Customized Web Portal Solution
Asher’s custom-developed web portal solution creates a central hub for your communication, file sharing, and document storage.
One stop shop
No more fielding requests for the latest version of a file, or having to search a combination of emails, servers, and hard drives for that important document. It’s all on your portal.
Files and filters
With a robust segmented visibility system, your portal gives you access to every file and category, but your end users will only see what you allow – and all from the same central login screen.
User-friendly simplicity
Uploading or downloading files from your portal is a snap, with a simple interface that gives you and your users only the controls you actually need. No confusing extras, and no coding or FTP knowledge needed.
Work on the go
As an online, cloud-based solution, your portal allows you to post files and communications from any device or location, and your users to access that information from wherever they are.
Promote your brand
Don’t create confusion by driving your end users to a third-party service without your name on it. Your portal will be branded with your logo and colors, and live at a URL you choose.
Franchise tested, client approved
We developed this product based on Asher’s 40+ years of experience in agency/client relations, and our specific focus in the franchise model with clients such as Subway and Fantastic Sams. We can deploy this portal system for top-down communication (a franchise with their franchisees, or an agency with their clients) or for lateral communication (members of a company among themselves).
Support for the long haul
We don’t launch a portal and walk away – we host and maintain our portals on an ongoing basis, with technical support for you and your end users as well as periodic rollouts of new product features. All covered by our flat monthly rate.
The core of Asher’s portal solution is organizing, storing, and sharing files.
Organization
Files uploaded to the portal are organized into a Category / Subcategory folder structure, with an unlimited number of categories, subcategories, and files.
No hunting through empty folders. Only populated categories will display for the end user.
With plans starting at 50 GB of storage, you’ll never run out of space.
Portal supports virtually any file type (shown below).
Sorting / refinement
Files can be sorted by title or by date, in either ascending or descending order. A faceted refinement system allows users to dynamically filter files by filetype, year posted, etc.
Extras & interactivity
If desired, files can be posted with descriptions or instructions.
Files will automatically generate a thumbnail image or a filetype icon for faster visual browsing.
No need to download before viewing – images can be previewed in “lightbox” popup modal, and video and audio files will embed directly on the portal page.
Fully customizable
Portal admins have complete access to add, edit, or remove Categories, Subcategories, all files, etc.
If desired, you can even allow your end users to upload their own files via a file upload form – without giving them access to the site’s full admin panel or to files from other users.
Your virtual rolodex.
Directory
We’ve also developed a directory system geared toward displaying a contact list: organization members, company contacts, etc.
Each entry can include data such as image, name, title, company, email, phone, and address. Which fields are enabled for your portal are up to you.
Directory entries are auto-sorted by last name, but users can also filter manually or download a CSV of all directory entries.
Different data
Have a data display need that doesn’t fit cleanly under a file or people directory? Let us know. If it’s a feature that would be useful to our other portal clients, we might build it for you at no charge.
Asher’s portal solution allows you to serve different information to different groups or individuals, all from the same central system.
Users and passwords
All users have a unique login tied to their name and email. No need to juggle account credentials between multiple people.
Users cannot self-register. Only the users you create within the portal will have access.
An automated password reset feature allows users to change their own passwords, removing the need for you to manage or secure a master spreadsheet of credentials. If need be, admins still have the ability to reset or change individual passwords manually.
For a personal touch, you can enable users to upload their own profile image for display on your portal.
User Roles
Asher can create any number of User Roles to suit client’s needs. For example:
- Administrator
Add/edit/remove all files - Manager
View only access to all files - Employee
View only access to files in select categories
Filter system for segmented visibility
In addition to User Roles, users and files can also be filtered by additional criteria such as location, client, etc.
For example, a franchise portal will often have users and files filtered by market, so each franchisee is restricted to the files relevant to their stores, and not able to access sensitive information about other markets.
Fully customizable
Portal admins have complete access to add, edit, or remove users, filters, etc.
User Roles must be configured by Asher (included in recurring portal fee) but can be assigned by portal admins as desired.
Example of user roles and filters
In this example, the managers for the NY and LA markets can only view the files assigned to their market. Since the Illustration file has been assigned to both markets, both managers can view. The admin user can view all files, including which files are assigned to each market.
Here’s what’s under the hood.
WordPress CMS
Asher’s portal system is built on a highly customized instance of WordPress, which is the #1 website content management system (powering over half of the CMS market, and a third of the entire internet):
WordPress’ market dominance makes it very likely that you or someone on your team already has experience with it as a platform, easing the learning curve and adoption rate of a potentially new system. It also promises the stability of a tried-and-true codebase, not a one-off side project from a freelancer.
Fully responsive
Your web portal has been built with a responsive design that will smoothly adapt for all browsers, devices, and screen sizes.
The WordPress admin panel is also responsive, allowing for portal management even if you’re on the go.
Portal hosting
To ensure system stability and facilitate ongoing maintenance and feature upgrades, Asher handles all portal hosting via a leading cloud hosting provider.
Our hosting and maintenance package.
Domain registration
Your URL address. We can configure your portal on a new URL (such as asheragencyportal.com) or a subdomain of your existing URL (such as portal.asheragency.com). Our new URLs include domain privacy to protect your information and prevent domain-related spam.
SSL certificate
An SSL encrypts user communications on your portal and adds the green padlock to your URL address bar. Added site security, user confidence, and boosts your standing with Google.
Portal hosting
Where your portal lives. Unmetered bandwidth and flexible resources for high-traffic spikes.
Weekly CMS maintenance
Like any software, your CMS needs regular updates and maintenance to stay up-to-date and guard against vulnerabilities. We handle that for you, making sure updates don’t break your portal.
Daily automated backups
Your portal will get a fresh backup every single day, with a full 90 days of backups stored on our secure cloud storage.
Constant uptime monitoring
Our hosting servers come with a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and are monitored every 5 minutes for hiccups. In the unlikely event of a crash, Asher will be notified instantly and get you back up and running ASAP.
Enhanced forms
Forms will be protected by invisible captchas to cut down on spam/bot use, and submissions sent via an email delivery platform to ensure inbox delivery.
Premium security
Asher installs and configures a security firewall that blocks brute force attacks and scans your portal for malware. Includes real-time threat defense, country blocking, and automated scans for increased site security.
Hands-on training
Every portal we build comes with thorough written documentation on how you can perform any needed edit or update. We also sit down for a screenshare training session with any admin users to walk you through it step by step. And we’re always available for follow-up sessions as the need arises.
Technical support
Asher is always on standby to perform technical support for you and other admin users, whether that entails answering questions, fixing bugs, or general troubleshooting. We also serve as the primary support contact for your end users, ensuring that technical questions are fielded by the same team that built the system and leaving you free to focus on your business. Our base package includes up to 5 hours of tech support per month, with additional support available at higher pricing tiers.
Feature upgrades
Our feature roadmap for our web portal offering continues to grow as we come up with new ideas and hear requests from our existing clients. While we don’t have a fixed schedule for rollouts, we will periodically alert you of feature upgrades as we push them live on your portal, and you’ll be free to utilize them as desired. All for no extra charge.
Our simple monthly payment structure keeps billing predictable and affordable.
Initial build
Our web portal system is built around a SaaS model (Software as a Service). This is not a one-time product that we launch and walk away from, but a core part of our business (and yours) that will change and grow with you and your business on a continual basis.
Asher will deploy your portal with all aforementioned base features for no cost.
Any client-requested features beyond our base will be evaluated by Asher individually:
- If feature might be useful for other client portals in the future, Asher will build feature into our core product for free.
- If feature appears to be a one-time need for this specific client, Asher will estimate a one-time build cost.
While we’ll provide an official ETA on project approval, we can generally launch your portal within 1-2 weeks, ready for you to start populating with files and users.
Monthly payments
After launch, we’ll bill you a simple recurring monthly fee that will cover all the continuing services listed previously.
Our first step in any project is sitting down with the key decision makers for a thorough technical discovery to define project scope and costs, after which details such as monthly cost can be finalized.
You are free to absorb that cost or distribute to your end users as desired. Due to our active role in tech support for your end users, we don’t currently allow whitelabeling, but you’re welcome to implement rebilling and/or markup at your discretion.
Ready to get started?
Or have more questions? Just drop us a line.
Asher is proudly certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the State of Indiana. We are committed to supplier diversity by corporations and government agencies and happy to be certified to add diversity to your supply chain.