How to Preview and Share the Client Dashboard

The Client Dashboard in Houzz Pro is a great way to give your clients an up-to-date view of the status of their project.

As the pro, you can fully customize the information and presentation within the Client Dashboard. You can add relevant business information, videos, a cover image, and widgets to represent your business in the way you want (cover image and video widget are for Custom packages only). You can also control client access to certain features to ensure you are only sharing what is relevant.

As for the client, they will have a main access point to all things related to their project, including financial documents, schedule, files & photos, messages, 3D floor plans and more. It's an easy way to keep them in the loop and ensure they feel included in the process.

This article will provide a general overview of the Client Dashboard, as well as show you how to preview and share access with your client. If you would like to learn more about the customization options, read How to Customize the Client Dashboard.

Client Dashboard Overview

To access the client dashboard, find the relevant project from the left navigation, then select Client Dashboard in the left menu.

You can also access the Client Dashboard in the right menu of your project — just select the Client tab at the top, then click on Client Dashboard.

Within this right menu, you can easily see if the Client Dashboard has been shared with your client, and can share or unshare the dashboard in one click.

The client dashboard is meant to be the go-to destination for your project details. There are several main components of the Client Dashboard.

• Header: The header at the top of the client dashboard introduces you as a business. It includes your business name, contact information, and cover image. All of this can be customized to suit your needs (cover image is for Custom packages only).
• Left Menu: The left menu will break down all the relevant documentation for each Houzz Pro feature, including Messages, Contracts, Financials, Selection Boards, Mood Boards, 3D Floor Plans, Tasks, Schedule, Files & Photos, and Daily Logs. You can decide which features you share with your client — you don't need to share everything.
• Add a Widget: At the bottom of your dashboard, you can select Add a Widget to enhance the client view. Custom widgets include Video (Custom packages only), Text Block and Weather.
• Preview and Share: At the top right of your dashboard, you can preview the dashboard to see how a client would view it. You can also share the dashboard by email once your customization is complete.

Feature Access on the Client Dashboard

By default, your Client Dashboard will only include access to messages — you will need to share access to each individual feature you would like your client to view. This includes access to Financials, Selection Boards, Mood Boards, 3D Floor Plans, Tasks, Schedule, Files & Photos, and Daily Logs.

The access process for each feature slightly varies.

Financial Documents and Contracts

Whenever you send an estimate, proposal, invoice, change order or contract to your client, that financial document or contract will automatically appear in the Client Dashboard.

If you would like to remove access after sharing, go into the relevant document, find the Actions dropdown, then select Hide from Dashboard.

Selection Boards, Mood Boards and 3D Floor Plans

The share process for a selection board, mood board or 3D floor plan is the same. Find the relevant project, then select Selection Boards, Mood Boards or 3D Floor Plans from the left menu. Find the board or plan you want to share. Select the Preview and Share button (or Share button), then select Publish to Dashboard.

You can easily Unpublish to Dashboard from the same menu once it has been shared.

Tasks

To add a task, find the relevant project, then select Tasks and Punchlist from the left menu. For individual tasks, open up the specific task, then assign the task to your client.

Under Client Setting, select Shared to add the task to the Client Dashboard. Select Private if you do not want to include it in the Client Dashboard.

Schedule and Daily Logs

The share process for schedule and daily logs is the same. Find the relevant project, then select either Schedule or Daily Logs from the left menu. For daily logs, be sure to open up an individual daily log to share.

Click the people icon or the Share icon at the top of your screen.

A new screen will appear where you can update Client Dashboard access. To provide access, select Access. To remove access, select No Access.

Files & Photos

To add files and photos, find the relevant project, then select Files & Photos from the left menu. Click the checkboxes next to the files you want to share (you can share multiple files at once).

Select the people icon or the three dots icon at the top of your screen, then select Manage Permissions.

A new screen will appear where you can update Client Dashboard access for the selected files. To provide access, select Access. To remove access, select No Access.

Customize Client Dashboard

As you build out your client dashboard, you can easily customize the overall design and information that you include. You can adjust the header, widgets and more. To learn more about customization options, read How to Customize the Client Dashboard.

Preview Client Dashboard

Once your Client Dashboard customization is complete, click Preview at the top of your dashboard to view it from the client perspective.

This is an important step before sharing — it allows you to see it from a new perspective and catch things you might have missed before.

Here is an example of the client preview of the dashboard. Select Back to Edit to make more changes, or select Share if it's ready to send to the client.

Share the Client Dashboard

To share the Client Dashboard, click the Share button at the top right of your edit screen or preview screen. Please Note: You can only share the Client Dashboard if you have your client's email address.

A new screen will appear — your client's email address will already be filled in, as well as the default email subject line and message. You can keep this text, or you can customize and write your own. If you want to receive an email copy, check the box next to Send a Copy to My Email. Once everything looks good, click Send.

Your client will receive an email notifying them about access to the project dashboard, as shown below. They can then select Go to Project Dashboard to view.

To ensure the security of their project information, they will be asked to verify their identity by either text message or email. The client will need to type in the code they receive via text or email to access their dashboard.

There are a few important things to note regarding the authentication process.

• If you do not have their phone number listed under client details, then only email will be available for the authentication process.
• Clients must authenticate using the primary email or phone number assigned to them.
• This is a one-time authentication per session — if they stay logged into Houzz, they won’t have to do it every time.
• No Houzz account creation is required. The authentication process is just a security check to access the dashboard.

After your client opens the dashboard, you will receive an email notification, as well as a notification within Houzz Pro.

Read How to Use Your Project Dashboard (For Clients) to learn more about the dashboard from the client perspective.

Remove Access to the Client Dashboard

You can remove access to the Client Dashboard at any time. To do this, open up the relevant project, and select the Client tab at the top of the right menu. Under Client Dashboard, click on Shared and select Unshare to remove access.

Your client will not be notified that access has been removed, but they will receive an error message if they try to access the dashboard.