View as Customer
See the customer portal exactly as one specific person sees it, read-only, to answer "I can't see my order" questions quickly.
View as Customer shows the customer portal exactly as one specific person sees it: their orders, products, visual jobs, calendar and notifications, without needing their password. It is read-only, which makes it the quickest way to answer "I can't see my order" or "I can't see my enquiry".
Open it from the sidebar (the eye icon). You need access to the Customers section.
#Step by step
- Under Who do you want to see the portal as?, choose the Customer, then the Person. Only active people are listed.
- Note the flags beside a person:
- account admin — manages the account and sees every visual.
- no password set — they have never set a password, so they can't have logged in. That is often the whole answer to "they can't get in".
- Press View portal. A banner reads "Viewing as [person] · [customer]", with their portal below. Browse it as they would.
- Press Exit in the banner when you are done. Going to any other admin page, or closing the tab, also exits.
#Read-only rules
- Anything that writes, such as ordering, approving, enquiring, editing or messaging, is refused with: "Read-only — you are viewing this portal as a customer. Exit "View as customer" to make changes."
- It doesn't count as their login, and they aren't told. Each viewing session is recorded: who viewed whom, and when.
- While it is open, the customer portal in any other tab of the same browser also shows this customer, and other admin tabs are read-only until you Exit.
- You can view one person at a time. Exit before switching.
#What a customer can see
| What | Who at the customer sees it |
|---|---|
| Orders, products and calendar | Everyone at the customer. |
| Visual jobs | Per person: jobs for the sub groups they're assigned to, jobs they raised, and jobs they're the contact on. |
| Everything | The account admin. |
Someone assigned to no sub groups sees only the enquiries they raised themselves.
#Troubleshooting "I can't see it"
- Find out exactly which person is asking. What people see differs by person.
- View as them and go where the item should be.
- If you can see it, the problem is on their side: the wrong login or email, an old link, their browser, or no password set.
- If you can't, for a visual job check their sub-group assignments and who the job was raised for. For an order or product, check it is on this customer and not deleted.
- Exit, fix it in admin, then view as them again to confirm.
#Common questions
I got "Read-only" when I clicked something. That's expected. Exit and make the change from admin, or ask the customer to do it.
Other admin pages are refusing changes. A view is still open. Press Exit.
"Already viewing as another customer — exit that session first." Press Exit, then start again.
The person isn't listed. They are inactive or disabled, or haven't been added as a portal user. Check the customer under Customers.
"This customer has no users." Add a person on the customer record.
Can I order or approve on their behalf? Not from here. Use the admin tools instead, for example a draft order in Orders.
A colleague can't see another colleague's enquiry. Check sub-group assignments on the customer record in Customers.