Director Tutorials

Invoke and Explore the Express Portal Application

Objective

To learn the basics of using the Express Portal, a prebuilt portal application that's installed, deployed, and ready to run after you install Novell exteNd Director (in typical installations).

Before you begin   See About exteNd Director Tutorials.

Concepts

• About the Express Portal

• About portal applications

• About Novell exteNd Director

Exercises

• To invoke and explore the Express Portal application:

• To access the Express Portal as an end user:

• To access the Express Portal as an administrator:

To invoke and explore the Express Portal application:

1. Make sure that:

   • The Express Portal has been installed on your system and deployed to your application server.

         If you need help with Express Portal installation and deployment, see the chapter Preparing to Install exteNd 5 in Installing Novell exteNd or the chapter About the Express Portal in the exteNd Director Portal Guide.

   • Your application server is running.

     For example, to run the exteNd Application Server in Windows, you can use the Windows Start menu to select:

       Novell exteNd 5.0>AppServer>Application Server
     

     To run the exteNd Application Server in Linux, execute the script SilverServer in the Novell exteNd AppServer/bin directory. (If you're using MySQL for your SilverMaster database, make sure the MySQL server is running first; if necessary, you can start it yourself by executing the script StartMySQL.sh in the Novell exteNd mysql directory.)

2. Start your Web browser, then go to this URL (if your server isn't localhost, substitute the appropriate name):

     http://localhost/ExpressPortal
   

   The Express Portal home page displays. You haven't yet logged in, so for now you are accessing the Express Portal as a guest.

   

   The first thing to note about this typical portal page is that it presents a variety of different portlets, each with its own purpose and features. Let's see how some of these portlets work.

3. In the Novell exteNd Introduction portlet, click the minimize option on the title bar:

   

   This minimizes that portlet on the page:

   

4. In the Welcome Message portlet, click the maximize option on the title bar:

   

   This maximizes that portlet on the page:

   

5. Click the restore option on the Welcome Message portlet's title bar:

   

   This restores that portlet to its previous state on the page.

6. In the Links portlet, click one of the links listed under Favorites.

   This launches a new browser window to display the corresponding Web site; when you're done looking at that window, close it.

7. Look at the list of shared pages in the Page Navigation portlet:

   

   A shared page provides content that can be shared among users and groups. So far, you've been using a shared page named exteNd Welcome. Let's go to the other one that's available.

8. Select Corporate Home.

   This shared page includes the following three portlets:

   • Weather Service

   • Stock Quote

   • Shortcut

   

   In the next steps, you'll try some of the features of these portlets.

9. In the Weather Service portlet, type Miami, FL and click Display to get the weather report for that location:

   

10. In the Stock Quote portlet, type a stock symbol and click Get Quote to see the current market price information for that stock:

    

11. In the Shortcut portlet, click the help option on the title bar:

    

    This displays that portlet in Help mode:

    

    Use the Click here to return link to switch the portlet back to View mode.

12. Use the Page Navigation portlet to go back to the exteNd Welcome shared page.

The security features of the Express Portal limit what you can see and do while a guest. If you log in, you'll have access to additional capabilities (depending on who you log in as). This affects which pages and portlets you can access, what you can do with them, and what you can personalize.

In the next exercises, you'll try:

• Logging in as a new end user

• Logging in as a portal administrator (if you are authorized to do so)

To access the Express Portal as an end user:

1. On the exteNd Welcome shared page, click New User at the bottom of the Welcome Message portlet.

   You will create a new end-user account and log in as that user.

2. Fill in the New User form as follows and click Register:

   Property	What to type
   User ID	jdoe
   Password	jdoe
   First Name	Joe
   Last Name	Doe
   Email	jdoe@somewhere.com

   

   When the user is created, a message displays and you are prompted to log in.

3. Fill in the Login form as follows and click Login:

   Property	What to type
   Username	jdoe
   Password	jdoe

   

   When the login is successful, the default page for this user displays. It's the exteNd Welcome shared page on the default container page.

4. Use the Page Navigation portlet to go to the Corporate Home shared page.

   

5. Now that you're logged in as a user instead of just a guest, notice that additional features are available to you:

   • An Edit option in the Weather Service portlet

   • A Personalize link in the Page Header portlet

6. In the Weather Service portlet, click Edit (the pencil icon) on the title bar.

   This changes the mode of the portlet to let you edit this portlet's preferences:

   

7. Change the View Preference to Summary.

8. Change the Number of forecasts available to 3, then click the Go back to Weather button.

9. Type Atlanta, GA and click the Display button.

   The Weather Service portlet displays the 3-forecast summary for that location:

   

10. In the Page Header portlet, click the Personalize link.

    The Portal Personalizer displays. You can use it to customize your portal experience, including creating your own personal pages.

    

11. Under Portal Theme, click Select another theme.

12. Select Basic Blue:

    

    Then click Save to return to the Portal Personalizer page.

13. Click Portal (in the top section of the Portal Personalizer page) to return to your current page and see how the Express Portal looks with the new theme applied:

    

To access the Express Portal as an administrator:

1. In the Page Header portlet, click the Logout link.

   NOTE:   This exercise requires you to log in as a portal administrator or locksmith user (such as the user you specified during the exteNd install). If you don't have access to such a username and password, skip this exercise.

2. When the Login form displays, log in as a portal administrator or locksmith user.

   When the login is successful, the default page for this user displays. It's the exteNd Welcome shared page on the default container page.

3. Use the Page Navigation portlet to go to the Corporate Home shared page.

   

4. Now that you're logged in as an administrator instead of an end user, notice that additional features are available to you:

   • A personal page named My Administration (if you're logged in as the user you specified during the exteNd install)

   • A Portal Administration link in the Page Header portlet

5. In the Page Navigation portlet, click the My Administration link to display that personal page.

   The My Administration personal page displays two portlets:

   • The Things to do portlet displays a todo list; you can personalize it with your own content

   • The Director Administration portlet displays the Director Administration Console (DAC); the DAC is a predefined exteNd Director Web tier application that you can use to administer the exteNd Director applications you are running

   

6. In the Page Header portlet, click the Portal Administration link.

   The Portal Administrator displays (under the title Shared and Container Page Administration). You can use it to do any of the following:

   • Create shared pages and assign them to users and groups

   • Create container pages and assign them to users and groups

     A container page wraps the contents (including shared and personal pages) that the portal displays with a particular look and feel. You've been using the default container page. Using a different container page can change your experience in the portal.

   • Display the Director Administration Console (DAC)

   

7. Close the Portal Administrator.

8. When you're done exploring the Express Portal application, log out and close your Web browser.

What to do next

• Open and explore the Express Portal project

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