How to manage locations in Jostle

Locations overview

Locations is one of the three primary filters in your Jostle platform. System Admins can use them to represent the physical locations of their organization. System Admins can set the locations for Users by:

• Editing the Info Tab in a User's Profile
• When creating a new User at Admin Settings > User Accounts and Data > Create a New User
• By editing a User at Admin Settings > User Accounts and Data > Edit, Re-invite, Disable Users
• By updating this field as part of a bulk upload , SFTP syncing, or via our provisioning API.

Tips:

• Each user can be assigned to multiple official Locations.
• System Admins can allow Users to edit their official Locations in their User Profile by setting this field to User Owned at Admin Settings > User Profiles > Configure User Profiles.
• Locations are optional. If you have none defined, this filter will not appear in the platform.

Table of contents

1. Renaming the Locations Filter

2. Managing Locations

3. Optimizing the Location Filter hierarchy

4. Assigning Locations via bulk uploading

5. Allowing users to update their own Locations

6. The Other Locations field in User Profiles

1. Renaming the Locations Filter

You don't have to use the Locations Filter if for locations. You could, for example, use it to create a Divisions/Departments structure. This is the only of the three primary Filters that can organize things into a hierarchy.

You can rename the Locations Filter to whatever you want. For example, if you call your locations "Branches" you can make that the Filter name.

Note: Modified Filter names will not be translated into other languages. 

To rename the Locations Filter, System Admins:

1. Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
2. Click on the Action Menu (three dots) at the top
   
    
3. Select Edit Locations Filter Name
4. Enter your new name in both singular and plural
5. Click Save

2. Managing Locations

Creating a Location

To add a new Location into the existing Location hierarchy, System Admins:

1. Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
2. Click on the Action Menu (three dots) to
3. Select Add New Location
   
4. The New Location Form will open with the Hierarchical Grouping Section pre-filled
5. Fill in the Name of the new Location
6. Click Save

To add a new location (without starting from the existing hierarchy), System Admins:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
2. Click on the + near the top
   
    
3. Fill in the Name of the new Location
4. If hierarchy is helpful, proceed to the Hierarchical Grouping section.
5. Click Save

Tip: The Location Name should be the common name that people use for that location. Something like “London campus”, “Georgia Street Office”, or “Building 3”.

External ID

External ID is an optional field used to assign an unique identifier to the Location. This can be helpful when syncing with external software and systems.

Location Descriptions

The Description field is useful to provide additional context about the Location. For instance, if you have multiple offices, it may be helpful to add the civic or mailing address. A Location’s description will also be displayed in User Profiles next to each Location assigned to the person.

The “JostlePlex” Location (1), displaying the address as the description (2).

Configuring the Locations Filter hierarchy

System Admins configure the hierarchy for a particular Location in the Hierarchical Grouping section of the New Location Form. Start typing in the "Level 1" field and selecting an existing value, or create a new one by typing and selecting :Create a new Location: '[your Location name]'."

Repeat the process for Level 2 and Level 3, if needed, to create the level of hierarchy required. You can also select Skip this Level for any level you don't want to assign.

Click Save to create the new Location with the defined hierarchy.

Tips:

• If you only have a handful of Locations, don't apply any hierarchy.
• If you have lots of Locations, apply just the hierarchy required to help users navigate your Locations list. To see this in action, view the Locations Filter in People.

Export/Import all Locations via CSV

When you are overhauling your Locations Filter, it can be helpful to export the existing Locations and their hierarchy to a CSV file. You can then edit the structure in the CSV and then reimport it.

To export your Locations Filter structure, System Admins:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
   
2. Click on the Action Menu (three dots) at the top
3. Select Export all Locations to CSV

To import a Locations Filter structure, System Admins:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
2. Click on the Action Menu (three dots) at the top
3. Select Import all Locations from CSV
4. On the Import Locations screen, check off any desired options
5. Click Choose File to locate your CSV
6. Click Upload

Tips:

• If you rename a Location as part of your import, you will end up with both the old and the new Locations. To change the Name of and existing Location, first give it an External ID. When an External ID was previously define and is in your import file, it will take precedence, allowing the Name field to be updated during the import.
• If you haven't added any Locations data to your platform at all, you can use the blank CSV template found at the bottom of this page to enter your data upload it in bulk. However, this is not advisable for uploading new Locations if you already have existing Locations data entered in your platform, as you run the risk of accidentally removing those Locations if you don't check the proper settings before uploading or don't include them in your CSV (along with any new Locations you're adding). Better to use the Export Locations link and just add your new Locations to that CSV, and then re-import it.

3. Optimizing the Location Filter hierarchy

Take some time to get familiar with this setup, so you can get your Location Filter optimized for easy use. You can see the hierarchy created in action by:

1. Clicking on People in the Main Nav Panel
2. Clicking the Filter icon
3. Clicking to expand the Locations field

Notes:

• Your goal here is to find the right level of hierarchy that makes the list easy for everyone to understand and use. For example, if you have two locations in the Province of BC, then you can simply list them both under Level 1 (BC). Adding in Level 2 hierarchy to show they are both in the City of Vancouver makes the list longer, without really adding any value to your Users. However, if you had 8 Locations in BC spread across 3 cities, then adding in the city names as Level 2 becomes helpful. It also allows someone to target the two Vancouver locations about an event there in a single click.

• If you only have a handful of Locations, it usually best to not add any hierarchy.

To move a Location to another Level, System Admins:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
2. Find the Location that needs to be adjusted
3. Clicking on its Action Menu (three dots)
4. Selecting Edit
   
   
5. Adjusting the Hierarchical Grouping section, as required
6. Clicking Save

Tips:

• The Levels shown correspond to the Level you have clicked into. If you have selected a value for Level I, only the corresponding values will show in Level 2. If you don’t see the value you’re looking for, you may need to adjust your selection in the Level above.
• “Skip this Level” is a valid selection and sometimes needs to be chosen to correctly filter in the values you are looking for in the Level below.

To rename an existing Level, System Admins:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Locations
2. Find the Level that needs to be renamed
3. Clicking on its Action Menu (three dots)
4. Selecting Rename
   
    
5. Entering the new name in the popup
6. Clicking Save

4. Assigning Locations via bulk uploading

5. Allowing users to update their own Locations

6. The Other Locations field in User Profiles

Locations CSV template