8.1 Creating an Accessory

To create an accessory, you locate the panel where you want it to display, add the accessory, then set it up.

8.1.1 Locating The Accessory Panel

Accessories display in an area called the Accessory Panel, which is located in different sections of the page, depending on whether you are in a workspace or a folder.

Locating the Accessory Panel in Workspaces

The location of the Accessory Panel differs, depending on the type of workspace that you are viewing.

Project Management Workspace: Upper right corner of the workspace.

Personal Workspace: In the Accessories tab, in the upper right corner of the page.

Team Workspace: Upper right corner of the workspace.

Discussions Workspace: Upper right corner of the workspace.

Basic Workspace: Upper right corner of the workspace.

Landing Page: By default, the Accessory Panel is not displayed on a landing page.

You can add an Accessory Panel element to any location in your landing page by modifying the default landing page view (if you are the Vibe administrator or if you have administrative rights), or by creating a new landing page view. For more information on how to add an Accessory Panel to a landing page, see Adding Accessories to Your Landing Page in the Novell Vibe 3.3 Advanced User Guide.

Locating the Accessory Panel in Folders

For folders, The Accessory Panel is located in the upper right corner of the folder page, above the content of the folder.

By default, accessory panels are not displayed in Blog folders and Micro-Blog folders. You can create a custom folder view on your folder that contains an accessory panel, as described in Creating Custom Folder Views in the Novell Vibe 3.3 Advanced User Guide.

8.1.2 Adding the Accessory

  1. Navigate to the workspace or folder where you want to add the accessory.

  2. Click the Accessory Panel drop-down list.

    If you are unable to find the Accessory Panel, see Section 8.1.1, Locating The Accessory Panel.

    If you currently have no accessories, only the Add an Accessory item appears in the list.

  3. Click Add an Accessory.

  4. In the Accessory Scope section, select where you want the accessory to be displayed.

    Personal Accessory for This Page Only: This accessory appears only to you and only on the currently displayed workspace or folder page.

    Personal Accessory for all Workspaces and Folders: This accessory appears only to you, but it appears on all workspace and folder pages that you view.

    Community Accessory for This Page: This accessory appears only on this page, and it appears to everyone who views the current page. Only workspace and folder owners are allowed to establish community accessories.

  5. In the Accessory Type section, select the type of accessory that you want to display.

    Accessory Name

    Description

    Setup Information

    Search Results

    Enables you to configure a search, then apply that search to any Novell Vibe page that you desire, across the entire site or only on the page where the accessory is displayed.

    See Search Results.

    Workspace Tree

    Enables you to display a customized Workspace tree. Unlike the main Workspace tree, you can configure the Workspace Tree accessory to start on any workspace that you desire.

    See Workspace Tree.

    Formatted Text (HTML Editor)

    Enables you to use the HTML editor to compose a message and display it in the Accessory Panel.

    See Formatted Text (HTML Editor).

    Embedded Web Page (iframe)

    Enables you to display any Web page as an accessory in a workspace or folder. For example, if a team you are working on often refers to a specific Web site, you could create an Embedded Web Page accessory in the team workspace, so team members don’t need to navigate separately to the Web site.

    See Embedded Web Page (iframe).

    Buddy List

    Enables you to specify certain Vibe users with whom you communicate often, so you can quickly contact them by using their Presence icon, or access their workspaces by clicking a linked name.

    See Buddy List.

    Team Members

    Enables you to display all members of the team in the folder or workspace where you currently are.

    See Team Members.

    Photo Gallery

    Enables you to display photos from any Photo Album that you desire.

    See Photo Gallery.

    Blog Summary

    Enables you to synchronize the Vibe Blog folders of your choice, and display them in a single, summarized Blog folder in the Accessory Panel.

    See Blog Summary.

    Guestbook

    Enables you to use the Accessory Panel to display the contents of a Guestbook folder. Unlike other accessories, such as the Calendar Summary and Task Summary, you can display the contents of only one Guestbook folder in each Guestbook accessory.

    See Guestbook.

    Task Summary

    Enables you to synchronize the Vibe Tasks folders of your choice, and display them in a single, summarized task list in the Accessory Panel. This eliminates the need to check multiple Tasks folders. You can display tasks that are assigned to specific users, groups, or teams.

    For more information, see Synchronizing the Vibe Tasks Folders of Your Choice and Section 6.11.11, Viewing All Tasks That Are Assigned to a Specific Team, Group, or Individual User.

    See Task Summary.

    Wiki Home Page

    Enables you to display the wiki home page of any Wiki folder (Wiki Topic) as an accessory.

    For information on how to set a wiki home page for a Wiki Topic, see Setting a Wiki Home Page.

    See Wiki Home Page.

    Calendar Summary

    Enables you to synchronize the Vibe calendars of your choice, and display them in a single, summarized calendar in the Accessory Panel. This eliminates the need to check multiple calendars.

    For more information, see Section 6.3.3, Synchronizing Vibe Calendars of Your Choice.

    See Calendar Summary.

    Remote Application

    Enables you to add a remote application as an accessory, if the application has been enabled by your administrator.

    For more information on remote applications, see Section 2.12, Using Remote Applications.

    See Remote Application.

  6. Click OK.

    The Accessory Setup page is displayed.

  7. To finish creating the accessory, continue with Section 8.1.3, Setting Up the Accessory for specific information on filling in the Accessory Setup page for each type of accessory.

8.1.3 Setting Up the Accessory

Use the steps in this section to set up an accessory after you have completed the steps in Section 8.1.2, Adding the Accessory.

This section contains specific information on filling in the Accessory Setup page for each type of accessory.

Search Results

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Search Results accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Advanced Search: For information on all of the Advanced Search options, see Section 2.4.3, Using Advanced Search.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Workspace Tree

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Workspace Tree accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Starting Point for the Tree: Select whether you want to start at the current workspace, or select a starting workspace in the workspace tree. If you want to select a starting workspace, select Select a Starting Workspace and then navigate to and select the workspace in the workspace tree.

    Expand the First Level of the Tree: Select Yes if you want the first level of the tree to always be expanded. Select No if you want to manually expand the tree.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Formatted Text (HTML Editor)

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Formatted Text (HTML Editor) accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Enter the HTML to be Shown: Create your HTML message in the HTML editor provided.

    This message is displayed in your Formatted Text accessory.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Embedded Web Page (iframe)

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Embedded Web Page (iframe) accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Iframe URL: Specify the URL of the Web page that you want to display in this accessory.

    Iframe height in pixels: Specify the height for your embedded Web page.

    If you don’t specify anything in this field, Vibe uses the default height (about 200 pixels).

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Buddy List

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Buddy List accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Configure Buddy List: Specify the users, groups, and team members that you want to add to your buddy list.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Team Members

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Team Members accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Number of Results to be Shown: Specify the number of team members that you want to be shown at one time.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Photo Gallery

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Photo Gallery accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Number of Photos to be Shown: Specify the number of photos that you want to display at any one time in your photo gallery.

    Image Size: Select whether you want to display big images or small images.

    Select the Photo Album(s) to be Shown: Use the workspace tree to browse to and select the photo albums that you want to be displayed in the accessory.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Blog Summary

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Blog Summary accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Number of Results to be Shown: Specify the number of Blog results that you want to show in the Blog Summary.

    Number of Words of Summary to be Shown: Specify the number of words that you want to display for each Blog Summary.

    Select the blog(s) to be shown: Use the Workspace tree to navigate to and select the Blog folders that you want to display in the Blog Summary.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Guestbook

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Guestbook accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Number of Results to be Shown: Specify the number of Guestbook results that you want to show in the Guestbook accessory.

    Number of Words of Summary to be Shown: Specify the number of words that you want to display for each Guestbook entry.

    Select the guestbook to be shown: Use the Workspace tree to navigate to and select the Guestbook folder that you want to display in the Guestbook accessory.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Task Summary

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Task Summary accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Number of Results to be Shown: Specify the number of task results that you want to show in the Task Summary accessory.

    Show Only the Tasks Assigned To: Specify the users, groups, or teams who are the assignees of the tasks that you want to display.

    Select the Task Folder(s) to be Shown: Use the Workspace tree to navigate to and select the Task Summary folder that you want to display in the Task Summary accessory.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Wiki Home Page

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Wiki Home Page accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Select the Wiki to be Shown: Use the Workspace tree to navigate to and select the Wiki folder that you want to display in the Wiki Home Page accessory.

    In the Wiki Home Page accessory, Vibe displays the wiki entry that you have configured to be the wiki home page for the Wiki folder (Wiki Topic) that you select here.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Calendar Summary

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Calendar Summary accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Select the Calendar Folder(s) to be Shown: Use the Workspace tree to navigate to and select the Calendar folders that you want to display in the Calendar Summary accessory.

  2. Click Apply > Close.

Remote Application

You can set up a remote application as an accessory if your administrator has enabled the application.

  1. In the Accessory Setup page, specify the following information:

    Title: Specify a title for the Remote Application accessory.

    Display Style: Specify whether you want a border around the accessory.

    Remote Application: From the provided drop-down list, select the remote application that you want to display in the accessory.

  2. Click Apply > Close.