Understanding the Customize Portal in SureDash

What is the Customize Portal?

In the initial versions of SureDash, we used fixed theme templates controlled by shortcodes. While this worked, it made it difficult for users to personalize the look and feel of their portal. Customization required technical work like overriding templates in a child theme, which wasn’t ideal for everyone.

To make the experience more flexible and user-friendly, we’ve now moved to a fully block-based system using the WordPress Site Editor (also known as Full Site Editing or FSE). This allows users to easily design and edit their portal using familiar tools.

Here’s what the new Customize Portal includes:

• SureDash Blocks: Custom blocks like Portal Identity, Portal Profile, Portal Header Title, Portal Content, Portal Search, and more.
• Block Patterns: Two pre-designed layouts – Classic (similar to the original SureDash layout) and Modern (inspired by the Circle community).
• SureDash Portal Template: A customizable template part you can edit using the Site Editor. Add, rearrange, or replace blocks to make the portal truly yours.

In short, the Customize Portal is where you control the design of your SureDash portal — without needing to touch any code.

Why Use the Customize Portal?

The block editor is intuitive and powerful. If you’re familiar with editing pages or posts in WordPress, using the Customize Portal will feel similar.

It lets you:

• Personalize the layout and style of your portal
• Add or remove blocks as needed
• Create a design that matches your brand or community style
• Use third-party blocks alongside SureDash blocks for extended flexibility.

How Do I Customize the Portal?

• From your WordPress dashboard, go to SureDash > Customize Portal.

• This will open the Site Editor with the SureDash Portal template loaded.

• Use the editor to make changes — you can drag and drop blocks, change colors, add sections, or even insert other blocks you use elsewhere on your site.

You have full control of the layout, and you don’t need any coding skills to make it your own.

That is all, you are done customizing the basics of your portal dashboard. Refer to this article for the step-by-step instructions. [How to Customize the Portal from the SureDash Template Screen]

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team. We’re always here to help!