External Portals

External portals let you share your Kinabase data with people outside your organisation - clients checking project status, vendors viewing orders, partners accessing shared resources, or volunteers seeing their assigned tasks.

External users sign in with email verification codes, so they don't need a Kinabase account. Each user is matched to a record in your system, and they only see data relevant to them.

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When to Use External Portals

External portals are ideal for:

Client portals

Let clients view project status, invoices, deliverables, and support tickets.

Vendor portals

Give suppliers visibility into orders, delivery schedules, and stock requirements.

Partner portals

Share inventory, collaborative projects, or joint initiatives with business partners.

Volunteer portals

Allow volunteers to view their assigned shifts, events, and responsibilities.

Donor portals

Show donors the impact of their contributions and related project updates.

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How External Portals Work

External portals use a different authentication approach than internal portals:

1. User Collection - you designate a collection (e.g., "Contacts", "Clients") as the source of portal users
2. Email Matching - each user is identified by their email address in a field you specify
3. Email Verification - users sign in by entering their email and a verification code sent to them
4. Data Filtering - users see only records linked to their user record through relational filters

This approach means external users:

• Don't need a Kinabase account
• Can only access data associated with their record
• Are automatically limited to relevant information

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Prerequisites

Before creating an external portal, ensure you have:

1. A User Collection

You need a collection

containing records for each external user. This might be:

• A "Contacts" collection with client details
• A "Vendors" collection with supplier information
• A "Partners" collection with partner organisations
• A "Volunteers" collection with volunteer profiles

2. An Email Field

The user collection must have an Email field containing each user's email address. This is how Kinabase identifies and authenticates users.

3. Related Data

Your data collections should link to the user collection, so you can filter what each user sees. For example:

• Projects linked to a Client record
• Orders linked to a Vendor record
• Tasks linked to a Volunteer record

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Creating an External Portal

Step 1: Access Portal Settings

1. Click Settings at the bottom-left corner of Kinabase
2. Under Organisation, select Portals
3. Click + Add Portal

Step 2: Configure General Settings

In the General tab, provide:

• Portal Name - a user-facing name (e.g., "Client Portal")
• Icon - choose an icon for the portal
• Description - explain the portal's purpose (for administrators)
• Customer Support Email - where users can get help
• Customer Support Phone - optional support phone number
• Website URL - optional link to your company website

Step 3: Set User Type to External

In the Users tab:

1. Select External as the user type

   Once saved, the user type cannot be changed.

2. Configure the User Data Source:
   • User Collection - select the collection containing your external users
   • Email Field - select the field containing user email addresses

Step 4: Add Navigation Items

In the Structure tab, add the content users will see:

1. Click + Add to create a navigation item
2. Choose the item type:
   • Collection - display records from a collection
   • Report - show a dashboard
   • Link - link to an external website

For each Collection navigation item, you'll need to configure user-based filters - see the section below.

Step 5: Configure User-Based Filters

This is the crucial step that ensures users only see their own data.

For each collection navigation item:

1. Open the Filters configuration
2. Add a User-Based Filter (also called a relational filter):
   • Collection Field - the field in this collection that links to user records
   • User Field - the corresponding field in the user collection
   • Choose to match on the Current Record to link to the logged-in user

Example: For a client viewing their projects:

• Collection: Projects
• Collection Field: Client (a record field linking to Contacts)
• User Field: The current user's record
• Result: The client sees only projects where they are the linked client

Step 6: Configure Hosting

In the Hosting tab, choose your domain:

• Kinabase Hosting - a subdomain like client-portal.kinabase.cloud
• Custom Domain - your own domain like portal.yourcompany.com

Read our Custom Domains & Branding guide for custom domain setup.

Step 7: Set Up Emails

In the Emails tab, configure communication:

1. Outbound Email Address - select the email address for portal communications
2. Email Templates - customise messages for:
   • Invitation - sent when inviting new users to the portal
   • Sign In - sent when users request access codes

Personalise these templates to match your brand voice and provide clear instructions.

Step 8: Customise Display

In the Display tab:

1. Display Messages - customise:
   • Sign In - welcome message on the login page
   • Support - how to get help
   • Welcome - greeting after logging in
2. Brand Identity - select which brand to apply
3. Design Colours - set background colour

Step 9: Save the Portal

Click Save to create your portal.

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Example: Client Project Portal

Here's a practical example of a portal for clients to view their projects:

Prerequisites

• A "Clients" collection with Name, Email, and other client details
• A "Projects" collection with a Client field (record field linking to Clients)
• A "Tasks" collection linked to Projects

Portal Configuration

Setting	Value
Name	Client Portal
Icon	briefcase
Description	Client access to project information
User Type	External
User Collection	Clients
Email Field	Email

Navigation Items

1. My Projects (Collection)
   • Data Source: Projects
   • Display Type: Table
   • User-Based Filter: Client = Current User
   • Visible Fields: Project Name, Status, Start Date, Due Date, Progress
   • Lists: Tasks (filtered by Status ≠ Completed)
2. Documents (Collection)
   • Data Source: Project Documents
   • Display Type: Catalogue
   • Catalogue Layout: Cards
   • User-Based Filter: Project.Client = Current User
   • Visible Fields: Document Name, Type, Upload Date
3. Contact Us (Link)
   • URL: Your support page or contact form

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Inviting External Users

Once your portal is set up, you need to invite users:

Option 1: Manual Invitation

1. Open the user collection (e.g., Clients)
2. Open a record
3. Navigate to the Portal Access section
4. Click Grant Access for the portal
5. Click Send Invite to email the user

Option 2: Bulk Invitation

1. Select multiple records in the user collection
2. Use bulk actions to grant access and send invitations

Option 3: Automated Invitation

Create an automation

that sends portal invitations when certain conditions are met - for example, when a client's first project is created.

Read our Managing Portal Users guide for detailed instructions.

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Tracking User Access

For each user record, you can see:

• Access Status - whether access is granted, pending, or active
• Last Accessed - when the user last signed in
• Last Invited - when the invitation was sent

Access statuses include:

• No Portal Access - access has not been granted
• Access Granted - access enabled but invitation not sent
• Invited - invitation sent, awaiting first login
• Active User - user has logged in at least once

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Best Practices

Start with essential data

Share what users need to see, not everything you have. Less is often more.

Test user-based filters thoroughly

Use the "Preview as user" feature to verify each user type sees only their data.

Customise email templates

Make invitation and sign-in emails clear, branded, and professional.

Provide clear support information

Ensure users know how to get help if they encounter issues.

Consider a custom domain

A branded domain like portal.yourcompany.com builds trust with external users.

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Related Guides

• Portal Views - configure table and catalogue displays
• Custom Domains & Branding - personalise the portal
• Managing Portal Users - control access and invitations
• Internal Portals - portals for your own team

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External portals extend your Kinabase workspace beyond your organisation, providing clients, vendors, and partners with secure, controlled access to the information they need.

If you need further assistance, our support team is here to help.