Impersonating a Member

Owned by Emily Latham
Last updated: Jan 31, 2023 by Emily Carlson
3 min read

Overview

The Impersonate a User tool allows a Club to imitate any user at the club; staff or (more commonly) member. When using this feature, you can view statements, sign up for events, update a profile as that individual without having to use their login credentials.  This feature enables Clubs to improve their Member experience by providing the best troubleshooting and/or assistance to them when a question or issues arises. Clubessential needs to enable this feature for a Club to utilize it.  The Club can determine whether they would like Admins and/or Editors to have use of the tool. 

Required Permissions

  • Admin

  • Editors (if allowed)

Before Using Impersonate Member

Ensure to use great care when utilizing the Impersonate a User tool. By impersonating a user, you are able to access their information. Make sure you get approval to make any final changes with the member. Since the system views you as that member when impersonating them, ensure to gain approval from the Member prior to making any changes to their account, or signing up for reservations, etc. For example, if you impersonate a member (as a test) to sign up for a reservation that has an associated cost and forget to cancel their reservation, the member could become upset, and the Club could potentially experience a loss of future business.

Impersonating a User

Impersonate User may be set up for Admins only or Admins and Editors based on your club's needs. Admins can only request that this feature be enabled to Editor use. 

To access the Impersonate User Tool, follow the steps below depending on your access role.

  1. If you are an admin at the club, hover over the Clubessential tab on the top right side of the site and click Impersonate User. This will launch the Impersonate User pop up where you may scroll or use the search box to find the member to impersonate. Click the member name to begin impersonating.

  2. Alternately, Admins may navigate to the Member Directory and click on the member profile they wish to impersonate. Click the Impersonate User button located at the top right of the member profile.

  3. If Impersonate User is enabled for Editors, they may follow these steps: navigate to the Member Directory and click on the member profile they wish to impersonate. Click the Impersonate User button located at the top right of the member profile.

  4. Once you are impersonating the member, you will notice the "Impersonating Member Name X" in the Admin Bar.

Accessing Member Profiles to Make Changes

  1. To make changes while impersonating, just impersonate the member and click on My Profile.

  2. You can make the changes such as having certain fields be visible to the directory, update email and names, etc. 
    If you look at the Profile Update report you will see the changes being made as that member, not the staff member impersonating the member.

How to Stop Impersonating

When you Impersonate a member you will see a name of the impersonated member in red with an X next to their name. To stop impersonating and go back to your credentials, just click on the red X.

Best Practices

  1. Using the impersonate member tool, you are able to access the site as another user without having to log in as them. This is especially useful when helping a member troubleshoot an issue they are having.

  2. Impersonate User is not enabled by default for Club Admins. If this feature is not yet enabled, contact Clubessential to enable this feature for you. You may decide who may use this feature: Admins or Editors. 

  3. Once you are through Impersonating a User, be sure to click the Red X by the users name in the Admin Bar to stop impersonating that user.

FAQs

  1. Why is this tool needed? A: By impersonating someone you can see any particular issue that they might be seeing. If they are having a statement issue, you can impersonate them and click to view their statements as them.

  2. Can I make reservations for members using this? A: You may make reservations for users by using the Impersonate User tool. Just Impersonate that member and use the tools on the website as a member would. Note: make sure you obtain permission before making any reservations or changes within a member's account.