Each association’s portal is a separate website at the domain the association chose. What you see depends on whether the site is turned on, whether prices need a currency code, and whether staff are viewing it as a visitor or as one of the association’s contacts.
This article explains what visitors see when the portal cannot open, why some prices include a three-letter currency code, and how staff can view the portal as a member would. For what happens on one page after the portal opens, see Open a Page.
When the Portal Will Not Open
Before the portal shows a page, it matches the domain to the right association, confirms the site is turned on, and loads the site’s settings. If any of those checks fail, you see the portal’s error page instead of the site’s content.
The most common reason is that staff have taken the site out of service. In that case, the message behind the page is “This site has been disabled,” but visitors only see a generic error heading with no readable explanation, link, or retry option. If you see this page, the association has most likely paused the portal or has not finished setting it up. You cannot fix it from the page, so contact the association directly if you expected the site to be available.
Warning
The portal uses the same generic error page for several problems, including a disabled site, an address that does not match any association portal, or a site that has not finished being set up. You cannot tell which one applies from the page alone.
If you type or follow a link to an address the site does not recognize, you do not always see the same error page. When the association has set up a “page not found” page, the unrecognized address opens that page instead. If that page requires sign-in, you are asked to sign in before you can see it. If the association has not set up a not-found page, this article does not define what happens next; in practice, you may see the error page or nothing at all.
Prices with and Without a Currency Code
Some portals show prices as a plain amount, such as $25.00. Others show the same price with a three-letter code first, such as USD 25.00. The association’s site setup controls whether the code appears:
- If the association has turned on multiple currencies for its account and set up a currency mapping policy for the site, prices generally show a currency code. The code makes the currency clear because the association may show different currencies to different visitors. See Currency Mapping Policies for how staff configure this.
- If the association has not turned on multiple currencies, prices are normally shown in the association’s one currency, and the site’s own settings determine whether a code appears.
If the site cannot load its settings or currency information when it starts, the whole site fails to open and you see the error page described above.
Menus That Refresh Automatically
The portal filters the menu to show only the items you are allowed to see, but it does not repeat that filtering on every click. During your visit, the portal keeps the filtered menu in memory and recalculates it only after you sign in, sign out, or place an order. If your access changes for another reason, such as a role assigned elsewhere in the association’s records, the menu will not show that change until you sign in again, sign out, complete an order, or reload the page.
Tip
If a menu item you expect is missing, and you know you should qualify for it, refresh the page or sign out and back in before assuming something is misconfigured. A stale menu often means the association’s site has not yet had a reason to recalculate it during your visit.
How Staff View the Portal as a Member
Staff sometimes need to see the portal exactly as a particular member would see it, rather than guessing from the Console. When you open the portal through the association’s contact-impersonation link, the portal recognizes the special marker in that link and signs you in through Rhythm’s Console sign-in instead of the site’s regular member sign-in. From there, the portal shows the same pages, access checks, and currency behavior that the impersonated contact would see.
Prerequisites
- You need access set up by the association or by Rhythm to open a portal this way. A visitor cannot start this themselves.
- The steps for starting a view-as-member session are covered in a separate article. This article only explains what changes once you are in that session.
The portal page does not show that you are viewing it as an impersonated contact, so it is easy to forget which mode you are in. Be careful with any action that changes data while you are impersonating because the action is made under that contact’s identity.
If Something Goes Wrong
| What you see | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| A page with the heading "An Error Occurred" and no further explanation | The portal could not start. This can mean the site is disabled, its domain is not fully set up, or something in its settings failed to load. Contact the association if you expected the site to be available; there is nothing to retry from the page itself |
| Prices show a currency code you did not expect, or none at all | This reflects the association’s currency setup for the site, not an error. See Currency Mapping Policies |
| A menu item you should see is missing | Reload the page, or sign out and back in. The portal recalculates your menu only after a sign-in, a sign-out, or an order |
| An address you typed or followed shows an unrelated page or the error page | The address does not match any page on the site. If the association has set up a not-found page, you should land there instead |