Use the Impersonate Feature to View a Student's Checklist – Finalsite Enrollment

Impersonate lets an admin sign in as a specific parent and see their Parent Portal exactly as they do, which is invaluable for troubleshooting issues a family reports. Permission to use Impersonate is granted per-admin by a System Admin on the Admin Portal Accounts page; without it, the Impersonate button doesn't appear on the parent's record.

💡Quick Answers

How do I grant Impersonate permission? A System Admin goes to Settings > Portal > Admin Portal Accounts > Edit next to the user > check the Impersonate box at the bottom of the window.
Where do I find the Impersonate button on a parent? Open the student's contact record > Households tab > Parent Portal Access. The Impersonate button appears in the Linked Account column for any parent with a Parent Portal account.
What happens when I click Impersonate? You're signed out of your admin session and signed in as that parent in a new browser tab. You see their Parent Portal exactly as they do.
What can I do while impersonating? Most actionable parent items: submit forms, upload files, schedule calendar appointments. Two things you cannot do: submit a contract or submit a payment using saved payment profile info.
How do I get back to admin? Click Sign Out in the top red bar of the browser to end the parent session, then sign back into Finalsite Enrollment as normal.
Heads up about FACTS errors: if a parent is seeing a FACTS-side error, impersonation may be blocked by multi-factor authentication, in which case ask the parent for a screenshot of the error text. See FACTS: Overview and Integration Options.

Grant Impersonate permissions to users

Before an admin/user can use the Impersonate feature, they must be granted permission on the Admin Accounts page. Without this permission, the admin/user will not see the Impersonate button when viewing the Portal Accounts tab on a record.

To grant this permission to one or more admins/users, a System Admin in your Finalsite Enrollment site can go to Settings > Portal > Admin Portal Accounts, click Edit next to the user/admin, and check the Impersonate box at the bottom of the window.

Check the Impersonate box under Edit to grant permissions.png

How to Use the Impersonate Feature

Once Impersonate is enabled for your account, you can now impersonate the login session of any parent with an associated Parent Portal account.

Step 1: Open the Contact Record of a Student in the System

Step 2: Click the Households tab > Parent Portal Access

Step 3: Locate and Click the Impersonate Button

There will be an Impersonate button located in the Linked Account column for any parent account associated with that contact. To view their parent portal, click the Impersonate button.

When you click the Impersonate button, you will be signed out of your current session and start a new login session impersonating the parent. The new session will appear in a new browser window or tab, depending on your individual browser settings.

At this point, you will be able to see everything in the Parent Portal as the parent would see it. You’ll be able to complete most actionable items a parent would, such as submit forms, upload files and schedule calendar appointments. However, you will not be able to submit a contract or submit a payment with saved payment profile information.

Step 4: Click Sign Out to Log Out of the Impersonate Session

To return to the Finalsite Enrollment app, you will need to sign out of your parent login session. To do that, click the Sign Out button in the top red bar of the browser. You can then sign back into your Finalsite Enrollment app as usual.

Additional Resources