Build secure online self-service portals with Zoho Creator
Dedicated online portals for users to interact with line-of-business Zoho Creator applications and data
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What are online portals?
Online client portals are secure application gateways designed to provide external users such as customers, vendors, and partners with a single point of access to a company's products, services, and information.
Why does your business need an online portal?
With a dedicated hub at their disposal, your end users can find exactly what they’re looking for, just when they need it. With portals, these users can get context-specific access to applications, find help, post questions, access resources, and raise support requests.
Self-service portals allow users to interact directly with support processes and manage data relevant to them, like policies, schedules, invoices, deliveries, orders, and online payments.
By giving users their own login credentials, you not only deliver a more personalized experience but also help them become a part of your company. And portals already have built-in authentication and security mechanisms in place. So once your portal is set up, clients can simply sign up and log in—it's that easy!
How do portals add business value?
Besides the value of driving down service costs, a customer portal is also a key productivity tool and customer-experience element. And the benefits don't end there:
One place for everything
A responsive self-service portal will be a dedicated one-stop solution for addressing user needs, eliminating need to look elsewhere when they have a problem.
Granular access control
Self-service website portals act as an electronic "front door" to your store, where consumers can obtain products and services. By setting up authentication protocols and sophisticated access controls, you can govern accessibility and secure data. Based on a user's scope of work, permissions can be configured right within the portal.
From business websites to PWAs
Portals are readily available as progressive web apps or native mobile apps, downloadable with a click. Portal applications are responsive and engaging, like mobile apps, and discoverable like web pages—and they run on both desktop and mobile devices.
Users can help themselves
UX isn't just about solving customer problems. It's also about providing users with the tools they need to solve their own problems in the future, like FAQs, knowledge bases, and online discussion forums. Self-service portals do this beautifully—users can view, edit, and manage data via web or mobile, and access relevant help documents easily.
Up-to-date customers
Portals are highly configurable and intuitive to use—they can be personalized with tailored data to suit any user's needs. Customers can be granted exclusive access to product release notes, new feature announcements, version changelogs, and other important product information.
Integration capabilities
Online portals that are efficient often necessitate integration with different backend systems, databases, and third-party applications. Low-code platforms generally provide a variety of connectors and supports APIs, making the integration process simpler. As a result, businesses can offer portal users a cohesive and smooth experience, whether they're accessing account details, conducting payments, or seeking assistance.
Improve user acquisition
Self-service portals strengthen your users’ overall opinion of your company, by giving them a consistent knowledge base and easier problem resolution. You can gauge user satisfaction by setting up quick surveys on the portal, and asking them to review your company, refer friends, or cross-sell another service they may be interested in.
Level up your business applications with online portals
Here are a few ways Zoho Creator's website portals can be leveraged to meet business needs:
- Customer portal
- Partner/vendor portal
- Candidate portal
- Student portal
- Patient portal
- Public portal
Customer portal
A customer portal enables businesses to offer a customized experience to their customers. Customers can log in to their accounts, check their order history or project status, track deliveries, make payments, and communicate with customer service representatives or support teams. Zoho Creator allows you to design a customer portal that reflects your brand and provides a smooth experience for a happier customer base.
Partner/vendor portal
An online portal for partners enhances onboarding, resource access, partner performance tracking, deal registration, and more. It offers a centralized platform for exchanging product information, handling orders, and monitoring sales performance.
Zoho Creator's partner portals foster seamless communication and reinforce partnerships. They enhance procurement operations by offering a platform for vendors to submit proposals, handle contracts, and monitor payments, thereby streamlining the procurement process and ensuring transparency and efficiency in vendor management.
Candidate portal
The hiring process is made easier with a candidate online portal, which enables candidates to submit their resumes, monitor the progress of their applications, and communicate with the hiring team. Zoho Creator's candidate portal guarantees a seamless and interactive recruitment experience.
Student portal
Zoho Creator's student portal enhances student engagement and facilitates effective learning management by providing a centralized platform for students to access course materials, submit assignments, and communicate with instructors.
Patient portal
An online portal for patients allows healthcare providers to enhance patient engagement and provide personalized care. Patients have the ability to view their medical records, book appointments, and communicate with healthcare professionals. Zoho Creator's patient portal improves the patient experience and streamlines healthcare operations.
Public portal
A public portal plays a pivotal role in modern services by providing users with an efficient platform for various essential public services. It empowers individuals to organize public services, such as applying for permits, licenses, and certificates, public records, all from the convenience of their homes.
Additionally, citizens can stay informed about policies and updates, report issues, and engage in a direct dialogue with government agencies. This portal streamlines administrative processes, enhances citizen interaction, and fosters transparency, ultimately contributing to more public accessibility.
Try Zoho Creator's feature-rich portal experience
Zoho Creator portals simplify the way line-of-business apps are shared and used by people outside the organization. Let's see what makes Creator's portals ideal for your business:
Dedicated portal designer
Choose a striking design for each of the three pages essential to a user's lifecycle—login, signup, and reset password pages. You can then further customize these pages using the portal page designer.
Custom domain
Design portal pages that behave like a natural extension of your company's website. You can also host your support portal on your own domain, to be accessed from your business website instead of Zoho Creator's.
Multiplatform portals
With a fully responsive design, portals can be accessed smoothly on both computers and mobile devices. You can also keep your users connected and informed through web, email, and mobile push notifications.
Retain brand identity
Portals are a great way for a business to present applications that match their brand—with personalized logos, visual elements, and a customized look and feel.
Complete access control
Choose how and when users access your service offerings. Have product data that should only be accessed by logged-in users or users on specific payment plans? Set up access controls before launching your portal, so that each user can only access their own database. You can also select your portal type based on the users it's aimed at.
Efficient user management
You can add portal users individually, or import them in bulk and group them based on approval status. Define individual access permissions for user profiles—to read, write, edit, and comment on the data available in your portals—based on their scope of work. You can also add users dynamically using scripts.
Strong authentication mechanisms
Perform centralized management of user authentication and access rights. Choose between two different authentication mechanisms—single sign-on (SSO) using a third-party identity provider or federated logins (Google, Facebook)—or simply use Zoho's own login.
Customizable notification preferences
Set up personalized email notifications to communicate more effectively with your users.
Build an online portal for your business today
Talk to expertsFrequently Asked Questions
What are Zoho Creator portals?
Portals are dedicated gateways for your users to interact with line-of-business applications and data. Users will be able to sign up through your online portal instead of signing up with a Zoho account.
What is a portal user?
Portal users are anyone external to an organization—customers, vendors, business partners, and others—who need a single point of access to your products, services, and information. For example, a university could set up a portal for their students.
What kind of portals can I build with Zoho Creator?
Self-service portals open up a world of new opportunities for stakeholders to interact with your business. Zoho Creator's online portals can be leveraged to meet business needs for many customer-facing applications, like student gateways, IT support, order handling and fulfillment, supplier and vendor management, HR, sales, and help desk.
What are the different authentication mechanisms that Zoho Creator uses?
Zoho Creator allows you to choose between different authentication mechanisms:
Portal login - Using the unique login credentials generated when signing up for the customer portal
Federated login - Using your Google or Facebook accounts
SAML authentication - A single-sign-on (SSO) framework by which users can access the customer portal using an identity provider
How do the different portal types work?
Portals are divided into three types, based on access control:
Public access: The customer portal can be accessed by any user who has the link, without any approval process.
Restricted: Users are required to register and receive approval from an administrator in order to access the portal.
Private: This portal is exclusive to users who have been invited by the customer portal administrator. Users are not able to register for the portal independently.
What are permissions?
Permissions govern the level of accessibility of the customer portal for a user. Permissions can be configured in different ways by the admin, based on a user's scope of work within the portal. Some examples include permissions to access a form, or read, write, edit, and delete records. Read more on permissions here.
Do customers need to be added manually each time? Is there an option to import users?
You can add customers individually or import them in bulk. Upon successful import, the customers will receive an email invitation to access the portal. Read more about adding customers to portals here.
Can the login page be fully customized?
The login, signup, and reset password pages can all be customized to reflect your company's brand using the portal page designer.
Can I have my customers sign up for the portal?
Yes. You can allow customers to sign up for your application's portal directly, provided it's either public or restricted.
How does licensing work for customer portals? Should the licenses be purchased for every application access?
Portal add-ons can be purchased for the Standard, Professional, and Enterprise plans. The add-ons are priced depending on the number of users.
Can my employees be part of the online portal? Will I have to pay the license cost for them?
No. As per Zoho Creator's Terms of Use, only external users for the portal.
Can the admin set or reset the password of a portal user?
The portal user can use the "Forgot password?" option to accomplish this. If the user has opted for the default authentication mechanism, the admin can reset their password. If SAML authentication is in use, password resetting would depend on the options available at the Identity providers end.