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Set up the client portal

Give invited clients a standalone inbox outside wp-admin—magic link or OTP, no WordPress account.

The problem

Clients often need to triage form submissions, but opening wp-admin means plugins, themes, and settings they should never see. Creating WordPress users just for an inbox is heavy—and hard to revoke cleanly.

The solution

The Client Portal (Sobi Forms Pro) is a standalone inbox at a URL you choose on your site. Invited emails sign in with a magic link or a one-time code—no WordPress account. They work submissions for the forms you grant; they never get wp-admin.

Requirements

  • An active Sobi Forms Pro license on the site
  • Working site email (wp_mail) so login messages deliver—native SMTP is recommended in production

How to set it up

  1. Go to Sobi Forms → Settings → Client Portal.
  2. Enable the Client Portal.
  3. Set the Portal Path (lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens—default portal). Clients open https://yoursite.com/{path}.
  4. Set Session Duration (1–365 days, default 30). That controls how long a signed-in session lasts—not the short-lived login link/code.
  5. Add portal users: email, which forms they can see (all or selected), and Active on/off.
  6. Save. Share the portal URL with each invited person.

How clients sign in

  1. They open the portal URL and enter their email.
  2. They receive one message with both:
  3. Magic link and OTP expire after 15 minutes and are single-use.
  4. After sign-in, the session lasts for the Session Duration you configured (cookie on that site).

They can sign out from the portal. Disable or delete a portal user in Settings to revoke access; deleting invalidates their sessions.

What clients can do

Under the forms you assigned, they get the same inbox workflow as in WordPress—list, search, filters, open a submission, read/unread, star, spam, trash/restore—and, when those Inbox Pro options are enabled on the site: tags, statuses, Kanban, notes/activity, and replies.

Activity is attributed to their email (not a WordPress user id).

What they cannot do

  • Access wp-admin
  • Create or edit forms
  • Manage portal users, path, or other Settings
  • Export submissions from the portal
  • Assign leads (not available in the portal)

Treat portal access as real inbox power: clients can trash or purge submissions within their form ACL. Scope forms carefully.

White label

With white label enabled, the portal chrome can show your product name instead of “Sobi Forms.” Promotional UI stays off the portal surface either way.

Multisite

Portal path, session length, and invited users are configured per site—not in Network Admin. License and settings follow each site the same way as other Pro options.

Good practice

  • Pick a path that does not clash with an existing WordPress page; change it in Settings if needed.
  • Prefer HTTPS so the session cookie is Secure.
  • Invite the fewest emails necessary; prefer selected forms over “all” when a client only owns one intake form.
  • Pair with user roles for teammates who should work in wp-admin, and the portal for clients who should not.

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