Transcript
In this video, I'm going to walk you through how to build a fully functional client or team portal using Softr with monday.com as the back-end database. By the end, you'll see how to set up boards in monday.com, connect them to Softr, design a portal with real-time data, and give different users controlled access. This is a game-changer if you want to extend monday.com into something client-facing without custom development.
[.blog-callout]
Note from Softr: While integrating with external tools like monday.com is a great approach for building portals and client portals, you can also rely natively on Softr Databases. It is a powerful way to manage your data directly within Softr for maximum performance and unified workflow management.
[.blog-callout]
Before we even log into Softr, let's start with our monday.com setup. Because this will act as our database, I've prepared three boards that cover a real estate management use case. The property board has fields like address, listing status, timeline, price, square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, type, whether that's rent or buy, commission percentage, and images.
The next board is a contact board with client and broker information, such as name, email, phone number, priority level, and which property they're attached to. The last board is a task board to manage assignments for each agent, such as showings, paperwork, and negotiation. You don't need to be in real estate to use this setup.
The concept applies to any business where you manage listings, clients, or projects. The key is that your monday.com boards are clean, well-structured, and have consistent columns. That structure will directly power your Softr portal.
Now, let's switch over to Softr. The first step is connecting your data source. Softr integrates directly with monday.com, so you'll connect using an API token.
If you haven't done this before, head into the monday.com admin section, generate an API token, and paste it into Softr. Once that's set, you'll see monday.com as an available data source in Softr, and you can start pulling in boards. When you create a new app in Softr, you can start from scratch, use AI generation, or choose a template.
[.blog-callout]
Note from Softr: If you are looking for the absolute fastest way to get started, try using our AI co-builder. You can simply prompt it for exactly what app or tool you need, and it instantly builds out the entire application, database schema, and initial pages for you to edit.
[.blog-callout]
For this video, I'll show you Softr's real estate template, which already comes with listing pages, contact pages, and a search experience. Templates are powerful because they give you a head start. You can always customize blocks, add or remove fields, and change the design, but starting with a relevant template saves hours.
Let's configure our first page, the listing page for properties. We'll connect it to our property board in monday.com. We'll add filters so only active listings show, and map columns such as address, price, property type, square footage, images, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and lastly, commission percentage.
We'll also add search and filter tools so agents can search by property type, price range, or number of bedrooms. Here's a best practice, only show the fields that matter to your end users. Keep the monday.com board as detailed as you want internally, but simply surface the essentials in Softr for a cleaner experience.
Next, let's add an action button so agents can add a new property from the portal. We'll configure a form block that maps back to the monday.com property board. Agents in the field can upload images, input property details, and submit.
[.blog-callout]
Note from Softr: Adding and updating records is entirely seamless using Softr Forms. Input fields map directly to your backend, providing a true two-way sync for securely updating data without ever having to expose the underlying database.
[.blog-callout]
As soon as they hit submit, a new item is created in monday.com. This is where Softr becomes more than just a viewer, it's a true two-way portal for adding and updating data. One of the most important features in Softr is utilizing user groups and permissions.
You can create user groups like agents, admins, and clients. Assign visibility rules to every page and block so only certain groups can see them. For example, agents can view and add listings, admins can see reports and tasks, and clients might only want to see public property listings.
Because the portal pulls from monday.com, you're still working off of a single source of truth, but Softr controls the front-end experience. We've seen listings and contacts, but Softr can also pull in dashboards and task boards. We can also use dynamic blocks like tables, kanban views, and charts to show task progress by agent or status.
For admins, we can build reporting dashboards showing how many properties are active, how many are sold, and how many tasks are completed. For agents, on the other hand, we can give a personalized view of their assigned tasks. This is where Softr and monday.com really shine.
You can extend internal workflows into portals without coding or managing separate tools. Let's review what we've built. From the login, agents can browse listings with filters, add new properties from the field, view and update contacts, manage tasks in a kanban view, and access reports if they're in the admin group.
Everything they do syncs back to monday.com in real-time. This is just one use case for real estate, but the same exact setup works for law firms sharing case updates, agencies managing clients, or service companies providing customer portals.
