How to Invite a New Supplier Portal User to the Supplier Portal
There may be certain situations where you may need to invite a new Supplier User to the Supplier Portal. For example, an additional Supplier Contact has requested an invitation to the Supplier Portal.
Below are the steps that must be carried out in order to Invite a New Supplier User to the Supplier Portal. Expand each step below for further explanation.
To invite a Supplier Portal User, you must navigate to the Users via the 'Settings>Users' buttons.
Note: You will only see the 'Settings' button if you have the correct Role access. Ensure that you contact your site admin if you do not have the access to complete this task.
Image: Navigating to Users via the 'Settings>User' Buttons
The Users tab will contain the 'Invite User' button, which is used to invite Supplier Portal Users.
Note: The Invite User button is used to invite both Internal Users and Supplier Portal Users. Therefore, its important to ensure you select the correct Solution within the invitation. The 'Supplier Portal' must be chosen for Supplier Portal Users, otherwise your Supplier Users will have access to your Internal site.
Image: Invite User Button
Image: Invite User Screen
1. First Name: Using the open text field, enter the First Name of the User.
2. Last Name: Using the open text field, enter the Second Name of the User.
3. Email Address: Using the open text field, enter the User's Email Address.
Note: The Email Address is crucial, as it what the User uses when logging in and accepting the invitation. The User will not add their User Name into the log in screen, they will always use the Email Address.
Important: Ensure the Email Address is correct, as the system will not be able to detect that the Email Address does not exist. The system is only able to detect if the text is in an 'Email Format', e.g. [email protected]/ie/uk/etc.
Image: Email Format Error
4. Solution: Supplier Portal Users must be given the 'Supplier Portal' Solution, as you do not want them to have access to your Internal Solution. Using the dropdown, change the Solution to 'Supplier Portal'.
Image: Solution Dropdown
5. Contact Association: Using the dropdown, select the Supplier Contact this User should be associated with. You will see the full list of your Suppliers. However, you can navigate through the folders or use the search bar to locate the Supplier Contact. Once you have located the Supplier Contact, click on the Name of the Supplier Contact and click the 'Select' button.
Note: It is important to complete the Contact Association, as this Contact Association will connect the Supplier Portal User with their Supplier Contact, allowing the Supplier Portal User to see Actions in their 'My Actions' tab in the Supplier Portal when their Supplier Contact is selected in Records, and also receive Alerts, as the Alerts are connected with the Email Address in the Supplier Contact not the Supplier Portal User.
Image: Contact Association Dropdown
Image: Contact Located using Folders
Note: The order in which your Supplier Contacts are laid out within the Contact Association dropdown does not always match the order in which they are set within the Supplier page. The order in the Contact Association is Alphabetical by the First Name.
Image: Contact Located using Search Bar
Note: If the system detects that name you provided in the First and Last Name fields for the Supplier Portal User, do not match the Supplier Contact you selected in the Contact Association, the system will provide an error message. This is simply letting you know that the names are not matching. It will not stop you from sending the invitation, as sometimes Users are invited with their nicknames but their Supplier Contact in Master Data has their formal name. However, you may need to ensure you selected the correct Supplier Contact for the Supplier Portal User.
Image: Error for Name Not Matching
6. Role: Using the dropdown, select the Role the Supplier Portal User should be given. This determines the level of access the Supplier Portal User has. You can select from your own Customer Roles (My Roles Folder) or from the System Roles (System Roles Folder). Once you have located the Role, click on the Name of the Role and click the 'Select' button.
Image: Role Dropdown
Image: Selecting the Role Name and Clicking 'Select'
7. X: Click the 'X' button to remove a Role.
8. Add Line: Additional Roles can be added by clicking the 'Add Line' button.
9: Reset Password Every 90 Days: When a Supplier Portal User is first invited, a 90 Day Password Reset can be enabled by clicking the box. This requires the Supplier Portal User to create a New Password every 90 days. 7 days before the 90 days is due, the Supplier Portal User will receive an Email Notification with a link to create the New Password.
Note: Supplier Portal Users that get invited with the Reset Password Every 90 Days Disabled, can enable it themselves within their My Profile.
Image: Reset Password Every 90 Days Disabled
Image: Reset Password Every 90 Days Enabled
10. Continue: To send the Supplier Portal User Invitation, click the 'Continue' button. This will result in the Supplier Portal User receiving an Email Invitation and the Supplier Portal User Invitation being placed in the 'Invitation' tab.
Image: Email Invitation Received by Supplier Portal User
Image: Supplier Portal User Invitation in Invitations Tab
11. Cancel: Click the 'Cancel' button to discard of the Supplier Portal User Invitation and move back to the Users tab.
Note: The Supplier Portal User will receive a second Email Notification, 4 days later reminding them to accept their invitation if they have not yet accepted it.
Image: Reminder Supplier Portal User Invitation
Important Step to Carry Out First:
When inviting a Supplier Portal User, you will Contact Associate this Supplier Portal User with a Supplier Contact.
Therefore, before you invite the Supplier Portal User, you will need to:
1. Add the Supplier Contact
For further details on the step above, see the article below:
Note: If you wish to simply replace the Supplier Contact with another, see the article below:
Important to Remember:
A Supplier Portal User can only be invited and related to one Supplier Portal. You cannot invite the same Email Address more than once.
If you invite the same Email Address more than once, your Supplier Portal User will receive an invite but will see the error screen below when they attempt to accept the invite. This error is informing the Supplier Portal User that they already have a membership with your site.
You may have some Suppliers that have the same main Supplier Contact. For example:
Supplier 1 and Supplier 2 have John Adams as their main Supplier Contact
As you cannot invite John Adams to two Supplier Portals, you must either:
- Add a different main Supplier Contacts for each Supplier
- Add one Supplier as a 'Parent' and one Supplier as a 'Child'. Then inviting John Adams to the Parent Supplier Portal, which will now have access to the Child Supplier Assessments
- Add a third Supplier as a 'Parent', e.g. Corporate Supplier, Agent/Broker, and add Manufacturer 1 and Manufacturer 2 as the 'Children'. Then inviting John Adams to the Parent Supplier Portal, which will now have access to the Children Suppliers Assessments
Image: Error Screen for Email Address being Invited Twice
