User licenses, profiles and permissions
Learn about the factors determining what you can do in Phocas.
If you have a Viewer license, ask your administrator about upgrading to a Full license.
If have a Full license but think you need more access to the features within Phocas, talk to your administrator about changing your profile or getting additional permissions.
If you're an administrator, see these pages for related information: Users, User permissions and Profiles.
Your user license and profile work together to determine what UI items you can see in Phocas (such as menus and action buttons) and therefore, what you can do.
Related page: Data access controls what data you can see in Phocas.
License
There are two main types of user licenses, as described in the table below. Separate, add-on licenses are required for the CRM and Rebates modules.
Designed for users who primarily need to consume data.
The most common type of license; designed to allow users to get the most out of Phocas.
Restrictive, allowing view-only access to shared dashboards and favorites.
Includes all Viewer capabilities plus the ability to perform other actions.
Prerequisite for module-specific functionality.
Ideal for users who need insights but don't perform deep data analysis or customization.
Ideal for users who need to slice and dice the data, such as analysts and decision-makers.
Both Viewer and Full license users:
Need a Phocas user account.
Need to sign in to Phocas.
Are subject to database permissions and restrictions, which determines what data they see.
Can access the Phocas platform, which includes the homepage, navigation menu and user menu.
What Phocas looks like to a Viewer license user
The Viewer user will see the same core Phocas platform as Full license users, but they'll only be able to view dashboards and favorite that have been shared with them.
Homepage
Analytics menu
Dashboards and Favorites menus from a Viewer's perspective
Expand the sections below for a visual comparison of what each user can see and do a dashboard and favorite.
Visual comparison of what each user can see and do a dashboard
This example supports the table above, showing you the differences in the UI. Note that the Full license user has all the dashboard-related user permissions.
Focus, reset and navigation options: Available for both users.
Dashboard-related actions: The Viewer has restricted functionality but the Full license user can access all functionality, such as share and clone the dashboard.
Widget-related functionality: The Viewer can only view the query details and collapse the widget but the Full license user can access all functionality, such as copy and delete the widget and open the underlying data for analysis.
Visual comparison of what each user can see and do on a favorite
This example supports the table above, showing you the differences in the UI.
The Full license user can see the menus, toolbars and dimensions, allowing them to customize their view and slice and dice the data.
The Viewer license user can only see the shared data in its preset format.
User profile and permissions
Profiles are predefined sets of permissions that administrators can assign to user accounts.
Your user account might have a default system profile (for example, Basic or Advanced) containing a default set of permissions or a user-specific profile with permissions hand-picked for you.
By default, if you have a Viewer license, you'll get the Viewer profile. This is a system profile with two user permissions that give you read-only access to dashboards and favorites.
If you have Full license, your assigned system or user-specific profile will contain a set of permissions that determine what you can do in Phocas. For example, you might have permission to analyze a dashboard but not share it. Similarly, you might have permission to view budgets but not create your own.
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