How to transfer your license to a new owner

Overview

When staff members leave or you need to transfer ownership of your Client Portal subscription and dashboards, you can complete the handover without losing portal data or disrupting client access. This guide covers transferring subscription ownership, moving licenses between sites, and reassigning dashboard ownership.

Transfer subscription ownership

To change who owns the subscription (billing contact and account access), you have two options:

Option 1: Contact support for account transfer

If you want to keep the existing subscription and change the owner's email address, contact our support team at [email protected] with:

• Current account email address

• New owner's email address

• License key or order number

Support will update the Freemius account details and transfer ownership. The new owner will receive access to the customer portal to manage renewals and downloads.

Option 2: Purchase a new license

If the previous owner is unavailable or you prefer a clean start:

1. Purchase a new license at client-portal.io/pricing

2. Check your email for the new license key (32-character code)

3. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Client Portal → Account

4. Replace the old license key with your new key

5. Click Activate

Move license between sites or domains

If you're transferring the plugin installation to a new WordPress site or domain, follow these steps:

Deactivate from the old site

1. Log in to the Freemius customer portal using the account email

2. Navigate to My Licenses and find your Client Portal license

3. Click Manage Sites to view active installations

4. Click Deactivate next to the old site or domain

Alternatively, deactivate directly from WordPress:

1. In WordPress admin on the old site, go to Plugins → Client Portal → Account

2. Click Deactivate License

Activate on the new site

1. Install Client Portal on the new WordPress site (see How to install Client Portal)

2. Go to Plugins → Client Portal → Account

3. Enter your license key

4. Click Activate

Transfer dashboard and portal ownership

When a staff member who created portals leaves, you need to reassign those dashboards to a new WordPress user. This ensures the new admin can manage and edit all portals.

Reassign portal ownership

1. In WordPress admin, go to Clients → All Portals

2. Click Edit on the portal you want to transfer

3. Scroll to the Author dropdown in the right sidebar

4. Select the new owner (must be a WordPress user with Administrator role)

5. Click Update

Repeat for each portal created by the previous staff member. Client access and portal settings remain unchanged.

Update client assignments (if needed)

If the departing staff member was assigned as a client contact or user, update those assignments:

1. Go to Clients → All Portals

2. Edit each affected portal

3. In the Clients meta box, remove the old user and add the new contact

4. Click Update

For detailed instructions on managing client assignments, see How to add clients to your portals.

Migrate portals to a new site

If you need to transfer all portal data to a completely new WordPress installation (for example, when moving agencies or consolidating sites):

Export from the old site

1. In WordPress admin, go to Tools → Export

2. Select Client Portal data

3. Click Download Export File to save the XML file

Import to the new site

1. On the new WordPress site, go to Tools → Import

2. Select WordPress (install the importer if prompted)

3. Upload the XML file you exported

4. Assign imported content to an existing user or create a new user

5. Check Download and import file attachments to include uploaded files

6. Click Submit

For comprehensive migration instructions, see Importing and exporting portals.

Common issues and solutions

Previous owner unavailable and no access to account

Purchase a new license and enter the new key in your WordPress site. Your existing portals and data will continue working with the new license. Contact support if you need help canceling the old subscription or recovering account access.

Subscription accidentally canceled during transfer

Contact [email protected] immediately. We can process pro-rated refunds and help set up a new subscription without portal downtime.

Portals not showing after ownership change

Verify the new owner has Administrator role in WordPress. Only users with sufficient permissions can view and edit portals. Check Users → All Users to confirm roles.

License key shows as invalid after transfer

Ensure you've deactivated the license on the old site before activating on the new one. Single Site licenses only work on one domain at a time. If the issue persists, log in to the Freemius customer portal to check active installations.

Before you start

To ensure a smooth transfer, prepare the following:

• WordPress admin access to both old and new sites (if applicable)

• License key from your purchase email or Freemius account

• Backup of your site before making changes

• New WordPress user with Administrator role for the new owner