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- [Feature Update] 🌟 5 Portal upgrades you don't want to miss
[Feature Update] 🌟 5 Portal upgrades you don't want to miss
Portal Design, Registration Flows, & Direct Add Configurations
Hey it’s Mica,
Two weeks ago, I replaced my 18-year-old car with a new one. I’m not sure if you’ve been in a modern car, but wow … the jump in technology is pretty astounding.
It may be minor, but this is my first car that shows real-time miles per gallon. That one little display on the dashboard has unlocked a new game in my head that I didn’t consciously opt into. Watching it go down 😭 impacts my driving style (I’m always trying to beat my high score - currently 43 MPG).
Another example of a small number that impacts your behavior is that pesky little battery % display on your phone/laptop. Battery anxiety anyone?
What I accidentally discovered is a great example of how much a central dashboard can drive behavior. Referral Rock’s Member Portal has always been one of our best features that helps your business get more referrals.
It’s tough to design a configurable portal that makes everyone happy, as it has to satisfy these major points:
Great for program members (i.e., your customers)
On-brand/looks good for businesses
Adaptive to different business workflows
This month, we’ve rolled out 5 updates that improve the look and feel, offer more registration options, and give you greater control over how the Member Portal works. Check it out 👇👇👇 below.
Don’t forget to turn off those bad dashboards that make you do unwanted behaviors!
-Mica
Head of Operations
What is the Member Portal?
The Member Portal is the heartbeat of any referral program. It’s where your program participants (i.e., members) go to share, check stats, review notifications, and learn how the program works.
We designed our software so that your Member Portals are VAST:
Visual - on-brand design, optimized for mobile, easy to navigate
Accessible - easy to find and access wherever you interact with your customers
Shareable - one click sharing of pre-written messages across multiple platforms (social, email/SMS, direct add)
Transparent - show real-time referral/reward status and program details
The new navigation menu is more streamlined, takes up less space, and is better tuned for various logo sizes.
Modern design (less busy, better spacing, new profile icon, etc.)
Puts everything on 1 line with nested menus for additional links
Work with various logo aspect ratios
Improved mobile experience (smoother transitions, more touch-friendly, etc.)

Implementation: New navigation menu is enabled for all new programs. To enable for any existing program, open the Portal Tab (in your Program Editor) > Brand Settings (gear icon) > Navigation Types (select Unified Menu)
Upload your logo, and we’ll automatically adjust it to fit the Member Portal on any device.
We fine-tune the logo size based on its aspect ratio to set a max height and width. This ensures that it works nicely with the navigation menu without having any weird spacing or odd sizing issues.

🔐 Control who can join your referral program
By default, we make it easy for people to join your referral program.
The Program Landing Page includes options to join via email (passwordless access) or sign up in one click using Google, Facebook, Apple ID, or Microsoft.
We even provide options for people to skip registration and open their portal directly.
These options are great for most customers, but some programs require more control over who joins. Now you have more sign-up options.
Sign-Up Mode | Experience |
---|---|
Open Access (Default) | Anyone can sign up for the referral program and immediately access their portal |
Requires Approval | After registering via the Program Landing Page, the person must be approved by a program admin. |
Not Allowed | Only a program admin can add members to the program. |
Implementation: You can change your Sign Up Settings by clicking the Program Settings (gear icon) > Access Settings from any tab in your program editor.
✏️ More flexibility with your custom form fields
Previously, all custom fields on the Program Landing Page were required, but this limited how they could be used. Some customers wanted the custom fields to be optional so they could collect information without preventing people from signing up if they didn’t want or have the information on hand.
All custom fields can now be optional (simply uncheck the “Required” box).

🔧 Configure how members add referrals directly
Many customers use our Direct Add widget to allow their members to input a referral’s details directly from their Member Portal.
Historically, the Direct Add widget included both a button to “Add Referral” and the “Share Link” (copy and paste link so referrals can sign up themselves). There was no way to remove the share link, which caused confusion if it wasn’t used.
Now you can remove the Share Link from the Direct Add option.

Implementation: To disable/enable the share link on the Direct Add widget go to the Share Tab in your program editor > Share Widget > Direct Add > Customize Direct Widget > Disable Link Sharing.
⏮ And in case you missed it…
Here are some more recent posts from our team that you may have missed!