Skip Headers
Oracle® Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction
10g Release 3 (10.3.0.1)
Part Number E14107-02
Go to Documentation Home
Home		 Go to Table of Contents
Contents		 Go to Feedback page
Contact Us
Go to previous page
Previous		 Go to next page
Next
View PDF

7 About Extending Portal Services with Portlets

Portlets provide portal users customized tools and services as well as information. Portlets let you to integrate applications, tools, and services into your portal, while taking advantage of portal security, caching, and customization. Users can then add these portlets to their My Pages or to community pages.

Portlets

Portlets can be intrinsic or remote. An intrinsic portlet consists of one or more sets of code that are located on the portal computer. Your portal administrator needs to install this code in the correct location before an intrinsic portlet can be created. A remote portlet is a portlet hosted by a separate remote server. When a user displays a My Page or community page that includes a remote portlet, the portal contacts the appropriate remote server to obtain updated portlet content.

Some portlets can be placed only in certain areas of the page:

Portlet Web Services

Portlet web services allow you to specify functional settings for your portlets, leaving the display settings to be set in each associated portlet. There are intrinsic portlet web services and remote portlet web services.

An intrinsic portlet web service references one or more sets of code that are located on the portal computer. Your portal administrator must install this code in the correct location before you can create the associated intrinsic portlet web service.

A remote portlet web service references services hosted by a separate remote server. These services can be hosted by a web site or can be provided by code on a remote server. If the code is hosted by a remote server, your portal administrator must install this code before you can create the associated remote portlet web service. When a user displays a My Page or community page that includes a remote portlet, the portal contacts the appropriate remote server to obtain updated portlet content.

Portlet Templates

Portlet templates allow you to create multiple instances of a portlet, each displaying slightly different information. For example, you might want to create a Regional Sales portlet template, from which you could create different portlets for each region to which your company sells. You might even want to include all Regional Sales portlets on one page for an executive overview.

After you have created a portlet from a portlet template, there is no further relationship between the two objects. If you make changes to the portlet template, these changes are not reflected in the portlets already created with the template.

Portlet Bundles

Portlet bundles are groups of related portlets, packaged together for easy inclusion on My Pages or community pages. You might want to create portlet bundles for portlets that have related functions or for all the portlets that a particular group of users might find useful. This makes it easier for users to find portlets related to their specific needs without having to browse through all the portlets in your portal.

Portlet Content Caching

Caching some portlet content can greatly improve the performance of your portal. When you cache portlet content, the content is saved on the portal for a specified period of time. Each time a user requests this content—by accessing a My Page or community page that includes the cached portlet—the portal delivers the cached content rather than running the portlet code to produce the content.

When you create a portlet, you can specify whether or not the portlet should be cached, and if it is cached, for how long. You should cache any portlet that does not provide user-specific content. For example, you would cache a portlet that produces stock quotes, but not one that displays a user e-mail box.

If you develop portlet code, you can and should define caching parameters.

For more information on portlet caching, refer to the Oracle Fusion Middleware Web Service Developer's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction, which is located on the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/bea.html or the documentation provided with the portlet software.

Portlets Available with the Portal

Some portlets (and their necessary portlet web services and remote servers) are automatically created in the Portal Resources folder when you install the portal. There are also portlets that are available with the portal installation, but require additional steps to complete installation. For information on the additional installation steps, refer to the Installation Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction.

Note:

You can also create your own portlets, have a web developer or an Oracle portlet developer create portlets for you, or download portlets from the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/index.html. For information on installing and configuring portlets provided as a software package, refer to the portlet software documentation instead of the procedures in this guide. For information on developing portlets, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Web Service Developer's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction, which is located on the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/bea.html.

For information on installing and configuring portlets provided as a software package, refer to the portlet software documentation instead of the procedures in this guide. For information on developing portlets, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Web Service Developer's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction, which is located on the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/bea.html.

The following navigation portlet can be used with the Portlet-Ready Navigation scheme (set in an experience definition) to provide custom navigation for your portal:

The following branding portlets enable you to add custom branding to your portal pages:

The following login portlets can be added to guest default profiles so users can log in to the portal:

The following user profile portlets are included on the user profile page by default:

The following portlets are ready to be added to My Pages and community pages:

The following portlet templates (and any necessary portlet web services and remote servers) are created when you install the portal:

Providing Access to Existing Web Applications with Portlets

You can enable users to access existing web applications through the portal. For example, users may need to access an employee benefits system. If they access the benefits system through the portal, they do not have to enter their login credentials separately for that application, and can continue to have the convenience of the portal context, personalization, and navigation.

  1. (Recommended) Create a lockbox in the portal for the existing application, and have users supply their login credentials for that lockbox.

  2. Create a remote server in the portal for the existing application.

  3. Create a remote portlet web service in the portal to associate with a portlet you will create for the existing application.

    If you created a lockbox, use it to supply the user credentials for authenticating to this application.

  4. Create a portlet based on the web service you created.

  5. Add the portlet to My Pages or communities.

Creating an Intrinsic Portlet Web Service

Before you create an intrinsic portlet web service, you must:

To create an intrinsic portlet web service you must have the following rights and privileges:

  1. Click Administration.

  2. Open the folder in which you want to store the intrinsic portlet web service.

  3. In the Create Object list, click Web Service — Intrinsic Portlet.

    The Intrinsic Portlet Web Service Editor opens.

  4. On the Main Settings page, complete the following tasks:

    • Specify the portlet class identifier that is defined in the model for your intrinsic portlet.

    • Enable the web service

  5. Click the Advanced Settings page and complete the following tasks:

    • Specify the path to the help page for this portlet

    • Specify whether this portlet uses user profile information

  6. Click the Preferences page and complete the following task:

    • Specify the location of the logic used to display any preference pages associated with this web service

  7. Click the Alternative Browsing Devices page and complete the following task:

    • Specify which, if any, alternative browsing devices are supported by this web service

  8. Click the Properties and Names page and complete the following tasks:

The default security for this intrinsic portlet web service is based on the security of the parent folder. You can change the security when you save this intrinsic portlet web service (on the Security tab page in the Save As dialog box), or by editing this intrinsic portlet web service (on the Security page of the Intrinsic Portlet Web Service Editor).

Portal administrators with at least Select access to this intrinsic portlet web service can create portlets or portlet templates based on the web service.

Creating a Remote Portlet Web Service

Before you create a remote portlet web service, you must:

To create a remote portlet web service you must have the following rights and privileges:

  1. Click Administration.

  2. Open the folder in which you want to store the remote portlet web service.

  3. In the Create Object list, click Web Service — Remote Portlet.

    The Remote Portlet Web Service Editor opens.

  4. On the Main Settings page, complete the following tasks:

    • Associate a remote server for the web service

    • Specify the path to the remote portlet

    • Specify time-out settings for the web service

    • Enable the web service

  5. Click the HTTP Configuration page and complete the following tasks:

    • Specify the amount of time you want the portlet and gatewayed content to be cached and if you want to display cached content rather than any error that occurs

    • Specify whether you want the content to display within the portal interface and whether the portal should transform JavaScript and CSS files

    • Specify whether the content should be gatewayed

  6. Click the Advanced URL Settings page and complete the following tasks:

    • Specify the path to the help page for this portlet

    • If the web service requires administrative configuration settings or user preferences that affect more than just this web service, specify the shared settings

  7. Click the Advanced Settings page and complete the following tasks:

    • Specify what general information, if any, you want this web service to pass to its associated portlets

    • Specify which activity rights settings you want to send to the associated portlets

  8. Click the Authentication Settings page and complete the following tasks:

    • If the credentials for this portlet are stored in a lockbox, specify the associated lockbox

    • Specify what authentication information, if any, you want this web service to pass to its associated federated searches

    • If an associated portlet provides access to a remote application with a login form, specify the location of the form and the necessary credentials

  9. Click the Preferences page and complete the following task:

    • Specify the location of any preference pages associated with this web service

  10. Click the User Information page and complete the following tasks:

    • If you want to send information mapped to user properties by default, select the desired properties

    • If you want to send other user information, specify the properties

  11. Click the Debug Settings page and complete the following task:

    • Enable desired error tracing

  12. Click the Alternative Browsing Devices page and complete the following task:

    • Specify which, if any, alternative browsing devices are supported by this web service

  13. Click the Properties and Names page and complete the following tasks:

The default security for this remote portlet web service is based on the security of the parent folder. You can change the security when you save this remote portlet web service (on the Security tab page in the Save As dialog box), or by editing this remote portlet web service (on the Security page of the Remote Portlet Web Service Editor).

Portal administrators with at least Select access to this remote portlet web service can create portlets or portlet templates based on the web service.

Providing Custom Tools and Services with Portlets

Portlets provide portal users customized tools and services as well as information. Portlets let you to integrate applications, tools, and services into your portal, while taking advantage of portal security, caching, and customization. Users can then add these portlets to their My Pages or to community pages.

Before you create a portlet, you must:

Note:

For information on installing portlet code, refer to the Installation Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction (available on the Oracle Technology Network at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13158_01/alui/wci/docs103/index.html) or the documentation that comes with your portlet, or contact your portal administrator.

To create a portlet you must have the following rights and privileges:

  1. Click Administration.

  2. Open the folder in which you want to store the portlet.

  3. In the Create Object list, click Portlet.

    The Choose Template or Web Service dialog box opens.

  4. Select the template or web service that provides the basic settings for your portlet and click OK.

    Use a template when possible. When you use a template, your portlet inherits the template's web service as well as its default settings. Some web services that are designed to work with templates might not work correctly if you bypass the template and make a new portlet directly from the web service object.

    The Portlet Editor opens.

  5. On the Main Settings page, complete the following tasks:

  6. Click the Properties and Names page and complete the following tasks:

The default security for this portlet is based on the security of the parent folder. You can change the security when you save this portlet (on the Security tab page in the Save As dialog box), or by editing this portlet (on the Security page of the Portlet Editor).

Specifying the Size, Type, and Orientation for a Portlet

You can specify the size, type, and orientation for a portlet on the Main Settings page of the Portlet Editor.

  1. If the Portlet Editor is not already open, open it now and display the Main Settings page.

  2. Specify what type of portlet this is.

    • Narrow: Narrow portlets can be added to narrow or wide columns. Columns extend to fit portlet content; therefore, if you choose narrow for a portlet that produces wide content, your portal might look awkward.

      If you created this portlet from a portlet template that creates narrow portlets or if you are editing an existing a narrow portlet, you can change it to a Wide portlet but not to a header, footer, or content canvas portlet.

    • Wide: Wide portlets can be added only to wide columns.

      If you created this portlet from a portlet template that creates wide portlets or if you are editing an existing a wide portlet, you can change it to a narrow portlet but not to a header, footer, or content canvas portlet.

    • Header: Header portlets can be added to communities, community templates, and experience definitions to change the branding of these objects by replacing a banner at the top of the page (so that it differs from the top banner displayed by the main portal).

      You cannot change this setting if you created this portlet from a portlet template that creates header portlets or if you are editing an existing header portlet.

    • Footer: Footer portlets can be added to communities, community templates, and experience definitions to change the branding of these objects by replacing the banner at the bottom of the page (so that it differs from the bottom banner displayed by the main portal).

      You cannot change this setting if you created this portlet from a portlet template that creates footer portlets or if you are editing an existing footer portlet.

    • Content Canvas: Content canvas portlets can be added below the top banner on community pages that include a content canvas space (specified in the page layout). Content canvas portlets can display across the entire width of the page or across one or two columns. You cannot add more than one content canvas portlet per page.

      You cannot change this setting if you created this portlet from a portlet template that creates content canvas portlets or if you are editing an existing content canvas portlet.

  3. If this is a narrow or wide portlet, specify whether this portlet is a community-only portlet.

    • If you want to allow users to add this portlet to My Pages or community pages, choose For My Pages or Community pages.

    • If you want to allow users to add this portlet only to community pages, choose For Community pages only.

  4. If this is a narrow or wide portlet and you do not want to display the title of this portlet when it is added to a page, select Suppress Portlet's title bar.

    Note:

    If this portlet includes preferences or help, suppressing the title bar will make these features unavailable in the portlet.

Caching Portlet Content

You might occasionally want to run a job to cache portlet content (for example, if the portlet takes a couple minutes to render). When the job runs, it creates a snapshot of the portlet content (in the form of a static HTML file) that can be displayed on a web site. The file is stored in the shared files directory (for example, C:\bea\alui\ptportal\10.3.0) in \StagedContent\Portlets\<portletID>\Main.html. You can then create another portlet that simply displays the static HTML.

Note:

The shared files directory path is set on the Portal URL Manager page of the Portal Settings Utility.

To run a portlet as a job you must have the following rights and privileges:

  • Access Administration activity right

  • Create Jobs activity right

  • At least Edit access to the parent folder (the folder that will store the job)

  • At least Select access to the portlet

Note:

  • Because intrinsic portlets rely on the portal application, you cannot run an intrinsic portlet as a job.

  • Because the content produced is static you should only run portlets that present information that is valuable when updated on a periodic basis. For example, a report portlet would be ideal to run as a job, while more interactive portlets, like application interfaces would not be appropriate.

  • If the portlet includes preferences, the preferences for the user that creates the job will be used.

  1. Click Administration.

  2. Open the folder in which you want to store the portlet job.

    Note:

    In order for the job to run, the folder must be registered with an Automation Service.

  3. In the Create Object list, select Job.

  4. On the Main Settings page, click Add Operation.

  5. Select the portlets you want to run with this job, and click OK.

  6. Under Schedule, select the frequency with which you want this job to run.

Setting Security for a Portlet

By default, a new portlet inherits the security of the parent folder, but you can change the security of each individual portlet.

  1. Open the Portlet Editor by creating a new portlet or editing an existing one.

  2. Click the Security page.

  3. Specify which users and groups can access this portlet and what type of access they have:

    • To allow additional users or groups access to this portlet, click Add Users/Groups.

    • If this portlet can be added to My Pages and is not a header, footer, or content canvas portlet, you can force users or groups to include this portlet on their default My Pages. To do so, in the Mandatory list, click Mandatory.

      Note:

      Users and groups for which this portlet is mandatory will not be able to remove this portlet from their My Pages.

    • To specify the type of access a user or group has, in the list under the Privilege column, select the access type.

      For a description of the available privileges, see About Access Privileges.

      Note:

      If a user is a member of more than one group included in the list, or if they are included as an individual user and as part of a group, that user gets the highest access available to her for this object. For example, if a user is part of the Everyone group (which has Read access) and the Administrators Group (which has Admin access), that user gets the higher privilege to the community: Admin.

    • To delete a user or group, select the user or group and click the Remove icon.

      To select or clear all of the user and group check boxes, select or clear the check box to the left of Users/Groups.

    • To see what users are included in a group, click the group name.

    • To change the column used for sorting or to toggle the sort order between ascending and descending, click the column name.

      You see the Sort Ascending icon or the Sort Descending icon to the right of the column name by which the objects are sorted.

    • If you chose Mandatory for any user or group, in the Mandatory Portlet Priority list, set this portlet's priority.

      The priority determines the portlet's placement on the My Page; portlets with higher priority display closer to the upper-left of the My Page then portlets with lower priority.

Portlet Preferences

Portlets can includes several different types of preferences.

Preference Type Description Who Can Set Them and Where
Administrative Preferences These preferences affect everyone's view of the portlet. For example, setting which e-mail server an e-mail portlet should connect to. They are set by the portlet creator on the Main Settings page of the Portlet Editor, or by users with administrative rights from My Pages > Edit Portlet Preferences or by clicking the edit icon in a portlet's title bar.
Personal Preferences These preferences affect that user's view of the portlet. For example, setting how many e-mails are displayed in an e-mail portlet. They are set by the user from My Pages > Edit Portlet Preferences or My Communities > Edit Portlet Preferences.
Community Preferences These preferences affect everyone's view of portlets in that community. For example, setting a specific public e-mail folder to display in an e-mail portlet, and setting a shared login/password for that folder. These preferences are set by the community administrator on the Portlet Preferences page of the Community Editor. This page can include community preferences for portlets specific to that community or for other portlets. When in a community, community administrators can edit these preferences from My Communities > Edit Portlet Preferences, or by clicking the edit icon in a portlet's titlebar.
Portlet Template Preferences These preferences affect the portlet template itself and all portlets created from that template. For example, specifying which portlet web service a portlet uses. These preferences are set by the portlet template creator on the Main Settings page of the Portlet Template Editor. If you change these preferences after portlets have been created from this template, the change will affect only new portlets. Portlets created from this template before the change was made will not be affected.

Editing the Administrative Preferences for a Portlet

You can configure the administrative preferences for a portlet on the Main Settings page of the Portlet Editor.

  1. If the Portlet Editor is not already open, open it now and display the Main Settings page.

  2. If the associated web service includes administrative preferences (specified on the Preferences page of the Portlet Web Service Editor), click Edit to edit the preferences.

Managing User Credentials for External Applications Through the Credential Vault Manager

You can provide secure portal access to existing web applications by setting up lockboxes to store user credentials. For example, you might want to provide portal access to a secured employee benefits system. Users can enter their user authentication information through the Password Manager on the My Account page and not have to enter the information each time they access the secured application through the portal.

To access the Credential Vault Manager you must be a member of the Administrators Group.

You can create a lockbox for each secured application the user needs to access through the portal.

  1. Click Administration.

  2. In the Select Utility list, click Credential Vault Manager.

  3. Create a lockbox for each secured application you will provide access to through the portal.

    • To create a new lockbox, click New Lockbox.

      The Lockbox Editor opens.

    • To edit an existing lockbox, click its name.

      The Lockbox Editor opens.

    • To delete a lockbox, select it and click the Remove icon.

After setting up lockboxes:

Creating or Editing a Lockbox to Store User Credentials for External Applications

Create a lockbox for each secured application the user needs to access through the portal.

To access the Credential Vault Manager you must be a member of the Administrators Group.

  1. Click Administration.

  2. In the Select Utility list, click Credential Vault Manager.

  3. Click New Lockbox or click an existing lockbox to edit it.

  4. In the Name box, type a name for the lockbox.

    Users will see this name in a list of their external accounts when they click Password Manager on the My Account page. The name should clearly identify the external system for which users will enter their login credentials.

  5. In the Description text box, type a description for this lockbox.

    This description displays in the Administrative Objects Directory to help other administrators understand what this object is.

  6. If your portal administrator did not set a mandatory object language, in the Primary Language list, select the language for the name and description you entered.

    If your portal administrator did set a mandatory object language, you see the mandatory language instead of a list. You cannot change this setting. The name and description you entered must be in the mandatory language.

    If a localized name and description is not available in a user's selected language, the user will see the name and description in the specified primary language.

  7. If you want to add localized names and descriptions:

    1. Select Supports Localized Names.

      The Localized Names and Descriptions section appears.

    2. Add or edit the localized names and descriptions:

      • To add an entry for a language, click New Localized Name, then, in the Name and Description dialog box, enter the localized name and/or description, select the appropriate language, and click Finish.

      • To edit an existing entry, click the entry you want to change, then, in the Name and Description dialog box, edit the entry as necessary, and click Finish.

      • To remove existing entries, select the entries you want to remove and click the Remove icon.

        To select or clear all entries, select or clear the check box to the left of Name.

  8. Under Lockbox Properties, enter names for the user name and password properties for this lockbox.

    End users will see these names in the Password Manager when entering their login credentials for the external system corresponding to this lockbox.These properties will be created when you save the lockbox. After you have saved the lockbox, these properties appear as links. Click the links to edit the properties.

Go to previous page
Previous		 Go to next page
Next
Go to Documentation Home
Home		 Go to Table of Contents
Contents		 Go to Feedback page
Contact Us