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Project Management

“Do I still need Client Portal if I use a project management tool?”

Laura Elizabeth

If there was one question we get asked the most here at Client Portal, it’s some version of “I already have a project management tool, can I still benefit from Client Portal?” The answer is a big YES! In fact, Client Portal was built as an addition to project management tools, not a replacement. Here...

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Project Management

What is the best marketing agency client portal (with examples)?

The hardest part of running a marketing agency is... Clients. Yep, clients. Getting them, working with them, and signing off on the finished project ("juuuust one more thing"). Imagine getting on with your work without dealing with the song-and-dance of project management, keeping clients in the loop, and answering the same questions. One thing that...

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Case Studies

How to set up a client portal for a web design project (and a free template)

If you work with web design clients, you've probably got a rough process you follow for every project. The question is whether your clients can actually see it clearly, or whether it's mostly living in your head and a handful of email threads. This post walks through how to structure a client portal for a...

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Project Management

Why Client Portal doesn't try to do everything

When people first look at Client Portal, some expect it to be a project management tool. Others expect invoicing, time tracking, or built-in messaging. It's none of those things. And that's not an oversight - it's intentional. The problem with all-in-one platforms There's an appealing simplicity to the idea of one tool that does everything....

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Software & Tools

Top 6 best client + customer portal software in 2026

Laura Elizabeth

When you set up a business, customer experience isn't always at the top of your list. Only when you repeatedly start fielding the same support requests do you start thinking about implementing something more official. Portals are a great way to give customers a central place to access everything they need. This prevents them from...

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Product Updates

Update 7: All about the Block Editor: What and why

Laura Elizabeth

Today, I want to talk about the Block Editor, what it is, and why we are moving to it for the Client Portal. What is the block editor (also known as Gutenberg) The block editor lets you edit your website by dragging and dropping elements, or blocks, onto your screen and creating layouts in a...

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Product Updates

Update 6: Release Candidate 1 is almost ready

Laura Elizabeth

Today, I wanted to update you on our progress for Client Portal 5.0. While we had high hopes for a full release by the end of January, that sadly didn't happen. We ran into some unexpected roadblocks with integrating the content pages, pushing us back. The good news is I got word from our developer...

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Product Updates

Update 5: What's next for Client Portal

Laura Elizabeth

Today, I want to talk about our plans for the next 12 months of Client Portal. It's January, so many of us are thinking ahead, and I've had a lot of questions from those who want to know our next focus after the release of CP 5.0. 2023 was a tough year. With the cost...

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Product Updates

Update 4: Four Exciting Mini-Features Coming Soon!

Laura Elizabeth

Today, I want to share with you four mini-features that are coming with this release. These may seem small, but they’ve been requested repeatedly and, honestly, are things that should mostly have been doable before now. Mini-feature #1: A fully editable, customizable menu This is something we get asked about all the time. While we...

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Product Updates

Update 3: How we’re using feedback from the beta testers to improve the product

Laura Elizabeth

Today, I'm going to share an update on the beta program (which is live right now!) and how we're running it. We've opened the beta to a small group of 48 customers. Of those, 21 have created portals with the new block editor via InstaWP. (InstaWP allows us to spin up fresh installs of WordPress...

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Product Updates

Update 2: Creating Reusable Pattern Blocks

Laura Elizabeth

This is the second behind-the-scenes email for Client Portal 5.0. Today, we are talking about something that (IMO) will end up being the favorite feature of Client Portal 5.0. Introducing: Reusable Patterns 🎉 Until now, every portal has needed to be custom for each client. Which, as you know, can take a long time to...

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Product Updates

Update 1: A First Look at the New Block Editor

Laura Elizabeth

Here it is: a first look at the new block editor coming in Client Portal 5.0. This is currently in beta and due to be released by mid-January 2024. In this video, we cover: What the new editor looks like from the backend How to style each block Editing the menu Embedding videos Changes to...

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Project Management

The underwhelming experience of paying a deposit (and how to flip it on its head)

Laura Elizabeth

I remember getting my first MacBook. I was 17 and had just started a course in graphic design. Like many people, we didn’t have a lot of money growing up so I never had the latest, well, anything. But my mum was adamant that I needed a laptop for college. And not just any old...

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Project Management

10 essential documents you need for high-value client projects

Laura Elizabeth

When it comes to high-value client projects, getting the documents and deliverables right is crucial. You don’t want to go overboard with too much information (and you don’t want to include fluff documents), but you do need to give your client everything they need to trust that you’ve got this. High-value projects are often fairly...

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Client Portal keeps getting better!

Stay up to date with the latest Client Portal releases, features, and news.

  • Portal gallery: what's new in Client Portal 5.10

    Back in version 5.8 I said we were going to build a proper template library inside Client Portal, so you wouldn't have to download a file from our website and import it by hand. It's now been released. From version 5.10+ creating a portal happens on a new screen, with your own templates and a...

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  • What's new in Client Portal version 5.9

    Quick one this time. If you let clients register for their own portals, 5.9 adds a small but rather satisfying touch: portals that name themselves using the client's own details. There are also a few fixes underneath, a couple of which are worth knowing about. The new bit: portal titles that fill themselves in Up...

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  • What's new in Client Portal version 5.8

    Version 5.8 is mostly about notifications and comments. A few new things, an overhaul of the settings page, and the usual round of smaller fixes underneath. 1) New: Notification for comments on content pages Back in version 5.5, we shipped the ability for clients to leave comments on content pages. Up until now, that's been...

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