Introduction

The Self-service Portal (SSP) is an integral part of the bpm’online service enterprise and bpm’online customer center products, as well as all bundles that these products are part of.

The SSP is a workplace where portal users are automatically redirected after login.

Portal users have access to the [Cases] and [Knowledge base] sections and to the [Self-service portal main page], which contains general summary information and works as a single workplace for a portal user.

The [Cases] section is used for registration of cases by the customers, viewing the status of their cases, entering additional case information and for obtaining information about case resolution process. By default, a portal user has access to those cases where this user is specified as a contact. The user can enter additional information, publish messages and interact with the service staff on the case page. The case history is displayed on the case page at the [Processing] tab.

The portal’s [Knowledge base] section is used for searching for reference information or a solution. This section can be filled only by the helpdesk staff from the main interface of the system.

Portal interface

From the development point of view, the portal is a preconfigured separate workplace. By default, this workplace is not available for the ordinary portal users. A system user with the “portal user” type automatically enters this workplace (the portal main page) after authorization.

Portal sections and pages are the same as sections and system edit pages from the main system interface and they work with the same Entities. The case edit page on the portal is simpler compared to the regular case page and does not contain the majority of fields. These edit pages are different objects in configuration (CasePage and PortalCasePage).

The system of portal access permissions slightly differs. To grant access to the specific entities (EntitySchema) for the portal users, you need to specify these entities in the [List of objects available for portal users] lookup. Self-service portal licenses limit the number of records that can be added to this lookup. By default, the number is limited to 70 records.

Working with the page wizard on the portal

The portal user cannot access the functions of the page-, detail- and section wizards These functions can be accessed from the main system interface with administrator permissions in the following way:

1. Enter the [Workplace setup] section in the system designer.
2. Select the [Portal] workplace and click the [Open] button.
3. Select the required section and click the [Section wizard] button.

The standard section wizard will open.

Configuring the portal and portal users

To start using the portal:

1. Ensure that the /configuration/terrasoft/auth option in the web.config file of the application loader (the “external” web.config) has the following in it:

<terrasoft>
   <auth providerNames="InternalUserPassword,SSPUserPassword" …>
...
</terrasoft>

This setting is responsible for the authorization in the portal users in the system.

2. Create a contact for the user.

3. Create a user with the “Portal user” type. Fill out the required fields.

4. Provide all necessary licenses for the user.

A portal user is required to have a valid time zone specified in the profile. The time zone is not specified for new users by default. Portal users must edit their profiles and select the proper time zone The system will display all dates and times in the portal user’s local time.