Account Settings - Portal

Method provides an out-of-the-box portal for your customers to sign into and view and pay for transactions.

Features

• Create a single url to put on your website or share with customers.
  Example: http://signin.methodportal.com/YourNameHere
• Brand the portal with your own logo.
• It's easily managed. Any contact with an email address can log in.
• Transaction email notifications sent to your customers will link to new portal.
• The portal is secure; it requires an authentication code to log in.
• Password-less authentication - no more headache having to remember passwords for portal users.  Securely sign in with email code.
• Customers who log in will be authenticated for 30 days if they use the same browser. If they change browsers or machines, they will need to re-authenticate.
• In application login popups within the portal.
• Auto-login for users already authenticated that close and reopen browser or access the portal sign in page.
• Easier, centralized portal navigation management.
• Easy mobile sign in with email link. 

Portal Settings

To configure your portal, you will need to click the preferences icon in the upper corner and select Account Settings.

Within your Account Settings, click the Portal heading. 

This will bring you to the Portal Settings where you can configure the following three sections:

• Sign In - Edit portal access and sign in
• Screens - View a list of screens that are accessible by guest users
• Navigation & Sign In As - Edit the links and style of the navigation and test out your users' portal experience

Configuring Portal Sign In

This screen allows you to set up the URL and the look of the portal for your customers. 

• Portal Status - Set your portal to etiher Online or Offline. When set to offline, the link will inform the user the portal is inactive.
• Portal URL - Configure the URL for your portal. If the portal name is in use, you will be informed when you try to save. Click the copy link to copy the portal URL to your clipboard. 
• Company Name - The text here will show in the header of the portal. 
• Portal Contact Email Address - Set an email the user can click to contact you. 
• Portal Logo - This logo appears in the portal as well as the sign in page.
• Show on Sign In Page - Show or not show logo on the sign in page.
• Show on Portal Header - Show or not show logo on the portal header.

Once you are happy with the settings, click the Save button. 

You and your customers are now ready to use the new sign in for the portal! In order to log in, a contact must exist in your Method account with an email.

Read on only if you wish to learn more about the other configuration screens, but your portal is ready now. Please contact our support team if you have any questions.

Configuring Portal Screens

Selecting Screens will show you all the screens accessible by the customer through the portal. You can also see the status of whether or not a Sign In is required for each. By default, every screen requires the customer to be authenticated before viewing a page.

You can, however, make a screen available to your customer without first signing in. If you select a screen, it will take you to the security settings for that screen.

By checking Allow guests to view screen without signing in, the screen you selected will now be open without authentication.

Configuring Navigation & Sign In As

You can configure what menu items show in the navigation of the portal, and you can even control which ones are visible to which customer types. The New Link button allows you to create a new menu item. Please see after this section for the Sign In As button. 

In the above, there are only two menu links on the navigation as shown below: the Home and Recent Transactions links. Viewed in the portal, it would look like the below image:

By dragging the links in the configuration, you can change the order around on the navigation bar as well.

Selecting the ellipsis on the link will allow you to configure how the link works.

• Edit - Edit the current link (see below).
• Add SubLink - Add a new link as a submenu to the selected link.
• Add New Link Below - Add a brand new link. 
• Delete - Remove the selected link.

When a link is edited, you go to the Edit Link page for that link:

• Caption - The name on the link. 
• Link Type - Where the link will connect to. Screen will take the portal user to a screen within Method. Website will take the portal user to site outside of Method.
• Screen / URL - Depending on what is chosen in Link Type, this will specify the destination for the link. 
• Icon - An icon can be given to the link.
• Visible To - You can restrict who sees the link. Choices are:
  - Everyone
  - Customers & Leads
  - Vendors
  - Customers, Leads & Vendors
  - Custom (Advanced users only)

Sign In As

The Sign In As button allows you to test the portal as one of your customers to see the portal from their perspective. 

When clicked, the right panel opens up showing your recently viewed contacts. You can also search for an existing contact. 

By selecting a customer, you will view their portal. At the top is an indicator reminding you who you are logged in as.

Note: Any changes made and saved while signed in as that user will take effect, so take care when making edits.