vtiger Customer Portal

User Manual
crm-now
06-02-07 Edition
vtiger CRM Customer Portal
vtiger and crm-now
vtiger Customer Portal: User Manual
crm-now
Copyright 2006 vtiger (content) and crm-now (design)
Revision History
Revision 01 2006-31-01
Starting Version
Revision 02 2004-02-06
Customer Portal Description
Added Copyright, images, general revision
Content copyright vtiger, www.vtiger.com
Design copyright crm-now c/o im-netz Neue Medien GmbH, www.crm-now.com
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Back-Cover Texts being
Back Cover Text. The vtiger logo is a trademark of vtiger.com. crm-now and all crm-now-based trademarks and logos
are trademarks or registered trademarks of im-netz Neue Medien GmbH in Germany and other countries. crm-now ist in-
pendent of vtiger.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.
Where those designations appear in this book, and crm-now was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have
been printed in caps or initial caps. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher
assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained
herein.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Chapter 1. Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1. Typical workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2. Installing vtiger Customer Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3. Installation Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 3. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Installation Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 4. Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.1. vtiger CRM Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2. Customer Portal Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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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 tick-
ets for managing better customer relationship with customers.
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Chapter 1. Workflow
1.1. Typical workflow
Customer names are registered in vtiger CRM (Account/Contacts based on the product pur-
chased 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 con-
tinues until the trouble ticket is closed.
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Chapter 2. Installing vtiger Customer Portal
2.1. 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 perfor-
mance is:
Hardware: x486 with 256 MB RAM and 100 MB disk space
Operating System: Windows 2000/NT/XP/2003
2.2. 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 perfor-
mance is:
Hardware: x486 with 256 MB RAM and 100 MB disk space
Operating System: Windows 2000/NT/XP/2003
2.3. 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 in-
stalling vtiger Customer Portal in appropriate location in Web site.
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Chapter 3. Installation
3.1. 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 "YourWebSite"/vtigerCRM/customerportal/"Portal re-
lated Files". You can also modify the directory structure as per your Web site file conven-
tions.
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 de-
fault, 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 por-
tal, 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.
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Chapter 4. Handling
4.1. 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 ac-
cess 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 de-
tails).
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, prior-
ity, and other details. After updating the ticket click the Save button. The updated ticket de-
tails are immediately reflected in Customer Portal.
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4.2. Customer Portal Side
Communicate the login details and URL of the Customer Portal to your customer. Your Cus-
tomers 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 dis-
played.
To logout from the Customer Portal. In Customer Portal Home page, click the Logout link
To submit trouble tickets
a. Title: Specify the title of the trouble ticket
b. Description: Describe the problem in detail.
c. Priority: Select the priority of the trouble ticket (Low, Medium, High, and Critical)
d. Category: Select the category of the trouble ticket (Big Problem, Small Problem, and Other
Problem)
1. In Customer Portal Home page click the Submit New Ticket link
2. In Create New Ticket page specify the following details:
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.
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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 in-
stallation.
//Knowledge Base Top Band
$list .= '<table width="100%" height="40" border="0" cellspacing="0"
cellpadding="0"
class="topBand">
<tr>
<td> <img src="images/cp_logo.gif">
</table>';
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 -> ';
1. Create the header html code you wish to have on the portal pages. Be sure the links are
correct for the /customerportaldirectory/
2. Open /customerportal/index.php in your favorite text editor.
3. Replace Lines:
4. That's it. Save your file and upload it to your server. Be sure to make a backup of the origi-
nal file just in case you mess something up. Customer Support
Note:
< - and -> are arrows not fancy script ;-)
Chapter 4. Handling
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