The vendor portal

The vendor portal is the external workspace for invited contacts to complete buyer requests for one project and vendor relationship. It is not access to the buyer workspace. A portal contact sees only the projects, requests and permissions explicitly granted to that identity, while buyers keep control of releases, due dates, reopen decisions and internal scoring.

Before you start

• Add an accurate project vendor contact and confirm which requests the person should receive.

• Publish any form before sending it; draft changes are not a valid external release.

Step by step

1. Prepare the project experience

Open the project Portal area to review the vendor-facing project context and enabled request types. Keep buyer-only notes and internal scores outside externally visible fields.

2. Invite the right contact

Send a questionnaire, proposal, demo or collaboration request to a saved portal contact. The invitation identifies the project and provides the secure entry path.

3. Sign in with the invited email

The vendor enters the invited email and completes the one-time-code flow. The code proves access to that mailbox; it does not create broad workspace membership.

4. Complete available work

From the portal, the contact can open assigned requests, save progress and submit according to its status and deadline. Available proposal, artefact or collaboration actions depend on the granted role and active workflow.

5. Track activity as a buyer

Use the project’s assignment, proposal and vendor views to monitor sent, opened, in-progress and submitted work. Reopen, resend or replace a release from the corresponding buyer workflow.

What happens next

• Add collaborator contacts with the minimum role needed rather than sharing one mailbox or code.

• Use the audit and assignment history when confirming who received or submitted a request.

Troubleshooting

A vendor cannot get a one-time code

Confirm the invitation email exactly matches the mailbox being entered, check junk filtering and resend from the request. Codes expire; use the newest one.

The portal opens but a request is missing

Check that this contact is a recipient, the correct release is active and the request has not been withdrawn, closed or assigned to a different collaborator.

A vendor can see too little or too much

Review project vendor contacts, roles and request recipients immediately. Remove unnecessary access and send a new invitation only after the scope is correct.

Related guides