How To Manage Webshare Accounts

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by HP April 16, 2008 04:08 PM

Categories: Setup and Installation Networking and Remote Access

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Managing Webshare User Accounts Webshare user accounts are required for each person that you want to share your albums with. User accounts are also required for each person that you want to give permission for creating albums or for managing Webshare features.

About the Types of Webshare User Accounts

There are three types of Webshare user accounts: Visitors, Windows Home Server User Accounts, and Webshare Managers. Each one is described below.

Visitors

HP Photo Webshare albums can be shared with people outside your local network, called visitors. If you use the HP MediaSmart Server for personal use, visitors may be family or friends such as Grandma or Aunt Karen. If you use the Server for business, visitors may be your customers or business partners.

Visitors can have different levels of access to albums. At a basic level, visitors can view photos in the albums you choose to share with them. If you select to give visitors additional permissions, they can add photos to albums or save photos to their computers.

Visitors can be assigned to one or more groups. When you share albums, you select individual visitors or groups of visitors to notify that there is a new album available to view.

Windows Home Server User Accounts

Windows Home Server user accounts are different from visitors. Windows Home Server users can also use HP Photo Webshare. If you want to create a Webshare user account for someone inside your local network, such as a family member using a computer inside your home, use the Home Server Console so you can configure their permissions for all of the features on the HP MediaSmart Server. For more information, see How To Create User Accounts.

Webshare Managers

Webshare Managers have access to all HP Photo Webshare features, including viewing and managing content in all albums, sharing albums with people outside the home network, and approving album content added by people that share the album. At least one Webshare Manager user account should be created before you can log on to the HP Photo Webshare. For more information, see How To Set Up Photo Webshare.

Managing Visitors

Visitors are managed from within the HP Photo Webshare. This section provides steps for:

To view visitors
To create or edit visitors

To view visitors

The Manage Visitors page lists all Webshare user accounts and summaries their permissions.

Log on to the HP Photo Webshare.

For more information, see Logging on to HP Photo Webshare.

Click Visitors in the upper right corner of the HP Photo Webshare to view a list of visitors and the following information.

The Visitor link is visible for Webshare Managers only. Windows Home Server users and Visitors do not see the Visitor link when they log on to Webshare.

User name - unique identifier for each visitor. User names can only be used once. Initially the user name is their users email address.
First name - the visitor’s first name.
Last name - the visitor’s surname.

Add photos - gives visitors the ability to add photos to an album. Visitors with add photos permission must logon to the Webshare with a user name and password. If the visitor also has auto-approve ability, there are no limitations on the size or quantity of files that the visitor can add.

If the visitor does not have auto-approve ability, a Webshare Manager must approve added photos and videos before other visitors can see them. Visitors without auto-approve ability have a limited amount of disk space that they can use for uploading photos and video before they are approved by a Webshare Manager.

NOTE:

If you create a visitor with add photos but not auto-approve ability, you must also define their un-approved photo and video upload limits. Initially, the limit is set to 0GB. For additional information, see How To Configure your HP Photo Webshare.

Save photos - gives visitors the ability to select, size, and save photos from the HP Photo Webshare to their computer.
Auto-approve - automatically approves photos added to an album by this visitor. Use caution when giving visitors this permission. Auto-approved photos and videos are immediately viewable by all visitors with access to that album.

Email - enables the visitor to be notified of new or changed albums. The visitor must have an email address to receive notifications.

NOTE:

In the footer of the email notification there is an option for visitors to unsubscribe if they do not want to receive future notifications. When visitors unsubscribe, the check mark is cleared from this option.

Delete - click the trash can to remove the visitor.

NOTE:

Webshare Managers or Windows Home Server user accounts cannot be deleted from within HP Photo Webshare. Go to the Windows Home Server console to manage those users. For more information, see User Accounts in the Windows Home Server Console Help.

Edit - click to change visitor information. All visitor information can be changed except for the user name. If you need to change the user name, you must delete the visitor and create them again. Be sure to add the visitor back to the appropriate groups after they are re-created.

To create or edit visitors

This page allows you to add a new visitor or change the information for an existing visitor.

Log on to the HP Photo Webshare.

For more information, see Logging on to HP Photo Webshare.
Webshare Managers click Visitors in the upper right corner of the HP Photo Webshare.
Click Create Visitor or click Edit next to an existing visitor.

If adding a visitor, the first field is the email address. The email address becomes the user name when the visitor is saved. If editing a visitor, the first field shows the user name.

Type the Email Address for the new visitor. If you are editing an existing visitor, the email address is the User Name and it cannot be changed.

Use only the following characters when typing the Email Address :

Uppercase letters—A, B, C, and so on.
Lowercase letters—a, b, c, and so on.
Numbers—0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Symbols—use only: dash - underscore _ period . space [ ]

NOTE:

After creating a visitor, the user name cannot be edited. If you need to change the User Name, you must delete the visitor and create a new one. Be sure to add the visitor back to the appropriate groups, as needed.

Type or change the remaining information for the visitor.

NOTE:

Passwords for Windows Home Server User Accounts and Webshare Managers cannot be managed from within Webshare. They are managed in the Windows Home Server Console. For more information, see How To Create User Accounts.

Select visitor permissions.

Add Photos: These visitors can add photos

Check to give visitors the ability to add photos to an album. Visitors with the add photos permission must logon to the Photo Webshare with a user name and password.

If the visitor does not have auto-approve ability, a Webshare Manager must approve added photos before other visitors can see them.

NOTE:

Visitors with Add Photos checked must also have passwords.

Save Photos: These visitors can save photos

Check to give visitors the ability to select, size, and save photos from the HP Photo Webshare to their computer. Visitors with Save Photos checked must also have passwords.
Auto-approve: These visitors can add photos without your approval.

Check to automatically approve photos added to an album by this visitor. Use caution when giving visitors this permission. Auto-approved photos and videos are immediately viewable by all visitors with access to that album. Once logged on, there are no limitations on the size or quantity of files that the visitor can add.
Email: These visitors can receive email notifications and can unsubscribe.

Check to enable the visitor to receive notifications of new or changed albums. The visitor must have an email address saved to their user account to receive notifications. For additional information on notifications, see

In the footer of the email notification there is an option for visitors to unsubscribe if they do not want to receive notifications in the future. When visitors unsubscribe, the check mark is cleared from this option.

Albums to View —select the albums this group can view. Click Select All to select all albums. Clicking a second time, deselects the albums. You can also check individual albums to select them.
Select the Groups that this visitor is a member.

For example, Friends, Family, Soccer Team. For more information, see Creating or editing groups below.

NOTE:

Did you know? You can share albums with friends and family without requiring them to log on to the HP Photo Webshare. To do this, create a visitor with only Email and Save Photos checked. When that visitor receives an email notification with a link to an album, they can go directly to the HP Photo Webshare home page using a single click of the email notification link.

Managing Groups

This section has steps for:

Viewing groups
Creating or editing groups

Viewing groups

When you are ready to share albums, the HP Photo Webshare gives you the opportunity to select and notify one or more groups that there is an album ready for viewing. For additional information, see Sharing an album on page 5-17.

To view groups

Log on to the HP Photo Webshare.

For more information, see Logging on to HP Photo Webshare on page 5-4.
Click Groups in the upper right corner of the HP Photo Webshare to view a list of groups and the following information.

The Groups link is visible for Webshare Managers only. Windows Home Server users and Visitors do not see the Groups link when they log on to Webshare.
- Groups - visitors can be members of one or more groups. Groups allow Webshare Managers to share albums with a collection of visitors quickly and easily.
- Delete - click the trash can to remove the group. Members of deleted groups do not have the ability to view any previously shared albums or new albums.
- Edit - click to change group information.

Creating or editing groups

This page allows you to add a new group or change the information for an existing group.

To create or edit groups

Log on to the HP Photo Webshare.

For more information, see Logging on to HP Photo Webshare.
Click Groups in the upper right corner of the HP Photo Webshare.

The Groups link is visible for Webshare Managers only. Windows Home Server users and Visitors do not see the Groups link when they log on to Webshare.
Click Create Group or click Edit next to an existing group.

The following information displays for groups.
- Group - type a unique name for the group. Group names can only be used once.
  
  The group name cannot be edited. If you need to change the group name, you must delete the group and create a new one. Be sure to add the appropriate visitors back to the group.
- Members - members include visitors and network users with HP Photo Webshare accounts. Click Select All to select all members. Clicking a second time, deselects the members. You can also check individual names to select them. For additional information, see To create or edit visitors or How To Create User Accounts.