About Navigation Options
The
portal includes navigation schemes that allow you to select the menu
layout and core navigation structure most appropriate for your bandwidth
constraints, browser requirements, design needs, deployment size,
and end-user expectations. You can also create your own navigation
schemes, using the existing code as a starting point.
For information on customizing navigation and other user interface
elements, see the BEA AquaLogic User Interaction Development Center.
The navigation schemes included with the portal can be divided
into horizontal and vertical groups, based on the alignment of the
navigational elements. In horizontal navigation, links to My Pages,
communities, the Knowledge Directory, Administration, and any mandatory
links you specify appear at the top of the page in drop-down menus,
maximizing the space available for portlets. In vertical navigation,
links appear on the left side of the screen.
You can select one of the following navigation schemes for each
experience definition you create:
- Horizontal Combo Box Drop-Down Navigation: This navigation scheme
uses standard HTML controls to place navigational elements in drop-down
menus. Because it does not use JavaScript for rendering menus, this
option is bandwidth-efficient.
- Tabbed Section Left Vertical Navigation: This navigation scheme
uses horizontal tabs at the top for the main portal areas, which,
when clicked, display links on the left to the options available within
that portal area. This scheme is similar to the navigation for sites
such as Amazon.com and MSN.
- Left Vertical
Navigation: This navigation scheme
lists all available links unless the user minimizes particular elements.
It is very easy to use, because users see all links without additional
clicks. Because it does not use JavaScript for rendering menus, this
option is bandwidth-efficient. However, if users join a large number
of communities, they have to scroll to see some of the links.
- Mandatory Links
Only: This navigation scheme
displays only the mandatory links (which you specify in the experience
definition) using the same menu style used in Horizontal Drop-Down
Navigation. Users can see only their home page (the page that displays
when they log in) and any areas for which you have created mandatory
links. However, they can still access documents through search and
might be able to access other areas if those areas are available through
portlets. You might use this scheme if you want to severely limit
portal access to users. For example, you might want a group of customers
to access only a particular community to learn about a new product.
- No Navigation: This navigation
scheme displays no navigation, but includes the top bar. However,
there is a link to Administration if the user has access. As with
the Mandatory Links Only navigation scheme, users can access portal
content and areas through search and portlets.
- Horizontal Drop-Down Navigation: This navigation scheme
uses horizontal tabs and JavaScript-based drop-down menus to access
navigation elements. Clicks, not mouse-overs, display the menus. The
drop-down menus expand both vertically and horizontally, but cover
only the portal’s banner to avoid covering the portlets. If a user
belongs to more communities than can fit in the allotted space, a
vertical scroll bar appears in the drop-down. You can configure the
extent of the vertical and horizontal tiling of the drop-down menus.
- Low Bandwidth and Accessibility Navigation: Low Bandwidth and
Accessibility Navigation is used by low bandwidth and accessibility
modes of the portal. This navigation is used by those modes no matter
which navigation is selected by the experience definition for standard
mode.
- Portlet-Ready
Navigation: Portlet-Ready Navigation
disables all navigation areas except the header and footer. The top
bar, which includes the search box, is also disabled. This navigation
scheme is only used when you are using adaptive page layouts or when
navigation is controlled by portlets (usually header or footer portlets)
using navigation tags. Adaptive page layouts and navigation tags provide
developers a faster, easier way to customize navigation than modifying
the other available navigation schemes.
Any navigation scheme (except the No Navigation scheme) can include
mandatory links to web sites, user profiles of portal experts, documents
from the portal Knowledge Directory, and pages in communities. These
links display in the navigation scheme under a category (like My Pages,
My Communities, or Directory) with the name of your choosing. You
might want to use these links to promote new portlets, communities,
or important documents.
