User Account Frequently Asked Questions
User Access Questions
What are the Inactive and Disabled statuses on user accounts?
To improve the security of the portals, users who do not login regularly will have their accounts inactivated, and eventually disabled, if no actions are taken to reactivate the accounts. It can be challenging for Site Administrators to track and manage users and user accounts to ensure everyone who has access should still have access to the portal.
- Inactive Accounts – If a user does not login for more than 90 days, their portal account will become inactive. The next time they login, they will have the option to reactivate their own account. They will receive an email to the address associated with the account with a reactivation link unique to that user. This step verifies that the user still has access to the email account they used to join the portal and the same login service account originally linked to the portal.
- Disabled Accounts – If a user does not login for more than 2 years (730 days), their portal account will become disabled. They will have to contact the Site Administrator to reactivate the account.
Refer to User Account Status for more information.
What do I do if a user reports getting an "Access Denied" message and Login Warning?
There are several reasons a user could get an access denied message when they log into a portal. In most cases, the error page should include a login warning message to help determine the reason.
Warning 1: You are currently logged in as <username> via <login service name>, however there is not an active account with that login on this portal. If you received a portal registration email from your site administrator, be sure you completed Step 2 to link your account to the portal.
Either the user does not yet have an account on the portal, or they have not completed Step 2 of the registration process to link their login service account to the portal. To help the user:
- The Site Administrator should go to the Users page.
- Search for the user's account.
- If you find the account and it reads "(This account is not linked)..." next to the user's name, they did not complete Step 2.
- Send a new registration email to the user by checking the Re-register checkbox and clicking Apply changes.
- Direct the user to complete Step 2 in the email.
- If you do not find the account, follow the steps to add a new user.
Warning 2: Your account has been locked due to inactivity for security reasons.
Reactivate my account
If a user has not logged into a portal for more than 90 days, their account will be inactivated. They can follow the Reactivate my account link to activate their account on their own. Refer to User Account Status for more information.
Warning 3: Your account has been disabled. Contact the site administrator to request help.
If a user has not logged into a portal for more than 2 years (730 days), their account will be disabled. The Site Administrator can reactivate an account from the Users page. Refer to User Account Status for more information.
Warning 4: Your site account users a login service other than Login.gov. To access the site, please convert your site account to use Login.gov.
Convert to Login.gov
If user's portal account is linked with IMS Login Service but they attempt to log in using a valid Login.gov account matching their portal account email address, they will be prompted to update their login service to Login.gov. This is in preparation for the IMS Login Service retirement in May 2025.
If the user does not wish to convert their portal account login service to Login.gov at this time, they may log out of the portal and log in again using the IMS Login Service.
What if a user forgets their IMS Login Service username?
If the user has already linked their IMS Login Service account to the portal, look in the Account info column of the Users overview page to find their username or ID. The information within the parentheses indicates which login system the user belongs to.
If the information in Account info column reads "(This account is not linked)...", or the user still has trouble, direct them to the IMS Login Service Help.
IMS Login Service Retirement
The IMS Login Service will be retired in May 2025. By May 2025, IMS Login Service users will be transitioned to using Login.gov.
Starting October 2024, users who log in to the portal using IMS Login Service will see the following message at the top of portal pages.
IMS Login Service Retirement
You are currently logged in through the IMS Login Service. This service is being replaced by Login.gov. We recommend reconnecting your user account to Login.gov as soon as possible.
Connect with Login.gov
"Connect with Login.gov" directs the user to Login.gov, where they can sign in or create an account. They may use a Login.gov account associated with an email address other than their portal email address. This will not impact the user's email that is stored in the portal, which is shown in the Email column on the Users page.
Once the user logs in to Login.gov, they will be automatically redirected to the portal and their login service update will be complete.
At this time, users who log in with IMS Login Service are not required to connect with Login.gov in order to access the portal as normal.
New Account/Registration Questions
What is the IMS Login Service?
IMS has a login account management system called the IMS Login Service. It provides Single Sign-On (SSO) capability to researchers outside of the IMS and NIH networks for accessing shared applications and websites. IMS Login Service accounts were issued by IMS, Inc., to users of the portals who do not have an NIH Network or IMS Employee login. NIH and IMS employees are encouraged to use their network login accounts to access the portals. New users are instructed to use Login.gov if they do not have an NIH or IMS Employee account. Login.gov also provides SSO capability.
The main benefit of SSO is that a person can use the same username and password to log in to any portals they are a member of. SSO eliminates the need for users to remember and maintain multiple accounts.
When you are registered to a specific portal or website, you will receive a registration email like the one below. If you do not have an NIH Network Login or an IMS Employee Login account, you must use the link in Step 1 to register for a Login.gov account.
How do I link an account?
Before you can log into a portal, your portal account must be linked/connected to your preferred login service. When a Site Administrator registers you to a portal, you’ll receive a registration email (see image above). If you already have an account in one of the listed login services (Login.gov, NIH Network, or IMS Employee), you can connect your respective account to the new portal by clicking the link in Step 2 of the registration email. You have 7 days to complete Step 2 before the registration email expires.
If the user registration link expires, how do I send another email to the user?
The Site Administrator can use the Re-register checkbox on the Users page to send another registration email to the user, with a new expiration date/time and instructions to link an account to a portal.
How do I reset the number of days until account removal?
When a new user is added to a portal, if they do not complete their registration and link their account to the portal, the account is removed after 30 days. This cleans up unused user profiles and improves the security of the portals. See the topic Reset the Number of Days until Account Removal for instructions.
I got an "Error linking your account" page? What is it and what do I do?
The link in Step 2 of the portal registration email may return the Error linking your account message if:
- The link is expired (the email provides an expiration date).
- Contact the Site Administrator to reissue a new registration email with a new link.
- The link was incorrectly copied and pasted from the registration email to a browser.
- Verify that you copied and pasted the entire URL and that it matches the one in the email. Clicking the link in Step 2 of the email is the best option, unless that is not possible.
- The link has already been used to link to a different account.
- Each registration email is unique to the person receiving it. If someone shared their registration email, contact the Site Administrator to create a new portal account.
How can a user change which login service they use to access a portal?
If a user wishes to switch their login service provider (e.g., from NIH Network Login to Login.gov), use the Re-register feature to send a new registration email to the user. The registration email can be sent to a different email address than the one currently associated with the user account.
The user can click the link in Step 2 of the registration email, select the preferred login account type, and sign in. The previous account details will be updated with the information received from the new login service provider.
Use this feature when a user has switched organizations but still needs to keep their original portal account, or if a user accidentally linked the wrong login account to a portal.