Administrator - Configuring Departments and Permissions

In eScribe, Departments and Branches are used to organize users, documents, and permissions.

Departments

A Department represents a high‑level area of an organization, such as:

Corporate Services
Administration
Community & Protective Services
Infrastructure and Community Growth

Documents mapped to a department are intended for users in that department (and often its branches, depending on configuration). Documents mapped to a branch are intended for users in that specific branch. Users can belong to multiple departments or branches, which is common for roles like administrators or deputies.

Managing Departments

Administrators can manage departments by selecting Departments from the Users & Groups menu. To add a new department, click Create Department. Enter a name for the department, then add users by clicking Add Permission.

Permissions Associated to Departments

Users who are added at the Department level will inherit access to all the Documents in the Department including the lower level branches. Upon login to eScribe, the user will see all Documents for the Department in both the Draft Tab and Approved Tabs.

Managing Branches

A Branch is a sub‑level within a department (sometimes called a division).

For example:

Corporate Services
- Clerks
- Finance
- IT
- Communications
Community & Protective Services
- Emergency Services
- Fire
- Bylaw

Branches allow organizations to be more specific about:

Who has access to draft documents
Which users participate in approvals
Keeping documents visible only to the relevant operational group

Permissions Associated to Branches

Users who are added at a specific Branch level will inherit access to all the Documents in that branch only. In the event they are added to multiple branches, upon login to eScribe, the user will see all Documents for the branch(es) in both the Draft Tab and Approved Tabs. In the event the user requires access to a single Document, access can be granted under Manage Permissions from the options menu.