01 — The problem
Why "where is my order?" keeps landing in your inbox
The data customers ask about already exists: order status, ship dates, invoices, certificates. It just sits in internal systems only your staff can open. So every question becomes a lookup and a copy-paste reply.
Cases live in a shared inbox and documents get re-sent on request. Off-the-shelf customer portal software usually expects one source system and a simple account model. Your customers may have several sites, separate buyers and accounts payable contacts, and contract-specific documents.
02 — What to build
Core features of a customer self service portal
Customer accounts with several contacts and roles, such as buyer, accounts payable and technical contact.
Order overview with status, expected ship date and tracking reference, read from your order data.
Case submission for delivery issues, defects or returns, with attachments and status updates.
A document center for invoices, delivery notes, certificates and manuals, filtered to that account.
An internal case view where support agents assign, answer and add internal comments.
Strict account separation
no customer ever sees another customer's data.
03 — How to build it
Building the customer portal in Henosia
Create a private project
It's a sandbox; customers see nothing until you publish.
Add mock data
fictional accounts, contacts, orders and cases as CSVs that mirror your real exports.
Connect a database so the portal works against structured data, not files.
Plan in Plan mode
The agent asks clarifying questions, such as which order statuses customers may see, and proposes a plan. Nothing is built until you choose to build.
Build, then test as different mock customers to confirm each sees only its own data.
Publish with external access rules agreed with IT.
An example Plan-mode prompt:
Plan a customer self-service portal for our B2B customers, using the attached CSVs as mock data.
Contacts see only their own account's orders, with status and expected ship date, and can download invoices and delivery notes.
They can open a case (delivery issue, product defect or return request) with photos and follow its status.
Support agents assign and answer cases internally; internal comments are never shown to customers.
Order data is read-only in the portal.Paste it into a private Henosia project in Plan mode. The agent asks questions and proposes a plan first.
04 — Before you go live
Opening order data to outside users, safely
A customer portal puts external users in front of your operational data, so start narrow. As described in a Henosia webinar, Henosia Authentication includes granular app-level access, optional IP restriction and the ability to give external parties access. Confirm with IT how customer users are onboarded and offboarded.
Begin read-only toward your order system and add write actions only after review. Scope each integration per system, data direction and access level; Name an owner for the portal and for case handling. Cases can also feed an internal help desk.
Start a private project in Henosia, load a mock export of orders and cases, and plan the first version of your customer portal.
Start a private project05 — FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a customer portal?
A customer portal is a secure web app where your customers log in to handle routine tasks themselves: checking order status, downloading invoices and documents, and opening support cases. It reduces repetitive questions to your team and gives customers answers without waiting for a reply, while you control what each account sees.
What is the difference between a customer portal and a client portal?
A customer portal is self-service at scale: many customer accounts checking orders, cases and documents. A client portal supports close collaboration on projects, deliverables and approvals with a smaller set of clients. The data, roles and access rules differ, so it pays to plan them as separate apps.
Can customer portal software connect to our order system?
Henosia can work with data connections and API-based data, but each integration should be scoped per system, data direction and access level. Start with read-only order data, then add write actions after testing. More point-and-click connector interfaces are on Henosia's roadmap, so confirm what your specific system requires.
Do I need a development team to build a customer portal?
Your customer operations team can plan and build a first version in Henosia without writing code themselves. Because the portal exposes data to outside users, involve IT before launch to review external access, integrations and account separation, and agree who maintains the portal once customers rely on it.