GridSpots gives members direct control over their profile, promotions, partner outreach, customer lists, campaign analytics, and account management — all from a single, secure User Dashboard page.
Registration
Members register with their email address, first name, last name, business name, and website. You will also select a category the email campaign will be associated with. Then to continue with your account setup, you will receive an email to set up your user password. Once your password is set up, you will automatically be logged in to your User Dashboard page to complete your account profile. After your account profile is complete, all the tools will be available for a successful collaborative email marketing campaign.
The following is a brief summary of the features of the User Dashboard page and the order in which they appear:
Quick-Reference Summary
Every major capability at a glance in the order in which they appear on the User Dashboard page:
- Account & Profile: View, edit, and manage all personal and business information including password changes and tier upgrades.
- Business Search: Find local partner candidates with a quota-managed search tool that caches results to protect your allowance.
- Partner Outreach: Send templated or custom emails to potential partners with open/click tracking, daily limits, and history filtering.
- Outreach History & Tracking: Monitor potential partner email engagement and manage your outreach records.
- Promotion Builder: Create, edit, preview, and delete promotions with a live preview or long-form builder — state is remembered across sessions.
- Admin Edit Service: Request post-Ready promotion changes through a secure 3-step in-page payment workflow.
- Customer List Management: Upload and manage contact lists for campaign distribution, with group-level visibility and batch processing.
- Campaign Analytics: Full post-publish analytics including traffic sources, device breakdown, daily trends, and per-promotion stats.
- Account Reactivation: Guided self-service or admin-assisted reactivation for Inactive or Pending accounts with in-page Stripe payment.
- Group Notices: Real-time banners for wait-window countdowns and group-closed alerts during profile edits.
- Security: Session authentication, nonce protection, admin impersonation detection, and profile-completeness gating on every feature.
Account & Profile Management
Member Profile Card
See your Member ID, email, password, business name, status, registration date and more in one clean view.
Edit Profile Modal
Update email, phone, address, city, state, zip, website, and business category through a guided pop-up form — no page reload required.
Category & Location Fields
Locked automatically when your group has active promotions, preventing accidental group reassignment mid-campaign.
Tier Level Selection
Upgrade your membership tier (0 – 3) directly from the profile form; selecting a paid tier redirects you seamlessly to the payment page.
Change Password Modal
Securely change your password with current-password verification and an 8-character minimum — right from your user dashboard.
Group Assignment Display
See which group you are assigned to, your group name, and the number of members currently in that group.
Last Login & Login Count
Track your own login history displayed in your local browser timezone for accuracy.
Campaign Receipt Link
Members on Tier 1–3 can view their campaign payment receipt directly from the Tier Level row.
Business Search Tool
Discover local non-competing businesses within your own zip-code that share your target audience — find ideal candidates for GridSpots partnerships and send them invitations to participate in your group campaign.
Integrated Business Search
Access the full Business Search Tool directly inside your User Dashboard — no separate page to navigate to.
Integrated AI Business Suggestion
Click a button to get a list of other business types in your zip code that compliment yours.
Monthly Search Quota Display
See a live dashboard showing Searches Used, Remaining, and Monthly Limit with a color-coded progress bar (green → yellow → red).
Per-Group Quota Calculation
Your quota is calculated fairly based on the number of groups in the system and the members in your group, keeping the tool equitable for everyone.
Low Quota Alerts
When you have 5 or fewer searches remaining, a yellow warning banner appears. When the quota is exhausted, a red notice explains when it resets.
Cached Search Results
Repeated identical searches are served from a 1-hour cache, so they do not count against your monthly quota.
Session State Toggle
The Business Search section remembers whether it was open or closed when you left, and restores that state on your next visit.
Partner Outreach
The Partner Outreach section lets you invite other local businesses to join GridSpots — expanding your group and multiplying everyone’s marketing reach.
Outreach Email Composer
Write and send personalized outreach emails to potential partners from inside your User Dashboard — no external email client needed.
Template Library
Choose from pre-written default templates or create and save your own custom templates for faster, more consistent outreach.
Save / Update / Delete Templates
Build a personal library of outreach messages. Update existing templates or remove ones you no longer need.
Reset to Defaults
Clear all your custom templates and restore the original default templates in one step.
Manage Templates Modal
View all your custom and default templates side-by-side, with subject previews and message snippets, so you can curate your library easily.
Smart Variable Placeholders
Use {recipient_name}, {sender_business_name}, {sender_phone}, and more. Variables are replaced with real values automatically when the email is sent.
Email Preview
Preview the fully-rendered email — with variables replaced — in a pop-up before hitting Send, so you catch any mistakes first.
Daily Send Limit Display
See exactly how many emails you have left today (e.g., 7 / 10) and get a clear warning when the limit is reached.
Autofill Protection
The subject line is locked against browser autofill overwriting it with an email address — a common UX frustration that is solved automatically.
Unsubscribe Compliance
Every outreach email automatically includes a compliant unsubscribe link. All recipients on the global unsubscribe list are blocked before sending.
Outreach History & Tracking
Every sent email is logged so you can monitor engagement and manage your outreach records.
Sent Email History Table
See a sortable history of all outreach emails: date, recipient, subject, status, opened status, and clicked status — up to 50 records.
Email Open Tracking
A 1×1 tracking pixel records when a recipient opens your email, giving you visibility into engagement without any technical setup.
Link Click Tracking
All links in your outreach emails are wrapped with a click-tracker so you know if recipients followed up by visiting your site or GridSpots.
Date Range Filter
Filter your outreach history by custom From and To dates to focus on a specific campaign window or time period.
Delete Records
Remove individual outreach history entries with a single click and confirmation. The row fades out instantly without a page reload.
Tracking Accuracy Notice
An info link in the history section explains why open and click data may be conservative — building trust and setting realistic expectations.
Privacy Note: Email tracking accuracy varies based on the recipient’s email client privacy settings, image-blocking preferences, VPN use, and corporate firewalls. GridSpots presents tracking results as engagement indicators, not absolute counts.
Promotion Builder
Create, edit, preview, and manage your promotion — all from the Promotion Information section on your User Dashboard page.
Create Promotion
Launch the full promotion builder with a single click. The form loads via AJAX without leaving the dashboard.
Edit Promotion
Re-open your saved promotion in edit mode to make changes. The system remembers whether your last save was in Live Preview & Tabs mode or Long Form mode.
Live Preview & Tabs / Long Form Toggle
Switch between a visual live-preview tabbed form builder that displays your promotion as you type or a traditional long-form editor. Your last-used mode is automatically restored the next time you open the form.
Promotion Status Badge
See your promotion’s current status (Draft, Ready, Build, Published) at a glance in the promotions table.
View Promotion Preview
Open a full-page preview of your promotion in a new browser window before it goes live — no guesswork about how it will look.
Delete Promotion
Remove a non-published promotion with a single click and confirmation dialog. Published promotions are protected from accidental deletion.
View Published Promotion
When your promotion is live, a direct link to the published group campaign page appears in the Promotion Information Actions column.
Session State Persistence
Your User Dashboard page remembers whether your promotion form was open, and which mode you were in, so it restores your workspace after a page refresh.
Admin Edit Service — Ready-Status Editing
When your promotion is in Ready status, you can choose to use our Admin Edit Service. This service is a protected 3-step in-dashboard workflow that lets you request significant changes through the admin team.
3-Step Modal Wizard
Walk through a clear Explanation → Change Details → Review & Pay flow so you always know exactly what you are requesting and what it costs before paying.
Selectable Change Types
Check the specific changes needed: Desktop Image, Mobile Image, Preset Image, Format Change, or Minor Edit Limit overage. Checkboxes auto-populate your notes field.
Image Upload Guidance
When an image change is selected, step-by-step instructions appear inside the modal explaining how to provide the new image via your Custom Image Library.
Admin Notes Field
Describe your changes in detail so the admin team can apply them exactly as requested — no back-and-forth emails needed.
In-Page Stripe Payment
Pay the Admin Edit Service fee securely with your credit card directly inside the modal. You never leave your User Dashboard page.
Instant Confirmation
A thank-you step inside the modal confirms your payment, pauses the Ready status, and tells you the turnaround time — all without a page reload.
Form Reloads After Payment
After confirming, the promotion form reloads automatically and scrolls to the monitor box so you can see the ‘edit in progress’ notice immediately.
Customer List Management
Upload, manage, and use your existing customer contact lists for targeted email campaign delivery. Your list is never shared with any of your GridSpots campaign partners or anyone else.
Customer List Upload
Upload your customer list directly from your User Dashboard page so GridSpots can include your contacts in the campaign distribution.
Tabbed Customer List View
View and manage your contact list and view the overall size of your group’s shared list in a clean tabbed interface — your data and group data are neatly separated.
Group-Level Visibility
See the combined reach of all members’ lists within your group, giving you a clear picture of the total campaign audience. Personal contact data and partnership data is never shared between partners.
Session State Toggle
The Customer List section remembers its open/closed state across page loads so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
Campaign Batch Handler
A background batch processor ensures large customer lists are handled efficiently without timeout errors.
Notification System
Automated notifications alert you to important customer list events, such as upload confirmations or processing completions.
Campaign Analytics
Once your promotion is published and the group campaign has started, detailed analytics will become available so you can track your campaign performance.
Summary Stat Cards
Four at-a-glance sections show Total Page Views, Unique Visitors, Average Time on Page, and Bounce Rate for your selected date range.
Custom Date Range Selector
Filter all analytics data by any From / To date range so you can compare periods, measure a specific campaign window, or review total campaign results.
Per-Promotion Performance Panel
See analytics broken down by each individual promotion within your group — your own promotion is highlighted for quick identification.
Traffic by Source Chart
A pie/bar chart shows where your visitors are coming from (direct, search, referral, social) so you can double down on what’s working.
Traffic by Device Chart
Understand your audience’s device mix (desktop, tablet, mobile) to inform future creative decisions.
Daily Traffic Trend Chart
A day-by-day line chart reveals peaks and valleys in traffic so you can identify what drives spikes and plan accordingly.
Daily Breakdown Table
A detailed table lists every day’s page views, unique visitors, average time, bounce rate, traffic source, device type, and peak hour.
Published Campaign URL Link
A direct clickable link to your live group campaign page is displayed in the analytics header for quick reference.
Analytics Locked Until Published
The section shows a friendly notice rather than empty data if your promotion is not yet published, preventing confusion.
Account Status Reactivation & Management
If a member’s account becomes Inactive or Pending, email notifications are sent and the User Dashboard guides them through a clear reactivation process before they can access any other features. Additional features include:
Penalty Modal Overlay
A full-screen modal explains exactly why the account is restricted and what options are available — preventing confusion about why the dashboard is locked.
Status-Specific Messaging
Inactive members see a different explanation and pricing than Pending members, so the message is always accurate and relevant.
Deadline Countdown
The modal clearly shows how many days remain before the status escalates (Inactive → Pending → Suspended), creating urgency without panic. This helps to avoid stalled or unsuccessful group campaigns.
Re-Activation Fee Option
Pay a straightforward reactivation fee, return to Active status, and update your own promotion — the lower-cost self-service path.
Admin Full Service Option (Recommended)
Pay a higher fee and the admin team handles everything: account restoration, group placement, promotion update, and status change. You just wait for the confirmation email.
Admin Full Service Instructions Field
When choosing Admin Full Service, a required notes textarea lets you describe exactly what you need, ensuring the admin team has all the information before starting work.
In-Modal Logout
A discreet ‘Log out instead’ link allows members who are not ready to pay to safely exit without being trapped in the modal.
Group Status Notices
The User Dashboard proactively communicates important group-level events so members are never caught off-guard.
Wait-Window Notice Banner
When your group has reached the minimum size but is still waiting for one more member to fill the final spot, a yellow info banner appears at the top of the dashboard with a countdown to the expiry date.
Group Closed Warning (Profile Edit)
If you change your Category, City, or Zip (not recommended) to a group that is already full or published, a pop-up modal explains the situation and shows you which group you will be automatically assigned to instead — before you save.
Security & Session Management
Every action in the User Dashboard is protected by nonces, session verification, and role-based access checks.
Session-Based Authentication
The User Dashboard verifies your session on every page load and every AJAX call — unauthorized access is blocked at every layer.
Nonce Verification
Every form submission and AJAX request includes a unique security token (nonce) that expires, preventing CSRF attacks.
Profile Completeness Gate
Business Search and Partner Outreach are hidden behind a profile-complete check — you cannot access these tools until your profile has all required fields, ensuring data quality.
Secure Password Change
Password updates require the current password, a minimum of 8 characters, and a confirmation match — all validated server-side.
Output Buffer Management
PHP output buffering is managed carefully to prevent headers-already-sent errors and ensure the User Dashboard renders cleanly in all environments.
Built for GridSpots Members: Every feature in the User Dashboard is designed to give GridSpots members independence, transparency, and confidence. Group members can manage their entire campaign lifecycle — from profile setup through promotion building, partner outreach, and analytics review — without ever needing to contact support for routine tasks.