New to portals? Start with How client portals work: start here.
There are three ways to greet clients when they open a portal. They do different jobs, so most firms use more than one.
Tool | Best for | Who sees it | Can clients dismiss it? |
Dashboard description | Your permanent welcome: what the portal is for, the first step to take, who to contact | Every portal in the group, on every visit | No |
Announcements | Time-limited notices: deadlines, office closures, new services | A whole group, or one portal | Only if you allow it |
Tutorial button | A "Start here" link to a help article or video | Every portal in the group, at the top beside the portal name | No |
Our recommendation: put the permanent welcome in the Dashboard description, use Announcements for news, and point the Tutorial button at a client guide such as For your clients: your portal at a glance.
1. Write the Dashboard description (permanent welcome)
Click Portals and open the portal group.
In the left-hand menu, click Settings > General.
Type your welcome in Description (visible to portal users) and click Save.
You can also start from inside any portal: on its Dashboard, click Edit description. This opens the same group setting, so the change applies to every portal in the group.
What to include: one line on what the portal is for, the first thing the client should do, and how to reach you. If clients joined through a self-signup link, include your sign-in address too, because the sign-up emails do not include it.
2. Choose what appears on the Dashboard
Go to Settings > Home page. The Shown column lists the sections clients see: Announcements, Portal description, Notifications, Comments and Secure upload link. Portal status is also available. Click + to show a section and x to hide it, and drag to change the order. Click Save, or Restore defaults to start again.
If your welcome text or announcements are not showing, check that Portal description and Announcements are in the Shown column.
3. Post an announcement (time-limited notices)
Whole group: open the group and click Announcements in the left-hand menu, or use the three dots on the group's row in the Portal Groups list.
One portal only: in the group's portal list, click the three dots on the portal's row, then Announcements. This list is separate from the group's announcements.
Click +, type your message (up to 1,000 characters), and optionally add a button with its own label and link. Tick Let users delete the announcement only if clients may dismiss it. Click Save.
Good to know: announcements can be scoped, and subportals have their own. If a notice must reach every client, also put it in the Dashboard description.
4. Add a Tutorial button ("Start here")
Go to Settings > Tutorial.
Paste a Video URL or an Article URL.
Change the Button Label if you like (for example "Start here"). By default it says "Tutorial".
Click Save. The button appears at the top of every portal in the group, beside the portal name, and opens the link in a new tab.
Don't have a guide of your own? Link to For your clients: your portal at a glance.
Portal groups created before April 2024
Older groups may still open on the Documents tab instead of the Dashboard. To fix this, go to Settings > Portal tabs, add Dashboard from Available items, drag it to the top of Selected items and click Save.