Setup Step 3: Customize Your Account

 

In this video, we’ll go through all the steps to make your account suit the specific needs and culture of your organization. Whether you set things up based on your current needs or a new goal to help shape your organization’s culture, our customization options make it quick and easy.

Custom Fields

Custom Fields are the first key to opening up Pingboard’s true power, and we encourage you to let your creativity and company culture shine through the fields you create. Most of the essential work details are already included, so let’s start by focusing on the fun stuff – some ideas we’ve thought of include: Favorite Books, Hobbies, Pets, Places You Want to Visit, and Favorite TV Shows. By adding a wide range of fields, your colleagues will be able to fill in their profiles to show off who they are, what they enjoy, the known (and maybe unknown) skills they possess, and more. And, of course, there’s always room for more structural fields like Job Responsibilities, Certifications, etcetera. With these details, anyone with access to Pingboard can view their connections throughout the organization directly from their profile, or visit the Directory to search and filter by various fields to help them get in touch with a colleague.

Now that you know more about Custom Fields and have some ideas about which fields you’d like to add, go ahead and visit the Custom Fields page under the Admin menu to get started (Settings > Customize Profiles). Choose the field type that’s best suited for the info - we have a type for just about any sort of information you want to capture. Then fill out the details, and save your changes.

Custom Field Permissions

Each field in Pingboard has its own set of View and Edit permissions, so be sure to check the permissions for each field you create so they reflect how you’d like that information to be collected and shared. You’ll likely want to keep “Emergency Contact,” private for admins and users only, while fields like “Skills” should be searchable and available for everyone to see. Everyone should be able to enter their own “Favorite Books” in their profile, but you probably don’t want people to change their “Job Title” on their own.

Edit permissions for a field by selecting the field you want to update from the list and making changes on its permissions menu. If you have questions, you can find more information about privacy and permissions in our Help Center.

Groups

Use Groups to visualize how your organization works together. Group people into different assignments, cross-functional projects, onboarding sessions, or for any other purpose you might need. 

Terms

Every company uses different terms, so Pingboard lets you change the terminology used for elements like “Employee”, “Department”, “Group”, and “Location” in your account. Whatever you call your employees, huddles, pods, or cohorts, Pingboard will use the terms you tell it to. Access those options on the Settings page under Settings > Account Settings > Terminology.

Connections

Filled out Custom Fields fuel our “Connections” feature. Once you’ve invited a few people and have several filled-out profiles, you’ll see the option to select “View Connections” on your profile page. Select that option to see who in your account shares the same interests, hobbies, skills, or whatever other custom commonalities you’ve chosen to capture in Profiles. It’s an easy way to make yourself comfortable with someone before a meeting and make sure you have something to talk about.

Access Level Permissions

Pingboard provides different access levels for your users depending on a person’s role in the organization. For example, standard users will have access to the homepage, Directory, Calendar, and Live Org Chart. They will be able to edit fields in their own profiles that you have given them access to edit. Pingboard recognizes when a Standard User has been assigned Direct Reports and allow them to create one Planning Chart for their section of the chart (a branch with yourself and your direct reports). Pro Users have the additional option to create multiple Planning Charts comprising the entire organization. Lastly, Admins have access to everything in Pingboard. They are able to set up the integrations, pull Reports, view the Usage Dashboard, edit any field, create Announcements, and more. To change someone’s access level, visit the Employees page under the Admin menu and use the More (...) button next to their name to change their permissions.

Use these options to tailor your Pingboard account to the specific needs of your organization. If you want more information on customizations and options, or more detailed steps for anything covered in this video, you’ll find everything you need by searching for answers in our Help Center.

Step 4: Finish your Org Chart

Still need help? Let us know.