What your client sees
Your client opens a link and lands on a page carrying your logo, their outstanding requests, their hours, their invoices and their files.
They never create an account, never pick a password, and never install anything.
Getting in
The link is the credential. Clicking it opens the portal.
A 6-digit email code is asked for once, the first time they approve something, request changes, or upload a file. The code goes to the address on their contact record. Paying an invoice needs no code, and neither does reading.
Down the page
| Where | What is there |
|---|---|
| Top | Your logo and team name, if you have set them. Otherwise the Optivation wordmark |
| The portal's cover image and icon, if the page has them | |
| The title, then Portal for [client] | |
| A badge showing their access level | |
| Body | Your four sections, plus anything else you put on the page |
| Foot | Built with Optivation, unless your plan removes it |
With a logo and a website set on your team, the logo links to your own site.
The page follows the client's own light or dark preference, so it looks like a normal web page rather than someone else's app.
It works on a phone. Clients often open these from an email on the way somewhere, and the upload flow shows progress for exactly that reason.
What they can do
| They can | They cannot |
|---|---|
| Read the page, hours and invoices | Edit the page |
| Download invoice PDFs | See invoice line items in the list |
| Approve, or request changes | See your rates, unless you switch them on |
| Upload a file against an upload request | See who logged the hours, unless you switch it on |
| Pay a sent invoice, where set up | Upload a file you did not ask for |
| Leave and reply to comments | Reach your other pages or another client's work |
| Book a slot on an embedded booking page | Add a request of their own |
| Submit an embedded form | Sign in, or hold an account |
Comments, approvals and uploads all need Can comment access or above. See Sharing a portal.
What stays yours
The seeded sections are scoped to that one client contact. Their actions, their hours, their invoices, nothing else.
Two things are worth knowing precisely:
- Hours are totals. Individual time entries are never listed. Rates and team member names are hidden until you turn them on.
- Invoices are summaries. The list shows the number, status, dates and amount. Line items and your notes stay in Optivation, though line items may appear inside the PDF you generated.
Your own content is shown as you left it
The scoping applies to the four seeded sections. Anything you paste onto the page yourself is shown as-is, so keep another client's work off it.
Your branding
| What you can change | Where |
|---|---|
| Logo and team name in the header | Team settings |
| Logo links to your website | Set your team website |
| Remove Built with Optivation | Paid plans |
There is no per-portal theme, accent colour or custom domain, and the browser tab still carries the Optivation name.
Emails they get from you
Adding client actions sends one email covering the batch, and an open action is chased every three days. Clients can unsubscribe from those emails, which stops the chasing without touching their access to the portal.
When a portal is archived
They see a short message saying the portal has been closed, and links already in their inbox stop working. Restore it and the same link works again.
Related
- Sharing a portal — access levels, expiry and revoking
- What is on a portal — the four sections
- Asking your client for things — how requests reach them
- Online invoice payments — the Pay button