Administering Portal Homepages and Pagelets

This chapter provides an overview of portal homepage and pagelet administration and discusses how to:

Create tabbed homepages.
Manage homepage tab and pagelet attributes
Configure pagelet time-outs.

See Also

Understanding Portal Homepage and Pagelet Administration

Available homepage functionality differs based on the products that you have licensed. Each users' homepage data is stored in a separate set of tables named PSPRUHDEFN (which is updated when a user personalizes the homepage), PSPRUHTAB, and PSPRUHTABPGLT. Based on the data in these tables, a personalized HTML homepage is generated.

As a portal administrator, you can create multiple homepages that users can view as a series of tabs across the top of the homepage. To accomplish this, you create additional homepage tabs with content specific to target community audiences.

PeopleSoft portal technology assembles a homepage by sequentially retrieving content for all the pagelets referenced on the homepage. For example, consider a homepage with the following pagelets, each of which loads in the time indicated:

Pagelet A: 0.5 seconds
Pagelet B: 1.2 seconds
Pagelet C: 33.5 seconds
Pagelet D: 2.3 seconds

Note. These pagelets can all have relatively quick average load times, but any pagelet might be excessively slow on occasion.

The total time required to retrieve all the pagelets is 37.5 seconds, which is disproportionately skewed by pagelet C. Some reasons for this could be that pagelet C's URL is incorrect or has changed, the domain name server can't resolve the URL, the content server is down or unreachable, the content server is behind a firewall, or the content server is temporarily unavailable. As a result of such high retrieval times, the total time to service the homepage request is unacceptable to the user, and for practical purposes the pagelet is unavailable.

You can respond to unavailable pagelets by specifying a time-out period during which each pagelet must load. This improves portal homepage performance by enabling the system to present the homepage quickly in spite of an individual pagelet's unavailability. You specify a pagelet time-out as a content reference attribute on the pagelet's Content Ref Administration page.

Creating Tabbed Homepages

This section discusses how to:

Add tabs.
Select tab content.
Specify tab layout.
Change tab order.

Pages Used to Create Tabbed Homepages

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Structure and Content	PORTAL_FLDR_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Homepage, Tabs.	Delete homepage tabs or change tab order.
Content Ref Administration	PORTAL_CREF_ADM	Click Add Content Reference on the Structure and Content page.	Create homepage tabs.
Tab Content	PORTAL_TAB_CON_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Homepage, Tabs, Content Ref Administration, Tab Content.	Define the content for the homepage tab.
Tab Layout	PORTAL_TAB_LAY_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Homepage, Tabs, Content Ref Administration, Tab Layout.	Define the layout for the homepage tab.

Adding Tabs

Access the Content Ref Administration page.

Name and Label

Enter a name and label for the new tab.

Note. The value you specify in the Name field can consist of letters, digits, and underscores ( _ ). It cannot contain any spaces and cannot begin with a digit.

The label value appears as the user's homepage tab name.

Usage Type

Select Homepage tab.

After selecting Homepage tab, the page refreshes to display two additional pages, the Tab Content and Tab Layout pages.

Valid from date and Valid to date

Enter the date that you want the tab to first appear for your users. Optionally, enter a valid to date to remove the tab from use.

To view the newly defined tab, click Home to return to your homepage.

Note. You may need to refresh the homepage to view the new tab if you have caching turned on.

Setting Content Reference Security

Selecting Tab Content

Access the Tab Content page.

To select pagelets for the homepage:

Select the check boxes for the pagelets to display on the homepage tab.

Select Include All? to indicate that all pagelets in a category are selected.

Note. The user must have security access to the pagelet component in order for the pagelet to be properly displayed on the homepage.

Use the drop-down list to set the pagelet behavior.

Optional	The pagelet does not appear automatically on the homepage. However, it is available for users when personalizing the homepage.
Opt-Dflt (option-default)	The pagelet appears on all user homepages, if the users have access to the pagelet. The pagelet can be removed when users personalize the homepage.
Req-Fix (required-fixed)	The pagelet appears on all user homepages, if users have access to the pagelet. The placement of the pagelet can not be changed, and it also cannot be removed.
Required	The pagelet appears on all user homepages if users have access to the pagelet. The placement of the pagelet can be changed, but it cannot be removed.

Click Save.

Note. Content outside of PeopleSoft is available only with PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal.

Specifying Tab Layout

Access the Tab Layout page.

Label

Displays the label information from the Content Ref Administration page.

Basic Layout

Select to display the pagelets in either two or three columns on the homepage.

To specify the three-column layout, be sure that at least one pagelet does not have the Req-Fix behavior option selected on the Tab Content page.

Columns

Displays the pagelets selected on the Tab Content page in the column sections.

If the basic layout is two columns, the pagelets are divided into left and right columns. If the basic layout is three columns, the pagelets are divided into left, center, and right columns.

Note. A pound sign (#) indicates a pagelet with the Req-Fix behavior option selected on the Tab Content page. An asterisk (*) indicates a pagelet with the Required behavior option selected on the Tab Content page.

For example, #Signon indicates that the Signon pagelet cannot be moved to a different location on the homepage.

Use to position the pagelets. Highlight a pagelet, and then click the arrows to move the selected pagelet above a pagelet, below a pagelet, to the next column on the right, or the next column on the left.

Delete Pagelet

Highlight a pagelet and then click to delete it from the homepage.

Changing Tab Order

Access the Structure and Content page.

To change the tab order enter a sequence number. The sequence number determines the tab order. The tabs are displayed with the lowest sequence number first. If any numbers are identical, then the order is alphanumeric. If no sequence numbers exist, the default is considered to be zero. For example, if no sequence numbers are entered, the default is zero, and the order is alphanumeric.

If caching is turned on for the portal, the tab order change does not take effect until the caching recycles or the web server is restarted.

Managing Homepage Tab and Pagelet Attributes

This section discusses how to:

Manage homepage tab attributes.
Manage pagelet attributes.

Page Used to Manage Homepage Tab and Pagelet Attributes

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Content Ref inAdministration	PORTAL_CREF_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Homepage, Tabs. Click Add Content Reference.	Create or edit homepage tabs.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Content Ref inAdministration

PORTAL_CREF_ADM

PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, Homepage, Tabs.

Click Add Content Reference.

Create or edit homepage tabs.

Managing Homepage Tab Attributes

Access the Content Ref Administration (content reference administration) page.

Note. Make sure that Homepage tab is selected as the usage type.

Use the Homepage tab attributes group box of the Content Ref Administration page to enable users to rename the homepage tab label, as well as associate a help topic with the homepage tab, and hide the pagelet action bar.

Allow rename	Select this check box to enable users to rename the tab label of the homepage tab using the Personalize Content page.
Help ID	Enter the help ID for the homepage tab. When users click Help on the homepage tab, the system displays help information specific to that homepage tab.
Hide pagelet action bar	Select this check box to hide the pagelet action bar on all pagelets on the homepage tab. This option overrides all properties for pagelets used on this tab.

Managing Pagelet Attributes

Access the Content Ref Administration (content reference administration) page.

Make sure that Pagelet is selected as the usage type.

Use the Pagelet Attributes group box to select the default column for a pagelet, associate a help topic with the pagelet, and hide certain buttons from users.

Default Column	Select the number of columns for the pagelet.
Help ID	Enter the help ID for the pagelet. When users click the Help button on the pagelet, the system displays help information specific to the pagelet. This feature works only if you specified a help URL on the Web Profile Configuration - General page, and the pagelet documentation is part of the HTML PeopleBooks identified by the help URL. You must also ensure that the documentation HTML includes a properly formatted anchor element that uses the value you specify in this field. For example, if you specify a help ID of MY_PAGELET_CONTENT, the pagelet documentation in the PeopleBook must contain the following element: <a NAME="F1ID_MY_PAGELET_CONTENT"></a>
Hide minimize image	Select to hide the minimize button that normally appears in the pagelet header, so that users are prevented from minimizing the pagelet.
Hide refresh image	Select to hide the refresh button to prevent users refreshing the pagelet. If you implemented pagelet caching for this pagelet, a refresh button automatically appears in the pagelet header.

See Implementing Pagelet Caching.

Edit URL Information

Use the Node Name and URL Type fields to specify a page to be used for personalizing this pagelet, and to make the personalization button appear in the pagelet header.

Node Name

Select the node name for the edit URL of the pagelet. This node name can be different than the pagelet node name.

URL Type

Select the type of the edit URL. The specific URL entry fields appear based on the setting of this field. Options are:

Non-PeopleSoft URL: The Edit URL field appears. Enter the URL of the personalization page to use.

PeopleSoft Component: The Component Parameters group box appears, containing the same fields as the Component Parameters group box for the content reference. Use these fields to identify the personalization page to use.

PeopleSoft Script: The iScript Parameters group box appears, containing the same fields as the iScript Parameters group box for the content reference. Use these fields to identify the personalization page to use.

See Also

Administering Content References

Configuring Pagelet Time-outs

This section discusses how to configure pagelet time-outs.

Page Used to Configure Pagelet Time-outs

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Content Ref Administration	PORTAL_CREF_ADM	PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects. Navigate to the Content Ref Administration page for the pagelet.	Modify pagelet information.

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Content Ref Administration

PORTAL_CREF_ADM

PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects.

Navigate to the Content Ref Administration page for the pagelet.

Modify pagelet information.

Configuring Pagelet Time-outs

Access the Content Ref Administration page for the desired pagelet.

To specify a pagelet time-out:

Select PeopleTools, Portal, Structure and Content, Portal Objects, and navigate to the Content Ref Administration (content reference administration) page for the pagelet.

You define the pagelet time-out in the Content Reference Attributes region of the page.
Enter PSTIMEOUT in the Name field.
Enter PSTimeout in the Label field.
In the Attribute Value field, enter number of seconds before the pagelet is considered unavailable. This can be any positive integer.

Note. The portal ignores this attribute if you specify 0 or a negative value, or if the content reference isn't a pagelet.

When your specified time-out expires, the portal stops attempting to load the pagelet and generates an error message.

See Also

Administering Content References

Configuring Look and Feel

Label	Displays the label information from the Content Ref Administration page.
Basic Layout	Select to display the pagelets in either two or three columns on the homepage. To specify the three-column layout, be sure that at least one pagelet does not have the Req-Fix behavior option selected on the Tab Content page.
Columns	Displays the pagelets selected on the Tab Content page in the column sections. If the basic layout is two columns, the pagelets are divided into left and right columns. If the basic layout is three columns, the pagelets are divided into left, center, and right columns. Note. A pound sign (#) indicates a pagelet with the Req-Fix behavior option selected on the Tab Content page. An asterisk (*) indicates a pagelet with the Required behavior option selected on the Tab Content page. For example, #Signon indicates that the Signon pagelet cannot be moved to a different location on the homepage.
	Use to position the pagelets. Highlight a pagelet, and then click the arrows to move the selected pagelet above a pagelet, below a pagelet, to the next column on the right, or the next column on the left.
Delete Pagelet	Highlight a pagelet and then click to delete it from the homepage.