Admin guide

This guide covers administration tasks for FASTR instance managers. Whether you’re setting up a new instance or maintaining an existing one, you’ll find step-by-step instructions for configuring users, importing data, and managing projects.

What administrators do

As an instance administrator, you’re responsible for the foundation that analysts and program managers build on. Your work falls into several categories - user management, data configuration, and project oversight - each with its own set of tasks and considerations.

User management involves adding people to the platform and deciding what they can access. You’ll create accounts, assign permissions at both the instance and project level, and occasionally remove users who no longer need access. Getting permissions right matters because it affects both security and usability - too restrictive and people can’t do their work; too permissive and sensitive data or settings could be modified accidentally.

Data configuration means setting up the structural elements that define your instance - administrative areas, facilities, and indicators - then importing the actual data that analysts will work with. This includes both HMIS data (routine monthly reporting) and HFA data (facility assessments). The structure you define here determines how data can be filtered and disaggregated throughout the platform.

Project oversight involves creating analysis workspaces, configuring their data windows, installing analytical modules, and managing who can access each project. Projects are where the analytical work happens, so you’ll want to organize them thoughtfully and ensure each has the right combination of data access and user permissions.

Before you start

You need administrator access to your organization’s FASTR instance. If you’re setting up a new instance, you should have received login credentials from the FASTR team. If you’re joining an existing instance, another administrator needs to add you and grant admin permissions.

If you don’t have access yet, contact your organization’s FASTR administrator or email the FASTR team to request an instance.

Navigating the admin interface

The main navigation bar at the top of the screen shows tabs for the different areas you can manage. What you see depends on your permissions - instance administrators see all tabs, while users with partial permissions see only the areas they can access.

The Projects tab lists all projects in your instance and lets you create new ones. Data is where you configure structure (admin areas, facilities) and import datasets. Assets holds uploaded files like CSV templates and GeoJSON maps. Users shows everyone with access to the instance and their permissions. Settings contains instance-wide configuration options like the instance name and language preferences.

Common first steps

When setting up a new instance, you’ll typically work through these tasks in order:

Define your administrative structure - the geographic hierarchy of regions, districts, and smaller units
Import your facility list with facility types and geographic assignments
Define indicators for the data you’ll be importing
Upload your first HMIS dataset to test the configuration
Create a project and configure its data window
Add users and assign them to projects

Each of these steps has its own page in this guide with detailed instructions.

Getting help

If you run into issues that aren’t covered in this documentation, click the help icon in the top navigation bar to submit a support request. Include as much detail as possible about what you were trying to do and what went wrong - screenshots are particularly helpful for troubleshooting.

In this section

Users - Managing user accounts and permissions
Structure - Admin areas, facilities, and GeoJSON maps
Indicators - Defining HMIS and HFA indicators
Data: HMIS - Importing routine health data
Data: HFA - Importing facility assessment data
Projects - Creating and configuring analysis projects
Modules - Installing and managing analytical modules