8 Customizing Portal Login

The login process is a key part of every user's portal experience. The login page is a standard portal page, so there are many tools that allow you to customize the look and feel or functionality of the login experience.

Customizing the Look and Feel of the Login Page

There are many ways to customize the look and feel of the login page.

• Change the header, footer, top bar and navigation by modifying the default experience definition. For details, see Chapter 7, "Customizing Experience Definitions".

• Create a custom login page using Adaptive Layouts. For details, see Chapter 3, "Using Adaptive Page Layouts".

• Change the text displayed on the page by modifying the corresponding string in the language file(s). For instructions, see Chapter 6, "Using String Replacement".

Modifying Login Functionality

There are also several options for customizing and extending the functionality of the login page.

• Add custom authentication options to the login page using remote Identity Services. Authentication Sources and Profile Sources allow you to use remote services to import user credentials and information. For details, see the Oracle WebCenter Interaction Web Service Development Guide.

• Provide specific users and groups with a customized login experience using experience definitions. For details, see Chapter 7, "Customizing Experience Definitions".

• Adaptive page layouts allow you to customize the portal user interface using adaptive tags in standard XHTML. For details, see Chapter 3, "Using Adaptive Page Layouts".

• Modify portal login functionality using the ILoginActions Programmable Event Interface (PEI). This interface includes methods for before/after login, failed login, and logout. The HelloWorld Login and Login Usage Agreement examples in this section provide sample code and detailed instructions. For details, see Chapter 12, "Using PEIs".

• If none of the above options provides the customization your require, you can change basic login form components through the portalconfig.xml file (PT_HOME\settings\portal). The following settings appear in the Authentication section of portalconfig.xml. For more information on portalconfig.xml, see the Administrator Guide for Oracle WebCenter Interaction.

  • The AllowDefaultLoginPageAuthSource option specifies how the authentication source dropdown appears.

    Mode	Display
    0 (default)	Dsplays the authentication source dropdown in no special order
    1	Hides the dropdown and automatically uses the default prefix for users. Displays a link for users to display the authentication source dropdown to select a non-standard authentication source.
    2	Displays the dropdown, but pre-selects the default authentication source.
    3	Same as Mode 1 but does not provide a link to display the dropdown.

    
    

    Note: For modes 1-3, you must set DefaultAuthSourcePrefix to the prefix of the default authentication source.

  • The AuthSourcePrefix[i] tags allow you to order the authentication source dropdown in any way you want. Entries in the list should follow the following syntax: <AuthSourcePrefix[i] value="Auth Source Prefix"></AuthSourcePrefix[i]> where [i] is replaced with the position in which the item should appear (starting with 1).

    To include the auth source in the list, make a new entry with the value you want to appear in the list. This authentication source is used for users created in the user database in the portal. For example, to include this authentication source as the 3rd item in the list, use the following syntax: <AuthSourcePrefix3 value="My custom auth source"></AuthSourcePrefix3>

    This list will be read in ascending order starting with 1 until there is no next sequential number. The authentication sources with associated prefixes are displayed first, followed by any authentication sources not included in the ordered list.

  • AllowAutoConnect allows you to turn the Remember My Password option on (1) or off (0).

  • RememberPassword allows you to set how long the portal remembers users' passwords. The value must be formatted in minutes. The default is one week.