TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
  • About the portal
  • About this guide
  • Configuration regions
• Theme (branding)
  • Information
  • Configuration - header
  • Configuration - below header and separator
  • Configuration – main region
  • Configuration – footer and footer links
  • Configuration – regions
  • Configuration – collection calendar
• Service (adding tabs and forms)
  • Information
  • Configuration – adding tabs
  • Configuration – adding forms
  • Configuration – adding knowledge
  • Configuration – adding links
  • Configuration – adding pages
• Pages
  • Information
  • Creating a page
  • Adding a starting page to a form
• News and events
  • Information
  • Configuration - categories
  • Configuration - articles
• Menus
  • Information
  • Configuration - menus
  • Configuration – menu mapping
• Forms builder
  • Information
  • Short URLs
  • Plugins/components
    • Inset summary (GDS)
    • Detail summary (GDS)
    • Table component (v5 only)
    • Display image (portal v5 only)
• Resident processes
  • Login and registration
  • My account - overview
  • My account - regions
    • What would you like to do
    • Spaces – Applicable only to the councils using Spaces module
    • Region - View your

Introduction

About the portal

The v5 customer portal has been created to replace the existing v3 and v4 portals. It has been developed in line with GOV.UK GDS (Government Digital Service) guidelines, ensuring a user-friendly, accessible, and secure experience for both residents and council administrators. 

Forms from previous versions will not need to be recreated in Customer Portal v5. However, you may want to review and adjust them to align with GDS design patterns for improved usability and accessibility. This update is primarily a visual overhaul, enhancing the user experience while maintaining existing functionality. Any changes to forms are optional but recommended to ensure consistency with the updated interface and streamlined GOV.UK-style service flows.

About this guide

This guide covers the essential configuration steps to set up and customise the v5 customer portal. It includes instructions on branding configuration and requirements to ensure the portal aligns with your council’s identity. You'll also learn how to add new tabs and forms, create information pages, and configure menus.

Configuration regions

The majority of configuration is done in the Portal V5 region found within the Administration section of the admin portal.

Theme (branding)

Information

Branding can be configured to style the portal and bring it in line with the councils corporate branding. The branding configuration screen provides a similar look to other branding screens throughout the portal so should provide a familiar feel.

Before you start you will need to ensure that the required images are uploaded to the image store. This may include:

• Logo (for header)
• Favicon
• Banner image for web and mobile (if required)
• Sub-page image/s for web and mobile (if required)
• Logo (for footer)

To configure the branding navigate to:

Administration > (Portal V5) Theme.

Configuration - header

Select the colours and input the relevant logo URLs taken from the image store. Height and width controls are available to configure as shown below. The width % for the logos can be set to ‘auto’ and this will ensure that the size scales appropriately with different screen resolutions.

• Header text colour
• Background colour
• Logo (web, mobile and tablet)
• Favicon

Configuration - below header and separator

Here the colour or image can be set for the banner as well as the title text and tagline (if applicable). It is recommended that a title background is set if using a banner image to ensure optimum accessibility.

• Title text colour
• Tagline text colour
• Font size
• Font style
• Title
• Tagline
• Background (image or solid colour)
• Title background (yes or no)
• Separator

Configuration – main region

This refers to the region of the customer portal home page between the banner and the footer.

• Forms background and text colour
• News background and text colour
• Events background and text colour

Configuration – footer and footer links

The portal footer can be configured with the council branding and logo. There is also functionality to add text to display on specific pages which are linked to in the footer. Again, the logo width here can be set to ‘auto’.

• Background and text colour
• Logo
• Height and width
• Text
• Help
• Cookies
• Contact
• Accessibility statement
• Privacy policy

The map link for the contact us page will result in a map displaying the selected location. This link can be taken from Google Maps by navigating to the desired location, clicking share, and selecting ‘embed a map’.

Configuration – regions

Tick the boxes to display the relevant regions on the customer portal.

Configuration – collection calendar

If you are using the Know My Bin Day functionality, the text for the collection calendar can be configured here, otherwise it can be ignored.

• Title
• Header text
• Footer text

Service (adding tabs and forms)

Information

The services region refers to the different services offered by the council and can be configured on the portal for the end users. It can include forms, information pages, external URLs, and knowledge articles.

To configure services, navigate to:

Administration > (Portal V5) Service.

Under services, you can create any number of tabs to display on the home page to catalogue the different services provided by the council. In the example below, we have created tabs for Blue Badge, Booking and Report services.

Configuration – adding tabs

Once you have navigated to the services administration region, you can click on the existing parent tab for an overview which includes the ability to reorder the tabs.

By clicking on an existing tab name, you can update the name, add a description (text to appear under the heading), and configure the branding. You can also update the access level of your tabs to meet your requirements. 

To add a new tab, click on the ‘add service’ button at the bottom of the tree. You can have multiple levels of tabs, so for example if you want to further group forms etc. under a parent category, you must click on add > service from within the parent tab level.

Once a tab has been created you can add forms, knowledge articles, information pages, and external links. Pages are new for v5 and their configuration and usage is detailed later in this guide

Configuration – adding forms

1. Select the relevant service tab and click on forms > add forms
2. Select the catalogue and the form from the list 
3. Give a name and description. The description will appear as sub-text below the forms name.
4. Configure the access as required. If you allow an access level here that is not ticked against the form in forms builder, the form will not display to that access role.
5. Save the form against the service item and it will then appear on the customer portal.
6. Add more forms as required under the same service item.

Configuration – adding knowledge

1. Select the relevant service tab and click on knowledge > add knowledge.
2. Select the knowledge article from the pre-populated list.
3. Give a name and description
4. Configure the access as required
5. Save the knowledge against the item and it will appear on the customer portal,
6. Add more knowledge articles as required under the same service item.

Configuration – adding links

1. Click on link > add link.
2. Enter the external URL into the text box.
3. Give a name and description.
4. Configure the access as required.
5. Save the link against the item and it will appear on the customer portal. When a link is clicked it will open in a new tab.
6. Add more links as required under the same service item.

Configuration – adding pages

Pages are new with the v5 portal and information on their configuration and usage is detailed in the next section of this guide.

1. Click on page > add page
2. Select the page from the available pages in the list.
3. Give a name and description.
4. Configure the access as required.
5. Save the page against the item and it will appear on the customer portal.
6. Add more pages as required under the same service item.

Pages

Information

The Page functionality in Customer Portal v5 allows users to create custom content pages that can serve as standalone information pages or be set as the start page for forms. These pages can be added to tabs for easy navigation or made searchable within the portal, helping residents quickly find relevant information. As a new feature in v5, this functionality enhances flexibility in presenting guidance, service details, and other important content directly within the portal.

Creating a page

1. Navigate to Administration > (Portal V5) Pages.
2. The screen will then display a list of all existing pages which can be edited as required. 
3. To add a new page, click on the ‘create’ button.
4. Add a title and the required content.
5. Once done you must save the page, and then click on ‘publish’ to make it available.

Adding a starting page to a form

The key difference between a page and a knowledge article is the ability to add a page as a starting page to a form. This means when the resident starts a form, they will first see the set starting page with information relevant to the service. It is important to note that dynamic fields will not work on the first page of a form, so a page can be added as a starting page to bypass this problem.

1. Navigate to the required form on forms builder.
2. Click on the form name and scroll down to the ‘Portal V5’ region.
3. Set ‘allow starting page’ to ‘yes’.
4. Select your starting page from the list.
5. You can also configure ‘what happens next’ text to display on the summary page when a form is submitted.

News and events

Information

The news and events regions in the customer portal allow you to display important updates, announcements, and upcoming events directly on the portal. This ensures residents stay informed about council activities, service changes, and local events. In this section, you'll learn how to configure and manage news articles and events, ensuring they appear in the right locations and are easily accessible to users.

The process to add a new news or event item is same as in the v4 customer portal.

Configuration - categories

1. Create a category under Administration > News > Categories.
2. For events, the code for the category should be set to EVENT_NEWS.
3. Select the check box to ‘Show on GDS’.

Configuration - articles

1. Navigate to the ‘News’ tab
2. The screen will display existing articles which you can select and edit if required.
3. Click on ‘add’ to add a new article.
4. For an event article, you should choose the category created with the code EVENT_NEWS from the previous step.
5. Configure the article as required. The thumbnail image will display on the customer portal home page.
6. Ensure that you click on the publish button after saving.

Once the articles are configured and published, they will appear under the news and events regions as per the categories.

Menus

Information

On the v5 customer portal, administrators have full control over what is available to users behind the menu button, as well as in the related content region. These allow different items to be displayed to users from the home screen, whether behind the ‘menu’ button, or in the related content region below.

To access the configuration screen for menus, the administrator must navigate to administration > (portal v5) menu. From here there are two available pages that must be accessed.

Configuration - menus

To create a group of items to be used together as a menu the user should first access the ‘menus’ page. Start by adding a new menu and setting the relevant name and access. This name will not be displayed on the customer portal.

Once the parent menu has been created, specific items can be added to it. These can be forms, knowledge articles, pages, external URLs, or specific system pages such as the ‘my account’ page. Different names and access can be given to these items.

The local view (app) pages are:

• My reports – direct link to view submitted requests.
• Draft reports – direct link to view draft reports.
• My personal information – direct link to view and update account information.
• Street cleansing – view the street cleansing calendar (if applicable).
• Members – view information on your councillors. This is configurable under administration > (self-service) members.
• Cemeteries and burials – access the cemeteries and burials information (if applicable)
• Account – access to the ‘my account’ page.
• Events – access to events page
• Nearby – access to nearby page. These are configurable under administration > (self-service) activities & places.
• Collection day – access to KMBD calendar (if applicable).
• News – access to news page.

Configuration – menu mapping

Once a group of items has been created for a menu, it must then be mapped to the required area on the system.

1. Click on ‘add’
2. Give your menu a name
3. Set the ‘target type’. This is where the menu will display. Navigation bar is under the menu button. Home page is the related content region.
4. Choose your created menu from the dropdown list titled ‘menu’.

Forms builder

Information

While existing forms can be used with no changes, users may want to update certain fields. For example, the page name will display at the top of the page when completing a form.

The GDS guidance also suggests structuring forms with shorter pages, often one question per page, to improve the flow for submitters. The mandatory star indicator has also been removed to comply with GDS standards, but new error messages have been implemented to highlight mandatory fields that have been missed.

Short URLs

The process for accessing forms through short URLs is the same, however the URL that should be used is labelled ‘short URL for portal v5’.

You can also input ‘back’ and ‘home’ URLs to be used where a form is accessed through a short URL to return the submitter to specific pages such as that where they initially clicked on the form link. If these fields are blank, the submitter will be taken to the customer portal home page when they either cancel or complete a form.

• Back URL for GDS – where the submitter will be taken to when they cancel a submission.
• Home URL for GDS – where the submitter will be taken to when they complete their submission.

Plugins/components

There have been visual changes to the plugins and items on the platform to bring them in line with the GDS guidance. Highlighted below are some plugins new either to v5 or v4 and v5 which can be implemented into forms.

Inset summary (GDS)

Inset text is used to display information to the resident. It can include external URLs and other plain text configuration.

Detail summary (GDS)

The detail summary is used to display information underneath a heading. By default this is collapsed but a submitter can click to expand it and view the information set within.

Table component (v5 only)

The table plugin can be used to display information to residents in the form of a table. When configuring the plugin, you are able to choose between 2 and 7 columns and can choose whether to display a header using the first row, and can make the first column bold.

To add content to the table, click on the ‘add details’ button.

Display image (portal v5 only)

This is used to display an image to the submitter within a form. A link to the required image should be inputted into the default value field of the item.

Resident processes

Login and registration

A user can register by clicking on the register button and filling in the required fields. The terms and conditions can be configured through administration > (self-service) terms and conditions.

The user can tick ‘I am a business customer’ to create an organisation as part of their account creation process.

In the final section, users can select to join notification groups as configured by the system administrators.

Once registered, the user will receive an email to activate their account which they must do before self-serving. 

When signing into their account, the user will be prompted to complete multi-factor authentication. The options for this are a phone call, text, or email. These will contain a code which the user must enter as prompted. There are also options to sign in with existing Google or Facebook accounts.

There are costs associated with the call and text processes.

My account - overview

Once logged in, users can access and update all their details and transactions through the account page. This page must be added to the menu as detailed in the ‘menus’ region of this document.

My account - regions

What would you like to do

• Continue submitting a previously saved Service Request – this is where users can access and continue their drafts reports.
• Pay for a service – allows the user to make a payment against a request where pay after approval is in use.
• Renew a service – this shows a list of existing contracts (Agreements) against which the user can make a renewal.
• Review previous payments – displays a list of previous payments made by the user.

Spaces – Applicable only to the councils using Spaces module

• View your allotment
• View your garage

Region - View your

• Service requests – displays the page showing all the service requests submitted by the logged in user.
• Bookings – past and upcoming bookings.
• Agreements – this displays active contracts.
• Enforcements – view related enforcements.
• Personal information – users can navigate here to view and/or update information logged against their account.
• Your organisation – if the user is a member of an organisation, it can be accessed here.