| Oracle® Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Collaboration 10g Release 4 (10.3.3.0.0) Part Number E12891-04 |
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| Oracle® Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Collaboration 10g Release 4 (10.3.3.0.0) Part Number E12891-04 |
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View PDF |
This chapter provides an overview of Oracle WebCenter Collaboration and the administrative tasks you perform to manage Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects and objects. It includes the following topics:
Overview of the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Browsing User Interface
Overview of the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Administrative Objects and Tools
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration is part of the Oracle WebCenter Interaction suite of products. Oracle WebCenter Collaboration integrates directly with the Oracle WebCenter Interaction portal to take advantage of portal functions such as search, user identification and authentication, and group management. Oracle WebCenter Collaboration extends the portal functionality by providing online work spaces that enable users to collaborate on projects.
Some features Oracle WebCenter Collaboration provides include:
Document management and library services
Notifications, subscriptions, and alerts
Project and process management
Role-based project security
Task assignment and calendars
Threaded discussions
Wikis
Blogs
The following table describes the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration components you must install and configure before you can use the procedures provided in this guide to manage Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects and objects. For information on installing and setting up these components, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation and Upgrade Guide for Oracle WebCenter Collaboration.
Table 1-1 Summary of Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Components
| Component | Description |
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Stores Oracle WebCenter Collaboration data such as calendar, task, discussion, and subscription information. It also stores information about the documents used by Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. The Oracle WebCenter Collaboration database does not store these documents; they are stored in the Document Repository Service. |
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Enables end users to access Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects and their contents through the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration portlets. The Oracle WebCenter Collaboration web application also enables some administrative actions, such as configuring access to projects and their objects. |
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Include all necessary images, styles, user interface controls, Java applets, and online help for Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. Install these files on the same computer on which the portal's Image Service is installed. |
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Enables integration with the following groupware servers:
When Oracle WebCenter Collaboration is integrated with a groupware server, users can synchronize their Oracle WebCenter Collaboration calendar with a groupware calendar and perform various groupware tasks from within Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. For information on groupware integration and groupware server version support, see Integrating Oracle WebCenter Collaboration and Groupware. |
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration is designed to integrate with the Oracle WebCenter Interaction portal. When Oracle WebCenter Collaboration is installed, several administrative objects, activity rights, and the Collaboration Administration Utility are created in the portal.
The following table describes the Oracle WebCenter Interaction components that are used by Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. For information on installing these components, see the installation and upgrade guides for Oracle WebCenter Interaction.
Table 1-2 Summary of Oracle WebCenter Interaction Components
| Component | Description |
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The portal database stores portal objects, such as user and group configurations, document records, and administrative objects. The portal database does not store the documents available through your portal. Source documents are left in their original locations. |
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The administrative portal handles portal setup, configuration, and content. It enables administrative functions, such as creating and managing portlets and other web services. |
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The portal serves end user portal pages and content. It enables end users to access portal content through My Pages, community pages, the Knowledge Directory, and search. The portal also enables some administrative actions, such as setting preferences on portlets or managing communities. |
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The Image Service serves static content used or created by portal components. It serves images, help files, and other static content for use by the Oracle WebCenter Interaction system. When you extend the base portal deployment to include additional components, such as portal servers or integration products, you might also have to install additional Image Service files. For information on installing the Image Service files for those components, refer to the documentation included with the component software. |
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The Search Service returns content that is indexed in the Oracle WebCenter Interaction system from the portal and Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. The indexed content includes documents, portlets, communities, users, and many other Oracle WebCenter Interaction objects. |
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ALUI Directory enables Oracle WebCenter Interaction to act as an LDAP server, exposing the user, group, and profile data in the portal database through an LDAP interface.This enables other Oracle WebCenter Interaction products (and other third-party applications) to authenticate users against the portal database. |
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The Automation Service runs jobs and other automated portal tasks. You run jobs to perform tasks such as crawling documents into the Knowledge Directory, synchronizing groups and users with external authentication sources, and maintaining the search collection. |
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The Document Repository Service stores content uploaded into the portal and Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. |
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Notification Service |
The Notification Service sends e-mail notifications to users. The Notification Service is not required for users to employ the Email a Project feature. However, if the Notification Service is not running, the Email a Project feature is less useful. For more information about the Email a Project feature, see Configuring the E-mail a Project Feature. |
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration security involves managing access to Oracle WebCenter Collaboration functionality and managing access to Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects and their content. This includes:
Activity security, in the form of activity rights. For more information, see Activity Rights.
Project roles, which are used to control access to Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects. For more information, see Project Roles.
Access levels, which are used to control access to functional areas and objects in Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects. For more information, see Access Levels.
In addition to the security available through Oracle WebCenter Collaboration, you must also secure your hardware and back-end systems (for example, your portal and Oracle WebCenter Collaboration databases) to fully protect your portal. You should follow all security guidance provided in your hardware and software documentation.
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration lets portal users work together by sharing documents, calendars, discussions, task lists, wikis, and blogs. These elements are combined to form an Oracle WebCenter Collaboration project, which is the main unit of Oracle WebCenter Collaboration.
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration lets you create multiple projects that are customized to the needs and goals of individual users. After you have set up a series of projects, users can select the projects they must accomplish their work. When a user selects a project, Oracle WebCenter Collaboration displays information about that project and makes the project's functional areas available to the user.
Each Oracle WebCenter Collaboration project has its own set of objects and properties that are not shared with other projects. For example, documents added to Project A belong only to that project. Users in Project B have their own set of documents, and do not see those that belong to Project A. Similarly, each project has its own task lists, discussions, messages, calendar, wikis, and blogs.
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration objects are defined as the following:
Table 1-3 Types of Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Objects
| Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Object | Description |
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Project |
Common work spaces for online collaboration for project teams. Projects are the containers for the other Oracle WebCenter Collaboration objects. |
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Announcement |
A way to convey important information to project members. |
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Discussion |
A virtual forum where project users can hold online conversations. Discussions are comprised of messages. |
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Document Folder |
A container used to organize documents, similar to folders on a file system. |
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Document |
A file of any type that have been uploaded to Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. |
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Event |
An occurrence of importance in a project. |
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Task List |
A set of tasks that define units of work to be completed by an assigned user. |
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Wiki |
A collection of pages that contain content that can be added or updated by project users. |
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Blog |
A place where project users can post project commentary or information in a journal entry format. A blog is made up of multiple entries. Entries can be created by project users. Other project users can then comment on the entry. |
This section describes the user interface for Oracle WebCenter Collaboration browsing users. It includes the following topics:
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration contains a set of portlets that provide access to projects and the Project Explorer. Oracle WebCenter Collaboration portlets are available in two forms:
Community portlets, which are added and configured by Community Managers to reside in portal communities. Members of the community can see projects to which they have been assigned. However, users can customize their view of the community by selecting only projects they want to view.
My Page portlets reside on a project user's My Page. Users can select the projects they want to view from among all projects to which they have been assigned, thereby customizing their My Page view.
Note:
User access to projects and functional areas within a project depend on the roles and access levels assigned to each user. For information on access levels, see Access Levels.
Table 1-4 lists and describes the available portlets. Most portlets have a community version (for example, Community Tasks) and a My Page version (for example, My Tasks).
Table 1-4 Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Portlets
| Portlet Name | Description |
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The Collaboration Profile portlet is added to user profile pages to add Oracle WebCenter Collaboration functionality. It should not be added to community pages or My Pages. |
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Community/My Announcements |
Displays a list of project announcements. |
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Community/My Blog Explorer |
Displays project blogs in an explorer user interface, with a hierarchical navigation tree on the left, and the selected blog entry and comments on the right. |
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Community/My Calendar |
Displays project events, tasks, and milestones in a calendar user interface. |
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Community/My Discussion Explorer |
Displays project discussions, messages, or threads. When you click a discussion or message, the discussion or message appears in the portlet. |
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Community/My Discussions |
Displays a list of project discussions or a list of the messages within those discussions. When you click a discussion or message, the discussion or message opens in the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration user interface. |
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Community/My Document Explorer |
Displays project folders and documents in an explorer user interface, with a hierarchical navigation tree on the left, and a list of selected folder contents and folder/document details on the right. |
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Community/My Documents |
Displays a list of project documents. |
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Community/My Excel |
Displays a selected Excel document from a project. There is also a Global Excel Portlet Template that enables you to create multiple instances of Excel portlets to display more than one Excel file on a particular My Page or community page. |
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Community/My Projects |
Displays projects selected by a community manager. |
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Community/My Tasks |
Displays project tasks and task lists. |
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Community/My Wiki Explorer |
Displays project wiki pages on the left and the selected wiki page and details on the right. |
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My/Project Search |
Lets users search the content of text documents and object properties within a project. |
For more information on Oracle WebCenter Collaboration portlets, see the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration online help.
The Project Explorer lets users view all projects to which they have access in a single window. Based on levels of access, different project functionality is accessible within a universal toolbar. If a user does not have permissions to perform a certain task, that task is unavailable in the toolbar.
The Project Explorer contains the following areas:
Table 1-5 Project Explorer Areas
| Project Explorer Area | Description |
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Toolbar |
Provides access to all of the Project Explorer functionality. |
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Folder Tree Window |
Displays the Project Folder hierarchy within Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. |
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Details Window |
Displays information about the selected Project or Project Folder. |
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List Window |
Displays the contents of the selected Project Folder. |
The Project Explorer is accessible from either the My Projects portlet or the Community Projects portlet. Users can add the My Projects portlet to their My Page. Community Managers can add the Community Projects portlet to a community.
The application view displays the functional areas and objects of a single project in one window. Selecting a tab changes the view. Each functional area has specific actions that can be enabled or disabled for a given role by assigning an Oracle WebCenter Collaboration access level.
The application view can contain the following tabbed panes corresponding to the functional areas of a project:
Table 1-6 Types of Application View Tabbed Panes
| Application View Tabbed Pane | Description |
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Overview |
Displays a summary of the project, including recent announcements, documents, and discussion messages. |
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Calendar |
Displays project events and tasks. |
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Tasks |
Displays the task lists in the project. |
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Documents |
Displays documents that have been uploaded to the project. |
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Discussions |
Displays the discussions in the project. |
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Wiki |
Displays the wiki pages in the project. |
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Blog |
Displays the blog entries in the project. |
The following image displays an example of the application view of a project:
Figure 1-2 Example of a Project's Application View
Only the functional areas that are included in the project appear in the project's application view. For more information on setting the functional areas of a project see Selecting the Functional Areas for a Project.
The following advanced features allow Oracle WebCenter Collaboration to be used with the Windows desktop and other common applications:
Table 1-7 Descriptions of Advanced Oracle WebCenter Collaboration Features
| Advanced Feature | Description |
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Groupware Integration |
Lets you configure and test a back-end groupware server so users can integrate Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes calendars with Oracle WebCenter Collaboration. |
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Desktop Integration |
Lets users integrate Oracle WebCenter Collaboration with the Windows desktop. |
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Microsoft Project Import |
Lets users import Microsoft Project files into an Oracle WebCenter Collaboration calendar. |
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Office Task Pane |
Lets users access key Oracle WebCenter Collaboration project features directly from their Microsoft Office documents. |
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Oracle Universal Content Management Integration |
Lets users export Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects and documents to Oracle Universal Content Management. |
For more information on using and configuring these features, see Integrating Other Products with Oracle WebCenter Collaboration.
This section describes the administrative objects, activity rights, and tools that are created in the portal when Oracle WebCenter Collaboration is installed. It includes the following topics:
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration uses the following types of administrative objects:
Content Source
Group
Portlet
Property
Remote Server
Web Service
These objects are created when the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration migration package is imported during the installation process and are accessed through the Administration section of the portal. By default, they are created in a folder named Collaboration. If you have upgraded from an earlier version of Oracle WebCenter Collaboration, these objects may be located in a different administrative folder.
For information on each object type, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction.
For information on each individual Oracle WebCenter Collaboration administrative object and how it is used, see the description of each object in the portal.
Oracle WebCenter Collaboration uses activity rights to control access to Oracle WebCenter Collaboration functionality. The Oracle WebCenter Collaboration activity rights are created when the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration migration package is imported during the installation process. Activity rights are accessed and managed through the Activity Manager in the Administration section of the portal. For more information on the Oracle WebCenter Collaboration activity rights and how to assign activity rights to portal users, see Granting Activity Rights to Users.
The Collaboration Administration Utility is used to manage global settings that affect the functionality of Oracle WebCenter Collaboration across all Oracle WebCenter Collaboration projects. The Collaboration Administration Utility is created in the portal during installation and is accessed through the Select Utility drop-down list in the Administration section of the portal. For more information on using the Collaboration Administration Utility, see Working with the Collaboration Administration Utility.
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