--- title: "Use the Ideas Portal to turn customer demand into product evidence" canonical_url: https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/ideas-portal markdown_url: https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/ideas-portal.md category: "Product guides" learning_track: "administration" last_reviewed: 2026-07-02 --- # Use the Ideas Portal to turn customer demand into product evidence The Ideas Portal is the customer-facing surface for selected roadmap ideas, voting, and request intake. Customers stay outside your workspace while their feedback comes back into Zentrik as account-linked demand. ## Overview Use the portal when you want customers to see the ideas you are willing to expose, vote on the ones that matter, and submit requests without joining the internal product workspace. The portal is not a survey builder and it is not the Studies workflow. It is a durable demand surface: visible ideas, customer votes, account context, and new requests that your team can review in Discovery. ## What the portal does The portal gives customers a focused feedback space while keeping internal shaping work in Zentrik. Use it to: - expose selected Discovery ideas as customer-visible roadmap items - let authenticated customers vote on the ideas that matter to their account - collect new requests after customers can see whether a similar idea already exists - connect votes and submissions back to accounts, products, and ideas in Zentrik The useful output is not a public backlog by itself. The useful output is demand you can compare against evidence, opportunity framing, and the roadmap decision in front of you. ## What customers see Customers see a lightweight product feedback portal. They can browse visible ideas, search, filter by the product and taxonomy facets you expose, open an idea detail, vote, and review the ideas they have already backed. Keep the portal copy specific. Tell customers what kind of product feedback belongs there, and avoid implying that every vote automatically becomes roadmap work. ## Set up the portal Workspace admins configure the portal under **Settings -> Portal** when the feature is enabled for the workspace. Set up these areas first: - **Access**: enable the portal, set the customer prefix, and confirm the portal URL. - **Product SSO**: configure the callback URL, remote login URL, remote logout URL, and shared secret for product-launched access. - **Branding**: set the portal name, accent, logo, favicon, and intro copy. - **Products**: choose which products the portal covers. - **Taxonomies**: choose request classifications and customer-facing browse filters. The portal supports product SSO, voting, visible requests, product scopes, and taxonomy-based request and browse controls. ## Control what appears Treat the portal as a curated customer surface, not a dump of every internal idea. Before you send customers there, check: - the portal has the right product allowlist - customer-facing taxonomy labels are understandable without internal context - the visible ideas are written in customer language - new portal submissions should be visible to other customers after creation - the intro copy sets the right expectation for voting and request review Internal idea shaping, scoring, opportunity links, and delivery planning stay in Zentrik. The portal only needs enough context for customers to recognize the request and decide whether it matters to them. ## Capture new requests The request flow asks for a title, the workflow context, the problem, and the better outcome. While the customer writes, the portal checks nearby ideas so they can vote instead of creating a duplicate. When a request is submitted, it becomes a Discovery idea, links back to the customer account, and counts as the submitting user's vote. Taxonomy and product choices help the request land in the right review context. ## Review demand in Zentrik Portal demand returns to Zentrik as more than a lifetime vote count. Review it where product decisions happen: - **Settings -> Portal** shows coverage, portal users, request volume, published ideas, and top-voted ideas. - **Idea details** show vote rank, vote trend, top accounts, and account value tied to the idea. - **Discovery** lets you compare demand with evidence from calls, tickets, surveys, notes, insights, opportunities, and initiatives. Votes help you see who cares. They do not replace product judgment. Use the demand pattern to decide what deserves more evidence, what should move into shaping, and what should stay out of the roadmap. ## Authentication For product-launched portals, use JWT SSO so customers enter from your product without receiving full Zentrik workspace access. The portal user is separate from a Zentrik workspace user. The SSO payload should identify the customer user and account so votes and submissions attach to the right account record. Use the [Ideas Portal JWT SSO guide](https://zentrik.ai/docs/developers/ideas-portal-jwt-sso) for the exact integration contract. ## When to use Portal versus Studies Use the **Ideas Portal** when the question is ongoing and demand-shaped: - What are customers asking for? - Which visible ideas are gaining support? - Which accounts care about a request? Use **Idea Studies** when the question is specific and decision-shaped: - Where would users click on this screen? - Which option should we ship first? - Does this prototype make sense before scope hardens? The portal captures demand over time. Studies validate a particular decision. ## Troubleshooting ### The portal does not open Check that the portal is enabled, the customer prefix is saved, and the portal has at least one product selected. If product SSO is required, confirm the remote login URL, callback URL, and shared secret with the team that owns your product login flow. ### Customers cannot find the right request category Review the **Taxonomies** section in portal settings. Publish idea taxonomies first, then expose only classifications that make sense to customers submitting or browsing requests. ### Votes are noisy Filter by account, product, trend, and related evidence before making a roadmap decision. If you need a precise answer about one solution path, create an [Idea Study](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/idea-studies). ## Related guides - [Administer a Zentrik workspace safely](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/workspace-administration) - [Create delivery artifacts without losing the product decision](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/documents-and-delivery) - [Move from evidence-backed priorities to a usable roadmap](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/planning-and-roadmaps)