By UATeam in Community Portal —

Salesforce Community Portal Setup Example: A Step-by-Step Guide

Salesforce Experience Cloud, formerly known as Community Cloud, allows organizations to create branded community portals. These portals enhance customer engagement, streamline support processes, and improve collaboration with partners. This guide provides a step-by-step example to help you set up a Salesforce community portal.

What Is a Salesforce Community Portal?

A Salesforce community portal is a customizable online space that enables users to:

  • Collaborate: Share information and work with internal and external users.
  • Access Data: View and interact with Salesforce records in a branded interface.
  • Provide Support: Empower customers to find answers via knowledge articles or case submission.

Use Case for Community Portal

Objective

We’ll create a customer support portal where users can:

  1. Log in to view and manage their cases.
  2. Submit new cases directly from the portal.
  3. Search for and read knowledge articles.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Enable Experience Cloud

  1. Navigate to Setup:
    • In Salesforce Setup, search for Digital Experiences in the Quick Find box.
  2. Enable Digital Experiences:
    • Click Enable Digital Experiences and save your changes.

Step 2: Create a New Community

  1. Go to All Sites:
    • Search for All Sites in the Quick Find box under Setup.
  2. Create a New Site:
    • Click New and select a template:
      • For this example, choose the Customer Service template.
    • Click Get Started.
  3. Configure Basic Information:
    • Name: Customer Support Portal.
    • URL: Customize the URL (e.g., /customer-support).
    • Click Create to initialize the portal.

Step 3: Customize the Portal

  1. Open the Builder:
    • Click Builder to open the Community Builder interface.
  2. Customize the Homepage:
    • Header: Add your company logo and update the navigation menu.
    • Main Content:
      • Drag a Knowledge component to display searchable articles.
      • Add a Case List component to show a logged-in user’s cases.
    • Footer: Add links to your privacy policy and contact information.
  3. Add a Case Submission Page:
    • Go to Pages → Click New Page → Select Standard Page.
    • Add a Case Form component for users to submit new cases.
    • Name the page "Submit a Case."

Step 4: Configure Access and Permissions

  1. Create a Community Profile:
    • Navigate to Setup → Profiles.
    • Clone the Customer Community User profile to create a custom profile.
    • Adjust permissions to allow access to Cases, Knowledge, and relevant objects.
  2. Assign Users to the Portal:
    • Go to the Contact record of the user in Salesforce.
    • Click Enable Customer User.
    • Assign the custom profile created earlier.

Step 5: Publish the Community

  1. Preview the Portal:
    • Use the Preview option in the Builder to test the portal for different users.
  2. Publish:
    • Once satisfied with the setup, click Publish to make the portal live.

Step 6: Test the Community

  1. Login as a Community User:
    • Use the Login As feature to access the portal as a customer user.
    • Verify:
      • Case list visibility.
      • Case submission functionality.
      • Search and display of knowledge articles.
  2. Iterate Based on Feedback:
    • Gather feedback from testers and refine the portal layout and features.

Best Practices for Community Portals

  1. Branding and Customization:
    • Use consistent branding, colors, and typography to align the portal with your corporate identity.
  2. Responsive Design:
    • Test the portal on various devices to ensure a seamless experience.
  3. Performance Optimization:
    • Regularly monitor page load times and optimize images and content.
  4. User Permissions:
    • Grant minimal necessary permissions to ensure security while meeting user needs.
  5. Engagement Features:
    • Add gamification elements like badges or leaderboards to encourage user participation.

Conclusion

Salesforce community portals are a versatile tool for improving customer engagement and support. By following this example, you can set up a branded customer support portal with functionality for case management and knowledge sharing. With proper customization and best practices, your Salesforce community portal can become a valuable resource for your customers and partners.