In my first two installments regarding user creation templates, I showed how user properties could be read-only and mandatory in the ADManager Plus templates. I think the power of these features is going to change the way some administrators create and administer users in Active Directory. However, I am not done just yet!
The Drag-n-Drop option in ADManager Plus user creation templates has yet another notable feature: making user properties “hidden.” The feature is referred to in the interface as “Make Silently Active” and “Make Interactive,” as you can see in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 1. Making user properties “hidden.”
Figure 2. Making user properties “visible.”
You may be wondering, how could this feature benefit you as an administrator? Here is a good example of how this feature is so powerful and can also help ensure correct user creation configurations.
Imagine you have users that need to be members of certain groups. If the Member Of field is available when the user is created, there is a chance that the administrator or help desk professional creating the user could modify the property incorrectly. So, instead of allowing the admin, who is creating the user, to modify this field, you can simply pre-configure the list of groups that the user should belong to. Finally, hide the field from the view during user creation. In the end, the created user account will have membership in all of the correct groups!
