Getting Started

This guide walks a brand-new administrator through standing up a fresh IP4CMS organisation in the right order — foundations first, then the things that depend on them — so each module works the first time you reach for it.

Setting up a new tenant is mostly about doing a handful of configuration tasks in a sensible sequence. The portal helps you here: it tracks your progress on a live Get started checklist and only ever asks you to set up the modules your licence actually enables. Work down the list below and you'll have a working organisation without backtracking.

Before you begin

Sign in. Open your portal at its address (your organisation's branded domain, or …/app) and sign in with the admin account you were given. If you came in through single sign-on from the member app, you'll land in the same place.

Your licence decides what you see. IP4CMS is modular. Your navigation, your Settings groups, and your setup checklist are all filtered to your tenant's enabled modules — so if a module mentioned below isn't in your menu, your licence simply doesn't include it, and you can skip that step. Three modules are always on for every tenant and never need licensing: Settings, Users and Roles.

You need an admin role. The setup tasks (and the Get started checklist itself) are gated to tenant administrators. The checklist page is only reachable if you have full admin access or an admin role; individual setup pages require their own manage permissions (for example settings:update:all to edit branding). If a page is hidden, it's a permissions issue — sort out your role first.

Watch the checklist. From the dashboard you'll find the Get started onboarding page. It calls /tenant/setup-status and shows every setup item your licence expects, grouped by module and split into To do, Completed, and Skipped. A progress bar tells you how far along you are ("You're 60% of the way there"). Each outstanding item has a short explanation and a button that jumps straight to the right page. You don't have to memorise the list — let it drive you. See Tracking your progress below.

Setup checklist (in order)

The checklist the product tracks is grouped by module and ordered foundations-first. Here's the recommended order to work through it.

1. Organisation profile & branding — Settings

Why. Branding, name, timezone and locale shape everything members and staff see, and several later steps (numbering, documents) assume your basics are in place.

What to do. Open Settings → General Setup. Set your organisation name, logo, brand colours, timezone and locale. This is also where the foundation toggles for the rest of your modules live, so it's worth a pass before anything else. Full detail in the Settings guide.

2. Domains & the member app — App Templates & App Editor, Banners

Why. Most tenants run a member-facing app or portal. Before you invite members you want its domain, tiles, navigation and branding to look right.

What to do. In Settings → Domain Config confirm your member app's domain. Then use the App Editor / App Templates to lay out the home tiles and navigation members will see, and apply the branding from step 1. Add a welcome Banner or two so the member app isn't empty on day one. See App Templates & App Editor and Banners.

3. Staff users & roles — Users, Roles

Why. You'll want colleagues helping with the rest of setup, and every later module respects role permissions. Get the people and permissions in before you load data. (Users and Roles are always-on modules, so they're available regardless of licence.)

What to do. Create or review Roles first — decide who can manage financials, communications, members, settings, and so on — then invite your staff Users and assign each the right role. See Roles and Users.

4. Locations — Locations

Why. Locations are the foundation many other modules build on: members, properties, devices and reporting all hang off a place. The checklist explicitly flags "No locations configured" until you add at least one site.

What to do. Open Locations and add at least one site or venue (ideally your full hierarchy). See Locations.

5. Members — Members

Why. Members are the core record most other activity attaches to. Before you can bring members on, the checklist wants the structures they slot into.

What to do. In the Members area (and Settings → Members) set up your member ranks — the checklist tracks "No member ranks" until at least one exists. Then start adding or importing members. See Members.

6. Financial setup — before billing — Settings, then Financials

Why. Billing and collections silently do nothing until the plumbing exists. The checklist watches three things here and they must come before you run any billing.

What to do, in this sub-order:

1. Payment gateway. In Settings → Payment Channels / Financial, configure at least one gateway and set it active (or testing). The checklist item "No active payment gateway" clears only when a gateway with status active or testing exists.
2. Document numbering. Define numbering sequences for invoices, receipts and other documents (Settings → numbering pages). The item "Document numbering not configured" clears once at least one numbering configuration is active.
3. Tax and accounts. Set up your tax types and, if you use accounting, your financial accounts (the checklist tracks "No financial accounts" when the Financials accounts feature is enabled).

Only once those pass should you create billing cycles and run billing. See Settings then Financials.

7. Communications setup — before sending — Settings, then Communications

Why. Like billing, messaging fails quietly without a configured sender. The checklist tracks outgoing email and channels separately.

What to do. In Settings → Communication Settings configure your outgoing email (SMTP) server — the item "Outgoing email configured" depends on it — and your communication channels (SMS / push gateways), tracked as "Communication channels configured". Then build the message templates you'll reuse. Verify with a test send before any bulk campaign. See Settings then Communications.

8. Turn on member-facing content

Why. With foundations done, fill the member app with content so it feels alive. These are the remaining content checks the product tracks for whichever modules your licence enables.

What to do (only the ones you have): document types — Documents; event types — Events; directory categories — Directory; classified categories — Classifieds; gallery albums — Gallery; news stands — News Stands; a FAQ; reporting dashboards — Reporting; and any of your other enabled modules (Support topics & teams, Sales catalog, KYC channels, Flows templates, and more). Each appears on the checklist as its own item until configured.

Tracking your progress

Two things on your landing experience tell you where you stand.

The Get started checklist. The onboarding page is fed by GET /tenant/setup-status. The server inspects only your enabled modules, runs a setup check for each relevant area, and returns three buckets:

• items — checks that are failing (still to do), each with a plain-language title, a helpful detail, and an actionRoute button that takes you to the exact page to fix it.
• passed_items — checks that are complete (the green rows). "Complete" is concrete and data-driven: a check passes when the underlying records exist. For example, the locations check passes once you have at least one non-deleted location; the payment-gateway check passes once a gateway is active or testing; numbering passes once an active numbering configuration exists.
• ignored_items — checks you've chosen to skip for now.

A progress object gives you total, failed and a percent. The percentage is simply how many expected checks are passing out of the total for your licence — when every applicable check passes (or you've skipped the rest), you hit 100% and the list is clear. If your workspace happens to have nothing to configure, you'll see "Nothing to set up for your workspace right now".

The page groups items by module (Communication, Financials, Locations, Members, and so on) in a foundations-first order, and within each module keeps the same canonical checklist order, so the layout stays stable as you tick things off.

Skipping items. Not every check applies to every organisation. If you have the settings permission, each item has a Skip for now action (it calls PATCH /tenant/setup-ignored). Skipped items move to the Skipped group and stop counting against you — and you can add them back to your list anytime from the same place. Use this for modules you've enabled but aren't using yet.

The landing dashboard. Separately, you can pin a reporting dashboard as your tenant's home page via /tenant/landing-dashboard. Once your reporting is set up (step 8), choose a dashboard here so staff land on live metrics instead of an empty screen. Until you set one, this stays unconfigured and the default home view is shown.

Where to go next

You've covered the setup spine. From here, dive into any module in depth:

• All module guides — the full catalogue, grouped by area, with step-by-step instructions for every module your licence includes.

Keep the Get started checklist open in another tab as you go — it's the fastest way to see what's left and to jump straight to the page that fixes it. When it reads 100%, your organisation is configured and ready for members.