This article is a basic map to all the features a pantry might include in their Client Portal Experience.
Portal Map (Online User Experience Map)
The following diagram depicts the possible user experiences a pantry can set up for their online visitors after they've successfully logged in:
On "STOP": Tailored Online Portal Experiences. Different pantries will craft their user experience to follow different routes and terminate at different STOP points.
Initial Sign-On
The means by which client sign on to PantrySoft is covered in Client Portal: Signup & Sign-on.
Starting Point: Portal or Non-Portal Registration? (1,2,3)
The online version of the PantrySoft signup process is the Online Registration Screen, which is an amalgamation of core household fields (e.g., primary household member's name, address, etc.), combined with any fields set up for the actual Registration record (e.g., any custom Registration questions, any Registration Income reporting). Clients visiting the online portal may or may not be directed to the Online Registration Screen, depending on the following circumstances:
Brand New Clients: In-person / Phone Registration
Some pantries using the online portal still allow or require their clients to sign up initially in person or over the phone (1)
Clients brand new to the pantry who sign up with their pantry by phone or in person will be guided through the registration process through one of the other interfaces (Express Kiosk or Staff Dashboard).
(For instance, Mrs. Jones calls in inquiring about food services, and the employee on the line pulls up the Staff Dashboard and enters all of Mrs. Jones' information into the New Client and New Registration dashboard screens.)
At this point an employee can also create online credentials for them (see Staff Dashboard article Client (Online) Customers), and give them the address of the pantry's online portal. In this workflow, the brand new client is essentially pre-registered by an employee at the pantry, and therefore will not see the Registration screen when they log in unless the pantry has set up Registration Verification (see Verification Required below).
Brand New Clients: Portal Registration
Other pantries allow or even require their clients to sign up initially through the online portal. (3)
Clients brand new to the pantry who register themselves online will be initially directed to the Online Registration Screen. PantrySoft needs them to have certain key information before proceeding, especially the core information about the household (address, etc.) and the primary household member (name, age/ date of birth, etc.)
(NOTE: The Online Registration Screen is a combination of the New Client Screen and the Registration screens in the regular Staff Dashboard interface.)
Returning Clients: Portal Registration Bypassed (2)
In most workflows, returning clients will land on either the Visit Question Screen (4) or directly onto the Scheduling Screen (5).
Returning Clients: Portal Registration Required (3)
There are only two circumstances by which a returning client might still see the Online Registration screen:
- Verification Required. Admins have setup the pantry to require that all clients confirm their prior registration information. In this case, clients will be directed to the Online Registration screen on every online visit. The fields will be populated with the information the client last gave.
- Expired Registration. Admins have setup the pantry to require clients to re-register at a certain frequency (the default is a year after the prior registration). If a client's registration is expired, they will be routed to the Online Registration Screen.
Online Screens (Diagram Key)
The following are brief descriptions of the online screens shown in the diagram above:
Online Registration Screen (3)
(An overview of this screen is provided in the previous section.)
Visit Question Screen (4)
This screen prompts the user with Visit Interview questions created for the pantry. This is data the pantry requires of its clients on every visit. If no Visit Interview Questions have been designated to Show on Storefront (see Custom Question Creation), this screen will not appear to clients visiting the online portal, and they will simply be forwarded to the Scheduling Screen (5).
Scheduling Screen (5)
This screen allows clients to schedule their next visit from specific availability blocks on a calendar set up for the pantry . This is a required step for pantries using the Online Store Screen. Some pantries, however, allow or require their clients to schedule their visits online, but then they log the details of the visit (they create a Visit record) manually when the client shows up for their appointment in person).
Online Store Screen (6)
This screen allows clients to browse a virtual choice pantry, a shopping experience tied to the specific inventory maintained by the pantry through the Inventory system. Customers choose their items from available stock, and then sign out. In the dashboard interface, this adds a Visit record to the Client on the same day as the appointment created by the Scheduling Screen.