A secure, branded web interface, separate from the main app, that shares a filtered view of your Kinabase data with internal colleagues or external collaborators.

is set up, you need to manage who can access it. This guide covers granting time-limited or open-ended access, sending invitations, tracking user status, and revoking access when needed.

1. Internal portal users

For internal portals, access is controlled through Kinabase Permissions

Permission

The level of access — No Access, View Only, View & Edit or Not Enabled — granted through a Role for a specific area of Kinabase, such as records, tasks or configuration.

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

Record

An individual entry within a Collection, like a row in a database table, representing one item or entity such as a customer or an order.

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 six 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.
Access Expired	A time-limited access grant has reached its expiry. The user can no longer use the Portal.

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. An active, time-limited grant also shows when access expires. An expired grant shows Access Expired and the time it expired.

3. Granting access

1. Individual records

Open the user's record in the user collection.
Find the portal access card for the relevant portal.
Click Grant access for the relevant portal.
Under Access expires at (optional), choose a future date and time. Leave it blank for access that does not expire.

The user now has access, but hasn't received an invitation yet. Kinabase does not accept a past or invalid expiry.

You need write permission for the record to grant, change, or revoke access. If you have read-only access, you can still see the portal status and use Preview as user.

2. Change or remove an expiry

For active access, click Change expiry on the portal access card. Enter a different future date and time, or clear Access expires at (optional) so the access no longer expires, then click Save Expiry. You do not need to revoke access first.

At the expiry time, Kinabase blocks the user's portal access and changes the status on their record to Access Expired. Click Grant access if they need access again.

3. 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.

1. Individual invitations

Open the user's record and find the portal access card.
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.

When they sign in, Kinabase emails a verification code and a Sign in now link. Both stay valid for 10 minutes. If they expire, the user should request a new code from the portal sign-in page. If the link has expired, they can click Try Again or Return to Sign in.

2. Bulk invitations

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

3. 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 portal access

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.

. Grant and invite actions can also set an expiry.

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
For an invite or grant action, set Access expiry:
- Never expires - leaves the access open-ended
- Expires after a period - sets a period in hours, days, weeks, or months from the time the automation runs
- Expires at a specific date & time - uses a fixed date and time, or a date and time expression
If you use months, enter a whole number. Review any warning for a date or expression that might no longer be in the future when the automation runs. Specific dates must be within 100 years. Periods are limited to 876,000 hours, 36,500 days, 5,200 weeks, or 1,200 months.

Example: trigger on Record Added in the Clients collection, with a condition that Status is "Active", then run Update portal access with Send invite (grant access + send email) for the Client Portal and an expiry period that matches onboarding.

6. Revoking access

1. Individual revocation

Open the user's record and find the portal access card.
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

The verification code and Sign in now link stay valid for 10 minutes. If they have expired, ask the user to request a new code from the portal sign-in page. They can click Try Again or Return to Sign in if they still have the expired-link screen open.

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.
Check whether the portal access card shows Access Expired. If it does, click Grant access to restore access with a new expiry or with no expiry.
If access has not expired, try revoking and re-granting it.

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

Set an expiry where access has a known end point. If the timing is uncertain, revoke access when the relationship ends.

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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