Staff Sync Functionality
Foxbright offers three options for syncing staff information from 3rd party applications to the Foxbright CMS
Sync Options:
Spreadsheet File (CSV) Sync
Using Secure FTP, a CSV file can be uploaded to a folder on the web server with the staff updates. The CSV file can be customized to what staff information you can provide. Foxbright will automatically look for a new CSV file every night and will sync your staff.
LDAP/Active Directory Sync
With this option, Foxbright will access your LDAP/AD server nightly. Using custom User Search Contexts, Staff will be added, updated and removed from you staff listings. The sync will be customized to use specific fields in your LDAP directory to map to the CMS fields.
Foxbright has found with LDAP/AD sync, some data cleanup or modification may be required prior to implementation. For example, the LDAP/AD information may not have "web friendly" building names, departments and position for the staff.
Database Sync
This option is available to self-hosted clients. With this option, you will create a table with updated staff information that the Foxbright CMS has access to read. From the information, the sync tool will add, update and remove staff from your staff listings. The sync can be scheduled to run nightly at any time specified by you.
How It Works
With any of the options, Foxbright can customize the "rules" of what happens during sync:
- The email address is used to "match" existing staff
- If the staff member is found in the CMS, the data is updated: phone, building, department, title/position
- If the staff member is not found in the CMS, the staff member is added and is set to show in the Staff Listings. You can customize whether the new staff can login, the login type (LDAP, Google Sign On, etc.) and whether a teacher/staff page is automatically generated.
- If the staff member is in the CMS but not found in your data, the staff member is removed/deleted or can be "hidden". Foxbright typically hides staff members that have a role other than "staff" and delete those with a role of "staff"
When adding and updating staff:
- If the building does not exist, Foxbright can add or flag as an error. Most organizations flag as an error.
- If the department does not exist, Foxbright can add or flag as an error. If you do not want random departments created, you would flag as an error.
- If the title/position does not exist, Foxbright can add or flag as an error. Usually the title/position is added.