Customer/Vendor Portal

Customer/Vendor Portal Roles will determine the permissions given to your Customers/Vendors when accessing your Customer/Vendor Portal. Your Striven system provides both a Full Access and User Role option to assign to your Customers/Vendors. Full Access would provide the User with access to all areas of the Customer/Vendor Portal, whereas the User Role has a limited set of default permissions related to the Portal. Below is an example of the Portal Roles page with a description of what you can configure there.

To access the Customer/Vendor Portal Roles settings, navigate to:

Company → Settings → Customers/Vendors → Portal → Roles.

During configuration of your Customer/Vendor Portal settings, you will determine whether or not a new Contacts’ default role is set upon creation of the Contact in your Striven system. If you do not wish to have this designated as an automatic setting, you have the option to create, edit, or change Customer/Vendor Portal roles at the Contact level with whatever permissions you select.

If new Contacts are set to automatically receive Portal access, you will have the option to check the box to Send the Welcome Email during Contact creation in order for them to be able to sign in to the Portal. There is also a link on the Contact Info to Send Welcome Email in the event they have never signed in but need the email sent to register for the Portal.

There may be cases where a Contact has been given access to the Customer/Vendor Portal and you wish to remove that access. Whatever the reason, the solution is rather simple.

Removing Portal Access Individually

If you have an individual or small number of Contacts you wish to remove Portal access from, the easiest way would be to navigate to the Customer’s record in your system. From there, you can use the Waffle menu to navigate to the Customer’s Contacts list.

Once the Customer’s Contact List displays, you can select the individual Contact whose Portal access you wish to update. On the Contact Info Page, you’ll see the Portal Access section on the right side of the page with the checkbox to enable or disable the setting to Allow Access to Striven Customer/Vendor Portal. Unchecking this box will remove the Contact’s Portal access and they will no longer be able to login to the Portal. Remember to click the Save button to save your changes.

These simple steps can be repeated for each of the Contacts from which you wish to remove Portal access. If you determine you have a larger number of Contacts you wish to remove Portal access from, you can review the steps for that process below.

Removing Portal Access in Bulk

The process to remove Portal access in bulk is a bit more involved, but this guide will make the steps straightforward and easy to follow.

The first step you will want to take is to create a report using Striven’s Report Builder. This feature can be located by navigating to:

Reports → Report Builder

From there, click on the Add button to create a new report. In order to gather the necessary details for this process, you will need to select the the Customer/Vendor Contacts Data Set and then click Next.

After you have selected the report columns, click on the Add Filters button in the Search Filters section on the right side of the Report Info page to add your report filters.

The following filter options are recommended for this report:

• Customer/Vendor Account Types is Equal To Customer
• Contact Has Access To Portal is Equal To Yes

Now that these are added, click the Submit button to return to the Report Info page.

Once you have your columns and filters set, you can click the Run Report button to see the results. At the top of the report results page there is an option to Export to CSV. Click that to download your report results in a file format that will be compatible with importing into Striven. You will then be able to edit the details in this document to use for importing and updating the data back into Striven.

The following edits must be made to the exported report in order to successfully remove Portal access:

• Change the Contact Has Access to Portal column header to Allow Access to Striven Partner Portal.
• Change the Contact Has Access To Portal column results to No for each Contact listed.
• Change the Contact First Name column header to First Name.
• Change the Contact Last Name column header to Last Name.

Remember to save your changes to the file in a .CSV file format for importing.

After the import file is prepared, return to Striven and navigate to Customers → Contacts to view the Contacts List page. Click on the Import button and choose Contacts.

Select the .CSV import file you have prepared for the upload file. Before you click Next, make sure the box for Update Matching Data is checked. If this box is not checked, the import will fail. Click the Next button to continue with the import.

Next you will see the Contacts Import Mapping page, wherein you will need to make sure your import file columns map to the appropriate data in Striven. Confirm these mappings are correct then click Next.

Click Finish on the Contacts Import Confirmation page to complete the import.

It is recommended that you re-run the custom report you created in order to confirm the Portal access has been updated. If multiple Associations were created for a Contact, it is possible that only one Association may have been updated and others may need to have the Portal access updated manually.

The Vendor Portal Dashboard displays the widgets selected for the Vendor Portal, which can include Vendor’s financial information for past due balances, Purchase Orders requiring Acceptance, Vendor billing summary, Task summary, Assignments, and more. Some of the available widgets for the Vendor Portal Dashboard will be explained in more detail below.

The Customer Dashboard Configuration popup houses the widget options available for display on your Customer Portal. The Customer/Vendor Dashboard will act as the homepage for Contacts when logged into the Portal.

Similar to other Embed Link Widgets within Striven, this feature will allow you to select a URL or Integrated Link to display in a widget on the Customer/Vendor Dashboard.

The settings for this option can be found by visiting Company → Settings → Customers/Vendors → Portal → Settings from within your Striven system.

From here, you’ll see the options available for your Dashboard settings, including the checkbox to Configure Embed Widget. The settings in this section include the following:

To add this Embed Link Widget to your Customer/Vendor Portal Dashboard, you can click into the Manage Dashboard Widgets settings and drag the Embed Link Widget option to whichever column position you wish to view the widget in.

An Embedded Link Widget enables you to share videos or websites you want to bring to your Customer/Vendor’s attention. For example, perhaps you want to provide a helpful tool in your Portal, such as a calculator or chat option, or even something simple, like a recorded video announcement or holiday greeting you’d like to share with your Customer/Vendors. Using this new feature gives you the opportunity to share relevant content from within your Customer/Vendor Portal.

Striven has included a 2-Factor Authentication feature with the Customer/Vendor Portal to ensure your Customer/Vendor’s information is secure. The Customers/Vendors will be required to enter their Username and Password as usual, but will then be prompted to enter a 2FA code, which will be provided to them via email or text message.

• Note: In order to send the 2FA Code via text message, the Twilio Integration with Striven must be activated, and the User must have a phone number designated as “Mobile” saved in their Contact Information.

To enhance the security of the Customer/Vendor Portal, Striven has an Account Lockout feature. This feature will protect your Customer/Vendor data by automatically locking a Portal account if a user enters the wrong password five (5) times in a row.

If a Portal account gets locked, an email notification will be sent to the email address on record for that particular account. This email will provide a link to unlock the account.

Clicking on the link will unlock the Portal account and display a page that details the latest failed login attempts, including the Site URL, IP Address, Reason for the failed attempt, what Browser was used in the attempt, and the Date (UTC) the attempt was made. Additionally, at the bottom of this page, there is a Back to Sign-In button.

The email will also provide a Reset Password link that the user can use to change their password. This will help to prevent unauthorized access to the Portal account.

There are 3 options available in this menu section: Payment Profiles, Transactions, and Open Balance. Each section is described below.

The Opportunities option displays information for Opportunities related to the Customer, including the Opportunity name, the Contact, the date the Opportunity was created, and who the Opportunity is assigned to, along with filters available to narrow results.

• Note: Only Opportunities set as visible in the Portal will be listed for Customers to view in the Customer Portal.

Clicking on the Opportunity Name will display details about that particular Opportunity. Some of the information available here includes, but is not limited to, the Stage, Type, Priority, Location, Assignees, Contacts, attachments, and Discussions related to the Opportunity. To learn more about using Opportunities in Striven, please review our Opportunities Guide.

The Sales Orders option displays information for Customer related Sales Orders, including the Order Name, Order Date, Target Date, Order Total, PO#, Assigned To, and Approved By. These can be filtered by Quoted, Pending Approval, Approved, In Progress, and Completed to narrow down the information to what you’re looking to view. Recurring Orders are recognized by the circular green arrow next to the Order Number, as seen in the example image below.

There is a variety of information available when viewing a Sales Order from the Customer Portal. Details related to the Order can be reviewed before approval is given. Some of the information contained here includes Order details, Sales Rep, Assignee, Billing Method, Order History, related Approval information, as well as any Discussions related to the Order. The following image displays an example of a Sales Order with Approval in the Customer Portal. To learn more about using Sales Orders in Striven and the approval process, please visit our Sales Orders Guide.

The Projects option displays information for Customer related Projects, including the Project name, who the Project is assigned to, the promise date (if applicable), and the Status Note (also if applicable). The information here can be filtered by Pending, In Progress, Done, Canceled, and On Hold.

Clicking on one of the Project names will display information related to that Project, including Project Status, Project Notes, Project Manager, Assignee, Related Orders, Tasks that are set as visible in the Portal, and Discussions related to the Project. Below is an example of what a Project may look like in the Customer Portal.

• Note: Only Projects set as visible in the Portal will be listed for Customers to view in the Customer Portal.

The Tasks option of the Portal displays info for Customer related Tasks, including the Task name, the Requested By, Date created, Last date modified, Due date, the Project the Task is related to, as well as who is assigned to the Task. Can be filtered by Needs Approval, Open, and Done.

• Note: Only Tasks set as visible in the Portal will be listed for Customers to view in the Customer Portal.

Task details found when clicking on the Task name may include the Task Name, Status, Type, Budget, Start & Due Dates, Requested By, Location, Attachments, Assignees, a Description of the Task, and Discussions related to the Task (if made visible in the Portal). The image below is an example of a Task viewed in the Customer Portal.

The Assets option will display details about the Customer’s Assets, including the Asset Name, Asset Type, Location of Asset, and the Related To. Assets listed here can be filtered by In Service, Out of Service, Retired, and Unsupported.

From here, you can click on any of the Asset names to view more detailed information about that Asset. Some of the information gained from viewing a particular Asset includes the Asset Name, Type, Location, Status, Date of Purchase, Price at Purchase, Present Value, Expiration Date, and Related To. You may also upload an image of the Asset for visual reference. Additionally, there is a Create Task button on this page to generate a Task related to that particular Asset. Below is an example for reference. For more information about using Assets in Striven, please refer to our Customer Asset Management Guide.

The Hub provides access to documents, posts, and links that are saved in the Customer’s Hub and made visible on the Customer Portal. Depending on the Portal permissions set, one can add documents, posts and links to the Customer’s Hub here as well. For more information about using Customer’s Hub in Striven, please review the Customer/Vendor Hub section of our Customer/Vendor Management Guide.

The Users menu option displays the Users with access to the Customer Portal, including their name, email address, phone number (if provided), Location (if provided), and Portal Role. This page also provides the options to Add Users, Import User, or send the Welcome Email for Users to sign in to the Portal. List can be sorted by Default Sort A-Z, Name, Title, Location, or Role.

The Reports menu option offers 2 choices of Reports available on the Customer Portal.

Monthly Statements

If selected as one of the Portal Role permissions, your Customers can select a Monthly Statement to view in its printable format. This is accomplished by clicking on the Calendar icon to select the month you’d like to view the statement for, and then clicking View. See below for an example.

The Monthly Statement will provide the information you have selected in your Statement settings to be shown in this format. Details such as Transactions, Beginning Balance, Ending Balance, Orders, Projects, and a variety of others can be selected in the Statement settings. The section titles are hyperlinked to direct your Customer to that particular area of the Portal for further information.

For more information about Monthly Statements, please refer to the Monthly Statements Guide.

Service Metrics

The Service Metrics Report displays the Customer’s Service Metrics based on your settings configuration for the report. Below is an example of a Service Metrics Report displaying options such as Average Response Time, Average Time to Resolution, Total Tasks by Requested By, Total Tasks by Asset, and Total Tasks by Location in the Customer Portal. This information is useful in visualizing the progress of work being completed for your Customer.

Beneath the Vendor menu section, there are 2 options available for viewing: Transactions and Create Bill. Each section is described below.

The Purchase Orders menu option displays information for Vendor related Purchase Orders, including the Order name, Order date, Order Total, Assigned To, Accepted By, and the option to Accept the PO or Create a Bill. This page can be filtered by Pending, Accepted, Partially Fulfilled, Fulfilled, and Declined. To learn more about using POs in Striven, please review our Purchase Orders Guide.

These sections are the same on the Vendor Portal as on the Customer Portal and are described in more detail above in the Customer Portal section of this guide.

There are multiple search filter options available on the Customer/Vendor Portal to find what you are looking for, as shown in the examples below. There is also the option to configure saved searches to display only the desired Portal information you want to view.

Striven provides the ability to add integrated links to the Customer/Vendor Portal. This option will allow your Company to provide links to external websites by embedding their URL into the Customer/Vendor Portal.

You can configure your Integrated Links by navigating to Company → Settings → Customers/Vendors → Portal → Integrated Links. To add an Integrated Link to the Portal, click the Add button.

From this page, you will add the link name and the specific URL to the page you want to link to. 

1. For: These integrated links can be set to display for Customers, Vendors, or both.
2. Display: There is also an option to determine where you would like the link to display on the Portal, such as the Header Line (Menu Bar), in the Left Side Navigation, or both.

Adding system-provided merge fields to the end of the URL will assist in personalizing the links to your particular Customer.

For example, adding Customer/Vendor – Zip as a merge field after the URL for Weather.com will ensure the link includes the Customer/Vendor’s Location based on their Zip Code so when the Customer/Vendor clicks on the link, the page will automatically display the weather for that particular Customer/Vendor’s Location (Provided you have their address, including the Zip Code, saved in your system).

Available merge fields include Company information, Contact information, Customer/Vendor information, and more.