Portal Guide

CHAPTER 18

Administering the Portal

This chapter explains how portal administrators can use the Portal Administration tool (PortalPageAdmin portlet) to manage the portal environment. It covers the following topics:

NOTE: This chapter does not cover the Portal Management and Portlet Management sections of the Director Administration Console (DAC).

For more information For details on the Portal Management section of the DAC, see Using the Portal Management Section of the DAC. For details on the Portlet Management section of the DAC, see Using the Portlet Management Section of the DAC.

About the portal administrator ACL

A user who acts as the portal administrator is responsible for configuring, managing, and maintaining the portal environment for an organization. In exteNd Director, the user designated to be the portal administrator must be assigned to the PortalAdmin ACL.

An administrator assigns users to administrative groups and permissions in the Director Administration Console (DAC), as described in Using the Security Management Section of the PAC.

Portal administrator tasks

In exteNd Director, portal administrators can perform the following tasks:

Task	Tool	For more information, see...
Create and maintain container pages to establish a corporate look and feel for the portal	Portal Administration (PortalPageAdmin portlet)	Creating and maintaining container pages
Create and maintain shared pages to manage the distribution of common information to users and groups logged in to the portal	Portal Administration (PortalPageAdmin portlet)	Creating and maintaining shared pages
Assign pages to users and groups	Portal Administration (PortalPageAdmin portlet)	Assigning pages to users and groups
Assign owners to shared pages	Portal Administration (PortalPageAdmin portlet)	Assigning pages to users and groups
Assign a default shared page to a container page	Portal Administration (PortalPageAdmin portlet)	Choosing a default shared page for a container page
Assign categories to pages to restrict the flow of information within ACL groups	Portal Administrator portlet	Working with Page Categories
Managing portlets	Portlet Management section of the DAC	Using the Portlet Management Section of the DAC
Managing the portal	Portal Management section of the DAC	Using the Portal Management Section of the DAC

About the Portal Administration tool

As its name suggests, the Portal Administration tool is designed for portal administrators. It provides utilities for:

Creating container pages, and assigning them to users and groups
Creating shared pages, and assigning them to users and groups
Assigning ownership of shared pages

Who can use the Portal Administration tool

You can use the Portal Administration tool if you meet EITHER of these requirements:

Requirement	Description	What you can do in the Portal Administration tool
You are a portal administrator	You belong to the PortalAdmin administrative group with PROTECT permission	Use all functions
You own one or more shared pages	A portal administrator assigned you OWNERSHIP permission for one or more shared pages	Modify content and layout of the shared pages that you own Assign other users VIEW and OWNERSHIP permission for the shared pages that you own

Starting the Portal Administrator

You can start the Portal Administration tool directly in your browser or from the default portal page. This section describes each method.

Procedure To start the Portal Administration tool from your browser:

Make sure your server is running.
Enter this URL in your browser:
```
  http://server/project context/portal/portlet/PortalPageAdmin
```
For example, if your server is localhost and your project is MyWAR, you would enter this URL:
```
  http://localhost/MyWAR/portal/portlet/PortalPageAdmin
```
The exteNd Director Login portlet opens in your browser and prompts you to log in to the portal:
Enter your user name and password, then click Login.

The Portal Administration tool opens in your browser:

Procedure To start the Portal Administration tool from the default portal page:

Enter this URL in your browser:
```
  http://server/project context/portal/cn/DefaultContainerPage
```
For example, if your server is localhost and your project is MyWAR, you would enter this URL:
```
  http://localhost/MyWAR/portal/cn/DefaultContainerPage
```
The exteNd Director Login portlet opens in your browser and prompts you to log in to the portal:
Enter your user name and password, then click Login or the Enter key.

The default portal page opens in your browser:
Click Portal Administration, a link on the upper right side of the page:

The Portal Administration tool opens in a new browser window:

Creating and maintaining container pages

Only portal administrators can create and maintain container pages. The process involves the following steps:

Create a new container page or select an existing container page using the Portal Administration tool, as described in Creating container pages.
Add content—in the form of portlets—to the page using the Portlet Selector portlet, as described in Adding content to a container page. You may also want to delete content from the container page, as described in Deleting content from a container page.
Choose a portal layout, as described in Modifying the layout of a container page.
Arrange the order and position of content on the selected layout using the Layout Selector portlet, as described in Arranging content on the container page.
Display the new page right away by entering the container page URL in your browser, as described inDisplaying a container page.

Container pages are not tightly bound to portal layouts. That means portal administrators can switch layouts for their container pages without losing any page contents. When the portal administrator applies a new layout to a container page, any portlets that have been added to the page are automatically displayed using the new layout. You may need to fine-tune the content placement in the new layout.

Creating container pages

Portal administrators can create container pages from scratch or by copying existing pages. This section describes both procedures.

Procedure To create a container page from scratch:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select New Page at the bottom of the page:

An untitled, uncategorized container page is created.
Enter a name for the new container page in the Page Name field.

Enter other optional page properties as needed:

Property	What to specify
Description	Enter text that describes the page.
Default Shared Page	See Choosing a default shared page for a container page.
Categories	See Working with Page Categories.

Select Update Page.

Procedure To create a container page by copying an existing page:

Search for and select the page you want to copy in the list of container pages.
Select Copy Page at the bottom of the page.

A new container page is created with the name Copy of Original Page Name.
Enter a name for the new container page in the Page Name field.

Enter other optional page properties as needed:

Property	What to specify
Description	Enter text that describes the page.
Default Shared Page	See Choosing a default shared page for a container page.
Categories	See Working with Page Categories.

Select Update Page.

Adding content to a container page

After creating a container page, the next step is to add content by selecting portlets to place on the page. To add content to a new or existing container page, you access the Content Selector portlet from the Portal Administration tool. You select from a list that includes prebuilt portlets supplied with exteNd Director along with any custom portlets you have created and registered.

Procedure To add content to a container page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page from the Container Pages list and click Choose Content.

The Content Selector opens in a new browser window.
If you want to display a specific category of available content, choose a category from the Filter dropdown menu.
Select one or more portlets from the list of Available Content.

TIP: Hold down the Control key to select multiple non-contiguous portlets from the list; use the Shift key to make multiple contiguous selections.
Click Add to move your choices to the list of Selected Content.

NOTE: You can edit the preferences of one or more portlets that you have selected to be added to your container page. The preference values you specify take effect for the instance of the portlet that appears on your page.
Click Close.

Now that you have chosen the content for your container page, you can select a new layout as described in Modifying the layout of a container page, or arrange the content on the current layout as described in Arranging content on the container page.

Deleting content from a container page

In the process of creating container pages, you may want to delete content by removing portlets from a page. You can use the Content Selector or Layout Selector, as described in the following procedures.

Procedure To delete content from a container page using the Content Selector:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select the page of interest from the Container Pages list and click Choose Content.

The Content Selector opens in a new browser window.
Select the portlet you want to delete from the Selected Content list and click Remove.

The portlet is removed from the page.

Procedure To delete content from a container page using the Layout Selector:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select the page of interest from the Container Pages list and click Arrange Content.

The Layout Selector opens in a new browser window, displaying the portlets you have added to your page, as in this example:
Click the X in the upper right hand corner of the portlet you want to remove:

A message window appears, asking you to confirm your requested action.
Click OK to dismiss the window.

The portlet is removed from the page.

Modifying the layout of a container page

When you modify the layout of a container page, the Portal Aggregator shifts existing content to accommodate the new layout. Although the Portal Aggregator makes its best guess on content placement, you may need to fine tune the end result.

Procedure To modify the layout of a container page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page from the Container Pages list and click Choose Layout.

A layout selection page opens in a new browser window.
Scroll through the choices and select the layout of interest.
Click Select Layout.

Arranging content on the container page

After you have designated the content and layout for your container page, you can position the content in the selected layout, add other portlets in specific locations, or delete portlets.

Procedure To arrange content on a container page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page from the Container Pages list and click Arrange Content.

The Layout Selector portlet appears in a new browser window.

The portlets that you have already added appear in the page layout. By default, portlets are added in left-to-right, top-to-bottom order.
If you want to add a portlet to the page, follow these steps:
1. Click Add a Portlet in the desired layout frame.
  
  The Portlet Selector opens in a new browser window.
2. If you want to display a specific category of available content, choose a category from the Filter dropdown menu.
3. Double click the portlet of interest from the list of Available Content.
  
  The Portlet Selector window closes and the portlet you selected appears in the target layout frame in the Layout Selector window.

If you want to move a portlet to a different location in the layout, follow these browser-specific steps:

For:	Do this:
Internet Explorer	Move your cursor over the title bar of the portlet until the cursor changes to a hand shape. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the portlet to the desired location in the layout.
Netscape	Click on the portlet you want to move. Click inside the destination layout frame. The portlet moves to the destination.

If you want to remove a portlet from the layout, follow these steps:
1. Click the X in the upper right hand corner of the portlet:
  
  A message box appears, asking you to confirm the deletion.
2. Click OK.
  
  The portlet is removed from the layout.
If you want to edit the preferences of a portlet, follow these steps:
1. Click the pencil icon in the upper right-hand corner of the portlet:
  
  The Portlet Preferences tool opens in your browser.
2. Specify your preferences. The preference values you specify take effect for the instance of the portlet that appears on your page.
Click Save Layout to record your changes and close the Layout Selector.

Displaying a container page

You can display your page by entering the container page URL in your browser.

Procedure To display a container page:

Enter the following URL in your browser:
```
  http://server/project context/portal/cn/container page name
```
For example, if your server is localhost and your project context is MyWAR, you can access a container page called DefaultContainerPage by entering this URL in your browser:
```
  http://localhost/MyWAR/portal/cn/DefaultContainerPage
```

Creating and maintaining shared pages

Two types of users can work with shared pages:

Portal administrators can create and maintain all shared pages, and assign ownership of specific shared pages to other users.
Shared page owners—whether portal administrators or not—can modify the content and layout of shared pages that they own.

The process of creating and maintaining shared pages involves the following steps:

Create a new shared page or select an existing shared page using the Portal Administration tool, as described in Creating shared pages.
Add content—in the form of portlets—to the page using the Portlet Selector portlet, as described in Adding content to a shared page. You may also want to delete content from the shared page, as described in Deleting content from a shared page.
Choose a portal layout, as described in Deleting content from a shared page.
Arrange the order and position of content on the selected layout using the Layout Selector portlet, as described in Arranging content on the shared page.
Display the new page right away by entering the shared page URL in your browser, as described in Displaying a shared page.

Shared pages are not tightly bound to portal layouts. That means portal administrators and shared page owners can switch layouts for their shared pages without losing any page contents. When a new layout is applied, any portlets that have been added to the page are automatically displayed using the new layout. You may need to fine-tune the content placement in the new layout.

Creating shared pages

Portal administrators can create shared pages from scratch or by copying existing pages. This section describes both procedures.

Procedure To create a shared page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.

The shared page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select New Page at the bottom of the page:

An untitled, uncategorized shared page is created.
Enter a name for the new shared page in the Page Name field.

Enter other optional page properties as needed:

Property	What to specify
Description	Enter text that describes the page.
Parent Page	See Shared page hierarchies.
Categories	See Working with Page Categories.

Select Update Page.

Procedure To create a shared page by copying an existing page:

Search for and select the page you want to copy in the list of shared pages.
Select Copy Page at the bottom of the page.

A new shared page is created with the name Copy of Original Page Name.
Enter a name for the new shared page in the Page Name field.

Enter other optional page properties as needed:

Property	What to specify
Description	Enter text that describes the page.
Parent Page	See Shared page hierarchies.
Categories	See Working with Page Categories.

Select Update Page.

Adding content to a shared page

After creating a shared page, the next step is to add content by selecting portlets to place on the page. To add content to a new or existing shared page, you access the Portlet Selector portlet from the Portal Administration tool. You select from a list that includes prebuilt portlets supplied with exteNd Director along with any custom portlets you have created and registered.

Procedure To add content to a shared page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.

The container page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page from the Shared Pages list and click Choose Content.

The Content Selector opens in a new browser window.
If you want to display a specific category of available content, choose a category from the Filter dropdown menu.
Select one or more portlets from the list of Available Content.

TIP: Hold down the Control key to select multiple non-contiguous portlets from the list; use the Shift key to make multiple contiguous selections.
Click Add to move your choices to the list of Selected Content.

NOTE: You can edit the preferences of one or more portlets that you have selected to be added to your shared page. The preference values you specify take effect for the instance of the portlet that appears on your page.
Click Close.

Now that you have chosen the content for your shared page, you can select a new layout as described in Deleting content from a shared page, or arrange the content on the current layout as described in Arranging content on the shared page.

Deleting content from a shared page

In the process of creating shared pages, you may want to delete content by removing portlets from a page. You can use the Content Selector or Layout Selector, as described in the following procedures.

Procedure To delete content from a shared page using the Content Selector:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.

The shared page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select the page of interest from the Shared Pages list and click Choose Content.

The Content Selector opens in a new browser window.
Select the portlet you want to delete from the Selected Content list and click Remove.

The portlet is removed from the page.

Procedure To delete content from a shared page using the Layout Selector:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.

The shared page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select the page of interest from the Shared Pages list and click Arrange Content.

The Layout Selector opens in a new browser window, displaying the portlets you have added to your page, as in this example:
Click the X in the upper right hand corner of the portlet you want to remove.

A message window appears, asking you to confirm your requested action.
Click OK to dismiss the window.

The portlet is removed from the page.

Modifying the layout of a shared page

When you modify the layout of a shared page, the Portal Aggregator shifts existing content to accommodate the new layout. Although the Portal Aggregator makes its best guess on content placement, you may need to fine tune the end result.

Procedure To modify the layout of a shared page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.

The shared page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page from the Shared Pages list and click Choose Layout.

A layout selection page opens in a new browser window.
Scroll through the choices and select the layout of interest.
Click Select Layout.

Arranging content on the shared page

After you have designated the content and layout for your shared page, you can position the content in the selected layout, add other portlets in specific locations, or delete portlets.

Procedure To arrange content on a shared page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.

The shared page section of the Portal Administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page from the Shared Pages list and click Arrange Content.

The Layout Selector appears in a new browser window.

The portlets that you have already added appear in the page layout. By default, portlets are added in left-to-right, top-to-bottom order.
If you want to add a portlet to the page, follow these steps:
1. Click Add a Portlet in the desired layout frame.
  
  The Portlet Selector opens in a new browser window.
2. If you want to display a specific category of available portlets, choose a category from the Filter dropdown menu.
3. Double click the portlet of interest from the list of Available Content.
  
  The Portlet Selector window closes and the portlet you selected appears in the target layout frame in the Layout Selector window.

If you want to move a portlet to a different location in the layout, follow these browser-specific steps:

For:	Do this:
Internet Explorer	Move your cursor over the title bar of the portlet until the cursor changes to a hand shape. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the portlet to the desired location in the layout.
Netscape	Click on the portlet you want to move. Click inside the destination layout frame. The portlet moves to the destination.

If you want to remove a portlet from the layout, follow these steps:
1. Click the X in the upper right hand corner of the portlet:
  
  A message box appears, asking you to confirm the deletion.
2. Click OK.
  
  The portlet is removed from the layout.
If you want to edit the preferences of a portlet, follow these steps:
1. Click the pencil icon in the upper right-hand corner of the portlet:
  
  The Portlet Preferences tool opens in your browser.
2. Specify your preferences. The preference values you specify take effect for the instance of the portlet that appears on your page.
Click Save Layout to record your changes and close the Layout Selector.

Displaying a shared page

You can display your page by entering the shared page URL in your browser.

Procedure To display a shared page:

Enter the following URL in your browser:
```
  http://server/project context/portal/pg/shared page name
```
For example, if your server is localhost and your project context is MyWAR, you can access a container page called MySharedPage by entering this URL in your browser:
```
  http://localhost/MyWAR/portal/pg/MySharedPage
```

Assigning pages to users and groups

By default, only portal administrators and locksmith users have permission to create, access, and modify container and shared pages. However, portal administrators can assign permission to other users and groups to work with specific container and shared pages. Two security levels of permission can be assigned:

Permission	Description	Can be assigned for
VIEW	Allows a user or group to access the page and see it in a list of available pages. Equivalent to READ plus LIST permissions.	Container and shared pages
OWNERSHIP	Allows a user or group to modify the content and layout of the page, and to assign VIEW and OWNERSHIP permission to other users and groups. Equivalent to WRITE plus PROTECT permissions.	Shared pages

Permission

Description

Can be assigned for

VIEW

Allows a user or group to access the page and see it in a list of available pages.

Equivalent to READ plus LIST permissions.

Container and shared pages

OWNERSHIP

Allows a user or group to modify the content and layout of the page, and to assign VIEW and OWNERSHIP permission to other users and groups.

Equivalent to WRITE plus PROTECT permissions.

Shared pages

Assigning page VIEW permission

When you assign users VIEW permission for a container or shared page, they can access the page and see it in a list of available pages.

Procedure To assign VIEW permission for container or shared pages:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages or Maintain Shared Pages.
Search for and select the container or shared page you want to assign.
Click Assign Users.

The Page Permissions page opens in a new browser window.
Select the View tab if it isn't already selected.
Enter the following information:

Field

What to specify

Search for

Select Users or Groups from the dropdown menu.

Starts with

Enter an optional text string to narrow the search results.
Click Go.

The results of your search appear in the Results panel.
Select the users or groups you want to assign to the page and click the Add button:

TIP: Hold down the Control key to make multiple selections.

Field	What to specify
Search for	Select Users or Groups from the dropdown menu.
Starts with	Enter an optional text string to narrow the search results.

Enable or disable page lock-down as follows:

To:	Do this:
Lock down the page so only the portal administrator can view it	Check View Permission Set to Admin Only
Allow all assigned users and groups to view the page	Uncheck View Permission Set to Admin Only

Click Save, then Close.

Assigning shared page owners

Users who own shared pages can modify the content of the pages they own and change the preferences of portlets on the page.

Procedure To assign OWNERSHIP permission for shared pages:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Shared Pages.
Search for and select the shared page you want to assign.
Click Assign Users.

The Page Permissions page opens in a new browser window.
Select the Ownership tab if it isn't already selected.
Enter the following information:

Field

What to specify

Search for

Select Users or Groups from the dropdown menu.

Starts with

Enter an optional text string to narrow the search results.
Click Go.

The results of your search appear in the Results panel.
Select the users or groups you want to assign as owner of the page and click the Add button:

TIP: Hold down the Control key to make multiple selections.

Field	What to specify
Search for	Select Users or Groups from the dropdown menu.
Starts with	Enter an optional text string to narrow the search results.

Enable or disable page lock-down as follows:

To:	Do this:
Lock down the page so only the portal administrator can view it	Check Ownership Permission Set to Admin Only
Allow all assigned users and groups to view the page	Uncheck Ownership Permission Set to Admin Only

Click Save, then Close.

Assigning a default container page to a group

You can assign a custom container page as the default for any authorized group of users in your application. When users belonging to this group log in, they will see this custom container page instead of the default container page DefaultContainerPage that ships with exteNd Director.

For users who belong to multiple groups that each have default container page assignments, the container page with the highest priority appears as the default.

Procedure To assign a default container page to a group:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a container page to use as the default.

If you need to create the container page first, see Creating container pages.
Assign the container page to the desired groups, as described in Assigning page VIEW permission.

TIP: Be sure to uncheck View Permission Set to Admin Only. Otherwise, the page will be locked down.
Set the priority of the container page to a positive integer that is higher than the priorities of your other container pages.
Select Update Page.

Choosing a default shared page for a container page

You can assign a default shared page to each container page you create. The Portal Aggregator considers this page assignment when aggregating content for a render request, as described in the section Determining the content page.

Procedure To choose a default shared page for a container page:

Start the Portal Administration tool, as described in Starting the Portal Administrator.
Select Maintain Container Pages.

The container page administration tool opens in your browser.
Select a page in the list of container pages and click Pick Default.

A selection page opens in another browser window.
Optionally enter search criteria in either or both Filter By fields:

Field

What to specify

Category

Select a category from the dropdown menu.

Starts with

Enter an optional text string to narrow your search results.
Select Show Pages to display a list of shared page you are authorized to view that meets your search criteria.
Select the shared page to use as the default for the container page and click OK.

The container selection page closes.
Back in the container page administrator, select Update Page.

Field	What to specify
Category	Select a category from the dropdown menu.
Starts with	Enter an optional text string to narrow your search results.