Configure account details and branding

Updated Wednesday, October 28, 2026 · Marc Staine

Account configuration keeps your organization’s identity, default community and application branding consistent. Use it to maintain the details people recognize when they work in Supportbench.

Applies to: Supportbench Core. Location: Settings → Account → Configuration / Style. Access and available controls depend on your role and account capabilities.

Before you begin

You need permission to edit this configuration. Ask an administrator if the page is available but its editing controls are not.
Review the current configuration and where it is used before making a change. Available choices depend on your account, enabled modules, division access and role.
Use a test record or a controlled test account for behavior checks. Do not change production routing or send customer messages just to try an example.

Configure and verify

Open Settings → Account → Configuration / Style.
Review organization details and the selected community.
Make any planned URL or branding changes and save the profile.
Reopen the page, inspect the application header/menu and test the affected community link.

Choose article destinations for optional AI email citations

The Community URL field stores the article-link pattern. It is separate from Default community, which selects the community whose public articles can appear as AI email citations. Reopening Account Configuration shows the exact saved Community URL, including a blank value, so saving other account details does not replace an article pattern with a derived portal homepage.

With permission to edit account configuration, open Settings → Account → Configuration / Style and find Default community and Community URL.
Select the community intended for public customer article links. For an account with separate partner and customer communities, choose deliberately: this selection is account-wide, not recipient-specific. The community must be active, have the knowledge base enabled and permit signed-out access for public citations.
Enter an absolute HTTP(S) article pattern such as https://help.example.com/article/{id} when your configured destination expects an article ID. The literal {id} is replaced by the cited ID, for example ar-123. If you enter only a website root, such as https://help.example.com, citations append the native article route. Leave the field blank to use the default community’s custom domain, or its Supportbench alias if no custom domain is set.
Save, then reopen the page and confirm the selected community and exact article pattern remain. Test an existing public article at that destination before adding the option to a live auto-response.
In a supported Core case notification or template, use {{ai_suggestions | show_articles}} or choose Variables → AI suggestion with article links. Send an approved test through the actual workflow and open the resulting links while signed out. Keep {{ai_suggestions}} in templates that should omit sources.

A fixed page path without {id}, an unsupported URL scheme, an address containing embedded credentials, or another malformed value cannot produce citation links. The normal answer remains; the system does not substitute an agent-workspace URL. Correct the saved pattern and retest. An inactive or sign-in-only default community, restricted topics/divisions, unpublished articles or missing cited evidence can also explain an absent source list. Changing this field does not publish an article or grant customer access.

For a worked email example and source-list troubleshooting, see Personalize case replies and notifications with template variables. For controlled workflow testing, see Configure workflows. The separate Show customer portal link navigation shortcut continues to use the selected community’s homepage.

Cases created or updated through the Legacy API can use the same saved notification template and {{ai_suggestions | show_articles}} after the matching Legacy notification update is installed. Public-source, default-community and URL rules are the same. Test one API-created case through the intended workflow and inspect its delivered email; an API success response alone does not prove notification delivery. The Variables menu option described here is available in the matching Core editors; the exact token can also be entered in a template manually.

Settings reference

Organization and URLs

Setting	What it controls	How to choose
Name / Address / City	Organization details, each up to 100 characters.	Use your organization’s approved display and mailing details.
Country / State	Country determines the available state or region control.	Choose the country before entering the state.
Zip / Postal code	Postal code, up to 10 characters.	Use the mailing address’s postal format.
Agent URL alias	Account alias, up to 25 characters; normalized and checked for uniqueness.	Plan URL changes with your administrators and verify saved links.
Default Community	The account’s default customer community.	Choose the intended active portal and review its access separately.
Community URL	The community article URL pattern; {id} represents the article identifier.	Preserve the placeholder and test a representative article link.

Application branding

Setting	What it controls	How to choose
Logo / Icon	JPG, JPEG, PNG or GIF image; maximum 200,000 bytes each.	Use a legible brand asset at the intended display size.
Header color / Menu color	Hex colors in #RRGGBB format.	Use colors with readable contrast against their text and icons.

Behavior to know

This form saves the account profile as a whole. Review other values before saving.
Choosing a default community does not override its sign-in, division or customer-role restrictions.

Switch the whole account or return to the previous version

When account-wide switching is available, open Settings → Account → Configuration / Style → Supportbench version. Choose New Supportbench (Core), select Switch version, review the listed account and Community domains, then select Confirm switch. This changes the experience for everyone using those domains and keeps the existing account data. Check the progress panel until the operation completes.

To return from Core, open the same settings section, choose Legacy, review the domains and confirm. You need permission to edit account configuration in either version. Switching is a separate action from saving other account settings; an active operation must finish or complete its recovery before another switch can start.

New switches set Supportbench-managed domain records to a 90-second DNS TTL in either direction. Previously cached records can retain their earlier TTL, so this is not a guarantee that every user changes version within 90 seconds. For domains managed by your organization, set the TTL to 90 seconds with your DNS provider before switching; certificate preparation and routing deployment may also take time. Users may need to sign in again after a switch.

Recommended use

Use terminology that agents and customers already understand. Explain the intended meaning in the description.
Keep the initial configuration small enough for people to choose consistently. Add options when they represent a real operational difference.
Review existing references before renaming, changing scope, or deleting. Where supported, deactivate an obsolete option before considering permanent deletion.

Worked example

Prepare a compact logo and icon using your approved brand colors.
Upload the images, enter matching header/menu colors and save.
Check readability in the application and verify that the default community still opens as expected.

Give agents a shortcut to the customer portal

Turn on Show customer portal link in Account Configuration → URLs and Community to display Customer portal below Health in the agent’s left navigation. The link opens the homepage of your active Default community in a separate browser window, keeping the agent’s current work in place.

When to use it and what you need

A community is a customer-facing Supportbench portal. Enable the shortcut when agents regularly check published knowledge, customer instructions, or the portal’s entry experience. You need permission to edit Account Configuration to change the account-wide setting. Agents using the shortcut still follow the portal’s normal sign-in and audience rules; the shortcut does not grant customer access or impersonate a customer. For a restricted customer experience, use an authorized customer test account separately.

Choose an active Default community before expecting the link to appear. An account with several portals gets one shortcut, pointing to the selected default. The portal’s configured custom domain is used when present; otherwise Supportbench uses its community alias. The separate Community URL setting is an article-link pattern and does not control this homepage shortcut.

Enable the link for an existing account

Open Settings, then the account Configuration / Style section to open Account Configuration.
Select URLs and Community.
In Default community, select the active customer portal agents should open. Review the choice with the portal owner if your business has separate brand, region, or customer portals.
Turn on Show customer portal link, below Community URL, and select Save Changes.
Confirm the save succeeds. In the current agent shell, look for Customer portal below Health. A separate already-open agent window may need a refresh; allow up to three minutes for the setting’s display cache in another server session.
Select Customer portal. Verify the portal homepage opens, the domain matches the intended portal, and your original agent page and workspace remain open.

Worked example: A B2B support team uses a community named “Customer Help” with the custom domain help.example.com. Its administrator selects Customer Help as Default community, enables Show customer portal link, and saves. Agents use Customer portal to open https://help.example.com/ while keeping their current Case available. If the account also has a partner portal, it is not added as a second navigation item.

Defaults, disabling, and choosing a different portal

Accounts created after this feature’s database update is installed start with the setting enabled. Existing accounts remain disabled until an administrator opts in. A new account without an active default community still has no visible shortcut; selecting an active default community supplies its destination. Do not enable this option merely to change article sharing URLs.

To hide the shortcut, return to URLs and Community, turn off Show customer portal link, and save. This changes the agent navigation only; it does not deactivate the portal or change its audience. To switch the shortcut’s destination, select another active Default community and save. That selection also retains its existing use for knowledge-base sharing, so verify a representative shared article after changing the account default.

Verify and recover

No link after saving: Reopen Account Configuration and confirm the switch remained on. Check that Default community is selected and active and has a valid alias or custom domain. An inactive, deleted, missing, or invalidly addressed community is hidden. Refresh another open agent window after its display cache expires.
The setting is not available yet: Contact Supportbench support to confirm that the feature’s account update and matching Core release are installed. Existing settings can still be saved with this switch off.
The wrong portal opens: Verify Default community and that community’s domain settings. Changing the Community URL article template will not redirect this shortcut.
A sign-in page or restricted content appears: Follow the portal’s normal customer authentication and access setup. The agent navigation shortcut does not change customer roles or article restrictions.
No new window appears: Check the browser’s popup indicator and allow the portal window for your Supportbench site. Browser preferences can choose a browser tab instead of a window; the destination remains outside the agent’s internal workspace tabs. Keyboard Enter activates the link; normal browser modifier-key gestures remain available.

See Configure a customer portal and its access settings for the destination’s setup and restrictions.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
The item is missing from a picker.	Check Active, division access, parent hierarchy, enabled modules, and the user’s role. Reopen the consuming form after saving.
The form rejects a save.	Read the displayed validation message. Check required values, text limits and permitted scope; do not change unrelated settings to bypass validation.
An existing record still shows an old value.	A configuration change and a record change are different operations. Inspect the record and relevant references before assuming the save failed.

Self-Service → Configure a customer portal
Account → Configure account policies
Account → Enable and review feature modules

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