8. Going live: the checklist and your first dealer
Check everything as a test dealer, invite your first real dealer, and hand over to the Orders course for the first order. Plus how one login works across several suppliers’ portals.
Who this is for: whoever is taking the portal live, usually the owner or a sales manager.
The checklist
Work down it in order. Each line is a lesson in this course.
| Check | Where | Lesson | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The theme is published: the pill says Live | Setup › Theme | 2 |
| 2 | You have a Portal URL slug and your portal's address | Setup › Theme | 2 |
| 3 | Your pricing tiers exist, with any group discounts | Setup › Pricing tiers | 3 |
| 4 | Hide products with no sell price is on, and the Needs attention lists are reviewed | Setup › Guardrails | 4 |
| 5 | A minimum margin is set, if you want one | Setup › Guardrails | 4 |
| 6 | Delivery and/or pick up, and how dealers can pay | Setup › Orders & invoicing | 5 |
| 7 | Stripe's Dealer portal switch, if you take cards | Integrations › Stripe card payments | 5 |
| 8 | A test dealer on a real tier | Dealers | 6 |
| 9 | The portal looks right as that test dealer (below) | Preview as this dealer | 8 |
| 10 | Your first real dealer is Active and invited | Dealers › Users | 6 |
| 11 | Optional: your own web address | Settings › Your domain | 2 |
Step by step: test it as a dealer
- Dealers › Add Dealer. Create a company such as "Test Dealer (internal)" on the tier your dealers will mostly be on.
- Open it and press Preview as this dealer at the top of the panel. (Or use Preview portal at the top of the Dealer Portal page and pick it.)
- In the new tab, check as a dealer would:
- the sign-in page and dashboard carry your brand;
- prices are what you expect for that tier (try a product with a group discount, and one with a cost near the floor);
- nothing shows at $0.00, and products you've hidden don't show;
- collections, brands and promotions look right.
- Checkout is switched off in a preview. To try a real order end to end, invite yourself to the test dealer with an email that isn't your staff login, place a small order, and cancel it afterwards.
- Press End preview.
Step by step: your first real dealer
- Add them (or approve their application), set their tier, terms and credit, and set Status to Active (lesson 6).
- Invite their first login as Owner, so they can invite the rest of their team.
- Tell them your portal's address, and that the invite email has a link to set their password.
Then: the first order
When their first order arrives it lands on the Orders desk under the Dealer channel, and whoever is on duty for dealer orders gets a bell. Lesson 5 of the Orders course takes it from there: accepting it, the invoice, bank transfers and cards, quote requests, drop ship, and sending it.
One login, several suppliers' portals
Many dealers buy from more than one supplier that uses BuildTrack Pro. They don't need a login for each:
- A dealer who already has another supplier's portal login: when you invite that email, your portal is added to their login. Same email, same password. A Supplier portal list in the top bar of the portal lets them switch between suppliers.
- A dealer that runs BuildTrack Pro itself: invite the email they use for their own BuildTrack Pro. They sign in with that email and password, and find your portal under Supplier portals in their BuildTrack Pro account menu.
Prices, stock and orders always belong to the supplier whose portal they're in.
What happens by itself
- A preview ends after 8 hours, or when you press End preview.
- An invite link expires after 14 days. Send a new invite if it does.
Where it ends
Your portal is live, your first dealer is in, and orders are handled with the Orders course.
Lesson 8 of 8 in Setting up your dealer portal. Previous: 7. Groups and extras: head offices, features, resources and notices.