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Configure a customer portal

Updated Monday, October 26, 2026 · Marcel Gravelle

Customer portal configuration brings together customer access, knowledge navigation, branding, localized wording and optional chat. Settings, design drafts, page templates and file operations have different save or publication behavior, so review the affected surface after each change.

Applies to: Supportbench Core. Location: Settings → Self-Service → Customer portal. 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

  1. Create or open the intended portal and review its identity, defaults and audience.
  2. Choose knowledge topics and access rules before making content available.
  3. Configure the domain and customer authentication using the displayed validation steps.
  4. Set branding, review design/page drafts and maintain the enabled languages.
  5. Configure optional chat and approved files.
  6. Save each surface with its own controls, publish reviewed design drafts, and check the portal as the intended customer audience on desktop and mobile.

Settings reference

Setup and discovery

SettingWhat it controlsHow to choose
Name / Description / ActivePortal identity and availability.Use a recognizable name and activate after reviewing the complete experience.
Default Division / Queue / Reply addressDefaults for supported customer work created through the portal.Use accessible, monitored destinations and the intended sending identity.
SEO title / Description / KeywordsPortal discovery wording.Describe useful customer tasks accurately; wording alone does not guarantee search indexing.
Default landing pageHome, Cases or New request. Deep links still open their specific destination.Choose the most useful starting point for the audience.
Knowledge base / Topics / All topicsEnables knowledge and selects its topic coverage. With knowledge off, the portal opens Cases and hides articles, topics, search and AI answers.Expose only reviewed topics and verify article-level access.

Access and customer identity

SettingWhat it controlsHow to choose
Require sign-inRequires customer sign-in even when anonymous requests are allowed. Recovery and secure survey/unsubscribe links remain available.Choose according to the intended public/customer audience.
Divisions / Customer rolesScopes content and customer access.Test representative authorized and unauthorized users.
Allow anonymous casesAllows the offered unauthenticated case-submission path.Enable only when your support process is designed to handle it.
Unrestrict casesAllows customers to see cases without the standard contact/company restriction.Enable only for the intended audience and test authorization with several unrelated contacts.
Secondary contact visibilityLets secondary contacts see related company cases.Confirm the intended company relationship and test included and excluded contacts.
SAML Allowed IP rangesThe IP ranges permitted by the SAML configuration.Use the values and format specified by the displayed help and verify access from the intended network.
SAML enabled / Automatic redirectEnables customer SAML sign-in and optional automatic redirection.Test customer login and administrator recovery before enabling automatic redirection.
Login URL / Logout URL / Username sourceProvider sign-in endpoints and identity mapping.Use the identity provider’s approved values.
Identity-provider metadata / CertificateTrust information for SAML authentication.Follow the intended provider configuration and verify expiry/replacement procedures.
Company and Contact attribute mappingsMaps provider attributes to supported customer fields; rows can be added or removed.Map only the necessary attributes and verify a representative account.

Domain and branding

SettingWhat it controlsHow to choose
Alias / Custom domain / ValidationConfigures the portal address and ownership/routing validation.Complete the displayed TXT ownership and CNAME checks before relying on the custom address.
SAML metadata acknowledgmentAcknowledges the effect of a domain change on SAML metadata/ACS details.Coordinate the identity-provider update before switching customer sign-in.
Logo / FaviconUploads the portal’s brand assets.Use appropriate dimensions and check both desktop and mobile.
Contact message / Phone / EmailCustomer-facing contact information.Use monitored, current destinations.
Primary / Secondary / Background / Text / Surface colorsPortal color palette.Check readable contrast and consistency.
Header linksRepeating label and URL entries.Use concise labels and verify every destination.
Theme / Apply templateReplaces existing page drafts. Theme settings, artwork, shared CSS and JavaScript can change the live portal immediately. Applying the same global theme copies its latest version; it does not create a live link.Preserve a recoverable design and review both draft and immediate live effects before applying.
Duplicate fromCopies another portal through a separate replacement action.Read the replacement warning and verify the exact source and destination.

Design, pages and languages

SettingWhat it controlsHow to choose
Design page / Locale / Desktop or mobile / Sample scenarioChooses what is shown in the design preview.Check several pages, languages and viewport sizes.
Interactive sampleAllows interacting with the sample preview.Use it to inspect navigation and forms without assuming sample data is live customer data.
AI design scope / PromptAuto, whole-portal or page-preview scope and the requested design change.Use a specific visual task and inspect the resulting draft.
New conversation / Replace manually edited translationsControls design-conversation context and translation replacement.Preserve deliberate manual wording unless replacement is intended.
Design reference / Image to placeSelects how an uploaded image is used by design assistance.Use approved assets and the correct role.
Add AI answers to SearchConditional design option when available.Review the resulting search experience and source behavior before publication.
Pages / Template contentSelects a supported page/template and edits its content.Use the available page list; review shared layout changes across affected pages.
Enabled / Default languagesSelects supported portal languages.Maintain complete customer-facing wording for each enabled language.
Language search / Missing only / Save wording / ResetFinds and edits individual translated strings.Review missing wording and use the language controls’ own save/reset behavior.

Chat, files and publication

SettingWhat it controlsHow to choose
Enable chat / Widget / AudienceConditional chat setup with Everyone or Signed in audience.Choose the intended widget and availability.
Identify signed-in contactsPasses supported signed-in identity to chat.Verify the resulting customer identity in a controlled chat.
Auto-hide / Launch-button snippetAdvanced visibility and the displayed launch code.Test the intended page behavior before using the snippet.
Files upload / Search / Copy / DeleteManages portal assets; uploads and deletions take effect immediately.Check references before deleting a file.
Save ChangesApplies portal settings.Do not treat it as publication of a design draft.
Design/page Save / PublishSeparate design or page-template workflow.Review the saved draft and use the appropriate Publish action.
AuditConfiguration creation and modification information.Do not treat timestamps alone as proof of design publication.

Behavior to know

  • Save Changes applies portal settings; design drafts publish separately. Language wording has its own save controls, while file uploads/deletions are immediate.
  • Stored LDAP compatibility values are not an offered configuration surface here.
  • For missing knowledge content, check portal knowledge enablement, topic selection, topic/article active/public state, language, customer roles and divisions.

Recommended use

  • Choose the intended audience before configuring content or recipients.
  • Preview the complete experience and inspect a representative result before broad use.
  • Keep customer-facing wording short, specific and consistent with the rest of your portal.

Worked example

  1. Configure a portal for one support audience and a reviewed knowledge topic hierarchy.
  2. Choose a recognizable sender, contact details and accessible colors.
  3. Review the default landing page and one article in each enabled language.
  4. Publish the reviewed design and test both signed-in and intended public access.

Troubleshooting

ProblemWhat 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.
  • Knowledge Base → Organize knowledge-base topics and access
  • Self-Service → Configure a chat widget
  • Email configuration → Configure reply addresses and signatures
  • Customers → Configure customer roles

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