The cost benefit tool menu has links to the home page of the tool, the cost benefit tool, and this user guide. It also includes a link to sign up for a new account or sign in if you have an account. If you are signed in and the agency administrator, you will also see an admin link in the menu.
Signup
Signing up for an account requires that you provide your name and email address, indicate which agency you are requesting to join, and choose a password. You will be required to verify your email address using the email that you will be sent when you submit the form. If your agency is not on the list, then it has not been formally setup in the system. This requires an agreement between the agency and the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS). Contact CTS for further information. Once your signup request is submitted the agency administrator will receive an email indicating your request to join. Upon seeing this request they will update your user role. Your default role is anonymous and you will not be able to save scenarios or use the agency data. Your current role is listed after your name in the user menu item when you are logged in.
Signin
If you are already signed in to the tool, the sign in menu item will be replaced by your username followed by your role in parentheses. For example: David (Agency User). You can use this menu item to log out of your account.
Admin
Only agency administrators will have this menu item, which has two submenu items.
Upload Data
The upload data page allows agency administrators the ability to insert or replace data that is specific to that agency. For more details, please read the Agency Data Tables section.
Manage Users
This page allows the agency administrator to manage the users. This includes the ability to add and delete users and edit existing user's information. The green "add user" button allows the agency admin to manually enter a user. It is recommended that each user sign up themselves and that the manual "add user" feature be only used when this fails. Clicking on the name or email allows for editing. The agency admin can not change the user agency but can change the role by clicking on the drop-down box. The blue "change password" allows for the agency admin to manually change the user's password. It is recommended that the users reset their own password if they forget it and "change password' is only used if this fails. The red "X" button is used to delete the user. Be careful when using this because a user can not be undeleted. If a user is deleted then all of their scenarios will be assigned to the agency admin.
User Roles
Guest
Guest users are those users that have not signed up for an account. These users can still use the tool and complete a full analysis. They are unable to save their analysis and do not have access to agency data. They do have access to the universal data (rent, crop yield), and they can print out a report.
Anonymous
This is the default role that everyone is assigned to when they signup for an account. An anonymous user is similar to a guest user in that they are unable to save data and access the agency data. Like the guest user, the anonymous user can still manually run scenarios.
Agency User
The agency user role is the role that most users should be assigned to. Agency users have access to agency data and can save their scenarios. If an agency user is deleted, all of their scenarios will be assigned to the agency admin.
Agency Administrator (Owner)
The agency administrator should be assigned to a single person who is responsible for managing the users and data for that agency. They have access to the agency data and can save scenarios. They also have access to manage all users for their agency and insert and edit agency data.
User Guide
This menu item links to this user guide.