14 Managing RSS

Configure and manage RSS functionality for WebCenter Portal.

Note:

Beginning with 12c (12.2.1.3.0), Oracle WebCenter Portal has deprecated support for Jive features (announcements and discussions). If you are upgrading from a prior release, these features remain available in your existing installations that are being upgraded.

Permissions:

To perform the tasks in this chapter, you must be granted the WebLogic Server Admin role through the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console and the Administrator role granted through WebCenter Portal Administration.

For more information about roles and permissions, see Understanding Administrative Operations, Roles, and Tools.

Topics:

• About RSS

• RSS Prerequisites

• Setting Up a Proxy Server for External RSS News Feeds

• Testing External RSS News Feed Connections

About RSS

The RSS functionality encompasses a RSS Viewer and RSS service that shows news feeds from various WebCenter Portal tools and services. The RSS Viewer enables users to view external news feeds from different web sites inside WebCenter Portal. RSS also delivers content update information from various portal resources including discussions, lists, and announcements.

RSS Prerequisites

RSS functionality does not require any back-end server. You do not need to set up a connection to use it. However, depending on your network configuration, you may need to set up a proxy server to enable WebCenter Portal to display content from external RSS news feeds.

Setting Up a Proxy Server

A proxy server is required if you want to enable external RSS news feeds and external links in activity stream task flows in WebCenter Portal. The RSS service and the activity stream service share the same proxy server settings.

You can set up a proxy server using Fusion Middleware Control or WLST.

This section includes the following subsections:

• Setting Up a Proxy Server Using Fusion Middleware Control

• Setting Up a Proxy Server Using WLST

Setting Up a Proxy Server for External RSS News Feeds

To enable external RSS news feeds in WebCenter Portal, you must set up a proxy server.

A proxy server is also required if you want to display external links in Activity Stream task flows. Both RSS and the activity stream share the same proxy server settings.

You can configure a proxy server by using either Fusion Middleware Control or WLST.

Setting Up a Proxy Server Using Fusion Middleware Control

To set up a proxy server using Fusion Middleware Control:

1. Log on to Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the home page for WebCenter Portal.
2. From the WebCenter Portal menu, select Settings > Application Configuration.
3. In the Proxy Server section, enter the host name and the port number of the proxy server. For details, see Table 14-1.

   Table 14-1 RSS Proxy Server Details

   Field	Description
   Proxy Host	Enter the host name of the proxy server.
   Proxy Port	Enter the port number on which the proxy server is running.

4. Click Apply to save this connection.
5. Restart the managed server to which your application is deployed.

Setting Up a Proxy Server Using WLST

Use the WLST command setWebCenterProxyConfig to specify the proxy host and port number used by RSS news feeds and activity stream task flows. For example:

setWebCenterProxyConfig(appName='webcenter', proxyHost='www-proxy.example.com', proxyPort='80')

For command syntax and examples, see setWebCenterProxyConfig in WebCenter WLST Command Reference Reference.

For information about how to run WLST commands, see Running Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) Commands.

Note:

To start using new proxy details, you must restart the managed server in which your application is deployed.

Use the getWebCenterProxyConfig command to find out the current proxy host and port used by RSS and activity stream task flows. For example:

getWebCenterProxyConfig(appName='webcenter')

If you want to delete the current proxy host and port settings, use the unsetWebCenterProxyConfig command. For example:

unsetWebCenterProxyConfig(appName='webcenter')

Testing External RSS News Feed Connections

After setting up the proxy server for the RSS Viewer, you can test the connection to make sure you can access external RSS feeds. To test the RSS connection, you need to add the RSS task flow to a portal page and set the URL to an external RSS feed. If the RSS feed displays correctly, proxy configuration is set up properly. For information about adding the RSS task flow and editing the URL, see Adding RSS News Feeds to a Portal in Building Portals with Oracle WebCenter Portal.