The recording for our recent B2C Service webinar Customer Portal Basics is now available! If you missed the live event or would like to review some of the content and demos, you can now watch the full session including the live Q&A - CLICK HERE to access the recording.

Whether you're just getting started or are a seasoned developer, there's always something new to learn as the Customer Portal evolves. We've presented on this topic before, but each time we refresh the content to ensure you're getting the most up-to-date information, best practices, and answers to your current questions.

In this session, Will Paddock, one of our top Support experts, walked attendees through some of the Customer Portal essentials and provided practical tips and best practices, including:

• The Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern and its significance in the Customer Portal’s architecture

• How to work with models, views, and controllers to structure your customizations efficiently

• Setting up your environment, including enabling Customer Portal development and working with permissions

• The role of WebDAV for uploading and managing customization files, and helpful tools for making WebDAV connections

• Customizing with hooks, helpers, and libraries to make your code modular and maintainable

• Tips for managing error pages and autoloading JavaScript in the portal environment

• Guidance on building and extending widgets and using the Widget Builder to save time and effort

• How to safely migrate custom code between versions and adapt to new platform updates (including PHP 8.6 support)

Along the way, Will provided a wealth of troubleshooting tips, best practices for safe promotion of changes from staging to production, and guidance on where to find more resources and support. Thank you to everyone who attended the live event, and a big thanks to Will for sharing his experience and newest tips.