# Customer Portals

Create branded self-service portals for customers to submit requests and track issues.

## Overview

Customer portals allow external users to:

- Submit support requests
- Track their submitted issues
- Search a knowledge base
- View announcements

Requests submitted through portals become work items in your workspace.

## Creating a Portal

1. Go to Workspace Settings > Customer Portals
2. Click "New Portal"
3. Enter name and configure branding
4. Set up request forms
5. Publish the portal

## Branding

Customize the portal appearance:

- **Logo** - Your company logo
- **Colors** - Primary and accent colors
- **Favicon** - Browser tab icon
- **Custom CSS** - Advanced styling

## Custom Domain

Use your own domain (e.g., support.yourcompany.com):

1. Go to Portal Settings > Domain
2. Enter your custom domain
3. Add a CNAME record pointing to `portal.windshift.app`
4. Enable SSL

## Request Forms

Configure what information customers provide:

### Form Fields

- Title (required)
- Description (required)
- Category (optional)
- Priority (optional)
- Custom fields

### Categories

Create categories to route requests:

- Bug Report → Bug item type
- Feature Request → Feature item type
- General Question → Support item type

## Request Routing

Automatically assign incoming requests:

- **By category** - Different assignees per category
- **Round-robin** - Distribute evenly across team
- **Unassigned** - Manual triage

## Customer Accounts

Customers can:

1. **Sign up** - Create an account with email
2. **Log in** - View and update their requests
3. **Track status** - See request progress

### Authentication Options

- Email/password
- Magic link (passwordless)
- SSO (Enterprise only)

## Knowledge Base

Add articles to help customers self-serve:

1. Go to Portal Settings > Knowledge Base
2. Create categories and articles
3. Enable search
4. Track helpful/not helpful feedback

## Announcements

Post announcements visible on the portal:

- Maintenance windows
- New features
- Known issues

## Multiple Portals

Create separate portals for:

- Different products
- Different customer tiers
- Internal vs external users

Each portal can have its own branding, forms, and routing rules.

## Best Practices

1. **Keep forms short** - Only ask for essential info
2. **Set expectations** - Show response time estimates
3. **Build a KB** - Reduce requests with self-service
4. **Monitor SLAs** - Track response and resolution times