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2 Portal Express
This chapter provides an introduction to Portal Express. It covers:
A Tour through the Default Portal Express View
Generally, when you log into Portal Express, you will see at least one Portal page (usually the default "front" page for your group) published to you. If you do not see any pages, read "What if I see a screen with no content?".
The Default Portal Express View
In the Default Portal Express view, you will see a row of tabs (you may not view tabs at all depending on the layout of your particular interface). Each tab represents a new Portal page, and each unique Portal page has its own set of information. To access a particular Portal page, simply click on the tab to open it. If there are more tabs than can fit in your Browser screen, they may be hidden off to the right. Scroll right using the scroll bar at the bottom of the page to view any hidden tabs.
Figure 2: View of a Default Portal Page
What if I see a screen with no content?
When you log into Portal Express, you may see a screen that looks like this:
Figure 3: Default Screen without Pages Selected
If you see this screen, click on the Pages button on the toolbar. This will start the Pages Organizer portlet. Follow instructions on using the Pages Organizer on page 2-9 to show hidden pages.
Note: Contact your Viador administrator if a message appears in the Pages Organizer stating, "There are no pages published to the user."
Viewing Your Portal Pages
You may see one or more columns on a Portal page. Each column displays windows with files, portlets, graphics, and information chosen for your group. You may be able to customize or hide content on these columns depending on conditions set up for each unique page. In each of the windows, there can be a toolbar showing up to six icons. If you do not see the Hide button or Up and Down arrows, the column has been "locked" and you will not be able to move or hide windows.
These icons are listed below:
Note: If you click the toolbar on a Portal page that is located inside a channel it will not be activated. The toolbar will only work when a Portal page is viewed as a Portal page in the Portal Express interface.
You may use the toolbar to modify the look and feel of your Portal Pages. Below is an example of the Minimize button in use-the My Channels window is minimized.
Figure 4: A Portal Page with My Channels minimized
What Types of Items Can I Access in Portal Pages?
There are three basic types of items you can access in Portal Pages:
There is one main place in which to store/distribute files:
Note: If you have Business Intelligence tools as part of your Viador BI-Portal package, you may also see My Folders on your Portal pages. These are available only for items associated with Business Intelligence tools and will be discussed in Chapter 4: Using Business Intelligence Tools.
Using Files
Viador BI-Portal files are simply items stored in Portal Pages that are created by you, published to you, or uploaded by you. Viador BI-Portal files can be reports created using one of Viador's portlets, files created with other programs (such as Microsoft Office applications), World-Wide Web links, graphic images, etc.
In Portal pages, files are stored and distributed via channels.
Using Portlets
Portlets are applications that are registered with the Viador Information Center and can be controlled and displayed by Viador BI-Portal. The particular portlets that are displayed depend upon your Viador user account privileges.
Using URLs or Links
URLs or links may published on Portal pages. Clicking on a URL or link will open that URL's Web page in a new window.
Note: Depending on your default settings, when you click a link on a Portal page (Viador.com, for example), the link may be displayed as a new page in your browser window. In order to return to Portal Express click your browser's back button. If you exit out of your session, you will have to log back into Portal Express via the Login page.
Using Channels
Channels are ways of distributing and receiving information so that many users can access it. When a user publishes files to a channel, all groups with that channel published to them will be able to view or run the files.
In the Viador BI-Portal channels are displayed as World Wide Web-type pages. A channel's contents appears as windows on the page. Subchannels (channels within channels) are displayed as links in their parent channel windows.
Using the Toolbar
The Portal Express toolbar area at the top, right corner of the screen of the default interface may contain links that let you customize, reload, and log out of your Portal page.
Some possible available links include:
Organizing Your Pages-the Page Organizer Portlet
When you click Pages on the toolbar, you will start the Page Organizer which allows you to modify the list of pages that are available to you. You can add pages, hide pages, and rearrange the order of the pages in the Portal Express view.
Figure 5: The Page Organizer
The Page Organizer has two columns which allow you to show or hide pages in your Portal Express view. The left column is labeled Hide Pages while the right column is labeled Show Pages. Pages in the Hide Pages column will not appear in your Portal Express view while pages in the Show Pages column will appear on the Portal Express view.
Note: Only an administrator can permanently remove a Portal page from the user's list of Portal pages.
Showing and Hiding Pages
Between the two columns are a series of buttons labeled Show, Hide, Show All, and Hide All. These allow you to select the folders you wish to appear in your portal view. You can either select an item individually by clicking on it, or select all the items in a column by clicking the Show All or Hide All buttons. If you choose to hide all of your pages, you will not see any of them when you log into Portal Express. You will have to start the Page Organizer to choose pages to view.
Note: Some pages that are published to you cannot be hidden depending on decisions made by your administrator.
Rearranging the Order of Your Portal Pages
Once you have chosen the Portal pages you wish to show, you may want to organize the order of your pages. The top of the list corresponds to the first Portal page you see on the default Portal Express view. This may be the leftmost page or the topmost page depending on the layout of your interface. If you have a number of pages published to you, you may need to scroll to view some pages on the interface. For this reason, important items should be placed near the top of the list. By doing this, you can make it easy to access the pages you need to use most often. To organize your pages, simply highlight the name of the Portal page you wish to move and use the up or down arrow to move the item up or down the list.
Note: Default pages (those pages published to your group by default) cannot be moved or removed.
Choosing your Content-The Content Filter Portlet
After you have decided which pages you wish to view, you can choose the content to display on those pages using the Content Filter (provided that it has been enabled for a particular Portal page). First, open the page you wish to modify by clicking on the tab in the Portal Express view. Next, start your Content Filter by clicking on the Content link on your toolbar. Across the top of the page you will see the name of the page you selected. Along the right side of the column, you will see the items on your Portal page. Beside each item is a checkbox. To select an item for display, check its checkbox. To prevent an item from being displayed, uncheck its checkbox. In Figure 6, Shared Express Templates and the Content Organizer Channel have been deselected.
Figure 6: The Content Filter Portlet
What if there are no checkboxes?
If you start the Content Filter and you do not see checkboxes beside items, the page contents have been "locked," and you will not be able to make changes.You may be able to hide the entire page using the Show/Hide pages option.
Note: For some Portal pages, the content filter may not be active.
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Viador Inc. http://www.viador.com T: (408) 735-5956 F: (408) 735-8926 info@viador.com |
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