Guide to Switching to the New Member Portal

Ready to roll out the carpet to the brand new Members Only Portal for your association? This article walks through a checklist of the items you'll want to complete before turning on the new module, as well as instructions on making the switch once you're ready.

Old Member Portal vs. New Member Portal

If your Member portal does not look like the following example, you likely have the legacy Members Only website. With the new Member portal, you have the ability to set branding settings, configure your navigation menu links, as well as create sub-navigation pages viewable by all members or restricted by affiliation code.

Getting Ready to Make the Switch

Before turning on the new portal, there are several settings you'll want to configure to ensure your portal is red carpet ready for its debut!

1. Branding Settings: set the styling and top-level navigation on your portal (and other MC Trade-integrated pages). You can add your logo as well as mimic your primary website's navigation menu, or add links to other MC Trade component pages (events, directory, etc.). We've recently added new features to Branding Settings (Spring 2021), so make sure you don't skip this step! Click here for details.

2. Profile Portal Settings: configure who can access your online portal. Our recommended setting is Members and Primary Relations, but you can choose from several options! Click here for details.

3. Profile Edit Permissions: configure which fields are available in the Edit Profile section of the portal for both individuals and organizations logging in to the portal. Click here for details.

4. Member Portal Settings: set up the home page message/content and menu items that can be accessed from the Member Portal secondary menu options. This is the ideal place for creating members only content, content restricted by affiliation code (committee only content, etc.). You can link to existing web content pages, or create brand new content! You can also preview your new portal from this page. Click here for details.

Activating the New Portal

Once you've configured the settings above, you're ready to make the switch. To turn on the new Members Only portal, replacing your current portal, go to Admin > Global Settings, choose Web Preferences on the left and then Member Portal Settings. If you want to preview the portal, you can click Preview Member Portal. 

Once you're ready to launch, click "Launch New Portal." The following message appears:

If you are ready to redirect members away from your previous portal to log in to the new one, click Launch New Portal, confirm, and you're all set! Note that redirects from the old to the new portal on your website will take up to 24 hours to go through, so launching your portal in the evening before you the day you want to "go live" is recommended. See below for further details on the redirect and other changes. 

Once you launch your portal, the following changes will take place:

• Any links on your website to https://web.yourAtlasdomain.com/portal will be redirected from the old portal to the new. Keep in mind that custom links to specific pages within the portal will not necessarily redirect, if they are in a format other than "/portal"
• Your members will need to log in to the new portal after launch if they'd already been logged in to the old portal, but their same username/password will work just fine; they do not need to change their credentials.
• Special Field links in the Mass Communicator (to Online Bill Pay, Update Your Profile, and Update Preferences (affiliation codes)) will redirect to the new portal. Online Bill Pay is accessible without entering a username/password, but the profile edit options will require login. Click here for more info.
• When you click View Profile's Portal or View Online Bill Pay page from a profile in MC Trade, you'll be directed to the new portal

If you've launched your portal, at least 12 hours have passed and you're still being directed to the old portal on your website, check the following: 

1. Ensure that all links TO your portal on your website are in the format of [[Atlasdomain]]/portal. If you've linked directly to a longer URL that ends in .aspx, or directly to the portallogin.aspx page, the redirect will not work. Use the same domain as any existing MC Trade links, but "/portal" should be the only thing that appears after the domain. You can also use the actual full URL to the new portal, which is /atlas/portal/profile and does not rely on a redirect. 
2. Check to see if you have any hardcoded domains in your database, particularly if you've had MC Trade for many years. In the desktop application, you can see this under Communication > URL Management > Virtual URL Management. If you have any URLs set up here with "/portal" as the virtual URL, that will need to be deleted. If you do not have desktop access or have any questions about what you should delete, contact our Help team for assistance. 
3. Legacy login "widgets" on your website will no longer work with the new portal. Instead you should create a link or button that goes to [[Atlasdomain]]/portal to prompt for login credentials or take the logged in user directly to the portal. 

June 9, 2021 BiWeekly User Group Recording - Members Only Overview