Working with Navigation Pages

This chapter provides an overview of navigation pages and their common elements, and discusses how to:

Note. Examples of PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture pages in this chapter were captured with the PeopleTools default style sheet applied. PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture pages may display differently in your database depending on the applied style sheet. However, regardless of the style sheet applied, all page elements displayed remain the same.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDescribing Navigation Pages

In addition to menu navigation, PeopleSoft applications include navigation pages, which serve as alternatives to menu navigation. These navigation pages provide a user-friendly navigation tool in the form of task-driven pages that provide intuitive access to pages needed to complete your business processes. These navigation pages can be configured to incorporate the use of icons to further increase the user's ability to intuitively navigate their tasks.

There are two types of navigation pages:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDescribing Standard Navigation Pages

You access standard navigation pages by clicking a folder in the menu navigation. Elements embedded in the folder, including content references and other folders, are arranged in a graphical format on a standard navigation page displayed to the right of the menu navigation.

For example, clicking the Security folder in the menu navigation displays the Security standard navigation page as shown here:

When you click a folder link on a standard navigation page, you access another standard navigation page that reflects the contents of the selected folder. For example, when you click the User Profiles folder, the User Profiles standard navigation page displays as shown here:

When you click a content reference link on a standard navigation page, you access the actual page to which the content reference points.

Standard navigation pages are available for every folder that appears in your menu navigation that has also been configured to display a standard navigation page. You enable the display of standard navigation pages at the registry level on the General Settings page. You can then disable the display of standard navigation pages for specific folders in the registry on the Folder Administration page.

See Enabling Standard Navigation Page Display.

These pages are dynamically generated based on folder and content reference sequence numbers defined in your portal registry, as well as settings defined by your portal administrator in the Navigation Collection System Options and Registry Options components.

See Describing Folder and Link Sequence on Navigation Pages.

See Setting Up Navigation Collection Options.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDescribing Custom Navigation Pages

You access custom navigation pages by way of links in the menu navigation. These custom navigation pages have been designed to facilitate your navigation through and completion of tasks and business processes in your PeopleSoft applications.

While standard navigation pages automatically display only the contents of a selected menu folder, custom navigation pages can be designed to display any content references and folders available in the menu navigation, regardless of their location.

When you click a menu navigation link to a custom navigation page, the page displays to the right of the menu navigation. For example, selecting the Pagelet Wizard Center link in the menu navigation displays the Pagelet Wizard Center custom navigation page as shown here:

When you click a folder link on a custom navigation page, you access another navigation page that reflects the contents of the selected folder.

When you click a content reference link on a custom navigation page, you access the actual page to which the content reference points.

Custom navigation pages are delivered to address commonly used tasks and business processes in your PeopleSoft application. Authorized users can edit delivered custom navigation pages, as well as create new ones tailored to suit the business process needs of your organization.

See Setting Up Navigation Collection Options.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicCommon Elements Used on Navigation Pages

Navigation pages share these common elements:

Breadcrumbs

Your portal administrator may configure your navigation pages to display breadcrumbs. These breadcrumbs display across the top of a navigation page and are generated according to the navigation path used to access the current content displayed. You can select the breadcrumbs to navigate through the path you used to access the current content.

See Setting Up Navigation Collection Options.

Edit <folder name> Folder

The Edit <folder name> Folder link displays if you have accessed a standard navigation page and you have permissions defined for your user ID or role that enable you to access the Structure and Content component.

Select the Edit <folder name> Folder link to access the Folder Administration page, where you can edit aspects of the folder that was used to generate the selected standard navigation page.

See Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: Internet Technology, "Administering Portals," Defining Folders

Edit <Navigation Collection name> Collection

The Edit <Navigation Collection name> Collection link displays if you have accessed a custom navigation page and you have permissions defined for your user ID or role that enable you to edit Navigation Collections.

Select the Edit <Navigation Collection name> Collection link to access the Navigation Collections component, where you can edit the definition that was used to build the selected custom navigation page.

See Creating and Maintaining Navigation Collections.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicEnabling Standard Navigation Page Display

In this section, we discuss how to enable the display of standard navigation pages when you click a menu navigation folder.

To enable the display of standard navigation pages:

  1. If you are enabling the display of standard navigation pages for the registry in the portal you are logged into, access the General Settings page. If you are enabling the display of standard navigation pages for the registry in a portal you are not logged into, access the Portal Definitions - Edit Portal page.

  2. Select the Is Folder Navigation Enabled option.

  3. Select the delivered Base Navigation Page content reference (EOPP_SCFNAV_BASEPAGE_SCR) in the Folder Navigation Object Name field. This Base Navigation Page content reference is designed to display standard navigation pages as they are documented in this chapter.

  4. You can disable the display of a standard navigation page for an individual folder in the selected registry by selecting the Is Folder Navigation Disabled option on the Folder Administration page.

  5. You can designate a content reference for an individual folder that overrides the content reference defined at the registry level by selecting a value in the Folder Navigation Object Name field on the Folder Administration page. The content reference you designate as the folder navigation object is launched when the folder label is selected.

See Also

Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: Internet Technology, "Administering Portals," Managing General Portal Settings

Enterprise PeopleTools 8.45 PeopleBook: Internet Technology, "Administering Portals," Administering Portal Definitions

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicEnabling Navigation Page Display Caching

You may choose to enable the caching of displayed navigation pages. Enabling caching improves performance because the next time the same navigation page is accessed from any computer using the same web server, the navigation page is retrieved from the web server cache memory. To clear the web server cache memory, stop and restart the web server.

Methods for enabling caching are slightly different for each of the following methods you can use to access navigation pages.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTo enable caching for a custom navigation page accessed by clicking a content reference link

See Describing Custom Navigation Pages.

  1. Select the Enable Caching option on the Publish Collection page when you publish the custom navigation page for which you want caching enabled.

    See Publishing Navigation Collections.

  2. Upon publication, the Cache Enabled Value field value you entered on the System Options page is added to the published custom navigation page registry structure definition.

    See Setting Up Navigation Collection Options.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTo enable caching for a folder or breadcrumb on a navigation page

 

  1. Select the Enable Drill Down Cache option on the System Options page.

  2. Enter a value in the Cache Enabled Value field (role,max-age=30, for example) on the System Options page.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTo enable caching for a standard navigation page accessed by clicking a menu navigation folder

See Describing Standard Navigation Pages.

  1. In the Structure and Content component, edit the Base Navigation Page content reference (EOPP_SCFNAV_BASEPAGE_SCR) on the Content Ref Administration page. The Base Navigation Page content reference is located in the Common Portal - Hidden folder.

    See PeopleTools Internet Technology, "Administering Portals," Administering Content References

  2. In the Content Reference Attributes group box, enter the PSCACHECONTROL attribute name and an attribute value, such as role,max-age=30.