Once your portal is set up, you need to manage who can access it. This guide covers granting access, sending invitations, tracking user status, and revoking access when needed.

1. Internal Portal Users

For internal portals, access is controlled through Kinabase permissions rather than per-user invitations.

1. Open the portal's Users tab

Open your portal in Settings → Operations → Portals, then go to the Users tab.

2. Configure access

Select who can access the portal:

Everyone - all users with Kinabase accounts can access
By Role - only users with specific roles
Role
A named set of Permissions you assign to colleagues to control what they can see and do in Kinabase; every organisation also has a built-in Everyone role.
can access

If you select By Role, select which roles have access. Only colleagues with one of those roles will see and be able to sign in to the portal.

To change a colleague's access afterwards, update their role in Settings → Organisation → Users, or adjust which roles the portal allows.

See Assign Roles & Permissions for more on managing roles.

2. External Portal Users

For external portals, each user is matched to a record in your user Collection

Collection

A container for records in Kinabase, similar to a table in a spreadsheet or database, used to organise one type of data such as Projects or Contacts.

, and access is managed per record.

Understanding Access States

Each user record has one of five access states, per portal:

Status	Description
No Portal Access	Access has not been granted.
Access Granted	Access enabled, but no invitation sent yet.
Pending Access	An invitation was sent (usually by an automation) before access was granted - it's still awaiting access.
Invited	Access is granted and an invitation has been sent, but the user hasn't signed in yet.
Active User	The user has signed in at least once.

Pending Access is the state that catches people out - it means an invite already went out, often via an automation, ahead of access being granted. Click Grant Access to move the user on to Invited.

Viewing Portal Access

To see a user's portal access status:

Open their record in the user collection (e.g. a client record).
Find the Portal Access section.
Review the status for each available portal, alongside Last Accessed (when they last signed in) and Last Invited (when the invitation was last sent).

3. Granting Access

Individual records

Open the user's record in the user collection.
Find the Portal Access section.
Click Grant Access for the relevant portal.

The user now has access, but hasn't received an invitation yet.

Bulk access

Open the user collection.
Select multiple records using the checkboxes.
Open the bulk actions menu and select Grant Access.
Select the portal, then confirm.

4. Sending Invitations

After granting access, send an invitation so the user knows how to sign in.

Individual invitations

Open the user's record and find the Portal Access section.
Click Send Invite for the portal.

The user receives an email with a link to the portal, sign-in instructions, and your customised invitation message.

Bulk invitations

Select multiple records in the user collection.
Use the bulk actions menu to select Send Invite.
Select the portal, then confirm.

Resending invitations

If a user didn't receive their invitation, or needs a reminder, open their record and click Resend Invite - this appears for any user with Invited status.

5. Automating Invitations

You can grant, invite or revoke external portal access automatically using an Automation

Automation

A rule that automatically runs one or more Steps, such as sending a notification or updating a record, when its Trigger conditions are met.

Go to Settings → Operations → Automations.
Create or edit an automation on the user collection, and set a trigger (e.g. Record Added).
Add the Update portal access step, then select the Portal and an Action:
- Send invite (grant access + send email) - grants access and emails the invitation in one step
- Grant access (without invitation email) - enables access without emailing anything
- Revoke access - removes access

Example: trigger on Record Added in the Clients collection, with a condition that Status is "Active", running Update portal access with Send invite for the "Client Portal" - this automatically invites new active clients as soon as their record is created.

6. Revoking Access

Individual revocation

Open the user's record and find the Portal Access section.
Click Revoke Access.

The user immediately loses access: they can no longer sign in, any active sessions end straight away, and their data in the portal is no longer accessible. Access can be re-granted later if needed.

7. Monitoring Portal Usage

Tracking active users - open the user collection and look at the portal access status column; Active User indicates a colleague or external user who has signed in.
Viewing last access - each user record shows Last Accessed, helpful for spotting inactive users or confirming access.
Portal access views - build View
View
A saved combination of filters, sorting, grouping and visible fields that determines how records in a Collection are displayed — as a Table, Side by side or Timeline layout.
s to monitor usage, for example filtering on Portal Access Status is "Active User" sorted by Last Accessed, or Portal Access Status is "Invited" sorted by Last Invited to follow up with anyone who hasn't signed in yet.

8. Troubleshooting Access Issues

Email not recognised

If the user's email isn't recognised:

Check the email in their user record matches exactly what they're entering.
Verify access has been granted, not just Pending Access.
Ensure the user collection and email field are correctly configured in the portal's Users tab.

Verification code not received

If the verification code email doesn't arrive:

Check spam and junk folders.
Verify the email address on the record is correct.
Check the outbound email address is configured in the portal's Emails tab.
Resend the invitation to trigger a new code.

Access was granted but the user still can't sign in

Confirm the user is using the correct portal URL.
Verify they're entering the email that matches their record.
Check the portal's user collection and email field configuration.
Try revoking and re-granting access.

User can't see expected data

See our External Portals guide for full detail on configuring user-based filters.

No records visible

Check the user-based filters are correctly configured.
Verify records exist that link to the user's record.
Ensure field visibility rules don't hide all content.
Use Preview as user to see exactly what the user sees.

Some records are missing

Review all filters applied to the navigation item.
Check portal views and their filter conditions.
Verify the linking field correctly references the user's record.

9. Best Practices

Grant access before sending invitations

Ensure access is granted before inviting, so the user can sign in immediately.

Use bulk actions for efficiency

When onboarding multiple users, use bulk actions to save time.

Monitor invitation status

Create views to track who has been invited but hasn't signed in yet.

Automate where possible

Set up automations to invite users automatically when conditions are met.

Revoke access promptly

When a relationship ends, remove portal access to maintain security.

Communicate clearly

Let users know to expect an invitation email, and provide support contact details.

Internal Portals - set up portals for team members
External Portals - set up portals for clients and partners
Custom Domains & Branding - customise the portal appearance
Assign Roles & Permissions - manage user roles

Effective user management ensures the right people have access to your portals at the right time. Regular monitoring, and prompt action when access needs to change, keeps your portals secure and valuable.

Need more help? Ask your System admin, or contact our support team via Help & Support.

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