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Follow these six steps to build a template, create a draft client portal, preview it, and go live. This guide is for MSP staff.

Before you start

  • Client Onboarding is turned on for your organization.
  • Your role has Projects & Client Onboarding Write access, or the Run client portals option, and your subscription is active. See Permissions.
  • You know who should receive the portal invitations. Nothing is emailed until you start the portal.

1. Build a template

1

Open Settings > Projects > Templates > Templates

Select New Template.
2

Name the template

Enter a Name. Add a Description, Tags, and Duration (days) if you want them. Leave Project type on Client onboarding (default) so projects created from this template get a client portal. Select Create Template.
3

Add phases and tasks

Select Add Phase and name it, for example Discovery. Inside the phase, select Add Item and set its Type, Owner (MSP or Client), and Title.
4

Optional: let AI draft it

Select the floating AI button (AI Onboarding Designer). Describe the process, for example “Onboard a 20-person company migrating to M365 with discovery, setup, migration, training, and go-live phases.” Select Review Template Changes, check each change, then select Apply. Use the undo icon in the sidebar header to reverse the last applied changes.
5

Save details

Phase and item edits save as you work. Select Save Changes after you edit the template name, description, tags, duration, or invitation email.
Review every task type, owner, dependency, and linked form after AI proposes changes. Applying a proposal changes the saved template. It does not preview anything for a client.

2. Create checklists

1

Open the Checklists tab

Go to Settings > Projects > Templates > Checklists and select New Checklist.
2

Add items

Name the checklist. Add items one at a time, select AI Generate and describe what you need, or select Import and paste one item per line. Select Create.
3

Attach it to a task

Open your template, expand a task, and choose the checklist in Checklist (optional).

3. Create a draft portal

1

Start a new project

Go to Projects and select New project.
2

Choose the template and company

On the first step, pick your onboarding template, choose the Company, enter a Project name, and set the Start date and the required End date. Select Next.
3

Name the portal and add contacts

Enter the Portal name and an optional Description. Add each client contact with a name, email, and role, or leave contacts empty for now. Select Next.
4

Create it

Review the details and select Start onboarding. MSPortal creates a Draft portal and its linked MSPortal project. Copy any invite links you want to share by hand, then select Open project.
The portal name and contacts step appears only when the template’s project type has Onboarding turned on. You can check this under Settings > Projects > Project Settings > Types > Project Types. If your PSA owns project creation for the company, MSPortal creates the portal but not the project. Link the portal to a PSA project on the Start Portal screen, or with Link Project once the portal is active.
A draft portal blocks normal client entry, but it does not undo automation or project actions. Review any onboarding automation before you create test portals. To choose several Template Modules or a Portal Language, create the portal from Settings > Projects > Onboarding Portals > Portals with Create Portal instead. See Managing Portals.

4. Configure tasks

1

Open the task list

In the project, open Project Plan > Tasks. Review each phase and task. Portal tasks are copies of the template, so changing the template later does not change this portal.
2

Assign every MSP task

Select the assignee area on a task and choose a team member. To assign many at once, select Reassign, check the tasks, then select Assign.
Unassigned tasks do not appear in anyone’s My Onboarding Tasks widget. Assign every MSP task before you go live.

5. Preview as a client

1

Check the overview

Open Overview > MSP Dashboard. Confirm the phases are in order, no MSP task is unassigned, and each contact’s email is correct under Team & Contacts.
2

Open View as

In the page header, select View as and pick a contact. If the portal has no contacts, pick a role. On a phone, open Actions first.
3

Look around

The portal opens in a new tab with a Preview mode banner. Check the branding, visible tasks, pages, and documents. Nothing you enter in preview is saved.
View as works on a draft portal. It needs Projects & Client Onboarding Write access.

6. Go live

1

Start the portal

On Overview > MSP Dashboard, select Start Portal. The first screen asks you to link a project. If the portal already has a linked project, select Skip.
2

Send invitations

Check the contact count, then select Start & Send Invites. MSPortal queues an invitation email for each contact.
3

Confirm delivery

Under Team & Contacts, check each contact’s Portal access. If an email did not arrive, open the … menu on the contact and choose Send invite email.
Clients follow Open your onboarding portal to sign in.

What’s next

  • Follow progress on Overview > MSP Dashboard and under Project Plan > Tasks.
  • Send reminders for overdue tasks. See Managing Portals.
  • Review uploads under Files & Forms > Documents, and reveal credentials as described in Retrieve onboarding credentials and secure files.
  • Select Complete Portal when everything is done, then optionally Convert to Client.

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

No. Create the template and add phases and items yourself. AI only proposes changes, and you apply the ones you accept.
No. It creates a draft. You start it later with Start Portal.
Yes. Create the portal from Settings > Projects > Onboarding Portals > Portals and select several Template Modules. To add one to a portal you already have, use Add template on the portal. See Managing Portals.
No invitations go out until you start the portal. Configured onboarding automation and project or ticket actions can still run, so review them before you test.
No. It is a read-only preview. To test real access, start the portal and open an invitation.
No. Create a new draft from the updated template. Existing portals keep the phases and tasks they were created with.

Templates

Task types, AI designer, and advanced configuration

Client Pages

Reusable reference pages for the portal

Onboarding Forms

Structured forms with field mapping

Managing Portals

Lifecycle, communication, and task management

What clients see

The client portal and client guides