Getting started with Clientwharf

What you are setting up

Clientwharf is organized around a workspace: the account for your business. Inside a workspace you have clients, each with their own private portal, and projects for each client. Your team works in the workspace at /app. Your clients only ever see their own portal.

This guide walks through the first half hour: creating the workspace, adding a client, sharing work and inviting your team.

1. Create your account and workspace

1. Go to sign up and enter your name, your work email, a workspace name and a password of at least 10 characters. The workspace name is usually your business or studio name. It is the name your clients see on their portal and in emails.
2. Check your inbox for the confirmation email and click the link. You need a confirmed email address before you can invite clients or teammates.

Your 14-day free trial starts as soon as the workspace is created. No card is needed.

2. Add your first client

1. Open Clients at /app/clients, select Add client and enter the client's name, usually the company you work for.
2. On the client's page, under Invite a contact, enter the contact's email and name.
3. Select Send invitation when you are ready. The contact gets an email with a link to their portal and signs in with a magic link, so they never need a password.

You can add the client now and invite contacts later. See inviting clients for details.

3. Create a project and share something

1. On the client's page, select New project and give it a name, a short description and, if you like, start and due dates.
2. In the project's Files tab, upload a file. You can drag and drop files, and large files upload in parts.
3. In the Updates tab, post a short update so the client knows what you shared and what you need from them.

From here you can request an approval on a file or add requests for things you need from the client.

4. Preview the portal

Team members can preview a client's portal to see exactly what the client sees: select Open portal on the client's page or Preview portal on a project. It is worth doing once before you invite a real client, so you know what they will find when they sign in.

5. Invite your team

If you work with others, an owner or admin can invite them from Team at /app/team and choose a role for each person. See team members and roles.

6. Make it yours

Add your logo, accent colour and a welcome message in Settings > Branding at /app/settings/branding. Branding and quote and invoice documents are available during the trial, so you can try them before choosing a plan. See branding your portals.

When the trial ends

At the end of the 14 days, your workspace becomes read-only unless you have chosen a plan. Nothing is deleted. You and your clients can still sign in, view everything and download files, and your data is kept for at least 30 days. Subscribe from Billing at /app/billing at any time to unlock it again.

You are never charged automatically at the end of the trial, because we never asked for a card. See billing and plans for how subscriptions work.

Need a hand?

If something does not work as described here, email support@clientwharf.com or use the contact form.