User Registration Frequently Asked Questions
What is the IMS Login Service?
IMS has a login account management system called the IMS Login Service. This is part of a larger effort to provide Single Sign-On (SSO) capability for IMS, NIH staff, and outside researchers over shared applications and websites. An IMS Login Service account is issued by IMS to users of the portals who do not have an NIH Network Login or an IMS Employee Login account. Although anyone can register for a Login Service account, NIH and IMS employees are encouraged to use their network login accounts to access the portals. All other users need to apply for an IMS Login Service account.
The main benefit of SSO to end-users is the reduction in the number of separate accounts and passwords to remember and maintain. Essentially, when linked to multiple portals, only one SSO account per user is necessary to access all those portals.
If you do not have an NIH Network Login or an IMS Employee Login account, you need to establish an IMS Login Service account ID and password the first time you are asked to register or are invited to a specific application or portal. You will get a registration email like the one below. Click on the link in Step 1 to open the "Register for an account" form and submit the necessary information to request for an IMS Login Service account.
How do I link an account?
Your login service account must be linked to each of the portals that you access. The Site Administrator can initiate the link by registering you to the portal. If you are invited to a portal and you already have an IMS Login Service account, an NIH Network Login account, or an IMS Employee Login account, you can link your respective account to the new portal by clicking on the link in Step 2 of the registration email (see above). 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 Send New Registration check box on the Users page to send another email to the user. A new registration email, with a new expiration date/time, will be sent with instructions to link an account to the portal.
How do I reset the number of days until account removal?
A portal user profile is removed after 30 days if it is not linked to a login service account. 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 you a new registration email with a new link.
- It was incorrectly copied and pasted from the email to the browser.
- Verify that you copied and pasted the entire URL and that it matches to the one in the email. Clicking the link in Step 2 of the email is the safest option, unless that is not possible.
- It has already been used to link 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.
What do I do if a user reports getting the "Access Denied" message when logging into a portal?
If a user reports getting the error message "Access Denied", it can mean that the user has not linked their login service account to the portal. If that's the case,
- The error page should further indicate:
- Which account the user used to log in.
- A reminder to complete Step 2 of the registration email, which instructs the user to link the account to the portal through the link provided.
- The Site Administrator will see the comment "(This account is not linked)..." next to the user's name on the Users overview page.
To resolve this error the Site Administrator can:
- Generate a new email to the user by checking the Send New Registration check box and clicking Save. It may be necessary to explicitly instruct the user to complete Step 2 in the email, or
- If the allowed time has not lapsed, direct the user to the original registration email and to complete Step 2.
If the user followed Step 2 and still gets this error, verify that the correct link is used to access the portal. There have been instances of old links that are no longer valid getting bookmarked. If this is the case, send the user a link to the portal Home page and ask to update the bookmark.
What if a user cannot remember their username in the IMS Login Service?
If the user has already linked their login service account to the portal, look in the Username/ID (Login Service) column of the Users overview page to find their username or ID. The information within the parentheses indicates which login service the user belongs to.
If the information under Username/ID (Login Service) reads "(This account is not linked)...", then the user will need to contact the IMS Login Service Administrator for the username.
How can a user change which login service they use to access a portal?
If a user wishes to switch their login service provider (for example from NIH Network Login to IMS Login Service), use the Send New Registration feature to send a registration email to the user. The new registration email can be sent to a different email address than the one originally associated with the user account.
The user will need to click on the link in Step 2 of the registration email, select the preferred login service, and sign in. The original account details will be updated with the information from the new login service.
Use this feature when a person has switched organizations but still needs to keep their original portal account, or if a user accidentally linked the wrong login service account to a portal.
