Channel Portals make it easy to create and share digital product catalogs for dealers, distributors, and sales teams. Portals can feature many product pages and are automatically created using products and attributes that are already configured in the Entries app.
Channel Portals are automatically created from a filtered list of product information, called a channel, in the Entries app. You’ll need access to Entries to build a channel.
Once the channel is built in Entries, the information can be released to a channel portal. On the Channel Details page, select Actions>Release to Channel Portals. Anyone with access to Entries can view and release channels.
After the channel is released, it becomes available to portal creators who need to select it when creating a Channel Portal. Only one channel can be selected for use in a channel portal. However, one channel can be used in multiple portals.
When a channel is updated in Entries, the Channel Portals connected to it do not update automatically. You must release the changes to Channel Portals each time by selecting Actions > Update in Channel Portals.
To make a channel unavailable for Channel Portals, ensure that the channel is not being used in any portals. If it is being used, edit the Channel Portals and click Select different channel to change the channel. Then, on the Channel Details page in Entries, select Actions and Remove Channel from Portals.
Step 1: From the dashboard in the Portals app, select Create portal and then select Channel as your portal type.
Step 2: From the Channel dropdown, select a channel that contains product content from Entries.
The page displays product content with a navigation structure created from the channel’s category hierarchy. This information and hierarchy can be edited only in Entries, not in Portals. For more information, visit how product categories are set up in Entries. The maximum number of products you can display in a channel portal is 50,000.
To change the channel at any point, click Select different channel.
Step 3: Customize the channel portal.
Add a logo
Select Add logo and search for an asset from your DAM site that you have permission to view, then select and crop the asset. The logo will appear near the top of the page.
Edit category preview images and names
Preview images for the categories and subcategories in your portal can be added and changed in Entries. Go to Setup and Categories, hover over the category or subcategory, and select the image icon to search for a DAM asset you have permission to view. Select the pencil icon to edit the name of the category.
The new preview image or category name will not update in all channel portals that feature it until you release the changes to Portals from the channel page.
At the bottom of the portal, you can add additional text and DAM images to your channel portal. This content acts like a footer, so it will show on every page, including individual product details pages. If you leave it blank, nothing will appear at the bottom of the pages. Sample footer Sample footer
Adjust the portal design
You can choose fonts, background colors, and link colors that reflect your brand.
To do this, select the gear icon and Design. Select a font for the portal and adjust colors for the header background and links. If the color you select does not meet the WCAG 2.1 AA contrast ratio minimums, a warning icon will appear. If this happens, try selecting a lighter shade for the header background or darker shade for links.
To see what your channel portal will look like to anyone you share it with, select Preview.
To return to editing, select Edit. In both edit and preview views, you can make your channel portal available to others by selecting Publish.
After publishing the channel portal, you can continue to edit the active page. However, anyone viewing the page will not see those updates until you select Publish again.
To edit security access and share settings, select Share. Set the access level to public – which anyone, including non-DAM users, can view – login required, or access code. When you create an access code, it must be at least six characters long and can include numbers and letters. The portal creator must manually share this code with others, and anyone, including non-DAM users, can view the portal using the access code.
You can select a date for the portal to expire. If you don’t select an expiration date, the portal will never expire. Share the portal with others by sending a direct link or an embed code that can be copied and pasted into another webpage. The embed code allows you to display a portal’s assets on the webpage and have those assets automatically update.
You can also invite individual DAM users to view or edit the channel portal by typing their name or email. Enter multiple users in this field, then select if they can view or edit the portal. Optionally, you can add a message that will appear in the email the users receive, then select Send.
You can also watch tutorials on how to create, customize, and share a Channel Portal in the Portals Tutorial Library on Acquia Academy.
Viewers of the channel portal can navigate to find product content through the category modules on the home page or the menu.
After selecting a category or all products, the viewer will go to a product list page. This is similar in format to what users see in Entries and offers a quick glance at product information. Products may have related products, called variants in Entries. These can be viewed by selecting the dropdown by the featured image.
From the list page, select a product’s SKU to see full product details including marketing copy, technical specifications, and product assets.
From the product details page, you can select Download all assets to download a zip file of all assets for the product. All files will download in their original format.
You can also download single assets in channel portals. Click the download button in the corner of an asset. A download modal will display with the available file types to choose from.
Single and all asset downloads are turned on by default in newly created channel portals. If you want to turn off one or either, go to Portal settings, select Download, and turn the settings off.
Channel Portals provide a streamlined method for exporting product data quickly and efficiently. They also make it easier to share comprehensive product details with retailers and distributors. Use the following steps to export product data from Channel Portals:
Navigate to the Portal dashboard.
Select the channel dashboard containing the product data that you want to export.
Click the Share icon and copy the direct link of the portal for easy access.
Use the link to open the channel portal page.
Click View All Products to view the complete product list.
Click Download product data to start the export process.
Select one of the following formats for the export:
CSV
XLSX
Click Download to begin downloading. A snackbar message confirms a successful download.
When you open the downloaded file, you get organized product data, which provides clear information and is easy to share with the stakeholders.
How do I create Channel Portals?
Channel Portals make it easy to create and share digital product catalogs for dealers, distributors, and sales teams. Portals can feature many product pages and are automatically created using products and attributes that are already configured in the Entries app.
Channel Portals are automatically created from a filtered list of product information, called a channel, in the Entries app. You’ll need access to Entries to build a channel.
Once the channel is built in Entries, the information can be released to a channel portal. On the Channel Details page, select Actions>Release to Channel Portals. Anyone with access to Entries can view and release channels.
After the channel is released, it becomes available to portal creators who need to select it when creating a Channel Portal. Only one channel can be selected for use in a channel portal. However, one channel can be used in multiple portals.
When a channel is updated in Entries, the Channel Portals connected to it do not update automatically. You must release the changes to Channel Portals each time by selecting Actions > Update in Channel Portals.
To make a channel unavailable for Channel Portals, ensure that the channel is not being used in any portals. If it is being used, edit the Channel Portals and click Select different channel to change the channel. Then, on the Channel Details page in Entries, select Actions and Remove Channel from Portals.
Step 1: From the dashboard in the Portals app, select Create portal and then select Channel as your portal type.
Step 2: From the Channel dropdown, select a channel that contains product content from Entries.
The page displays product content with a navigation structure created from the channel’s category hierarchy. This information and hierarchy can be edited only in Entries, not in Portals. For more information, visit how product categories are set up in Entries. The maximum number of products you can display in a channel portal is 50,000.
To change the channel at any point, click Select different channel.
Step 3: Customize the channel portal.
Add a logo
Select Add logo and search for an asset from your DAM site that you have permission to view, then select and crop the asset. The logo will appear near the top of the page.
Edit category preview images and names
Preview images for the categories and subcategories in your portal can be added and changed in Entries. Go to Setup and Categories, hover over the category or subcategory, and select the image icon to search for a DAM asset you have permission to view. Select the pencil icon to edit the name of the category.
The new preview image or category name will not update in all channel portals that feature it until you release the changes to Portals from the channel page.
At the bottom of the portal, you can add additional text and DAM images to your channel portal. This content acts like a footer, so it will show on every page, including individual product details pages. If you leave it blank, nothing will appear at the bottom of the pages. Sample footer Sample footer
Adjust the portal design
You can choose fonts, background colors, and link colors that reflect your brand.
To do this, select the gear icon and Design. Select a font for the portal and adjust colors for the header background and links. If the color you select does not meet the WCAG 2.1 AA contrast ratio minimums, a warning icon will appear. If this happens, try selecting a lighter shade for the header background or darker shade for links.
To see what your channel portal will look like to anyone you share it with, select Preview.
To return to editing, select Edit. In both edit and preview views, you can make your channel portal available to others by selecting Publish.
After publishing the channel portal, you can continue to edit the active page. However, anyone viewing the page will not see those updates until you select Publish again.
To edit security access and share settings, select Share. Set the access level to public – which anyone, including non-DAM users, can view – login required, or access code. When you create an access code, it must be at least six characters long and can include numbers and letters. The portal creator must manually share this code with others, and anyone, including non-DAM users, can view the portal using the access code.
You can select a date for the portal to expire. If you don’t select an expiration date, the portal will never expire. Share the portal with others by sending a direct link or an embed code that can be copied and pasted into another webpage. The embed code allows you to display a portal’s assets on the webpage and have those assets automatically update.
You can also invite individual DAM users to view or edit the channel portal by typing their name or email. Enter multiple users in this field, then select if they can view or edit the portal. Optionally, you can add a message that will appear in the email the users receive, then select Send.
You can also watch tutorials on how to create, customize, and share a Channel Portal in the Portals Tutorial Library on Acquia Academy.
Viewers of the channel portal can navigate to find product content through the category modules on the home page or the menu.
After selecting a category or all products, the viewer will go to a product list page. This is similar in format to what users see in Entries and offers a quick glance at product information. Products may have related products, called variants in Entries. These can be viewed by selecting the dropdown by the featured image.
From the list page, select a product’s SKU to see full product details including marketing copy, technical specifications, and product assets.
From the product details page, you can select Download all assets to download a zip file of all assets for the product. All files will download in their original format.
You can also download single assets in channel portals. Click the download button in the corner of an asset. A download modal will display with the available file types to choose from.
Single and all asset downloads are turned on by default in newly created channel portals. If you want to turn off one or either, go to Portal settings, select Download, and turn the settings off.
Channel Portals provide a streamlined method for exporting product data quickly and efficiently. They also make it easier to share comprehensive product details with retailers and distributors. Use the following steps to export product data from Channel Portals:
Navigate to the Portal dashboard.
Select the channel dashboard containing the product data that you want to export.
Click the Share icon and copy the direct link of the portal for easy access.
Use the link to open the channel portal page.
Click View All Products to view the complete product list.
Click Download product data to start the export process.
Select one of the following formats for the export:
CSV
XLSX
Click Download to begin downloading. A snackbar message confirms a successful download.
When you open the downloaded file, you get organized product data, which provides clear information and is easy to share with the stakeholders.
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