New Admin Controls
Added an option to the Settings/General page that lets you disable the ability of client users to invite colleagues to their company. Also added an option to Settings/Files that lets you hide the Files page from clients who have no files uploaded. This is useful if you're only using the Files Module for a subset of your clients.
Improvements and fixes
- Fixed a bug that caused deleted clients to not appear correctly on the Invoices page.
- Fixed the design of the Messages page when you have no conversations.
- Improved the design of divider lines on message channels.
- The 'Refer Portal' settings page is now only visible to customers on paid plans.
Improvements And Fixes
- Added a new page that shows when a user is having Internet connectivity issues.
- Added the ability for client users to remove their only on-file payment method (as long as it is not being used in an active subscription).
- Improved the performance of the eSignature request experience. Also fixed an issue where files that were just signed flickered for a few seconds.
Small update this week as we're all focused on the Knowledge Base 2.0 release!
Messages Statuses & Read Receipts
When you have a conversation in the Messages Module, you can now see when a message you've sent has been successfully delivered and when it has been read. Small circular avatars indicate specifically which users have read your most recent messages.
Note that this feature is only shown to internal users. Client users cannot see whether or not a message has been read.
Improvements and fixes
- Added the ability to search by company name on the Messages Module, Files Module, and on Local Extensions.
- Subscriptions are now automatically canceled for clients that you delete.
- Improved the look of attachments in the Messages Module.
- Improved the design of typing indicators.
- Improved the design of breadcrumb navigation in the Files Module.
- Improved the mobile design of the Messages Module.
- Improved the mobile design of Local Extensions.
- Improved the renaming flow of Extensions.
- Improved the onboarding experience for new Portal users.
- Improved how multiples Folders with the same name are handled in the Files Module. We now append (n+1) to the end of a folder name if you try to upload a folder that already exists. We also prevent you from creating a folder with a name that already exists.
- Fixed a bug where the invoice preview for subscriptions showed the wrong due date if you changed the default start date.
- Fixed a bug where the Customization preview didn't correctly show your portal name until you save changes.
Refer Portal
Existing Portal users now have an easy way to refer anyone to Portal with a unique share-able link. When someone you refer selects a paid plan you automatically receive a $100 Amazon gift card.
Typing Indicators
When you're speaking with a client, it's helpful to know if the other party is engaged and actively writing a response. We now have typing indicators in the Messaging Module as you can see below.
Improvements and fixes
- On the client sign up page added "(Optional)" to the company name field.
- Fixed an issue that prevented reordering of Extensions.
- Fixed an issue that made it impossible to save the Customization page.
- Upgraded our messaging library to improve stability.
Custom names and icons for Portal Modules
You can now assign custom names and icons to Portal Modules. Simply go to the Module management page, click Edit on a module, and there you can assign any custom name. We've also added 5 new icons to choose from.
Custom sidebars
We've updated the Module management page to show Modules and Extensions on a single page. With all sidebar sections on one page, you can now reorder the Extensions and Modules by dragging and dropping them. The item at the top is automatically set to the default page that clients see when they log in. This update opens the door for creative new ways to customize your portal– for example you can connect a doc as a Global Extension, call it "Home", move it to the top to make it the default tab, and then create a fully-customizable home screen.
Files Module 2.0
We've redesigned the Files Module on desktop and mobile. On desktop, the big change is that we've added support for breadcrumb navigation. With breadcrumb navigation, you can double click on a folder to go into it, and at the top you can see the folder hierarchy. You can drag and drop files and folders onto breadcrumbs to quickly move them. And when you're in a directory and upload a new file or folder, it gets added to the folder you are currently in. On mobile, we've added back buttons that make it seamless to navigate through deep folder structures.
Extensions on the client details page
The client details page is intended to have all of a client's information in one place and with this release we're also showing local extensions. You can see the Extensions by clicking on the "Extensions" tab and, if you have multiple extensions, you can scroll down to see all of them. If any local extensions have not yet been connected, we also show "Connect" button to make that process easy.
Customize your sign-out link
When a user logs out of your portal, we previously redirected them to your portal sign in screen. By default this still happens, but you now have the ability to set up a custom link. Many of you have told us that you would prefer it if signing out navigates the user to your marketing site instead. This can now be done in a few clicks.
Improvements and updates
- On Settings/General, added a 'copy' button that copies your portal sign up URL (only applicable if you have client direct sign-ups enabled).
- Improved the initial loading experience. Portals now load incrementally (sidebar first, then everything else).
Group Channel Updates
For the Messaging Module, Files Module, and Local Extensions, it is possible to create a group channel with multiple clients. This makes it easy to start a chat, share files, or assign an extension to more than 1 client. With this release, the members of a group channel can be updated. See the example below for the Messages Module.
Improvements and fixes
- Improved the mobile design of the Files Module.
- Improved how the Escape shortcut work. There were previously issues on pages where multiple modals were open. Now it's possible to press Escape multiple times to close successive modals.
- Fixed a bug that prevented custom fields from being deleted in rare circumstances.
Customization Updates
We completely redesigned and simplified the Customization Page (on Settings/Customization). If you're on a large screen, the right half of the page shows you a real-time preview so that you know exactly what the client experience will look like.
New Login Experience
We've redesigned all authentication screens (login, sign up, reset password, etc.). On desktop, the authentication screens now show your square icon at the top and your login image on the right. The login image has an updated square size (500x500) and, like before, can be set on the Customization page. On mobile, the UI has been redesigned as you can see below.
Improvements and fixes
- Improved the performance of loading image assets. Now, if you upload a large logo, login image, or other asset, when a user loads a page that contains that image asset we automatically load a version of that image that is optimized for the screen size. For some login screens, load times are >90% faster.
- Improved the design of multi-select tags.
- Added a 'Powered by Portal' badge that shows on the login screen. It can be disabled on Customization page by users on the Pro plan.
- Fixed a bug where the Files tab on the client details page didn't show the empty state (i.e. the page that shows when no files have been updated).
The Portal Enterprise Plan
Over the last year, we've increasingly heard from larger organizations that want to use Portal but have specific requirements that require engineering work. Today we're announcing the waitlist for the Portal Enterprise plan. We expect to do our first set of deployments in Q1 2022 and you can join the waitlist on the website. Main features include:
- Access to a deployed engineering team that will work with you to design custom features.
- Custom integrations with your own tools.
- Custom themes that work with the Portal backend.
- Dedicated manager and priority support.
- Enterprise-level compliance.
Improvements and fixes
- Improved the download experience for large files. Large files are now first zipped and then downloaded and have a new animation.
- Fixed a bug that prevented some subscriptions from being cancelled.
The New Checkout Experience
We love improving the design and usability of core features. With this release, we've completely redesigned the checkout experience for your customers. On web, the new full-screen experience is easier on the eyes, requires fewer steps, and better reflects your brand's color scheme. On mobile, the experience was completely redesigned for small screens and makes better use of space.
Instant ACH Payments
With this release, clients can instantly verify their bank account and make ACH payments. To make an ACH payment, clients can select their bank, log in, and are then redirected back to your portal to complete the payment.
To enable instant ACH payments no changes are needed by you as long as ACH payments are enabled on Settings/Billing.
Improvements and fixes
- Improved how Extensions load when they have scrolling. Scrolling will now always work.
- Improved the custom fields experience in several ways. Custom fields now load faster, support faster inputs, show better errors, and better handle edge cases like long names.
Improvements and fixes
- Added the ability to search for tags in the CRM.
- Added a rule that prevents adding multiple tags with the same name.
- Added the ability to reorder custom fields on the client details page.
- Added support for existing shortcuts to several new places — Command + A (Select All) on custom fields, Escape (Close) for drop downs, etc.
- Fixed a number of minor UI bugs that happened when quickly creating or interacting with custom fields.
