From Word document to live handbook.

Sign in securely

Sign in at handbookportal.co.uk/login with your email address and password. Every account has a second step: the first time, we email you a 6-digit code.

To skip the email, open Security in the menu and either set up an authenticator app (Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator or 1Password), or add a passkey so you can sign in with Face ID, your fingerprint or Windows Hello.

Add a handbook

Click Add new handbook. Enter the client's company name and choose their web address, such as acme.handbookportal.co.uk. Each client gets their own address, sign-in page and branding.

Then choose how staff will get in:

• Individual accounts. Everyone signs in with their own work email. This gives you acknowledgements, reminders and a record of who has read what.
• One shared password. Everyone uses the same password. It's simpler, but there are no acknowledgements or tracking.

Every paid handbook starts with a 7-day free trial. You can change the address and access mode later.

Get the Word document ready

Handbook Portal reads the headings in your client's Word handbook to split it into policies. A few minutes with Word's built-in styles (on the Home tab) makes the import almost perfect:

• Put each policy title in Heading 1.
• Use Heading 2 and Heading 3 for the subheadings inside a policy.
• If policies are grouped into sections (for example "Absence" or "Conduct"), put each section name in a heading level above the policies, such as the Title style. If you don't, we suggest a section for each policy and you can change it.

Cover pages and contents pages are removed automatically. Lists and tables are kept. You can upload the whole handbook as one file, or separate policies one at a time.

Import and check

Open the handbook and go to Import handbook. Upload the Word file and you'll see a review screen showing every section and policy we found. Before anything goes live you can:

• rename policies and sections, and move a policy to a different section;
• leave out anything that shouldn't be in the handbook;
• check any policy we've flagged as very short or looking like placeholder text.

When it looks right, click Publish to portal.

Make it look right

Go to Branding. Upload your client's logo (a wide logo on a transparent background works best) and click Match (it also happens automatically when you choose a logo). We pick up the logo's colours and offer a few schemes to choose from. Then fine-tune:

• colours, fonts, corner roundness and button style;
• the home page welcome message;
• the PDF design: cover style, contents page, page numbers and a footer note;
• the favicon (the little icon in the browser tab), made automatically if you don't upload one.

The preview on the right updates as you go. Staff only ever see your client's name and branding, never ours.

Give people access

With individual accounts, go to People:

• invite people one at a time, or paste a list (name, email, and optionally a group) or upload a CSV to invite everyone at once;
• use groups (for example "Office" or "Drivers") to show some policies to some people only;
• give someone the Admin role and they can invite staff, upload updates and chase acknowledgements themselves, while you keep control of billing.

Each person gets an invitation email in your client's branding with a link to set their password.

With a shared password, just give staff the web address and the password. You can change the password at any time in Settings.

Acknowledgements

With individual accounts, staff confirm they've read each policy. In Settings you choose how many days they have and how often we send reminders. The Acknowledgements page shows progress by policy and by person. From there you can send reminders in one click and export the full record to a spreadsheet.

Keeping it up to date

When a policy changes, upload the new Word file in Update handbook. We match policies by title and only create a new version for the ones that changed. Older versions are kept in each policy's history.

Depending on your client's settings, staff are emailed about the change and asked to acknowledge the new version.

Billing and changes

The Billing page shows every handbook, its price and its next renewal date. You can:

• Suspend a handbook: staff see a "not available" page until you reactivate it;
• Cancel at the end of the current billing period, with no further charges;
• Reactivate within 90 days of cancelling and carry on where you left off.

Your clients never see billing. You charge them whatever you like.

Need a hand?

Signed in? Use Help & support in the menu. Otherwise, send us a message and we'll help.