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Setting Up the Public Portal

Introduction

After installing the Public Portal, you need to set it up before using it with Case Management Studio. This guide walks you through the recommended setup steps, which include:

Step 1: Set up the Portal site

This is a required step.

  1. Log in to the target environment.
  2. Navigate to the Admin Console.
  3. Navigate to Web API Authentication:
    1. Create a service account.
    2. Create an API Key for this service account.

    3. Copy the API key for later use.

      pp_create_web_api_sa

  4. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application.
  5. Search for and open the CMGT Service Accounts group.
    • Add the service account to the group.
  6. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Portal Module application.
  7. Search for and open CMGT Portal Connected System.
    1. Update the Base URL to your environment's Web API URL. The URL should end in /webapi/.
    2. Add the API key you created in Step 3.
  8. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Studio Module application.
  9. Search for and open CMGT CB Portal Connected System.
    1. Update the Base URL to your environment's Web API URL. The URL should end in /webapi/.
    2. Add the API key created in Step 3.
  10. Search for CMGT Google ReCAPTCHA.
    • Note: Appian considers reCAPTCHA services essential for unauthenticated Appian Portals usage. To use Google reCAPTCHA, update the Google reCAPTCHA Project ID, Site Key, and API Key with your Google reCAPTCHA credentials. If you decide not to use Google reCAPTCHA, skip this step and see Removing Google reCAPTCHA.
  11. Search for CMGT_Portal:
    1. Add your service account to the Service Account field.
    2. Note the Portal UUID.
  12. Search for and update CMGT_PORTAL_TXT_URL_UUID with Portal UUID.
  13. Toggle the Published field on and save changes.
    • Note: Ignore any design guidance warnings due to shared interface objects. These warnings will not impact the portal publishing or functionality.
  14. Verify the Public Portal is working as expected.

Step 2: Collect the Portal Case Contacts

This is a required step to capture case contact information.

  1. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application.
  2. Search for and open the CMGT_Case record type.
  3. In the Data Model section, click Add Relationship.
    1. Select the CMGT_Portal_CaseContact record type.
    2. Enter a Relationship Name such as portalCaseContact.
    3. Select One to Many for the Relationship Type.
    4. Select caseId for the common record fields.

    5. In the Write and Delete Related Records section, select Write or delete CMGT_Portal_CaseContacts when modifying Cases.

      cm_portalCaseContact_record_relationship

  4. Search for and open the CMGT_Case_SetMetaData expression rule.

    1. Add the following map statement below the last map in the childRelationships array:

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      a!map(
   field: recordType!CMGT_Case.relationships.portalCaseContact,
   value: rule!CMGT_Portal_CaseContact_SetMetaData(
      portalCaseContacts: fv!item[recordType!CMGT_Case.relationships.portalCaseContact],
      initiator: ri!initiator
   )
)

      Note:  Record type field references are specific to each record type and environment. This means that you need to reference the record type fields from your own environment whenever you copy and paste a record type reference from outside the application.

  5. Search for and open the CMGT_Case_Sub_Create interface.

    1. Below the case details section layout, call the interface CMGT_Portal_CreateCase_CaseContactsSection as follows:

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      rule!CMGT_Portal_CreateCase_CaseContactsSection(
caseContact: ri!case[recordType!CMGT_Case.relationships.portalCaseContact],
brandingMap: ri!brandingMap
),
  6. Search for and open the CMGT_Case_CaseSummary interface.

    1. Above the Studio Fields section, call the interface CMGT_Portal_CaseSummary_PortalFields as follows:

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      rule!CMGT_Portal_CaseSummary_PortalFields(
caseContact: ri!case[recordType!CMGT_Case.relationships.portalCaseContact],
brandingMap: ri!brandingMap
),
  7. Search for and open the CMGT_CB_Case_WriteRecordsProperties expression rule.

    1. Add the portal case contact relationship after the documents relationship as shown.

      cms_portal_write_record_incorporation

    2. Click SAVE CHANGES and close the expression rule.

  8. Search for and open the CMGT_EventHistory_Case_FormatDetails expression rule.

    1. Add another condition to the match() statement for formatting audits related to the case contact by copying the code snippet and pasting as shown.

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      whenTrue: fv!value = cons!CMGT_PORTAL_REFID_EVENT_TYPE_UPDATE_CASE_CONTACT,
then: joinarray(
rule!CMGT_UTIL_RejectBlank(
array: {
if(
rule!CMGT_UTIL_IsBlank(
local!details.firstName
),
null,
'translation!{3901b96b-7990-4002-b073-5b601b7d9be9}CMGT_Portal_Translations.{91fffdbd-a177-4f4f-b0e0-769b9475604b}First Name: {value}'(
'translation!{3901b96b-7990-4002-b073-5b601b7d9be9}CMGT_Portal_Translations.{91fffdbd-a177-4f4f-b0e0-769b9475604b}First Name: {value}.translationvariables.{e6f9ee42-d08f-46cd-90ce-29e1ce3a8e07}value': local!details.firstName
)
),
if(
rule!CMGT_UTIL_IsBlank(
local!details.lastName
),
null,
'translation!{3901b96b-7990-4002-b073-5b601b7d9be9}CMGT_Portal_Translations.{33ebde45-da93-4bff-813c-aafee5c65dd6}Last Name: {value}'(
'translation!{3901b96b-7990-4002-b073-5b601b7d9be9}CMGT_Portal_Translations.{33ebde45-da93-4bff-813c-aafee5c65dd6}Last Name: {value}.translationvariables.{d44e0b68-4130-4944-a35b-19ac9d247a9d}value': local!details.lastName
)
),
if(
rule!CMGT_UTIL_IsBlank(
local!details.email
),
null,
'translation!{3901b96b-7990-4002-b073-5b601b7d9be9}CMGT_Portal_Translations.{8a2f3918-6edc-4aef-b7eb-eb84fd4d95ac}Email: {value}'(
'translation!{3901b96b-7990-4002-b073-5b601b7d9be9}CMGT_Portal_Translations.{8a2f3918-6edc-4aef-b7eb-eb84fd4d95ac}Email: {value}.translationvariables.{325eca9c-740e-49e3-9a9f-6541520f32f8}value': local!details.email
)
)
}
),
char(
10
)
),

      cms_CMGT_EventHistory_Case_FormatDetails

    2. Click SAVE CHANGES and close the expression rule.

Step 3: Display the case type on Case Creation form

Complete the steps in this section to display the selected case type on the Case Creation form on the portal.

To update the Case Creation form:

  1. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application.
  2. Search for and open the CMGT_Case_Sub_Create interface.

    1. Add the following code above the section layout that contains the CMGT_Case_CaseType interface.

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      rule!CMGT_Portal_CreateCase_SelectedCaseTypeDisplay(
selectedCaseType: ri!case['recordType!{d81cdd0e-c54d-4b8e-beec-b7ae37fefe7f}CMGT_Case.relationships.{8beba714-f253-41d2-9232-e0c0f51bed2e}caseType']
),

      cms_portal_case_type_read_only

    2. Click SAVE CHANGES and close the interface.

Step 4: Send case creation emails

This is an optional step. Complete the following steps to send case creation emails to the contact provided in the portal case submission:

  1. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application.
  2. Search for and open the CMGT_Email_CaseCreationEmails expression rule.

    1. Add the following to the existing array of email creation rules.

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      rule!CMGT_Portal_Email_EmailSettingMap_CreateCase(
case:ri!case
)

    2. Click SAVE CHANGES.

  3. Search for and open the CMGT_Portal_Email_EmailSettingMap_CreateCase expression rule.

    1. Locate the recipientEmailAddress parameter in the map() function on line 4 of your expression and enter the following:

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      toemailaddress(
rule!CMGT_QR_GetPortalCaseContact(
caseId: ri!case[recordType!CMGT_Case.fields.caseId],
fields: recordType!CMGT_Portal_CaseContact.fields.email
)[recordType!CMGT_Portal_CaseContact.fields.email]
),

    2. Click SAVE CHANGES.

  4. Verify the portal case contact receives a case confirmation email.

Step 5: Update the portal case contact

Follow the steps in this section to allow case workers to update the portal case contact.

  1. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application.
  2. Search for and open the CMGT_Case record type.
    1. Navigate to the Actions tab on the record type.
      1. Click CONFIGURE ACTION MANUALLY under the Related Actions section.
        1. In the Create New Related Action dialog, select Use Expression for the Display Name field.
        2. In the expression editor, use the translation string for Update Contact from the CMGT_Portal_Translations translation set.

        3. Complete the remaining fields in the Create New Action dialog, as follows:

          • Key: updateContact
          • Icon: pencil-square-o
          • Dialog Box Size: Small
          • Process Model: CMGT_Portal_Case_UpdateContact

          • Context: Copy and paste the following code snippet:

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            {
caseContacts: rule!CMGT_QR_GetPortalCaseContact(
  caseId: rv!identifier,
)
}

            cms_portal_update_contact_incorporation

      2. Click OK.
    2. On the record type, navigate to the Views and Actions Security tab.
      1. Click the Actions sub-tab.
      2. Locate the Update Contact action and click the edit icon.
      3. For Who can see this action?, select All users who can see the record.
      4. For When can they see this action?, select Only when….

        1. Enter source = CMGT_TXT_SOURCE_PORTAL as shown:

          cms_portal_update_contact_security_config

    3. Click OK and SAVE CHANGES to save the record type.
  3. Search for and open the CMGT_Case_CaseSummary interface.

    1. Add the Update Contact action below the Update Additional Details action in the record action field as shown.

      cms_portal_update_contact_sail_incorporation

    2. Click SAVE CHANGES.

Step 6: Remove Google reCAPTCHA

By default, the portal ships with Google reCAPTCHA enabled. Appian considers reCAPTCHA services essential for unauthenticated Appian Portals usage. See Google reCAPTCHA to learn more about Google reCAPTCHA.

If you wish to remove Google reCAPTCHA, complete the following steps:

  1. In Appian Designer, go to the CMGT Portal Module application.
  2. Search for and open CMGT_Portal portal object.
    1. In the Service Access section, remove the connected system in the Google reCAPTCHA field.
    2. Click SAVE CHANGES.
      • Note: A design guidance warning about missing Google reCAPTCHA configuration will appear.
    3. Verify the Public Portal is working as expected.

If this is a permanent removal of reCAPTCHA, navigate to the interfaces specified in the design guidance warning that calls a!verifyRecaptcha(). Follow the inline comments in each interface to remove the a!verifyRecaptcha() call.

  • Note: This is not a necessary step but will clean up design guidance warnings and make the code cleaner.

Step 7: Manage files uploaded to Portal

Note:  If uploaded documents are expected to contain sensitive information (e.g., PII, financial, medical, etc.), we recommend Appian HIPAA Cloud to ensure potential sensitive user data is protected.

Appian recommends that customers restrict the Portal-exposed file upload fields to a set of permitted file extensions. This is configurable via the admin console.

Portals natively have a file size restriction per document upload.

Step 8: Rename the Portal service account

This is an optional step that allows the portal service account to reflect a user-friendly name on the front end.

  1. In Appian Designer, go to the Objects tab.
  2. Search for the CMGT_TXT_AUTOMATED_SYSTEM constant.
    1. Update the constant to match the text you want displayed for the service account in the front end.

Step 9: Translate the application

This is an optional step. Refer to Exporting translation strings for translation for information on translating the Public Portal module to other languages.

Step 10: Monitor your Portal

Portals are publicly accessible to users on the open internet. Appian recommends actively monitoring your Portal to prevent cyber attacks, like a flood of fake submissions. See Appian Portals for more details and recommendations on using Appian Portals.

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