Inviting guests for a limited time
Give someone free access as a full member until a date you choose, remind them before it ends, and extend, convert or end it.
This article is for the administrators who run an organisation's Portava portal.
In short
- A guest is a full member with no plan and an optional end date.
- They are reminded before their access ends, and lose access at the end of that day.
- From their record you can change the date, end access now, or assign a plan to make them a member.
A guest is someone you let in for nothing, usually for a while: a prospective member trying the portal, a speaker, a partner organisation’s contact. Guests are real, active members while their access lasts. They appear in the directory, count in your figures and are included in campaign audiences. They hold no plan, so nothing about them appears in your revenue.
Sending the invitation
Under Members, choose Invite, enter the email addresses and pick Free guest under Membership. Set when access ends: choose a date, use the 30, 60 or 90 day shortcuts, or choose No end date, in which case the guest stays until somebody ends it. The choice applies to everyone in the batch, so invite guests with different dates separately.
The guest accepts, sets a password and goes through profile setup like any member. The invitation email always sends and cannot be switched off.
Before access ends
A guest with an end date gets one Guest access ending email before their last day. It names the date and, where you have recorded a contact email, how to get in touch about joining. It goes 7 days before by default; under Operations, then Email you can make it 3 or 14 days, rewrite it, or switch it off. Guests with no end date never receive it.
On the day
They keep access through the day you chose and lose it at the end of it. Signing in afterwards shows a page saying their guest access has ended and how to ask about joining. A former guest cannot rejoin through the public join page, so the next step is yours.
Extend, convert or end
Open the guest under Members. Their record shows a Guest badge and the end date, with three controls:
- Change end date moves the date or removes it. After access has ended the same button reads Reopen access.
- Assign a plan converts them to a member. Putting them on a plan clears the guest flag and their access continues as an ordinary membership.
- End access now closes access straight away. You can reopen it from the same page.
The Guests filter in the member list shows everyone currently on guest access.