Using the Portal Management Administration Tool


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The Portal Administration Tool contains a complete set of functions that enable portal administrators to easily create the components of a portal page and personalize the portal's content, layout, and appearance.

This topic includes the following sections:

Setting Up

To properly create and administer a portal using the Portal Administration Tool, you should know how to configure and run the WebLogic Server, and set up database connections.

To create and administer a portal, first you must install and set up the WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server software. Then, refer to the following sections in this document to complete these setup and initialization tasks:

Logging On to the Administration Tool

To log on to the Portal Administration Tool:

Start the WebLogic Server configured for portal use. Start the WebLogic Personalization Server.
Access http://hostname:port/tools in your Web browser where hostname is the name of the host running your WebLogic Server, port is the port number at which the WebLogic Server is listening for requests, and tools is the name of the deployed Web application.
A dialog box appears and prompts you to enter a username and password.
Enter the username administrator and the password password.

Note: We recommend that after installation you immediately create a new password for the administrator.

Click OK to display the Administration Tool Home page, then click the Portal Administration page icon.

Configuring the Flow Manager to Control Portal Access

The Flow Manager controls user access to your portal. The Flow Manager receives all incoming HTTP requests and dispatches each request to the appropriate destination URL. For more information about the Flow Manager, see the topic "Flow Manager" in the chapter "Foundation Classes and Utilities" in the Guide to Building Personalized Applications.

_DEFAULT_PORTAL_INIT property set

To configure the Flow Manager, create a portal property set based on a default APPLICATION_INIT property set.

To create a new property set:

Open the Administration Tools Home page. Click the Property Set Management icon to open the Property Set Management screen.
From the main Property Set Management screen, click Create.
Name the new property set you are creating (100 character maximum). The name of the property set should be the same as the name you will use to create the portal, or the name you will use to access the application.
Enter a description of the property set (255 character maximum).
From the Copy Properties From drop-down list, select APPLICATION_INIT._DEFAULT_PORTAL_INIT (for a portal)
or
APPLICATION_INIT._DEFAULT_APP_INIT (for a non-portal application).
From the Property Set Type drop-down list, select Application Init.
Click Create.
At the top of the page, in red, you will see the message "Property Set creation was successful." (Or, you will see an error message indicating why the property set was not created.)
Click Back to return to the main Property Set Management screen.

Valid Flow Manager Parameters

To set parameters for your portal or application:

From the Property Set Management Home page, under the Application Initialization Property Sets heading, click the name of the property set you just created.
A Property Set page comes up, allowing you to set parameters.
Note: For non-portal applications, skip this step.
To edit the portal name, click the Edit button to the right of the "portal name" property. Change the default value from UNKNOWN to the name of your portal, as you created it in Portal Management.
Edit the destinationdeterminer property. Either accept the default, or edit to provide your own implementation of these classes.
Edit the destinationhandler property. Either accept the default, or edit to provide your own implementation of these classes.
Customize any other properties you choose. For information about customizing properties in portals, see Building a Custom Portal Step-by-Step,in this guide.
When you have finished setting properties, click the Finished button at the bottom of the page.

The table below lists valid parameters for the Flow Manager servlet.

Table 3-1 Valid Flow Manager Servlet Parameters

Parameter Name	Required	Description
allowautologin	No	Determines whether a client with valid cookies can automatically login. The default is false.
defaultdest	Yes	The default destination page JSP if there is not a valid session for the user. (This page is qualified from your Web application's DocumentRoot.) To display a default portal page for anonymous users, use: defaultdest=/portals/myPortal/portal.jsp or to force anonymous users to the login page instead of the portal page use: defaultdest=/portals/myPortal/_userlogin.jsp
destinationdeterminer	Yes	Used by the Flow Manager to determine JSP page navigation.
destinationhandler	Yes	Used by the Flow Manager to determine JSP page navigation.
groupName	Yes	The default group name for this portal instance. (When new users register, they are added to this group. This parameter allows you to register two Flow Managers that are alike except for the groups that they service.) This value defaults to everyone.
homepage	Yes	The home page JSP returned by the system in auto-login or from the portal home button. (This page is qualified from your Web application's DocumentRoot.) Example: homepage=/portals/myPortal/portal.jsp
portalname	Yes	The name given to the portal you created in the Portal Administration Tool. Example: Acme Demo Portal
repositorydir	Yes	Location of default files (gifs, JSP, etc.).
refreshworkingdir	No	Number of seconds, defaults to -1, which means check every time.
sessioncomparator	Yes	How to determine if the session is valid.
timeout	No	Timeout for the cookies or session valued in seconds and defaulting to (-1). If set to (-1), the cookies expire upon exiting the browser. If cookies are disabled, the session invalidates upon browser exit. To retain user login information between browser sessions, set the timeout to a large positive number, such as 999999, and set autologin=true.
ttl	Yes	Number of seconds between Flow Manager reexaming this property set.
workingdir	Yes	The working directory JSP for the portal implementation that tells the portal framework where to find your portal pages and the WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server pages. (This page is qualified from your Web application's DocumentRoot.) Example: workingdir=/portals/myPortal/

Creating a Portal Web Site Directory

As a final step, create a Web site directory for your portal pages under the wlcsApp directory.

Create a new Web application directory named `myPortal' by copying and pasting the exampleportal directory and renaming it myPortal in the wlcsApp directory. For more information, refer to the section Deploying New Portals as Web Applications in this guide.

Table 3-2 shows the structure of the Acme Portal. The same structure can be used for any new portal.

Table 3-2 Acme Demo Portal Directory and Subdirectories

Directory	Description
/portals/repository	The portal root directory that contains pages such as header.jsp, footer.jsp, and portalcontent.jsp.
/portals/repository/images	A directory of images that support your portal and WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server components.
/portals/repository/portlets	The directory of all portal JSP and HTML pages and the WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server sample portlet applications.
/portals/repository/portlets/images	A directory of images that supports your portlets and WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server portlets.

Using the Portal Administration Tool

Figure 3-1 Administration Tool Home Page

Now that you have access to the Portal Administration Tool, you can use it to administer portlets, portals, and business-to-business portal groups. Administrative functions available in the tool include:

Creating, editing, and deleting portals
Creating, editing, and deleting portlets
Personalizing a portal's content, layout, and color scheme at the portal and group levels
Testing your portal

Administering Portlets

To the portal framework, a portlet is a JSP page that knows how to retrieve specialized content and display it in the portal application. To users, a portlet is one of many content modules on a portal page that can be personalized to reflect appearance, content, and layout preferences. Once a portlet is created in the Portal Administration Tool, it can be associated with multiple portals.

You can create, edit, and delete portlets in the Portlets section of the Portal Administration Tool Home page. All screens in the administration tool related to portlet functions are color-coded with teal banners and command buttons. Screens related to portal functions display tan banners and command buttons.

A portlet includes two required components, a titlebar and content area, and several optional components including the banner, header, footer, edit URL, alternate header, alternate footer, maximized URL, and help URL as shown in the following graphic:

Figure 3-2 Portlet Application Decomposed by Components

You can define each portlet application to include any of the following attributes:

Editable—enables the user to customize a portlet's content. For example, in a stock portfolio portlet application users can click the Edit icon on the portlet titlebar to access a page that enables them to add or remove stock symbols. If you select this attribute, you must provide an Edit URL.
Maximizable—allows the portlet to be viewed full screen in the browser window. This enables you to provide additional portlet content in the Maximized URL.
The full screen page uses:
When the user clicks the edit or maximize icons in a portlet, the portal framework calls upon its fullscreen.jsp page to display in full screen mode. The diagram below explains how the fullscreen.jsp page determines which content to display.
Figure 3-3 Content Display Criteria
Floatable—Allows the portlet to float on top of the portal screen in a separate browser window. This attribute uses the same header and footer rules as the maximized URL, but displays the content URL instead of the maximized URL.
Minimizable—Reduces the portlet display to the titlebar to minimize the amount of space the portlet occupies on the portal page.
Helpable—Provides a Help icon in the portlet title bar that users can click to access a URL that assists them with the portlet application. If you select this attribute, you must provide a Help URL.
Login Required—Requires the user to be logged on to the portal to view the portlet. For example, if your portal contains a portlet that displays a user's favorite bookmarks, the user must be logged on before the Bookmark's portlet is visible on the portal screen. This attribute helps maintain a secure portal and allows users to retrieve personalized information.
Mandatory —A portlet can now be personalized to be mandatory. A mandatory portlet is one that is always available and visible. The portlet can be made mandatory at the definition, portal personalization, and group personalization levels.
Titlebar URL — A URL can display as the portlet titlebar. It can be a JSP or HTML fragment.

Creating Portlets

Before you use the Portal Administration Tool to create a portlet, place all your portlet application files in the following directory:

%WL_COMMERCE_HOME%/config/wlcsDomain/applications/wlcsApp/exampleportal/portals/repository/portlets

You create a portlet in the administration tool by creating a portlet definition entity (referred to in this document as a portlet) and associating portlet JSP URLs that have been created by a portlet developer with the portlet entity. When a portlet is created, it is not automatically associated with a portal. You need to add portlets to a portal later from the portal-view page.

To create a portlet:

On the Portal Administration Tool Home page, click Create in the Portlets banner. The Create a New Portlet tool displays.
Enter the appropriate information in the following required fields:
- Portlet Name—any combination of numbers and letters will be accepted in this field.
- Content URL—enter a URL relative to your portal workingdir.
If desired, enter the appropriate information in the following optional fields:
Click Create.
If the portlet was successfully created, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the home page. The new portlet name displays under the Portlets banner.

Editing Portlets

After creating a portlet, you can redefine it at any time by adding or removing attributes.

To edit a portlet:

On the home page, click a portlet title link to display the Edit Properties tool. The name of the portlet you selected to edit displays at the top of the screen.
Enter the appropriate changes.
Click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the home page.

Deleting Portlets

You can delete portlets that you no longer need. However, you must first remove (mark as unavailable) the portlet from any portals it is associated with.

To delete a portlet:

On the home page, click Delete in the Portlets banner. The Delete a Portlet tool displays.
Select the portlet from the Portlet Name drop-down list.
Click Delete. A confirmation window displays.
Click Ok to confirm your deletion.
Click Back to return to the home page. The portlet name is no longer listed under the Portlets banner.

Administering Portals

You can create, edit, or delete portals from the Portals section of the Portal Administration Tool Home page. All screens in the administration tool related to portal functions are color-coded with tan banners and command buttons. Screens related to portlet functions display teal banners and command buttons.

Creating Portals

To create a new portal:

On the Portal Administration Tool Home page, click Create in the Portals banner to display the Create a New Portal tool.
Complete the following required fields:
Customize your portal display by entering the optional URL files. Make all URLs relative to workingdir:
Click Create to create the portal definition.
If the portal was successfully created, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the home page. The new portal name displays under the Portals banner.

Editing Portals

After creating a portal, you can edit it to associate portlets, groups, and users. You can also personalize the portal's layout and color scheme, and make changes to the definition.

To edit a portal:

On the Portal Administration Tool Home page, click a portal title link to see the portal-view page. The name of the portal you selected displays at the top of the screen. Colored banners separate each portal property and contain a command button for that property. The procedures in the next sections provide more information on editing group properties. Figure 3-4 shows the portal-view page.
Figure 3-4 Portal-View Page
When you are done viewing and editing the portal, click Finished at the top or bottom of the portal-view page to return to the home page.

Editing Portal Definitions

You can edit the portal definition you created to reflect any changes to the associated URLs or number of portal columns.

To edit a portal definition:

On the portal-view page, click Edit in the Definition banner to display the Edit Portal Definition tool.
Enter the appropriate changes.
Click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the portal-view page.

Adding and Removing Portlets

You can choose which portlets are available to a portal by adding and removing them from the system's list of all established portlets. From the narrowed list of portlets you associate with a portal, group, and end users further define which portlets they want available and visible on their personalized portal page.

To associate portlets with a portal:

On the portal-view page, click +/- in the Associated Portlets banner to display the Add or Remove Portlets tool.
To add a portlet to the portal, select Avail. The portlet is associated with the portal. It doesn't appear on the portal page until it is made visible by you, the Group Administrator or the end user.
To make a portlet visible, select Visible. The portlet is associated with the portal and now appears on the portal page.
To remove a portlet from the portal, select Unavail. The portlet becomes disassociated with the portal and unavailable to new groups and end users (including anonymous users). However, if the portlet has been personalized at a group or user level, it remains associated with those levels.
Click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the portal-view page. Available portlets appear in the Associated Portlets section of the screen with a gray background. Visible portlets are marked with an check mark.

Editing Portlet Display Attributes

Portlet titles, associated with a portal, display as hot links in the Associated Portlets section of the portal-view page. These links open a tool that enables you to further specify how the portlet displays in the portal, overriding the display attributes established when the portlet was created. Group Administrators can further personalize these attributes.

To edit an associated portlet's display attributes:

Click the portlet title link in the Associated Portlets section of the portal-view page.
Enter the appropriate changes in the Edit Portlet Display Attributes tool.
Click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the portal-view page.

Editing the Portal Layout

You can move a portal's associated portlets left and right between columns and up and down within columns depending on the column layout you selected when you created the portal. You can also change the percentage of the portal page that each column occupies. Group Administrators and end users can further personalize the portal layout.

To edit the layout of portlets in a portal:

On the portal-view page, click Edit in the Layout banner to display the Edit Portal Layout tool. This layout tool shows each portal column, its span percentage, and the portlets that display within those columns.
Select the portlet you want to move by clicking on it. The portlet name is highlighted.
Click an arrow to move the portlet up or down within a column, or right or left between columns.

To change the column spans of a portal layout:

Click in the percentage field associated with a column and enter a new percentage. The sum of all column spans should equal 100%. For single column portals, you may specify from 1% to 100%.
When you are done editing the portal layout, click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the portal-view page. A table in the Portal Layout section lists the portlets as you arranged them within each column.

Editing the Portal Color Scheme

You can edit the overall appearance of a portal by changing its background color as well as the portlets' component colors, title colors, and border appearance.

To edit portal colors:

On the portal-view page, click Edit in the Colors banner to display the Edit Color Schemes tool. This tool provides five preset color schemes and a Custom Scheme tool.
In the Portlet Color Schemes section of the screen, select a preset color scheme or the custom color scheme. If you selected the custom color scheme, enter a hex color code in each text field, or click the color palette icon to select a color for each field from the Color Picker.
Select On to display portlet borders, or Off to omit portlet borders.
Select Black, White, or Other to choose the color of the text that displays in the portlet titlebar. If you selected Other, enter a hex color code in the text field, or click the color palette icon to select a color from the Color Picker.
In the Portal Background Color section of the screen, select Gray, White, or Other to choose a background color for the entire portal page. If you selected Other, enter a hex color code in the text field, or click the color palette icon to select a color from the Color Picker.
To preview your color selections, click the Click here to save changes and preview colors link. Your color changes are saved and the Edit Color Schemes tool redisplays the example portlet at the bottom of the screen to reflect your color preferences.
To save your color preferences without previewing them, click Save. The portal-view page displays the new colors associated with the portal in the Colors section of the screen.
To revert the portal appearance to its original color scheme, click Restore Defaults. The portal-view page displays the default colors associated with the portal in the Colors section of the screen.

Associating Groups with a Portal

You can only associate portal groups from the portal-view page. For more information on associating users with a group and personalizing portal groups, see Administering Portal Groups.

To associate a group with a portal:

On the portal-view page, click +/- in the Associated Groups banner.
Expand the hierarchy (or search) to find the desired group.
Check the group.
Click Save to return to the portal-view page. The new group name displays in the Associated Groups section of the portal-view page.

To disassociated with a group:

On the portal-view page, click +/- in the Associated Groups banner.
Expand the hierarchy (or search) to find the desired group.
Uncheck the group.
Click Save to return to the portal-view page. The group name no longer displays in the Associated Groups section of the portal-view page.

Deleting Portals

You can delete an existing portal from the Portal Administration Tool Home page. However, you must first disassociate all portal groups and users from that portal.

To delete a portal:

On the home page, click Delete in the Portals banner to display the Delete a Portal tool.
Select the portal from the Portal Name drop-down list.
Click Delete. A confirmation window displays.
Click OK to confirm the deletion.
Click Back to return to the home page. The portal name no longer displays in the Portals section of the Portal Administration Tool Home page.

Administering Portal Groups

A portal group is a user group associated with a portal. The Portal Administration Tool enables you to personalize portal groups. You can personalize the layout, content, and color scheme.

Avoid creating portal groups for business-to-consumer portals with an unmanageable number of users.

You can edit portal groups from the portal-view page.

Editing Portal Groups

Editing portal groups allows you to associate portlets with each group. You can also personalize the group's portal layout and color scheme.

To edit a portal group:

On the Portal Administration Tool Home page, click the portal title link the group is associated with. The portal-view page displays.
In the Associated Groups section of the screen, click the group title link you want to edit. The group-view page displays. The names of the portal and group you selected display at the top of the screen. Colored banners separate each group property and contain a command button for that property.The procedures in the next sections provide more information on editing group properties.

Adding and Removing Portlets from a Portal Group

As the Group Administrator, you choose which portlets are available to a group by adding and removing them from the portal's list of all associated portlets. From the narrowed list of portlets you associate with a group, end users further define which portlets they want available and visible on their personalized portal page.

To associate portlets with a group:

On the group-view page, click +/- in the Associated Portlets banner to display the Add or Remove Portlets tool.
To add a portlet to the group, select Avail. The portlet is associated with the group. It does not display on the portal page until it is made visible by you or the end user.
To make a portlet visible, select Visible. The portlet is associated with the group and displays on the portal page.
To remove a portlet from the group, select Unavail. The portlet becomes disassociated from the group and unavailable to the group and end users. However, if the portlet has been personalized at the user level, it remains associated with those users.
Click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the group-view page. Available portlets appear in the Associated Portlets section of the screen with a gray background. Visible portlets are marked with an X.

Editing the Portal Group Layout

You can move a group's associated portlets left and right between columns and up and down within columns. End users can further personalize the portal layout.

To edit the layout of portlets in a group:

On the group-view page, click Edit in the Layout banner to display the Edit Portal Layout tool. This layout tool shows each portal column and the portlets that display within those columns.
Select the portlet you want to move by clicking on it. The portlet name is highlighted.
Click an arrow to move the portlet up or down within a column, or right or left between columns.
When you are done editing the portal layout, click Save.
If the changes were successfully made, a confirmation message appears in red at the top of the screen. If not, an error message notifies you of the required changes.
Click Back to return to the portal-view page. A table in the Portal Layout section lists the portlets as you arranged them within each column.

Editing the Portal Group Color Scheme

You can edit the overall appearance of a group by changing its portal background color as well as the portlets' component colors, title colors, and border appearance.

To edit group colors:

On the group-view page, click Edit in the Colors banner to display the Edit Color Schemes tool. This tool provides five preset color schemes and a Custom Scheme tool.
In the Portlet Color Schemes section of the screen, select a preset color scheme or the custom color scheme. If you selected the custom color scheme, enter a hex color code in each text field, or click the color palette icon to select a color for each field from the Color Picker.
Select On to display portlet borders, or Off to omit portlet borders.
Select Black, White, or Other to choose the color of the text that in the portlet titlebar. If you selected Other, enter a hex color code in the text field, or click the color palette icon to select a color from the Color Picker.
In the Portal Background Color section of the screen, select Gray, White, or Other to choose a background color for the entire portal page. If you selected Other, enter a hex color code in the text field, or click the color palette icon to select a color from the Color Picker.
To preview your color selections, click the Click here to save changes and preview colors link. Your color changes are saved and the Edit Color Schemes tool redisplays the example portlet at the bottom of the screen to reflect your color preferences.
To save your color preferences without previewing them, click Save. The group-view page displays the new colors associated with the portal in the Colors section of the screen.
To revert the portal appearance to its original color scheme, click Restore Defaults. The group-view page displays the default colors associated with the portal in the Colors section of the screen.

Where to Get More Information

This chapter presents the basics of portal development using the WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server Administration Tools. For an in-depth look at portals and portlets, see the following chapters later in this document:

Developing Portlets, presents the application developer with essential information about creating custom portlets.
Building a Custom Portal Step-by-Step,presents a tutorial for customizing your own e-commerce portal.
Advanced Portal Topics, describes how to add some of the functionality of the WebLogic Commerce Server to your portal. This chapter also discusses deploying your application as a Web application.

You may need to consult the following documentation when using the WebLogic Commerce Server and WebLogic Personalization Server: