Creating a Portal
Step-by-step guide to creating a new portal in CollabPortals, from selecting a base to configuring settings.
Overview
A portal is a shareable interface for a single Airtable base. Each portal has its own URL, permissions, and user access. You can create multiple portals for different bases or different audiences.
Creating a New Portal
- 1
Select an Airtable base
From your dashboard, click "Create Portal." You'll see a list of Airtable bases you've granted access to. Select the base you want to create a portal for.
- 2
Choose the user table
Select the table that contains your portal users. This table must have records for each person who will access the portal. CollabPortals uses this table to identify users and link records to them.
Common user table names: "Contacts", "Users", "Clients", "Team Members".
- 3
Pick the email field
Select the email field in your user table. This is how CollabPortals identifies portal users. When someone logs in with their email, CollabPortals looks up their record in this field.
- 4
Name your portal
Give your portal a descriptive name. CollabPortals automatically generates a URL slug from the name (e.g., "Client Project Tracker" becomes
client-project-tracker-abc123).
The portal slug is auto-generated from your portal name with a short unique suffix. This ensures every portal URL is unique, even if multiple portals share the same name.
Understanding the User Table
The user table is the most important concept when creating a portal. It serves two purposes:
- Authentication - The email field in the user table determines who can log in to the portal
- Record linking - Other tables can have linked record fields pointing to the user table. When they do, records are automatically filtered so users only see records linked to them.
Example Setup
Imagine a base with three tables:
| Table | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Contacts | User table - has Name, Email, Company fields |
| Projects | Each project is linked to a Contact |
| Tasks | Each task is linked to a Project |
When a portal user logs in, they'll only see Projects linked to their Contact record, and only Tasks within those Projects.
Every person who needs to access your portal must have a record in the user table with a matching email address. If someone tries to log in with an email that doesn't exist in the user table, they won't be able to access the portal.
After Creating a Portal
Once created, you'll be taken to the portal configuration page where you can:
- Set table permissions - Control which tables are visible and what actions are allowed
- Set field permissions - Control which fields are visible or editable
- Configure roles - Set up different permission levels for different users
- Share the portal link - Get the URL to send to your users
Tips
- One base, one portal - Each portal connects to a single Airtable base. If you need different views of the same data, create multiple portals with different permissions.
- Plan your user table first - Make sure your user table has records for everyone who needs access before sharing the portal.
- Linked records matter - For users to see data in other tables, those tables need linked record fields that connect back to the user table (directly or through intermediate tables).
Next Steps
- Sharing Your Portal - Get your portal URL and share it
- Table Permissions - Configure what users can see and do