This article will show you how to create and edit a Client's Customer record, which is essentially their login information for the Online Client Portal
Definition
In PantrySoft, a Customer Record is the full set of login information by which a Client can log into your Online Client Portal. Manually creating a Customer Record means logging into the Client Record on the Staff Dashboard interface, and entering the customer's login information on the customer's behalf.
For instructions on how customers can use the Online Portal itself to register themselves online and then immediately login, see Client Portal: Signup & Sign-on.
After a Client Logs in Online (Editing login information). If a customer has already used the online portal to log in successfully, their Client record will already have a Customer (login) record attached. In this case, load the Client into the dashboard by searching for their particulars. Once they're loaded, you'll see their Customer details at the top left corner of the dashboard (see picture at the very bottom of this article). You can then edit them as necessary.
Creating a Customer Record (Login Credentials)
Once the client portal is set up for your pantry, admins or other Staff Dashboard users will see a plus button appear on all the Client records. This is how you can manually create and edit login credentials for a Client.
Client Email Required. You will probably need to know the client's preferred email before creating their login manually. While you could make up a fake email address for them, this would cut them off from being able to click "Forgot Password" and have PantrySoft automatically send them a password reset link. Note, too, that email addresses for Customer logins must be unique throughout all PantrySoft deploys everywhere.
Reusing Emails for Test Purposes. Sometimes admins need to use the same email address for multiple Customer accounts (i.e., for testing purposes). One easy way to make the same address appear unique is to use Gmail's alias feature. If you have a Gmail account, you can add "+" and a string of characters between your email prefix and the "@". For instance, you can convert "test@gmail.com" to "test+01@gmail.com" for one account, and "test+02@gmail.com" for another. The latter two will still send a password reset to test@gmail.com, but they will register as unique to PantrySoft.
New Customer screen on the Staff Dashboard
Perform the following actions to create a customer login for your Client:
- Click New Customer.
This will bring up the New Customer screen. - Enter Email
If you enter a fake or provisional password for the client, be sure to change it to a password they can actually access as soon as possible, as this allows them to use the forgot password feature. (Email must be unique across all PantrySoft users everywhere.) - Enter Username
(Username must be unique across all PantrySoft users everywhere.) - Option: Enter Password
You can create password on someone's behalf by entering a Password for them manually. Passwords must be at least 8 characters in length and contain at least one capital letter and one number. - Option: Send Email to Set Password
Instead of creating a password for the Client, you can leave the Password field blank and instead click Send Email to Set Password. This will send an email to the client immediately after you click Save and Exit. - Save and Exit
Click Save and Exit.
Email message received after clicking Send Email To Set Password and clicking Save and Exit.
New Client Customer (Login) Details at top left corner of Staff Dashboard.
These top three fields will appear on Client records that already have login credentials.
Editing an Existing Customer Record (login credentials)
This section will describe to edit an existing customer record if you need to manually reset or update their credentials.
This tool also update an existing client's customer credentials for the online portal. Click the pencil icon next the client's customer record to access the Edit Customer screen. Here you can:
- Update email address. Enter a new email for the client. (Email must be unique across all PantrySoft users everywhere.)
- Update username. Enter a new username for the client. (Usernames must be unique across all PantrySoft users everywhere.)
- Update password. You can create password on someone's behalf by entering a Password for them manually. Repeat the password in the field below to confirm. Passwords must be at least 8 characters in length and contain at least one capital letter and one number.
- Disable storefront customer account. Change the toggle on the Enabled Yes/No radio buttons to No. This will disable the storefront customer account for that client, preventing the client from accessing the online portal. You can re-enable the account later. Customers trying to access the portal will see an "Account is Disabled" message when they try to log in.
- Delete customer account entirely. Click the Delete button to permanently delete the client's credentials. This is irreversible--removing the username and email of the client from the database.
Note: this will allow the customer to create a new storefront customer login with the previously used username and email. This can be useful if a client moves and needs to access a PantrySoft pantry elsewhere.
Deleting vs. Disabling. Deleting a customer is not a ban. It still allows the client to sign up and create another customer with the same username and password. Disabling a customer will not only stop them from using the store, but it will also "lock" that username and email, preventing them from using that email and username to create another account.