For Legistar to manage your organization’s legislative process, you must configure the database to “tell” the system what to do. This is done in an area of Legistar referred to as Administration. Administration is a separate interface from the main Legistar window. Administration enables you to enter, view, and modify the background data needed to manage legislative workflow in Legistar.
System administrators can determine the order of agenda items, the actions that can be taken by various meeting bodies, vote types, etc. In addition, system administrators establish and maintain user security, permissions, and restrictions in Legistar Administration. Legistar Administration is set up for best practices, and users can configure it to meet their organization’s needs. Legistar is a flexible and configurable application, and Administration is what makes this possible.
Setting up Administration correctly allows you to streamline the entire legislative process, and maximize the functionality of Legistar.
Launching Legistar
Before you sign in to Legistar you must have a user account and password. If you do not have these credentials yet, please contact your System Administrator. If you do not have a Legistar icon on your desktop, go to Start > Programs > Legistar 5 to open the program. You can create a Legistar desktop shortcut by navigating to Start > Programs and dragging and dropping Legistar 5 onto your desktop.
Double-click the Legistar icon on your desktop.
Enter your User Name and Password in the Sign In window. Your password is case sensitive.
Note: If you lose your user name and password, please contact your Legistar system administrator.
Select your live database from the drop-down menu.
Verify the Local radio button is selected unless instructed by your project team to use the Remote option.
Note: When you sign in to Legistar and access administration for the first time, you see default data already in the system; this is the Legistar model database. This database is intended to make your setup easier and more efficient. The default data is standardized and represents typical legislative procedure.
Navigating Administration
Legistar’s Administration is organized in a tree hierarchy. Click the plus (+) sign to expand each level of the tree hierarchy, and click the minus (-) sign to close each level. To navigate to a different screen, click the name of the level in the hierarchy. Many of the top level items also contain settings; they are not just titles, in many cases.
Common Screen Functionality in Administration
Screens have a similar look and feel throughout Administration. After you select a section from the left menu, the screen associated with the section often contains tabs of additional details for the section.
The screen is divided into two areas, the workspace at the top and the grid displaying all entries at the bottom. When you select a record from the bottom portion grid lines, details of the record appear in the workspace above for editing.
Tip: All fields with an asterisk are required fields.
Header Buttons
A row of buttons runs across the top of the screen; these are referred to as header buttons. They function primarily the same way in terms of how you access, edit, and add data. The following figure illustrates these buttons:
Button
Description
New
Enables you to create a new record. For example, if you click New in the People section, you are creating a new person record.
Tools
Gives you access to a variety of different options and functions depending on the screen. See The Tools Menu below for more information.
Save
Enables you to save any changes made since accessing the screen.
Delete
Removes the selected record. The system prompts you to confirm this action.
Report
Produces a report that summarizes the information on the screen.
Search
Enables you to search for a specific entry.
Clear
Clears display information.
Help
Contains information on specific fields as well as many of the process steps found in this manual. Each screen has a Help button that covers the relevant screen.
The Tools Menu
The Tools menu changes depending on the screen. However, some of the options are consistent throughout Administration. The following figure illustrates some of the selections that appear in this drop-down menu:
Selection
Description
Undo
Reverts any changes that you made back to what they were before the last save.
Refresh
Re-sorts lists to include changes that were made since you began work on that screen.
Criteria
Enables you to select your view of records depending on their status. The default is Show Active Records Only (with a checkmark). To see all records, remove the checkmark by deselecting Show Active Records Only. Select Show Active Records Only again to display only active records again.
Currently Logged On
Enables you to view a list of users currently logged on to Administration.
Regenerate Sort Order
Enables you to regenerate the sort order of the records by sort order number.
Regenerate Sort Order By Name
Enables you to regenerate the sort order of the records by name.
Sort Order
The sort order controls the way items are displayed on the screen, listed in drop-down fields and displayed on reports. To change the sort order, use the arrows on the right side of the grid in which they are displayed. To move an item up, select it by clicking on it (it becomes highlighted), then click the Up arrow until the item is in the position you want. To move an item down, select it by clicking on it, then click the Down arrow until the item is in the position you want.
Configuring Site Information
Use the Site Information screen to change the name and address of your organization, and upload images of your logo to populate your cover page and report headers.
Changing Organization Name and Address
(Required) Enter a new name in the Government Name field.
Enter an address in the Address field.
Click Save.
From the left menu, click Site Information.
Changing Organization Logos
Click Import next to Cover Page Logo.
Navigate to the logo you wish to upload. The file type should be jpg or bmp.
Note: The Cover Page logo must not exceed 500 x 500 pixels.
Click Open.
Click Import next to Report Header Logo.
Navigate to the logo you wish to upload. The file type should be jpg or bmp.
Note: The Report Header logo must not exceed 300 x 300 pixels.
