What is Portal Builder?
Portal Builder is a Better Sheets product for building member or client portals powered by sheet data, separate from public Sites templates. Use it when viewers need login, sections, or private views instead of a fully public catalog page.
When to use it
Use Portal Builder for client dashboards, member libraries, or internal hubs that should not be a public anyone-with-the-link sheet.
When to skip it
Use public Sites when content is marketing-safe and meant to be indexable without login.
How it works
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1
Define which sheet tabs feed portal sections.
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2
Configure access model per product docs.
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3
Style navigation and landing sections.
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4
Test with a pilot user account.
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5
Link from membership onboarding emails.
Examples in Google Sheets
Client reporting portal
Agency gives each client a login to their metrics section backed by a shared master sheet.
Better Sheets resources
Common mistakes
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Publishing sensitive rows to a public Site when Portal Builder was the right tool.
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Confusing Portal Builder with Google Cloud Identity setup you still must manage.
Frequently asked questions
- Portal Builder vs Sites?
- Sites is public hosted pages. Portal Builder targets gated portal experiences.
- Where to start?
- See /portal-builder marketing page and Better Sheets dashboard links.
Related Tutorials
Watch how Portal Builder works
Great Sheets! Corona Hiring Sheet
Better Sheets Members Tour March 2026
Create a Sheet of Sheets for Project Management and/or Data Management
Announcing OnlySheets 2.0
Great Sheets! Community Information Board by Seedtable.com
Related blog posts
Guides that explain Portal Builder in more depth.
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Read post →Related terms
Better Sheets Sites
Sites is a Better Sheets feature that turns a Google Sheet into a hosted web page at yourname.bettersheets.co. Pick a layout template (catalog, directory, gallery, feed, dashboard, or simple), connect your sheet, and publish without building a separate website stack.
Read guide →hosted site
A hosted site is a web page Better Sheets serves for you, backed by rows in your Google Sheet, at a URL like yourslug.bettersheets.co. You edit data in Sheets; visitors see the styled template without needing sheet access.
Read guide →Better Sheets membership
Membership is paid access to the Better Sheets library: video courses, tutorials, unlimited formula and regex generators, member templates, Apps Script Explainer, and one hosted sheet site on a bettersheets.co subdomain. Free visitors can try formula generators with daily generation caps.
Read guide →protect sheets/ranges
Protection limits who can edit specific cells, ranges, or entire tabs while others keep view or comment access. It is how you let teammates update input columns without touching formula blocks, summary rows, or archived data. Protection is not encryption; owners and editors with rights can still adjust protections.
Read guide →Done reading about Portal Builder?
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