Portals allow admin users to create mini Asset Bank sites that can be shared via a URL. These can either be public facing, or require a password before the external recipient can view and download the assets that are visible.
When to use Portals
Portals are great when you want to share high volumes of assets externally (e.g. with partners or resellers), where security on these assets is less of a concern (as you either have no password, or a shared password), and where you know the recipients will benefit from seeing assets organised in a folder structure and having access to all the search and filter options within Asset Bank.
When not to use Portals
Give users access to your Asset Bank via a login
This should be the default for your staff users, for partners who will be accessing the site often and partners with complex permission requirements.
Benefits of access via an individual login include:
- User access can be more secure, as you will be able to track individual users who login, and you can leverage SSO (single sign on) or MFA (multi factor authentication)
- Users can be given ‘download after approval’ permission on more sensitive assets
- Users can be given ‘upload’ or ‘upload with approval’ permissions
- Users will have lightboxes that they can use to store their favourites, and that they can use to forward on assets externally
- Users will appear as named individuals in reports
Use Published Lightboxes
This is ideal if you have a small collection of assets that you want to hand-pick and quickly share externally.
How Portals differ from Published Lightboxes
The main differences include:
- Only admin users can create Portals
- The end user/external recipient will see a mini Asset Bank and will have access to browsing and search capabilities
- All assets (images, video, PDF, etc.) will have the same previews that you see in Asset Bank (e.g. playable video previews)
- The assets that are visible reflect the current state they have in the DAM. E.g. if an asset has been deleted from Asset Bank, this will no longer be seen in the Portal, if an asset has been updated in Asset Bank, this new version will be seen in the Portal, and if a new asset has been uploaded into a folder that is shared via a Portal, then this asset will now appear in that Portal. So you are not sharing a snapshot of a state in time, but are sharing a live subset of the main Asset Bank site.
- Reporting on asset downloads for each portal is also included - so you can see if they are being used and which assets are most popular (in terms of downloads).
Creating a Portal
Portals can be accessed via the Admin > Portals menu item.
Here you can create, edit and share Portals.
When you create a Portal it takes you through a set of steps.
These steps include:
- Naming the Portal - this name will form part of the unique Portal URL.
- Adding an optional welcome message - this can include any instructions, a link to an email address for support, etc.
- Selecting the branding to be applied - if you have Brands functionality configured, you will be able to select the brand that should be applied to this Portal.
- Deciding which folders to share - this determines which assets will be visible. Note, it will only display 'active' assets (i.e. it will not show 'inactive' or 'expired' assets from these folders).
- Selection of a Featured Asset - to display at the top of the Portal, like a hero image.
- Deciding which download options to make available - you can have a view only Portal or select a variety of download options to offer your users.
- Deciding which attributes to make visible - Titles, Descriptions, Keywords, etc. You can decide what to show and which metadata fields to keep private.
- Deciding if a password is required - will this Portal be public, or will it require a password prior to access?
Asset Visibility
For folders that you share, only active assets will appear. Assets will be hidden if their "Active status" is set to "Inactive" or "Expired".
Reviewing your Portals
On the Admin > Portals page, you can review the Portals you already have set up and easily see key details including:
- Number of downloads from this Portal to date
- If it is public or password protected
- Which folders are being shared (via the ‘Show Folders’ link)
Finally, you can access the Portal URL for sharing, edit the existing Portal or delete it completely.
Please also check out our Portal FAQs.
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