Defining User Preferences

This section describes how to establish user preferences.

PeopleSoft applications enable you to personalize your application based on your daily needs, style of work, language preference, preference for the mouse or the keyboard, and so on. Users of PeopleSoft applications include casual users and power users.

Casual users work with PeopleSoft applications only occasionally because these applications are not an integral part of their daily job. For example, casual users might use the PeopleSoft self-service applications only occasionally to maintain their employee information, to enroll in benefits, and so on.

Power users, on the other hand, use the PeopleSoft system as a part of their daily job. They do a great deal of data entry, moving quickly from one transaction page to the next, entering data as they go. A power user might be an accounts payable clerk, a human resources benefits manager, a purchasing manager, or an order entry clerk.

Note: Your security administrator determines what personalization options are available for you to customize. You may see options documented in this topic that you do not see in your My Preferences interface.

To define general user preferences, access the My Preferences - General Settings page.

Navigation:

Actions menu > My Preferences

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the My Preferences - General Settings: General Options section. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

My Preferences - General Settings - General Options

General Options

Expand this section to specify signon and other general options.

Field or Control

Description

Accessibility Layout

Note: Keyboard-only navigation features are available to all users and do not require users to enable accessibility features.

Select one of the following options to specify the accessibility layout to use:

  • Screen reader mode off

    Select this option to disable screen reader mode for the current session and subsequent sessions.

  • Screen reader mode on

    Select this option to enable screen reader mode either temporarily for the current session or for the current session and subsequent sessions.

Note: After you select to enable screen reader mode or to disable the persistence of screen reader mode, a confirmation page is displayed that then transfers you back to the current context so that your changes are now in effect.

Screen Reader in Actions Menu

Select this option to display the Enable Screen Reader Mode link in the Actions menu.

Note: This link is available on fluid homepages and fluid pages only. However, while this link is available in fluid applications, it is not displayed in fluid activity guides, fluid navigation collections, and in My Preferences.

Enhanced Cursor

This accessibility feature provides bold highlighting of page elements that have focus.

Note: The enhanced cursor feature is available on classic pages only.

Display Keyword Search Help

When a component is keyword search enabled, show help for enhanced search. This option is enabled by default.

Maximum in Recently Visited

Set a value between 0 and 30 for the number of recently visited items. The default value is 10.

Multi Language Entry

Select this option to be able to enter data in the language you specify in the Data Language list in pages where multiple language entry is available. This option is disabled by default.

Prompt Auto Collapse Criteria

Select this option to auto-collapse the search criteria when the prompt page is opened or after a search is performed. This option is enabled by default. See Working with Fluid Lookup Pages.

Note: In screen reader mode, this setting is ignored and the search criteria always remains expanded.

Prompt Show Search Operators

Select this option to display the search operators in the search criteria as changeable drop-down list values. This option is disabled by default. See Working with Fluid Lookup Pages.

Note: In screen reader mode, this setting is ignored and the search operators in the search criteria are always displayed as changeable drop-down list values.

Spell Check Dictionary

Select the language to use as your spell check dictionary from the list.

Note: Use session language is the default option, which selects the dictionary associated with your signon language as specified on the Manage Installed Languages page.

See Using Spell Check.

Saving Your Preferences

Click the Save button to save any updated preference settings. Except for changes to screen reader mode, which take effect immediately after confirmation, other changes to your preferences take effect the next time you login.

To revert all preference settings back to their default values, click Restore Defaults button.

Note: After you change the setting for screen reader mode (either enabling it or disabling it), a confirmation page is displayed where the new setting is in effect. Click the Back button to return to the previous context retaining the new screen reader setting. If restoring default settings changes the screen reader mode, then you are also transferred to the confirmation page where the new setting is in effect.

Regional Settings

Expand this section to specify your preferred date, time, and calendar related settings.

This example illustrates the fields and controls in the Regional Settings section of the My Preferences - General Settings page. Details about these options are described following the example.

My Preferences - General Settings - Regional Settings

Field or Control

Description

Afternoon designator (PM, pm)

Select the format for designating afternoon when using a 12 hour clock. The default value is PM.

Auto-recognize Gregorian dates

When you enable this option, if your calendar preference is set to use a non-Gregorian calendar, a date entered with a year between 1800 and 2300 will be assumed to represent a Gregorian date. Once entered and saved, the date will still be displayed using your selected calendar. This option is enabled by default.

Calendar

Select the type of calendar. This setting takes effect for all date entry and display fields. The Gregorian calendar is the primary calendar used by international business. Other supported calendars include the Thai Buddhist calendar and the Islamic Hijri calendar. The default value is Gregorian.

Date Format

Select the format to use for date fields. MMDDYY is the default value.

Local Time Zone

Select your local time zone. This option determines which time zone is used when the Use Local Timezone option is set to Yes. The default value is Pacific Time (US).

Morning designator (AM, am)

Select the format for designating morning when using a 12 hour clock. The default value is AM.

Time Format

Select the format to use for time fields. Determines whether time will be displayed in civilian (8:05:00 PM) or military (20:05:00) time format. The determination of whether seconds and microseconds are displayed is made at the field level, and is not a personalization. The default value is 12 hour clock.

Use Local Timezone

Select this option to use your local time zone rather than the server time zone. This option is disabled by default.

First day of week

Select the day to use as the first day of the week. The default value is Sunday.

System & Application Messages

Expand this section to specify your preferences for displaying several system warnings and confirmation messages.

This example illustrates the fields and controls in the System & Application Messages section of the My Preferences - General Settings page. Details about these options are described following the example.

&My Preferences - General Settings - System & Application Messages

Field or Control

Description

Disable AutoClose Confirmation

Enable this option to prevent confirmation messages from automatically closing. This option is required for WCAG 2.0 standards, so that accessibility users have adequate time to read confirmations. When set to Yes, you must close a message to dismiss it; it will not disappear automatically. This option is disabled by default.

Save Confirmation

Enable this option to display a message to the user indicating that a save request completed successfully. Yes is the default value.

Save Warning

Enable this option to display a warning when transferring from a page that has unsaved changes. This option is enabled by default.

Pagelet Transfer Warning

Enable this option to display a warning in screen reader mode when transferring from a pagelet (homepage or dashboard) to another object. This option is disabled by default.

Navigation Personalizations

Expand this section to specify keyboard navigation preferences. For example, suppose you always prefer to type the date into a date field and then press tab to move quickly to the next field rather than opening the calendar prompt, selecting the date, and then closing the prompt. If you enable the Tab over Calendar Button, when you navigate with the tab key your cursor focus will never rest on a calendar button.

This example illustrates the fields and controls in the Navigation Personalizations section of the My Preferences - General Settings page. Details about these options are described following the example.

My Preferences - General Settings - Navigation Personalizations

Select the navigation options to enable them. The following options are enabled by default:

  • Tab over Glyph icon.

  • Mouse over pop-up event.

  • Autocomplete.

Field or Control

Description

Automatic Menu Collapse

Enable this option to cause the menu to automatically collapse when a transaction is selected. You can expand the menu either by using Ctrl+Y or the show menu icon.

Tab over Glyph icon

Enable this option to skip glyph icons when using the Tab key to move through page objects. A glyph icon displays the related contextual menu for a field.

Mouse over popup event

Enable this option to enable popup events when you mouse over items on a page. Mouse over pop-ups are enabled for some fields and will display a popup page with related information on it when you hover the mouse pointer over those fields.

Open new browser window

Enable this option to open a new page in a new browser window, even when the browser setting is set to open in a new tab.

Tab over Calendar Button

Enable this option to skip calendar button controls when using the Tab key to move through page objects. A calendar button is the icon next to date fields that can be used to display a calendar for date selection.

Tab over Grid Tabs

Enable this option to skip grid tabs when using the Tab key to move through page objects. Grid Tabs appear at the top of a grid.

Tab over Lookup Button

Enable this option to skip lookup button controls when using the Tab key to move through page objects. A lookup button is the magnifying glass icon following fields that have a defined list of valid values.

Tab over Navigation Bar

Enable this option to skip navigation bars when using the Tab key to move through page objects. A navigation bar appears at the top of grids and scroll areas, and controls which rows appear.

Tab over Browser Elements

Enable this option to skip over browser elements when using the Tab key to move through page objects, to restrict tabbing to PeopleSoft elements in the page.

Depending on your browser, it can sometimes appear as if the focus is lost, when it is actually on a browser element, such as the URL address field. By enabling this option, you can avoid this browser issue.

Tab over Page Links

Enable this option to skip page links when using the Tab key to move through page objects. Page Links are the hyperlinks at the bottom of a page in a multi-page component.

Tab over Related Page Links

Enable this option to skip over the icon that takes you to a list of related links when using the Tab key to move through page objects.

Tab over Toolbar

Enable this option to skip the toolbar when using the Tab key to move through page objects. The toolbar is located at the bottom of a page and contains standard operations that are needed to work with the transaction, such as Save and Return to Search.

Autocomplete

Enable this option to have the system do a prompt lookup as you type to suggest appropriate values. Applicable only for fields with defined prompt edit values.

Notifications

Expand this section to enter a phone number to receive text messages.

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the My Preferences - General Settings: Notifications section.

My Preferences - General Settings: Notifications

Enter your phone number in international phone number format (known as E.164), which is a number of up to fifteen digits in length starting with a +. Do not include any other non-numeric characters such as spaces, dashes, periods, or parenthesis. For example:

+15555550100

Process Pop-up Notification

Expand this section to specify preferences for pop-up notifications.

Note: The display of the Process Pop-up Notification section is controlled by the Pop-up Notification check box in the Notification Settings page in PeopleTools > Process Scheduler > Process Scheduler Settings > Notification Configuration. The configuration settings defined under this section override the settings for run/distribution status configured in the Notification Settings page. See Defining Notification Configuration.

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the My Preferences - General Settings: Process Pop-up Notification section. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

My Preferences - General Settings - Process Pop-up Notification

Field or Control

Description

Enable Popup Notification

Select this option to activate pop-up notifications. This option is disabled by default.

Important! This option must be set to Yes for pop-up notifications to be displayed. When it is set to No, even if a specific pop-up notification type has been enabled, it will not appear.

Auto Dismiss

Enter the duration for pop-up notifications. The value you enter determines the number of seconds that a pop-up notification remains displayed. For example, if the value is set to 5, then a pop-up notification will be displayed for 5 seconds, after which it will automatically disappear.

Queued State

Enable this option to receive pop-up notifications when a process status changes to Queued. This option is disabled by default.

Processing State

Enable this option to receive pop-up notifications when a process status changes to Processing. This option is disabled by default.

Success State

Enable this option to receive pop-up notifications when a process status changes to Success. This option is disabled by default.

No Success State

Select this option to receive pop-up notifications when a process status changes to No Success. This option is disabled by default.

Posted State

Select this option to receive pop-up notifications when a process status changes to Posted. This option is disabled by default.

Advanced Settings

Expand this section to specify preferences for grouplet updates and page cache duration.

This example illustrates the fields and controls in the Advanced Settings section of the My Preferences - General Settings page. Details about these options are described following the example.

My Preferences - General Settings - Advanced Settings

Field or Control

Description

Time page held in cache

Enter the amount of time, in seconds, that a page is held in cache memory.

The default value is 900.

Grouplet Live Update

Select Yes to have grouplets update automatically. When set to No, grouplets update only when you refresh the page.

Use the Notifications page of My Preferences to personalize how you wish to receive notifications the PeopleSoft system

Navigation:

My Preferences > Notifications

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Notifications page before personalization. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Notifications page: Before personalization

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Notifications page after personalization. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Notifications page: After personalization

When you personalize your notifications, you can select among the notification channels that have been configured for each notification category. When the options are available, you can select to receive notifications in the Notification window, in email, or by text message.

Field or Control

Description

I agree to give my consent

Select this check box only if you wish to receive text messages.

Note: Selecting this check box enables the Text option on any notification type that has text defined as an option. However, you still must select or provide a phone number to receive text messages.

Revoke Consent

Click this button to revoke your consent to receive text messages. Revoking consent will also reset and disable the text option on any notification type that has the text option configured as available.

Suspend Text Notifications

Click this button to temporarily suspend delivery of notifications via text. No personalizations are reset when you suspend text notifications.

Choose

Click the Choose button to select an email address or phone number on which to receive notifications.

Choose button

Click the Choose button to select a different email address or phone number on which to receive notifications.

Notifications Delivery

Select the delivery options for each listed notification: In-App (the Notifications panel), Email, and Text.

Note: Some notification categories do not allow personalization and are not displayed here. In addition, other categories may be defined as mandatory, meaning you must retain at least one delivery option as selected.

Selecting and Updating Email Addresses and Phone Numbers

Use the Email Address page or the Phone Number page to select or update your selection of the email address or phone number on which you wish to receive notifications.

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Email Address page. The Phone Number page, which has similar fields, is not shown here.

Email Address page

The Email Address page and the Phone Number page display your contact information that is entered elsewhere in the PeopleSoft system. On these pages, you can merely select one of the values presented to you; you cannot update them. To update contact information or to enter a new email address or phone number, select one of the values displayed here first. Then, the Update Email Address link (or the Update Phone Number link) will become active. Then, you can click that link to be redirected to the configured application-specific component where you can update your email or phone contact information.

Note: If no application-specific configuration has been defined on your system, the PeopleTools-delivered configuration will redirect you to My System Profile where you can maintain your email addresses.

Access the General Profile Information page (from Home, select My System Profile).

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the General Profile Information page.

General Profile Information page

Field or Control

Description

Password

Click one of the following links, which are self-service options related to passwords:

Personalizations

This region lists your current language preference for web pages and your preferred language for reports and email. You can change the language setting for your reports and email on this page.

You can also select the currency code for the currency symbol that will appear on pages when you enter currency values.

Note: The decimal placement is a property of the currency code; two decimal places is standard.

Select the mobile homepage that should appear after you sign on to a mobile device.

PeopleSoft Mobile Agent is a desupported product. These features exist for backward compatibility only.

Note: For more personalizations options, open the My Personalizations page.

Alternate User

If you are going to be on vacation or some other type of temporary leave, you can add the user ID of a colleague who is looking after your tasks in your absence. Select the alternate user ID and enter the dates during which you want the alternate ID to be active. After that time has passed, your tasks are automatically routed back to you.

Note: When applying an alternate user ID in your workflow settings, note that the system only sends workflow routings to the immediate alternate user ID. The system does not send routings down multiple levels of alternate user IDs. For example, assume user A specifies user B as the alternate user ID while user A is out of the office. Also assume that user B is out of the office at some time during user A’s absence, and user B specifies user C as an alternate user ID. In this case, the system does not send workflow routings originally intended for user A to user C.

Workflow Attributes

Select one or more check boxes. The available options are determined by the workflow setup at your site. These settings affect how you receive ad hoc workflow routings through your workflow system. An email user receives notifications through email, while a worklist user receives notifications through worklists.

Miscellaneous User Links

Follow this link to view other security links. These links are controlled by the security configuration of your system. Contact your system administrator for more information.

Email

Use the Email grid to edit your current email address or enter additional email types, such as home or Blackberry. You can enter one address of each Email Type.