Troubleshooting the Customer Portal

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Troubleshooting the Customer Portal

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Troubleshooting the Customer Portal #

404 Error on Portal Page #

Symptom: Visiting the portal URL returns a 404 Page Not Found error.

Solution: Go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress admin and click Save Changes (you do not need to change anything, just save). This flushes the WordPress rewrite rules and registers the portal page’s permalink correctly.

If the 404 persists after flushing permalinks, check that the portal page exists in Pages in your WordPress admin. If it is missing, see “Portal Page Not Created Automatically” below.

Portal Page Not Created Automatically #

Symptom: The portal page does not appear in your WordPress Pages list.

Solution: Go to DDLS > Settings > Portal tab. Toggle the portal off, save, then toggle it back on and save again. This forces the plugin to recreate the portal page.

If the portal is already enabled but the page is missing, try deactivating and reactivating the plugin from Plugins in your WordPress admin. The portal page is created on plugin activation.

Wrong Page Title in Theme Banner #

Symptom: The theme banner above the portal content shows “Recent Posts” or another incorrect title instead of the portal page title.

Solution: Update to DMSI DDLS v1.2.1 or later. This issue was caused by the portal not being backed by a real WordPress page in earlier versions. In v1.2.1, the portal was converted to use a real WordPress page, which allows the theme to read and display the page title correctly.

Support Contracts Tab Missing #

Symptom: A customer reports that their “Support” tab is gone from the portal.

Explanation: The “Support” tab was renamed to “Support Contracts” in v1.2.1 to avoid a naming conflict with the Support Desk extension. The tab still exists, it just has a new label. Ask the customer to look for “Support Contracts” in the portal sidebar.

Customer Cannot Download Files #

Symptom: A customer reports they cannot see or download files in the Downloads section.

Checklist:

  • Is the customer’s license status Active? Expired or suspended licenses do not grant download access.
  • Is the “Allow Downloads” setting enabled in DDLS > Settings > Portal?
  • Does the product have “Requires Support for Downloads” enabled? If yes, the customer must also have an active support contract for that product.
  • Does the customer have an active support contract? Check in DDLS > Support Contracts.
  • Are there files attached to the product version? Check in DDLS > Products > [Product] > Versions.

    • Customer Cannot Deactivate a Site #

    Symptom: A customer reports they cannot deactivate a site from within the portal.

    Solution: Check that “Allow Activation Management” is enabled in DDLS > Settings > Portal. If it is disabled, customers cannot make activation changes from the portal and would need to contact you to deactivate a site.

    Portal Shows Blank Content #

    Symptom: The portal page loads (theme renders correctly) but the portal content area is empty.

    Likely cause: The [dmsilm_portal] shortcode was removed from the portal page. Go to Pages in your WordPress admin, find the portal page, and check that the shortcode is present in the page content. If it is missing, add it back:

    [dmsilm_portal]

    Alternatively, delete the portal page and allow the plugin to recreate it (toggle the portal off and on in settings, or deactivate and reactivate the plugin).

    Summary #

    You now understand:

    • The customer portal was redesigned in v1.2.0 (new 3-column layout) and v1.2.1 (backed by a real WordPress page)
    • Six portal sections: Dashboard, Licenses, Downloads, Subscriptions, Support Contracts, Account
    • The portal is powered by the [dmsilm_portal] shortcode embedded in an auto-created WordPress page
    • Portal Page Title setting (v1.2.1) controls the WP page title and URL slug; default is “Customer Portal”
    • The logout link is at the bottom of the left sidebar (moved from the header in v1.2.1)
    • “Support” tab was renamed to “Support Contracts” in v1.2.1
    • Feature toggles: Allow Downloads, Allow Activation Management, Allow Subscription Management
    • Troubleshooting: flush permalinks for 404s; toggle portal off/on to recreate a missing page; check the shortcode for blank content

    Next Steps #

    • Configure portal settings at [Portal Settings](#) (Part 9, Doc 6)
    • Review [Getting Started](#) (Part 1) for initial installation and portal setup
    • See [Email & Settings](#) (Part 9) for all settings tabs including Portal

    Document Created: 2026-03-22 | Updated: 2026-03-22 for v1.2.2
    Category: Customer Portal (ddls-customer-portal)
    Total Docs: 8
    Status: Ready for BetterDocs import

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