Defining Templates
Setting up Templates
In the Templates tab you can add a new template using the New template button. When creating a new template you can modify the logo and the text fields according to your preference. The field selector section allows you to enable/disable various fields like Email and Phone number based on your requirements. You can change the font, button color, and placeholders for fields. Also, you can add a Background Image. The changes will be displayed in real time on the panel on the right side.
Fields
The following fields are supported on the captive portal:
| Field | Comments |
|---|---|
| First Name | User's first name |
| Last Name | User's last name |
In OTP and Link flow email address is verified |
|
| Company | Typically used in corporate environments |
| Phone | In OTP flow phone number is verified via SMS |
| Address | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported |
| Announcement | A field on top of the portal for relevant announcements |
| Image Ad | An image used for advertisement |
| Video Ad | A video used for advertisement |
| Terms of Service | Detailed terms of service to which user must agree |
| Marketing otp-in | Checkbox for marketing consent |
| Password | User must enter password to proceed |
The placeholders for each field can be changed in the Placeholders section of the template.
Flow
There are 4 types of user authorization flows that are currently supported:
- Simple
- OTP
- Link
- Payment (beta)
Simple Flow
In Simple Flow the user enters their email and mobile number data but does not have to go through OTP based verification.
Here is an example of Simple flow:
OTP Flow
In OTP Flow the user has to verify their data using an OTP (One Time Password). You can setup either email verification or mobile number verification.
Here is an example of OTP flow:
Note: You need to enter SMTP parameters for email verification, and API credentials of your SMS provider - such as Twilio - for SMS verification, in Global Settings.
Link Flow
In Link Flow the user has to verify their email address by clicking on a verification link. The user is given internet access briefly, typically for 5 min, so they can access their email for completing verification. If they don't verify their email address during that time, they will be unauthorized from the network. If they do verify their email address, their session will be extended - whether the extension will be applied dynamically on existing session or will apply the next time they connect depends on the hardware type. For details refer to the compatibility matrix below - in comments it's mentioned whether dynamic session extension is supported or not.
Here is an example of Link flow:
Note: You need to enter SMTP parameters for email verification in Global Settings.
Email Based OTP Verification Caveat
Our recommended flow for email verification is Link flow.
Implementing email based OTP verification is not recommended. A user in captive state does not have complete internet access, so they will not be able to check their email on the same device. Either they would need another device to check their email, or they would need to have cellular internet on the same device to receive email via that. Additionally, on iOS devices the Captive Network Assistant (CNA) launches a browser that does not allow switching to another window. If you switch to a different window for checking email the browser will close, thus leaving the verification process incomplete.
Payment Flow
In Payment Flow the user makes payment to get internet access. It's possible to set up different payment plans such as daily/weekly/month and have different bandwidth rate-limits per plan, such as 10 Mbps upload/download, or 5 Mbps upload and 20 Mbps download, etc.
Here is an example of Payment flow using Stripe as the payment gateway:
Note: You need to enter Stripe API keys in Global Settings and create payment plans in Plans section. Moreover, you will need to add walled garden entries to your device.
Hardware and Template Flow Compatibility Matrix
The following compatibility matrix shows valid combinations of hardware and flow types along with comments:
| Hardware/Flow | Simple | OTP | Link | Payment | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aruba Instant On | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Cambium | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Cisco | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Coova Chilli | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Draytek | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Fortinet | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Huawei | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Mikrotik | |||||
| Mikrotik with RADIUS | Link Flow dynamic session extension supported with RADIUS CoA | ||||
| Open Mesh | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| OpenNDS | |||||
| TP-Link Omada | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Ruckus One | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Ruckus SmartZone | Link Flow dynamic session extension not supported | ||||
| Ruijie | Link Flow dynamic session extension support | ||||
| Ubiquiti Unifi | Link Flow 24-hr session extension supported |
Preview Template
You can click on the preview changes button on the top right to view a full screen preview for mobile, tablet and desktop in portrait and landscape orientation.
In the full screen preview you can use the buttons on the top to toggle between mobile, tablet and desktop view and switch orientation between portrait and landscape. This lets you visualize the captive portal as users will see it.
Appearance
The following additional options are available to control the appearance of the portal:
Design: 2 designs are currently available
Background: background image for desktop and tablet
Background mobile: background image for mobile
Footer: A footer to add company branding, links, or credits