'.

If you delete a user, they will no longer have access to the account. The contact data and associated data will remain in place after the user is deleted. For example, you will not lose any information on past site visits that the person performed or communications that they entered.

You'll first be asked if you want to permanently delete the user. You can re-add them later if needed, but their user data will be lost. Choose 'Yes'.

You then have the option to Transfer Data from that user to another user. This option allows you to copy special views and dashboard widgets that have been shared and 'belong' to that user. Choose the user you would like to copy the data to (usually an administrator) and click 'OK'. If you don't need to copy anything, select 'Nobody'.

Defining custom permissions

Permissions roles/groups can be used to define specific allowed behaviors by users that are assigned to that group. For example, you may have a stewardship group that can only add site visit work to sites to which they are assigned, but can't create entirely new property records.

These options were specially created for large conservation organizations with many staff members with well defined roles. If you're a smaller organization then the default set of permissions groups should suffice, as staff members at smaller orgs often need to be very flexible in what kind of work they're handling day to day.


To access permissions settings, hover over 'Account' and select 'Permissions'

Add a new permission group by clicking on the '+' button next to 'User Permission Groups'. Give the group a name.

You can then define what that group can do. Each item in the permissions list has the same set of options available:


Portfolio/Projects Options

The 'Portfolio Records' and 'Projects' settings determine whether that permission group can create/edit/delete those entire records or the details sections of those records. You can set these to 'No' and users will still be able to add work to those records (if the settings allow).

Can Create

Yes - Can create this item

No - Cannot create this item

Can Edit

None - Cannot edit any of these items

When a user created the item - User can edit only when they are the ones who created it.

When lead on associated record or project - Records and projects can be assigned a single Team Lead. This means they could edit it if they were assigned as Team Lead.

When on team or lead on associated record or project - Records and projects can be assigned multiple team members. This is very useful for assigning volunteers or staff certain properties and making sure they only edit those records that belong to items to which they are assigned.

Any - User can edit any item

Can Delete

Contains the same options as 'can edit', but instead determine when the user can delete an item instead of edit it.

Work Items options

These settings determine which work items the permission group can create, update, and delete. Note that you can use the 'Set All' feature to set permissions for all items at once. If you wanted to restrict all but a few work items, then you could use this option to set restrictive access for all at once, and then go back and add more abilities to the few work items you wanted to permit the user to use.

Can Create

None - Cannot create this work item.

When lead on associated record or project - Can only create this item if designated as team lead in the portfolio record or project.

When on team or lead on associated record or project - Can only create this item if designated as team member or team lead in the portfolio record or project.

Any - Can create this work item with no restrictions.

Can Update

None - Cannot update/edit any of these items

When user created the item - User can edit only when they are the ones who created it. This is useful if you'd like to users to be able to edit things like site visits they created, but not those created by others.

When lead on associated record or project - User needs to be a team lead in order to edit work contained within the project or portfolio record.

When on team or lead on associated record or project - User needs to be a team lead or team member on project or portfolio record which contains the work in order to edit work.

Any - User can edit any item

Can Delete

Contains the same options as 'can edit', but instead determine when the user can delete an item instead of edit it. Note that these options apply to the deletion of entire work records, not the text fields or items within them. So a user with all of these set to 'none' could still delete a document from inside a work item if their 'Can Update' permissions allowed it.

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