Vtiger Customer Portal User Guide
From vtiger.com
Quick Reference
- Release Notes
- vtiger CRM - How To's
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- vtiger CRM - User Manual
- vtiger Outlook Plug-in User Guide
- vtiger Office Plug-in User Guide
- vtiger Thunderbird Extension User Guide
- vtiger Customer Portal User Guide
- vtiger CRM - Implementation Checklist
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Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The vtiger Customer Portal is an add-on package for vtiger CRM, an Open Source Customer Relationship Management project hosted in Sourceforge. You can host the Customer Portal package in your Web site and enables self-service to your customers to submit the trouble tickets for managing better customer relationship with customers.
[edit] Typical workflow
- Customer names are registered in vtiger CRM (Account/Contacts based on the product purchased can be one of the criteria)
- Login information is provided to the customers to submit trouble tickets from Web site,
- After logging in, customers first view the Knowledge base. If the solution for the problem is not available, they will submit trouble ticket through Ticket Submission Web form.
- The trouble ticket is fetched into vtiger CRM server and displayed under HelpDesk module.
- Customer Support Person or Administrator of a particular group can pickup the the trouble tickets submitted by customers.
- Once the ticket is assigned to a person, an automated E-mail will be sent to the customer about status of the ticket.
- Customer Support Person resolves the trouble ticket.
- The solution is displayed under customer's Customer Portal Home page. After reviewing the solution, customer can send further details if the problem is not solved and the process continues until the trouble ticket is closed.
[edit] Installing vtiger Customer Portal
- System Requirements
- Installation Prerequisites
- Installation Procedure
[edit] System Requirements
- Web Server: Apache version 2.0.40 and higher or Microsoft version IIS 5 and higher
- PHP: 4.2.X through 4.3.X.
Customer Portal is platform independant. For x86, minimum configuration for satisfactory performance is:
- Hardware: x486 with 256 MB RAM and 100 MB disk space
- Operating System: Windows 2000/NT/XP/2003
[edit] Installation Prerequisites
- The vtiger CRM 4.2 must be used as CRM software by the Product/Service Provider
- PHP (version 4.2.x or 4.3.x.) is installed in Product/Service Provider's Website before installing vtiger Customer Portal in appropriate location in Web site.
[edit] Installation Procedure
1. Download the vtiger_Customer_Portal_4_2.zip file from the http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/vtigercrm/vtiger_Customer_Portal_4_2.zip?download
2.Extract the vtiger_Customer_Portal_4_2.zip file to an appropriate location in your Web site. After extracting the file structure will be <Web Site>/vtigerCRM/customerportal/<Portal related Files>. You can also modify the directory structure as per your Web site file conventions.
3. Modify the PortalConfig.php file present under vtigerCRM/customerportal/ as given below:
Server_Path: Specify the absolute path (URL) of the vtiger CRM server. For example, if your vtiger CRM server is running at http://vtigercrm.com/demo means you need to specify the Server_Path as given below:
$Server_Path = "http://vtigercrm.com/demo";
Authenticate_Path: Specify the absolute path (URL) of the vtiger Customer Portal directory in your Web site. For example, if you have extracted the vtiger Customer Portal related files in to your Web site at http://vtiger.com/demo/portal means you need to specify the value for Authenticate_Path parameter as given below:
$Authenticate_Path = "http://vtiger.com/demo/portal";
Now save the PortalConfig.php file.
4. Modify the Look and Feel of the Portal pages as per your Web site requirements. By default, customerportal.css file is bundled with vtiger Customer Portal. You can customize the CSS file as per your Web site requirements. If you are planning to use a different CSS file, change the CSS file link in UserTickets.php and index.php files:
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="customerportal.css">
5. You may also change the complete layout of the Portal if you are having working knowledge in PHP, HTML, and CSS. You can also add terms and conditions, how to use customer portal, policy statement and other details as per your organization requirements. These details are beyond the scope of this manual.
Now your Customer Portal is ready for customers to post their Trouble tickets. Working with vtiger Customer Portal
The vtiger Customer Portal comprises two parts. In the CRM side, the vtiger CRM user creates Portal Users, and customer support persons update the status of the trouble tickets. In Customer Portal side the customer log in to the Customer Portal, submit the trouble tickets, and view the solutions provided by the vendor.
[edit] vtiger CRM Side
In the vtiger CRM user interface, you can perform the following operations
- Create portal users
- Resolve the trouble tickets
Note: Currently there is no provision for creating Customer Portal Users in vtiger CRM. Only vtiger CRM users can access the Customer Portal.
To create Customer Portal users
- Log in to vtiger CRM.
- Select the Contact which should get access to the portal.
- Check field 'Portal User'.
- Set appropriate dates for 'Support Start' and 'Support End'. That means that the user can access the portal within this time frame.
- Click the Save button.
- An Email with user credetials will now automaticly be sent to the new portal user.
Note: Last Name, User Name, Status, Role, and E-mail fields are mandatory.
Important: Please edit the files modules\helpdesk\save.php and modules\contacts\save.php and place your URL etc.
To resolve the trouble tickets
1. In vtiger CRM log in with the specific user name (same as Customer Portal User log in details). 2. Click the HelpDesk tab. 3. In HelpDesk Home page under list view select the trouble ticket. 4. In Trouble Ticket page, update the ticket details, such as solution for the ticket, status, priority, and other details. After updating the ticket click the Save button. The updated ticket details are immediately reflected in Customer Portal.
[edit] Customer Portal Side
Communicate the login details and URL of the Customer Portal to your customer. Your Customers can perform the following operations in Customer Portal:
- Log in to Customer Portal
- Submit trouble tickets
- View the Trouble Tickets status
To log in to the Customer Portal
1. Access your vendor's Customer Portal URL through Web Browser 2. In Login page, enter valid login details (user name and password) provided by your vendor. 3. Click the Login button. After successfully logging in, Customer Portal Home page is displayed.
To logout from the Customer Portal
In Customer Portal Home page, click the Logout link
To submit trouble tickets
1. In Customer Portal Home page click the Submit New Ticket link 2. In Create New Ticket page specify the following details:
* Title: Specify the title of the trouble ticket
* Description: Describe the problem in detail.
* Priority: Select the priority of the trouble ticket (Low, Medium, High, and Critical)
* Category: Select the category of the trouble ticket (Big Problem, Small Problem, and Other Problem)
3. Click the Submit button. Your ticket will be displayed in Home page under Open Tickets section.
Note: Currently vtiger Customer Portal supports very limited fields.
To view the trouble ticket status
1. In Customer Portal Home page Open and Closed tickets status are displayed under My Open Tickets and Closed Tickets sections respectively. 2. In My Open Tickets section, click the ticket to view the ticket details.
Note: Currently you can only view the ticket details. You cannot provide any additional details for resolving the problem (If required). You may need to submit a new ticket for the same.
Limitations
- Hence, create a "Contact" in vtiger CRM for your customer and check the "portal user" checkbox in the Contact details to allow him to access the Customer Portal.
- Users can only log in to either vtiger CRM or Portal at a time.
Customizing Customer Portal
You can edit the header of the customer portal to match your website and have a customized installation. 1. Create the header html code you wish to have on the portal pages. 1.1 Be sure the links are correct for the /customerportaldirectory/ 2. Open /customerportal/index.php in your favorite text editor. 3. Replace Lines:
//Knowledge Base Top Band
$list .= '| <img src="images/cp_logo.gif"> |
With your custom header so it looks like:
//Knowledge Base Top Band $list .= ' <- Be sure to leave this quote in place
Your custom header HTML here.
And be sure to close your HTML with this end quote -> ';
Important note: <- and -> are arrows not fancy script ;-)
4. That's it. Save your file and upload it to your server. Be sure to make a backup of the original file just in case you mess something up. Customer Support
Please post your valuable comments, feature requests, and issues in vtiger CRM Discussions (http://www.vtiger.com/discussions/ ) so that we can provide technical support for you.