Client Gateways provide you with a way to group and organize all of the different items related to a specific project or client, in one centralized location.
Grouped items can include invoices, contracts, questionnaires, session bookings, galleries, uploaded PDFs, and more.
Once it's ready, you can send a gateway link to your client, where they can view and manage everything in one convenient location.
Setting it up
From the main menu click on Studio & Clients > Clients > Client Gateways
Click on Create a Gateway.
Add your details for the Gateway
Gateway Name: This will be displayed as the title of the gateway, and it will be visible to your clients.
Description: Use this area to provide a brief description of the gateway's purpose, or to provide information that you'd like to share with your clients. This description will be visible to your clients.
Gateway Client (Optional): Select a client to associate with the gateway. The contracts, galleries, invoices, etc. that you add to the gateway will be displayed to this client when they view the gateway. Note: Additional clients may be added after creating the gateway.
Date & Time (Optional): If there's a specific date and/or time that's relevant to the galleries, sessions, contracts, etc. that will be associated with this gateway, you can provide that information here. This value will be visible to your clients.
Location (Optional): If there's a specific location that's relevant to the galleries, sessions, contracts, etc. that will be associated with this gateway, you can provide that information here. This value will be visible to your clients.
Private Note (Optional): Add a note to help remember the purpose of this gateway, or to keep track of specific details related to the clients and/or sessions, galleries, etc. associated with it. This note will not be visible to your client.
Click Save Client Gateway
Once you have created a Gateway you can then click on any of the items to add them to this Gateway.
Clicking the Gateway Options button in the upper right will allow you to add items to the gateway, view the gateway as your clients might view it, and send gateway invitations to your clients.
You can also edit the top couple of areas within the Gateway by clicking on the pencil and paper icons found next to each of those areas.
As you add the different items to the gateway, they will automatically appear in their respective sections. Each item will display its relevant details, plus any linked items (when appropriate), and a list of the options available for the item.
Sessions
If there is payment due, and the payment is not set to Offline, there will be a Make Payment button displayed to your client within their gateway. If there is payment due, but the photographer has requested for it to be an offline payment, the area will say "Offline Payment Requested" in place of the button. Contracts and questionnaires linked to sessions will have already been filled out, and clicking on their icons will display the details in a pop-up window.
Invoices
Just like the invoices that are linked to the contracts, unless the photographer has requested that the payment be made offline, anyone with access to the gateway can pay for an invoice that has a balance remaining on it. If the photographer has requested an offline payment, the note provided by the photographer is displayed instead of the "Make Payment" button.
Contracts
The client gateway links are unique to each client associated with the gateway, and when a contract requires one or more signatures the person viewing the gateway (based on the URL they used to get there) is only able to sign the contracts that they are specifically associated with. Other contracts that are assigned to the gateway, that the person is not associated with, can be viewed but not signed. Invoices associated with the contracts can be viewed and paid by anyone.
Questionnaires
Similar to the contracts, only the clients specifically associated with a questionnaire can answer it. If the questionnaire has previously been submitted, anyone viewing the gateway can view the previous response. In the attached example, you can see who the questionnaire is assigned to, and within the gateway your clients will see a "Respond" button that they can click to respond to the questionnaire.
Galleries
You may associate any number of galleries with a gateway, but the galleries will only be clickable to your clients if they have at least 1 photo and are set to be displayed (eg. have a status of "Allow Visitor Access").
Linked Documents
Here you can upload documents for your client such as release forms or details for a photo shoot. They will need to be in .PDF format. Your clients can then download those forms for their usage. Anyone with access to the gateway will be able to download the linked documents.
The text colors, buttons, etc. for the page are customizable through the Studio & Clients » Preferences page. The same settings are used for all of the Session pages as well.
You can view a list of the Gateways you've previously created by going to Studio & Clients > Clients > Client Gateways. In addition to the names of the gateways, this list also displays the clients associated with each Gateway, along with the number of objects linked to them.
Other Ways to Add Items to a Gateway
You can add Contracts, Galleries, Clients, and Invoices to a Gateway from each of their respective areas.
Contracts can be added by heading to the Digital Contracts page, clicking on the Options menu found next to the contract, and then selecting the Add to Gateway option.
Galleries can be added by going to the Galleries page, clicking on the gear icon for the gallery, and then selecting the Add to Gateway option.
Clients can be added by going to the Clients page, clicking on the Options menu found next to your client, and then selecting the Add to Gateway option.
Invoices can be added by going to Client Invoices, clicking on the Options menu next to the invoice, and then selecting the Add to Gateway option.
What Next...?
Once you have created the Gateway and added all of the appropriate items to it, you view the gateway as your client would see it by clicking on the Gateway Options menu in the upper right corner of the gateway details page, scrolling down through the list and clicking on the View Client Gateway option. Under Gateway Options you can also choose to Send Gateway Invites to your clients; this option will email a set of unique gateway links to each of the Clients you've associated with the gallery. Clicking the Get Shareable Links option from the menu will provide you with a set of links that you can copy and send to your client via text or through your own email provider.