Partner portal: sign out and switch accounts

Today

The rail ends with Notifications and the partner's name, which opens Settings. The only way to sign out is a button in Settings, under Security.

Partner dashboard for Brightwater Advisory. The rail ends with Notifications and the partner's name, with no sign out. — The rail: no sign out, the name links to Settings.

Settings, Security tab, with a Sign out button next to the current session. — Settings, then Security: the only Sign out.

Pop-up menu

The name in the rail becomes a button that opens a small menu with Settings and Sign out. Client accounts appear at the top only when the login has them.

Desktop: a small menu above the partner's name with Settings and Sign out. — Partner only Brightwater Advisory

Desktop: the menu lists John's partner account as current, then Kitewing Media Ltd and Saltmarsh Creative Ltd, then Settings and Sign out. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Works well

Familiar: it mirrors the account menu in the client app.
Switching to a client happens in place, with no extra page.

Costs

Settings goes from one click to two.
Needs a small Stimulus menu with full keyboard handling.

Keyboard

All 10 checks pass on desktop and all 8 on phone: Enter, arrows, Home and End, Escape, focus back on the button, outside click, and it closes Notifications.

Unfold

The same choices unfold inside the rail, under the name. Nothing floats over the page, and on phones it unfolds inside the burger menu.

Phone: in the burger menu, the name unfolds into Settings and Sign out. — Partner only Brightwater Advisory

Desktop: the rail unfolds a Switch to list with the two clients, then Settings and Sign out. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Phone: the burger menu unfolds the same list under John's name. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Works well

Stays inside the rail, so nothing covers the page.
On phones it sits with the rest of the navigation.

Costs

Settings goes from one click to two.
It pushes the rail up, and a longer list of clients crowds it.

Keyboard

All 5 checks pass on desktop and phone: Enter unfolds it, Tab moves into the links, and Escape folds it back with focus on the button.

Account tray

The name opens a panel that slides out from behind the rail, like Notifications, with every settings page, who you're signed in as, and Sign out. On phones it fills the screen.

Desktop: a white tray beside the rail with the four settings pages and a Sign out button at the bottom. — Partner only Brightwater Advisory

Phone: a full-screen account sheet with the settings pages and Sign out. — Partner only Brightwater Advisory

Desktop: the tray adds a Switch account list with the two clients above the settings pages. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Phone: the account sheet with the two clients, the settings pages and Sign out. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Works well

Room for everything, and it reuses the Notifications tray pattern.
Says clearly who you're signed in as.

Costs

The most to build, and it repeats the Settings tabs.
A whole panel just to reach Sign out.

Keyboard

All 8 checks pass on desktop and all 5 on phone: focus moves into the tray, Escape and outside clicks close it, and focus returns.

No menu Recommended

Sign out sits at the foot of the rail, one click away, and the name keeps opening Settings. Switch account appears only for logins that hold other accounts, and opens the account picker.

Desktop: the rail foot shows Notifications, the partner's name with Settings under it, and Sign out. — Partner only Brightwater Advisory

Phone: the burger menu ends with the partner's name and Sign out. — Partner only Brightwater Advisory

Desktop: the rail foot adds Switch account, with a count of 3, above Sign out. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Phone: the burger menu ends with John's name, Switch account and Sign out. — Also acts for two clients John Smith

Works well

One click to sign out, and Settings stays one click away.
A link and a button: no custom JavaScript, the cheapest to build and test.
Partner-only logins see nothing new apart from Sign out.

Costs

Switching goes through the account picker, one extra page.
Adds one or two rows to the foot of the rail.

Keyboard

Settings is a link and Sign out a button, both in the normal Tab order, so there is no focus to manage.

Side by side

	A Pop-up menu	B Unfold	C Account tray	D No menu
Sign out	2 clicks	2 clicks	2 clicks	1 click
Settings	2 clicks (1 today)	2 clicks	2 clicks	1 click, as today
Switch to a client	2 clicks	2 clicks	2 clicks	2 clicks, via the picker page
On phones	Avatar menu in the top bar	Unfolds in the burger menu	Full-screen account sheet	Rows in the burger menu
To build	Stimulus menu with keyboard handling	Stimulus disclosure	Tray, focus handling, settings links	A Sign out button, plus a Switch account link when needed

/// Recommendation

D now, A if switching becomes common

Every partner today has only the portal, so the job is a visible Sign out that costs them nothing else. D does that with almost no new UI: a Sign out button for everyone, and a Switch account link only when the login holds other accounts. Settings stays exactly where it is.

For a partner who also acts for clients, Switch account opens the account picker. PR #5717 relabels the picker so each row names its client instead of repeating the person's name.

If partners with client access become common, A is the natural next step: the same spot in the rail, and switching without the extra page.

Where Switch account leads

The account picker, for John's login. Today every row reads John Smith. With PR #5717, each row names the client it acts for, and his partner account is no longer filed as pending.

The account picker today: three rows that all read John Smith, one under Pending accounts. — Today

The account picker with PR #5717: John Smith, Kitewing Media Ltd and Saltmarsh Creative Ltd. — With PR #5717

Open questions

Sign out or Log out? The portal and its sign-in page say Sign out, while the client app's menu says Logout. Worth settling on one for both.
Does Switch account need the count? It includes the account you're in, so John sees 3 when he has two other accounts.
Is the picker detour fine for partners with client access, or would you rather go straight to A?