1Overview #
The portal is a separate application your customers sign into. Everything that administers it from inside the ERP is reached from here: what arrives from customers, who may sign in, what they may see, and how the portal behaves.
This page only decides what is drawn. Each screen behind it checks your rights again, and so does the API - so nothing is protected by this page alone.
2Who it is for #
- Whoever runs the customer portal day to day.
- An administrator setting it up for the first time.
3What it is not for #
- The customers themselves - they use the portal application, not this page.
- Ordinary ERP work: orders that arrive here still become vouchers on the voucher screens.
4Step by step #
- Open Customer Portal from the menu. - You need the Customer Portal Admin role, or Administrator.
- Pick the tile you want. - Each opens a screen of its own; the tile says what it is for.
- Start with Portal Settings on a new installation. - Nothing reaches customers until the features are switched on there.
- Then Portal Users - create a login, link it to a customer account, send the invite. - A login cannot sign in until the invite is accepted and a password set.
5The fields #
The tiles
What each one leads to.
- Portal Orders - Orders customers placed, and turning them into invoices. Read-only
- Deliveries & Discrepancies - What customers confirmed they received, and what they said arrived damaged. Read-only
- Draft Receipts - Receipts waiting to be approved for payments customers have already made. Read-only
- Payments - What customers paid online, and against which bills. Read-only
- Support Desk - Tickets customers raised, and your replies. Read-only
- Portal Users - The logins themselves - created, linked to a customer account, invited, enabled or disabled. Read-only
- Portal Catalogue - Which products a customer may see and order. Read-only
- Access & Requests - Customers asking for access, and changes they asked for to their own details. Read-only
- Terms & Privacy - The documents customers accept, and which version is published. Read-only
- Portal Settings - Which features are on for this company - ordering, payment, delivery confirmation, the support desk. Read-only
- Stock Availability - What the portal shows customers about stock. Read-only
6Rules and integrity #
- The role is what opens the area - Reaching this page needs the Customer Portal Admin role, or Administrator - which qualifies on its own, so nobody can lock themselves out of the area they administer.
- The gate is drawn, not enforced, here - Each screen behind this page re-checks, and every endpoint checks again. Typing the address past this page gains nothing.
- Two switches for every feature - A feature has to be on for the company AND allowed for that customer's account. Either one off means the customer cannot use it.
- The portal is a separate application - What customers see, and the messages they are given, belong to it. This area is the supplier's side.
7Shortcut keys #
- Esc - Close the page.
8If something does not work #
"Access denied"
- Why
- Your login has neither the Customer Portal Admin role nor Administrator.
- What to do
- An administrator grants the role; Administrator qualifies on its own.
"Redirecting..."
- Why
- You are signed out, or no company is chosen.
- What to do
- Sign in and pick the company.
A tile opens a screen that says the portal is not installed
- Why
- The portal's tables have not been created in this company database.
- What to do
- An administrator runs the customer-portal scripts here.
Nothing at all arrives from customers
- Why
- Either no customer has a working login, or the features are off for the company.
- What to do
- Check Portal Settings first, then Portal Users - a login needs an accepted invite and a set password.
A customer can sign in but can do nothing
- Why
- Their login has no customer account linked, or the feature is not allowed for their account.
- What to do
- Link the account on Portal Users; check Portal Catalogue and Portal Settings.
A screen behind a tile refuses although this page opened
- Why
- This page decides what is drawn; each screen and every endpoint check again.
- What to do
- Ask an administrator for the right that screen needs.
9For an administrator #
- Setting it up in order - Portal Settings first (features on), then Portal Catalogue (what may be seen), then Portal Users (logins, linked accounts, invites). A login created before the features are on can sign in and see nothing.
- The role - Grant Customer Portal Admin to whoever runs the portal. Administrator already qualifies.
This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Portal Administration screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.
See this screen for yourself
The demo is the real product, with a company of your own.