If you are using or thinking about having multi-locations, then chances are you have multiple divisions that operate under one business. As a business owner, having multi-location accounts makes it easier to navigate between divisions to set up employees, schedule & dispatch jobs, or run reports. This article will go over the basic setup and information needed to successfully run your multi-locations using ZenMaid.
ZenMaid operates best when used with Google Chrome as your web browser. You can download it here if you are not using it yet: https://www.google.com/chrome/.
Next, you will create two profiles or a second profile if you are already a Chrome user.
Think of profiles as different identities you can switch between. They gather up all the usual browsing data—passwords, bookmarks, your browsing history—and keep them in separate buckets. In this case, you will use each profile per location.
Here's how to get profiles working in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. As yet, the feature isn't available in Apple's Safari and we do not recommend that you use Safari with ZenMaid. You can also use apps, plug-ins, and extensions such as Multi Login at https://multilogin.com/.
Google Chrome
To add a new profile to Chrome, click the profile icon up in the top right corner—what it looks like will depend on how your browser is set up (it will show your current Google account avatar if you're signed in), but it's the one immediately to the left of the three dots that lead to the main Google Chrome menu.
Click Add to start the process of creating a new profile: You'll be asked to give the new profile a name, and you'll need to choose a picture from the gallery provided. You then get a brand-new Chrome window, with no history or bookmarks or anything else—it's like you've just installed Google Chrome again for the first time.
You don't have to link a Google account to this profile, but you can if you want: Just click the profile button again (top right) and choose Turn on sync. After you've signed in to your account, you can get at all the passwords, browsing history, and other data associated with this Google account. If you don't sign in, this data is simply kept locally.
The same drop-down menu lets you switch between profiles; you can also select Guest to get yourself a nice and clean Chrome window without having to make a new profile. Click the cog icon and a new dialog box appears—from here you can jump to any of your profiles, and delete any that you no longer need.
Each profile operates independently in its own Chrome window, so you can have different Gmail or Twitter accounts open in different windows, for example—just switch between them like you would any other windows on your operating system. Note that profiles are local to particular computers—Chrome doesn't sync them across devices using your Google account.
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge is based on the same Chromium code as Google Chrome is, so the process of creating and switching between profiles isn't all that different. Click the profile icon in the top right corner, just to the left of the three dots—it may well be showing your Microsoft account avatar—and then choose Add Profile and Add.
You get a new window and a new profile, called simply Profile 2. Click the same profile icon as before (top right), then Manage profile settings to make this profile a bit more personalized: You're able to change the name and the icon of the profile to make it easier to recognize in the list.
Profiles can be associated with a Microsoft account, but they don't have to be. If they're not, browsing data like passwords and history is just kept locally. Click the profile icon and then Sign in if you want to link a Microsoft account—you can have a different account for each profile.
You can also get at your profile data by clicking the three dots (top right) to open the Edge menu, then choosing Settings and Profiles. From this screen, you're able to manage, add, and delete profiles. As with Chrome, data is kept separate in each individual window, and your profiles aren't synced across multiple devices.
From Profiles in Settings click Profile preferences and you can enable a feature called Automatic profile switching: If this is turned on, Edge will attempt to recognize whether or not links you're opening are related to your work and prompt you to switch profiles to (or from) your professional account if needed—it can then remember your choice for the next time.