Documentation

How Portly works

Everything you need to know to create professional client portals, share updates, and collect feedback in one place.

Getting started

From zero to portal in 30 seconds

Portly is built for speed. You don't need to configure anything — just create a project and share the link.

Add a client

Go to Clients → add your client's name and email.

Create a project

Go to Projects → New project. Pick a name and assign the client.

Share the link

Copy the portal link from the project row and send it to your client.

Your client gets a unique URL like tryportly.com/portal/my-project — no login required for them.

Projects

Managing your projects

Each project generates one client portal. Projects have a status, a URL slug, and can be assigned to a client.

Portal URL (slug)

Every project gets a human-readable URL based on its name — e.g. website-redesign. You can customize it by clicking Edit project → Portal URL field. The slug must be unique and can only contain lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens.

Project status

Projects can be Active, Completed or Archived. The status is visible to clients on the portal. Change it from the three-dot menu on any project.

Deleting a project

Deleting a project permanently removes it and all associated updates, files and comments. The portal link will return a 404. This cannot be undone.

Client portal

What your client sees

The portal is a clean, read-only page your client can bookmark. No account needed.

tryportly.com/portal/your-project

Project name, status, and description

Your contact info and the client's info

All project updates you've posted

Files you've uploaded (In review → client can approve)

A feedback form the client can submit

Files are served via private signed URLs — clients can only access them through the portal link, not by guessing storage paths.

Every portal visit increments your Portal views counter on the dashboard — visible in the Overview stats.

Updates

Posting project updates

Updates are the main way you communicate progress to your client. They appear as a chronological timeline on the portal.

How to post an update

From the Projects page, click Post update on any project (or from the three-dot menu). Fill in a title and body, then submit. The update appears instantly on the portal.

Email notifications

If the project has a client assigned with an email address, Portly automatically sends them a notification email when you post a new update. The email includes the update content and a link to the portal.

Sending the invite

Use Send invite to email your client their portal link for the first time. This is separate from update notifications.

Files

Sharing and reviewing files

Upload deliverables, mockups, contracts, or any file. Clients can review and approve directly from their portal.

Uploading files

Go to a project → three-dot menu → Manage files. Drag and drop or click to upload. Max size is 50 MB per file. Files are stored privately in Supabase Storage.

File versioning

If you upload a file with the same name as an existing one, Portly automatically creates a new version (v2, v3…). All versions are kept independently.

File statuses

Draft

Not visible for review — work in progress.

In review

Client can see the file and approve or request changes.

Approved

Client (or you) has approved this version.

Changes requested

Client wants revisions before approval.

Client approval flow

When a file is In review, the client sees Approve and Request changes buttons on the portal. Their action updates the file status in real time on your dashboard.

Feedback

Client feedback & comments

Clients can leave general feedback or attach comments to specific files.

General feedback

At the bottom of every portal, clients can submit a message with their name. These appear in your dashboard under View feedback on the project.

File-specific comments

When a client views a file on the portal, they can leave a comment attached to that specific file. In the dashboard feedback sheet, these show with a file badge so you know exactly what they're referring to.

Response time

The dashboard tracks your average time between receiving a client comment and posting a follow-up update. This appears as Response time in the Overview stats.

Clients

Managing clients

Clients are reusable contacts you can assign to multiple projects.

Adding a client

Go to Clients in the sidebar → Add client. You only need a name and email. Company name is optional.

Assigning a client to a project

When creating or editing a project, pick the client from the dropdown. Once assigned, invite emails and update notifications will go to their email address.

One client, multiple projects

A client can be assigned to many projects. They receive separate portal links for each project.

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