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Candidate & Contact Portals User Guide

How to setup and use the Candidate & Contact Portals

  

Introduction

Colleague offers an additional Portal interface which can be embedded within your website or made available as a separate URL.
This interface will enable your Candidates to access their Profile details, Documents and submit Timesheets/Expenses.

Demo Portal Login Page: https://portal.colleague7.com

 

Example Candidate Portal (Profile Page)

 

Example Contact Portal (Profile Page)

 

Setting up the Portal

In the first instance, the Colleague Portal webapp will need to be setup and pointed to your database.

To begin this process, please contact the Support Team

Email: support@colleaguesoftware.com

Telephone: (+44) 01603 735930

 

User Group Permissions

Within the Colleague Admin area, under User Group Permissions, the ability to create a 'Candidate Portal User' is enabled from within the 'Candidate' Permission Group:

 

The permission to create a Contact Portal User is held within the ‘Contact’ Permission Group.

 

Setting Portal Logins

Candidate/Contact Record

Within the Candidate or Contact record, the Portal User can be created via the 'View More' menu > 'Create Portal User' option.

The Username of a Portal User can be either their Primary or Secondary Email Address.

 

Upon creating a Portal User, you will be advised of the username, unique PIN number and temporary password (for the Candidate's first login).

On first login, the Candidate/Contact will be asked to set their own password for future access.

Note: The password generation process for the portal user requires both capital and lowercase letters.

There are also merge fields available against the record that can be used when sending the portal details to the Candidate/Contact via a default email template:

 

In the event of needing to reset a Portal User’s Password, an administrator can access all Portal Users from within the Admin area under 'Users'.

Above the Users table (top right) you will find an option to include/exclude Portal Users, set to ‘Yes’:

 

You can use the search to lookup the Portal User.

Portal Users are also allocated to the ‘PORTALUSERS’ User Group:

 

When accessing a User record that is a Portal User, you will notice that is an extra ‘Portal Record Link’ field is shown to advise the record linked with the User:

 

Resetting a Portal User’s password is the same as resetting a User's password.

 

A Portal User can also be deactivated and re-activated from within the Candidate record, via the 'View More' menu under 'Portal Details'.

This option will only appear if a Portal User has been created against the record.

 

Candidate Portal

Login Page

The Portal Login page is branded, embedded into your website and/or made available via separate URL.

 

Profile

The Candidate’s first login will prompt them set their own password.

Upon successful login, the Candidate will access their profile page.

This will contain a list of standard fields showing the basic contact information and personal details you hold against the record.

The User can set their default landing page in future by selecting the required tab and pressing on the Home icon (top right):

 

Documents

Based on a Global Setting, you can configure whether the Candidate can view Documents in the Portal:

 

Whether a document can be viewed on the portal is based on a Document setting:

 

The Candidate can also add Documents via the Portal, which are then uploaded to their Candidate record in Colleague.

Access to the ‘Show in Portal’ option on the Documents tab of a record is granted via a User Group Permission:

Admin > User Group Permissions > Global > ‘Show Documents In Portal’

 

When the Portal User uploads a Document to their profile, you will be able to set which email address(es) are notified of the event via a Global Setting.

Admin > Global Setting > Portal section:

 

If you wish to send this notification to multiple email addresses, separate the emails with a comma.

 

Placements

A Candidate will have the option to view a summarised overview of their active Contract Placements:

  • Company Name
  • Placement Type
  • Job Title
  • Start Date
  • End Date
  • History of Previous and Pending Timesheets Submitted
  • History of Previous and Pending Expenses Submitted

 

Whether a Placement appears to a Candidate on the Portal, will be dictated by the Placement being active or by the ‘All Timesheets Received’ field on the Timesheets tab:

 

If set to ‘Yes’ the Candidate will no longer be able to submit any more Timesheets.

On the Placement record, from the 'View More' menu, you will find ‘Portal Options’:

 

These options set:

  • Include Standard Pay Rate in Portal – Configures whether the candidates standard pay rate is included as a column to enter units against when submitting their timesheet
  • Portal Contact Notifications – Configures whether the Contacts associated to the Placement (either the Main Contact or the ‘Approvers’ set on the Back Office tab) are sent email notifications in the event of activity against the Placement (i.e. New Timesheet, Response to Timesheet Query, Timesheet Approved by Colleague User)
  • Portal Candidate Notifications – Configures whether the Candidate associated to the Placement is sent email notifications in the event of activity against the Placement
  • Allow Charges in Portal – Configures whether the Candidate has the option to submit Expenses from the Portal.

The additional rates that the Candidate will be able use when submitting their Timesheets, will be configured by the ‘Show In Portal’ option against each individual rate:

 

Timesheet

In the Candidate Portal, when a Placement is selected, the Timesheets against that Placement will be listed and the Candidate will have the option to press the plus sign to add a new Timesheet or Expense (this includes the option add any associated document).

 

The Timesheet that is created will be as per the Timesheet Type on the Placement:

  • Weekly – A list of the dates of the week, allowing for individual units to be specified per day.
  • Monthly (4/5 Weeks) - A list of the Week Ending dates for each week of the month regardless of the month beginning or ending mid-week.
  • Monthly (Calendar) – A list of the Week Ending dates for each week within the month, starting from the month start date and ending on the last day of the month.

The Timesheet is drawn based on the rates that are set to be shown in the Portal from the Placement.

There is a Global Setting which sets whether the Candidate is shown their Pay Rate on the Rate column header whilst submitting their Timesheet.

Admin > Global Setting > Portal section:

 

When submitted, Timesheets will be added against the Placement with the status 'Pending Approval'.

A notification email will be sent to the Contact’s email address (and any ‘Approvers’ from the Placement) to advise that there is a Timesheet to approve.

An administrator can also configure whether to be ‘CC’d on all notification traffic via a Global Setting:

Admin > Global Setting > Portal section: 

 

If you wish to send these notifications to multiple email addresses, separate the emails with a comma.

A Portal User will also have the option to edit a Timesheet provided it is still at the status of ‘Pending Approval’:

 

Once approved, the timesheet is read only:

 

Expense

If the Candidate wishes to submit an Expense, on pressing ‘Add Expense’ they can enter a description, the gross value of the Expense and the VAT Rate:

 

The VAT Rates which appear on the portal are set via the Tax Codes in Admin.

Admin > Lookups > Tax Codes > select Tax Code:

 

The user can also add documents to the Expense record.

These are then accessible in Colleague.

 

Timesheet Expense

Similar to the Expense workflow (above), if the Candidate wishes to submit an expense which is linked with a Timesheet they can do so by clicking the ‘Add Timesheet Expense’ plus sign:

 

Sign Out

When the Candidate is done, they can log out of the session by clicking the ‘Sign Out’ option on the left navigation menu:

 

Or the Sign Out icon, top right of the portal: 

 

Contact Portal

Login Page

The Portal Login page URL for the Contact is the same as it is for the Candidate.

 

Profile

The Contact’s first login will prompt them set their own password.

Upon successful login, the Contact will access a profile page.

This will contain a list of standard fields showing the basic contact information and personal details you hold against the record.

The User can set their default landing page in future by select the required tab and pressing on the Home icon (top right):

 

Documents

All as per the ‘Documents’ section on Candidate Portal (above).

 

Timesheets

From the Timesheets tab, a Contact will have the ability to view all the Timesheets that they are associated with (by either being the main Contact of the related Placement(s) or an ‘Approver’).

The Timesheets will be listed in a table and filtered by Status:

  • Pending Approval (default) – List of timesheets awaiting approval
  • Approved – An historical list of all Timesheets approved by the Contact
  • On Hold – A list of Timesheets placed on hold (due to a query)
  • Rejected – A list of the Timesheets which have been Rejected

The contact will be able to select one or multiple timesheets via the tickbox:

 

They can then choose whether to Approve, Update Timesheet Status or Reject:

 

  • Approving a Timesheet will update the Timesheet Status to ‘Ok’ and trigger a notification to the Candidate to advise that their Timesheets has been approved.
  • Updating the Timesheet Status of a Timesheet will trigger a dropdown list of statuses to select:

  • Rejecting a Timesheet will set the Timesheet Status to ‘Rejected’ and trigger a notification to the Candidate (who will then have the opportunity to amend the timesheet and resubmit).

As a Colleague user, the ability to edit the timesheet status or Reject the Timesheet, is also available from the Placement Timesheets tab (once you have selected a Timesheet):

 

For each timesheet, the Contact will also have the option to click on the below icons:

 

  • View Timesheet - Brings up a read only view of the Timesheet for the Contact to assess
  • View Document – Brings up any documentation associated to the timesheet
  • View Expenses – Shows any Expense record associated to the timesheet
  • Timesheet Query  -
  • Gives the Contact the ability to query the contents of the Timesheet with the Candidate

 

Timesheet Query

Should the Contact have query regarding the Timesheet that has been submitted, on the row of the timesheet they will be able to select the ‘Query’ icon:

 

When selected this will prompt a Timesheet Query chat box to appear, giving the Contact the ability to type in their query, which will notify the Candidate:

 

The Candidate will then have the ability to login and respond to the query via the same workflow.

If there is an outstanding query against a timesheet the icon will be highlighted in orange:

 

All queries and responses are logged as histories on the Placement record.

 

A Colleague user will also have access to enter a Timesheet Query, this is sent as a notification to both the Candidate and Contact:

 

Expenses

From the Expenses tab, a Contact will have the ability to view all the Expenses that they are associated with (by either being the main Contact of the related Placement(s) or an ‘Approver’).

The Expenses will be listed in a table and filtered by Status:

  • Pending Approval (default) – List of expenses awaiting approval
  • Approved – An historical list of all Expenses approved by the Contact
  • On Hold – A list of Expenses placed on hold (due to a query)

 

The contact will be able to select one or multiple Expenses via the tickbox:

 

They can then choose to either Approve or Update Expense Status:

 

  • Approving an Expense will update the Expense Status to ‘Ok’ and trigger a notification to the Candidate to advise that their Expense has been approved.
  • Updating the Expense Status of a Timesheet will trigger a dropdown list of statuses to select:
    • Approved
    • On Hold
    • Pending Approval

Contacts will be able to view the details of each Expense by clicking on the magnify glass icon, or view associated documents by clicking the paper icon:

 

When viewing documents, the contact will also have the option to download the document.

 

Sign Out

When the Contact is done, they can log out of the session by clicking the ‘Sign Out’ option on the left navigation menu:

 

Or the Sign Out icon, top right of the portal: 

 

 

Notifications

Automated Emails

The following notification emails are triggered automatically by the associated workflow.

These can be amended to your requirements:

 

Timesheet Submitted for Approval (message to Contact)

Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID] has been submitted for approval.

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME TIMESHEET SUBMITTED]
By: [CANDIDATE NAME]

Please login to the portal to review/approve the timesheet.

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Timesheet Approved (message to Candidate) – Approved by Contact

Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID] has been approved.

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of APPROVAL]
By: [CONTACT NAME]

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Timesheet Approved (message to Candidate) – Approved by Colleague User

Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID] has been approved.

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of APPROVAL]
By: [COLLEAGUE USER]

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Query on Timesheet from Contact Side (message to Candidate)

You have query regarding Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID].

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of QUERY]
From: [CONTACT NAME] or [USER NAME]
Query: [QUERY TEXT]

Please login to the portal to respond to the query.

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Response to Timesheet Query from Candidate Side (message to Contact)

You have a response regarding Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID].

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of QUERY]
From: [CANDIDATE NAME] or [USER NAME]
Response: [RESPONSE TEXT]

Please login to the portal to reply to the response.

Click here if you wish to log into portal


Response to Timesheet Query from Placement (message to Candidate/Contact)

You have a response regarding Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID].

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of QUERY]
From: [USER NAME]
Response: [RESPONSE TEXT]

Please login to the portal to reply to the response.

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Timesheet Rejected from Placement By User (message to Candidate)

Your Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID] has been rejected.

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of QUERY]
Rejected By: [USER NAME]
Rejection Reason: [RESPONSE TEXT]

Please login to the portal if you edit and resubmit your timesheet.

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Timesheet Rejected by Contact (message to Candidate)

Your Timesheet Id [TIMESHEET ID] has been rejected.

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of QUERY]
Rejected By: [CONTACT NAME]
Rejection Reason: [RESPONSE TEXT]

Please login to the portal if you edit and resubmit your timesheet.

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

Document Upload Notification (message to specified email account)

Document [DOCUMENT NAME] (Id: [DOCUMENT ID]) has been added to Candidate/Contact [RECORD NAME] (ID: [RECORD ID]).

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME]

Click here to View the Record

 

Expense Approved (message to Candidate) – Approved by Contact

Expense Id [EXPENSE ID] has been approved.

Date/Time: [DATE/TIME of APPROVAL]
By: [CONTACT NAME]

Click here if you wish to log into portal

 

 

Related Links

 > Portals
 > Consultancy Explained
 > Colleague Support Team