U.S. patent application number 10/279542 was filed with the patent office on 2003-06-26 for portal administration tool.
Invention is credited to Bales, Christopher E., Cook, Thomas A..
Application Number | 20030117437 10/279542 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 23525780 |
Filed Date | 2003-06-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030117437 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cook, Thomas A. ; et
al. |
June 26, 2003 |
Portal administration tool
Abstract
An interactive tool adapted for administering a portal including
user information, comprising providing a graphical user interface
(GUI) adapted for managing at least one of the portal and the user
information and wherein the GUI can be used to delegate at least
one administration task to a user represented by the user
information.
Inventors: |
Cook, Thomas A.; (Boulder,
CO) ; Bales, Christopher E.; (Boulder, CO) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FLIESLER DUBB MEYER & LOVEJOY, LLP
FOUR EMBARCADERO CENTER
SUITE 400
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94111
US
|
Family ID: |
23525780 |
Appl. No.: |
10/279542 |
Filed: |
October 24, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60386487 |
Oct 24, 2001 |
|
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/764 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 63/102 20130101;
G06F 2221/0771 20130101; G06Q 10/10 20130101; G06F 16/958 20190101;
G06F 2221/2141 20130101; G06F 2221/0735 20130101; G06F 16/954
20190101; G06F 2221/2149 20130101; H04L 67/2871 20130101; H04L
69/329 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101; H04L 67/14 20130101; H04L
67/34 20130101; H04L 67/025 20130101; H04L 69/22 20130101; G06F
2221/0706 20130101; G06F 16/986 20190101; G06F 21/629 20130101;
G06F 2221/0717 20130101; H04L 63/0884 20130101; H04L 67/75
20220501; G06F 2221/0766 20130101; H04L 41/22 20130101; H04L
63/0815 20130101; Y10S 707/99931 20130101; G06F 21/604 20130101;
H04L 67/142 20130101; Y10S 707/99953 20130101; G06F 21/6218
20130101; G06F 2221/2101 20130101; G06F 16/275 20190101; G06F
2221/2145 20130101; H04L 9/40 20220501; H04L 67/568 20220501; H04L
67/564 20220501; Y10S 707/99954 20130101; G06F 2221/2117 20130101;
H04L 67/06 20130101; G06F 16/80 20190101; H04L 67/02 20130101; H04L
67/51 20220501; H04L 67/567 20220501; G06F 21/6227 20130101; H04L
41/18 20130101; Y10S 707/99933 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
345/764 |
International
Class: |
G09G 005/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An interactive tool adapted for administering a portal including
user information, comprising: providing a graphical user interface
(GUI) adapted for managing at least one of the portal and the user
information; and wherein the GUI can be used to delegate at least
one administration task to a user represented by the user
information.
2. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the GUI can be used to
create, modify and delete user information.
3. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the user information is
at least one of user name, user password, user type and property
set.
4. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the GUI can be used to
specify that the user is eligible for promotion to an
administrator.
5. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the GUI can be used to
promote the user to an administrator.
6. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the GUI can be used to
designate the user as a system administrator.
7. The interactive tool of claim 5 wherein: the administrator is
one of a portal administrator and a group administrator.
8. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the at least one
administration task is one of user management, portal management,
portlet management and skins management.
9. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: delegation of the at
least one administration task includes specifying permissions for
the at least one administration task.
10. The interactive tool of claim 9 wherein: the permissions are at
least one of grant, can delegate, and can specify entitlements.
11. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the GUI can be used to
associate the portal with at least one group.
12. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portal page.
13. The interactive tool of claim 12 wherein: the GUI can be used
to order the at least one portal page.
14. The interactive tool of claim 12 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify entitlements for the at least one portal page.
15. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the GUI can be used to
create a new portal and associate it with at least one group.
16. The interactive tool of claim 15 wherein: the new portal can
define its layout and administrators based on an existing
portal.
17. The interactive tool of claim 12 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement of
the at least one portal page.
18. The interactive tool of claim 1 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portlet.
19. The interactive tool of claim 18 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement of
the at least one portlet.
20. An interactive tool adapted for administering a portal
including user information, comprising: providing a graphical user
interface (GUI) adapted for managing at least one of the portal and
a user represented by the user information; and wherein the portal
is comprised of at least one portal page; and wherein the GUI can
be used to specify entitlements for the at least one portal
page.
21. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to create, modify and delete user information.
22. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the user information
is at least one of user name, user password, user type and property
set.
23. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify that the user is eligible for promotion to an
administrator.
24. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to promote the user to an administrator.
25. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to designate the user as a system administrator.
26. The interactive tool of claim 25 wherein: the administrator is
one of a portal administrator and a group administrator.
27. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to delegate at least one administration task to the user.
28. The interactive tool of claim 27 wherein: the at least one
administration task is one of user management, portal management,
portlet management and skins management.
29. The interactive tool of claim 27 wherein: delegation of the at
least one administration task includes specifying permissions for
the at least one administration task.
30. The interactive tool of claim 29 wherein: the permissions are
at least one of grant, can delegate, and can specify
entitlements.
31. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to associate the portal with at least one group.
32. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to order the at least one portal page.
33. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to create a new portal and associate it with at least one
group.
34. The interactive tool of claim 33 wherein: the new portal can
define its layout and administrators based on an existing
portal.
35. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify at least one attribute of the at least one portal
page.
36. The interactive tool of claim 20 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portlet.
37. The interactive tool of claim 36 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement of
the at least one portlet.
38. A method for administering a portal including user information,
comprising: providing input to a graphical user interface (GUI)
adapted for managing at least one of the portal and the user
information; and wherein the GUI can be used to delegate at least
one administration task to a user represented by the user
information.
39. The method of claim 38 wherein: directing the GUI to create,
modify or delete user information.
40. The method of claim 38 wherein: the user information is at
least one of user name, user password, user type and property
set.
41. The method of claim 38 wherein: directing the GUI to specify
that the user is eligible for promotion to an administrator.
42. The method of claim 38 wherein: directing the GUI to promote
the user to an administrator.
43. The method of claim 38 wherein: directing the GUI to designate
the user as a system administrator.
44. The method of claim 42 wherein: the administrator is one of a
portal administrator and a group administrator.
45. The method of claim 38 wherein: the at least one administration
task is one of user management, portal management, portlet
management and skins management.
46. The method of claim 38 wherein: delegation of the at least one
administration task includes specifying permissions for the at
least one administration task.
47. The method of claim 46 wherein: the permissions are at least
one of grant, can delegate, and can specify entitlements.
48. The method of claim 38 wherein: directing the GUI to associate
the portal with at least one group.
49. The method of claim 38 wherein: the portal is comprised of at
least one portal page.
50. The method of claim 49 wherein: directing the GUI to order the
at least one portal page.
51. The method of claim 49 wherein: directing the GUI to specify
entitlements for the at least one portal page.
52. The method of claim 38 wherein: directing the GUI to create a
new portal and associate it with at least one group.
53. The method of claim 52 wherein: the new portal can define its
layout and administrators based on an existing portal.
54. The method of claim 49 wherein: directing the GUI to specify at
least one attribute and at least one entitlement of the at least
one portal page.
55. The method of claim 38 wherein: the portal is comprised of at
least one portlet.
56. The method of claim 55 wherein: directing the GUI to specify at
least one attribute and at least one entitlement of the at least
one portlet.
57. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon
that when executed by a processor cause a system to: provide a
graphical user interface (GUI) adapted for managing at least one of
a portal and user information; and wherein the GUI can be used to
delegate at least one administration task to a user represented by
the user information.
58. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the GUI can be
used to create, modify and delete user information.
59. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the user
information is at least one of user name, user password, user type
and property set.
60. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the GUI can be
used to specify that the user is eligible for promotion to an
administrator.
61. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the GUI can be
used to promote the user to an administrator.
62. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the GUI can be
used to designate the user as a system administrator.
63. The machine readable medium of claim 61 wherein: the
administrator is one of a portal administrator and a group
administrator.
64. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the at least
one administration task is one of user management, portal
management, portlet management and skins management.
65. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: delegation of
the at least one administration task includes specifying
permissions for the at least one administration task.
66. The machine readable medium of claim 65 wherein: the
permissions are at least one of grant, can delegate, and can
specify entitlements.
67. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the GUI can be
used to associate the portal with at least one group.
68. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portal page.
69. The machine readable medium of claim 68 wherein: the GUI can be
used to order the at least one portal page.
70. The machine readable medium of claim 68 wherein: the GUI can be
used to specify entitlements for the at least one portal page.
71. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the GUI can be
used to create a new portal and associate it with at least one
group.
72. The machine readable medium of claim 71 wherein: the new portal
can define its layout and administrators based on an existing
portal.
73. The machine readable medium of claim 68 wherein: the GUI can be
used to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement
of the at least one portal page.
74. The machine readable medium of claim 57 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portlet.
75. The machine readable medium of claim 74 wherein: the GUI can be
used to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement
of the at least one portlet.
76. An interactive tool adapted for administering a portal
including user information, comprising: providing a graphical user
interface (GUI) adapted for managing at least one of the portal and
the user information; and wherein the GUI can be used to delegate
at least one administration task to a user represented by the user
information; and wherein the at least one administration task is
one of user management, portal management, portlet management and
skins management.
77. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the GUI can be used
to create, modify and delete user information.
78. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the user information
is at least one of user name, user password, user type and property
set.
79. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify that the user is eligible for promotion to an
administrator.
80. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the GUI can be used
to promote the user to an administrator.
81. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the GUI can be used
to designate the user as a system administrator.
82. The interactive tool of claim 81 wherein: the administrator is
one of a portal administrator and a group administrator.
83. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: delegation of the at
least one administration task includes specifying permissions for
the at least one administration task.
84. The interactive tool of claim 83 wherein: the permissions are
at least one of grant, can delegate, and can specify
entitlements.
85. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the GUI can be used
to associate the portal with at least one group.
86. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portal page.
87. The interactive tool of claim 86 wherein: the GUI can be used
to order the at least one portal page.
88. The interactive tool of claim 86 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify entitlements for the at least one portal page.
89. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the GUI can be used
to create a new portal and associate it with at least one
group.
90. The interactive tool of claim 89 wherein: the new portal can
define its layout and administrators based on an existing
portal.
91. The interactive tool of claim 86 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement of
the at least one portal page.
92. The interactive tool of claim 76 wherein: the portal is
comprised of at least one portlet.
93. The interactive tool of claim 92 wherein: the GUI can be used
to specify at least one attribute and at least one entitlement of
the at least one portlet.
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims priority from ENHANCED PORTALS
[FLAGSTAFF RELEASE], U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/386,487,
Inventors: Phil Griffin, et al., filed on Oct. 24, 2001, and which
is incorporated herein by reference.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] This application is related to the following co-pending
applications which are each hereby incorporated by reference in
their entirety: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELEGATED SYSTEM
ADMINISTRATION, U.S. Application Ser. No. ______, Inventors: Phil
Griffin, et al., filed on ______; SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RULE-BASED
ENTITLEMENTS, U.S. Application Ser. No. ______, Inventors: Phil
Griffin, et al., filed on ______; and SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PORTAL
PAGE LAYOUT, U.S. Application Ser. No. ______, Inventors: John
Haut, et al., filed on ______.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0003] The present invention disclosure relates to interactive
tools for portal management.
BACKGROUND
[0004] A portal is a point of access to data and applications that
provides a unified and personalized view of information and
resources. Portals are typically implemented as websites on the
World Wide Web and are accessible via web browser applications.
Portals have evolved from simple one page content sites to
multi-page aggregations of content and applications with
integration to back-office systems. Portal complexity has also
increased due to the growth in the number of portal users. However,
tools for administering portals have not kept pace with these
trends.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary portal
administration graphical user interface (GUI) in one embodiment of
the invention.
[0006] FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary group hierarchy
GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0007] FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary portal management
GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0008] FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary delegated
administration GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary group portal home
GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0010] FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary user management
GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary portal page
selection GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0012] FIG. 8 is an illustration of an exemplary page attribute GUI
in one embodiment of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 9 is an illustration of an exemplary page entitlements
GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0014] FIG. 10 is an illustration of an exemplary portlet
attributes GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 11 is an illustration of an exemplary portlet
entitlements GUI in one embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by
way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in
which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted
that references to "an" or "one" embodiment in this disclosure are
not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at
least one.
[0017] In one embodiment of the invention, resources for portal
applications deployed on a web server (hereinafter referred to as a
"server") are managed with a portal administration tool
(hereinafter referred to as a "tool"). Servers are available from a
variety of venders, such as the BEA WebLogic Server.TM. offered by
BEA Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Aspects of one embodiment are
realized in the BEA WebLogic Portal Administration Tools, available
from BEA Systems, Inc. In one embodiment, by way of example, a tool
can be implemented as one or more Java Server Pages.TM. (JSP's).
JSP's are part of the Java.TM. programming environment which is
available from Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. JSP
technology separates presentation of a GUI from application logic
so that one can be changed independent of the other.
[0018] Portal applications deployed on a server can present a GUI
which, in one embodiment, can be rendered by a web browser, such as
the Microsoft Internet Explorer, available from Microsoft Corp. of
Redmond, Wash. By way of a non-limiting example, a portal
application could present to a user a list of real-time stock
quotes. A portal application could also work behind-the-scenes,
providing data and services in support of the portal. A portal and
its applications can be developed using commercially available
development tools such as BEA WebLogic Portal.TM., available from
BEA Systems, Inc.
[0019] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary portal
administration GUI in one embodiment. The GUI enables an individual
to create or register a number of portal users, each having the
same or different administration capabilities. By assigning a
portal user to a role-based administrator group, the portal user
can acquire the administrative authority that is assigned to that
group. In one embodiment, the following types of portal users can
be created:
1 User Type Description Users Users are individuals that exist in
the system with user names and passwords. Only System
Administrators can create users. Users are not part of a particular
group. System SA's are the superusers and can manage any aspect of
Administrators any portal. They can only be created by other SA's.
(SA's) AdminEligible AdminEligible group members are eligible for
Users administrative abilities. Users can be added to the
AdminEligible group by SA's. Portal PA's are AdminEligible users
that have been assigned Administrators administrative authority for
a particular portal (PA's) application. PA's can be created by SA's
and other PA's. Group GA's are AdminEligible users who are given
limited Administrators administrative authority for specific group
portals. A (GA's) group portal is a portal that is associated with
a user group. A user group can be any arbitrary collection of users
that is determined statically, or dynamically by evaluating rules
that take into account information about a user and other
information. GA's can be created by SA's, PA's, and other GA's.
[0020] In one embodiment, a portal user can be a registered user or
an anonymous visitor. In order to assign a user administrative
abilities of any kind however, they must be registered. Registering
a portal user provides them with a user name and a password, and
enables them to be selected for addition to role-based user groups.
In one embodiment, by way of illustration, the following procedure
can be used to register a portal user:
[0021] 1. Select User Management icon 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
A User Management home page then appears (not shown). By way of a
non-limiting example, selection or interaction with the tool can be
accomplished using an input device such as a mouse, trackball, or
similar device, a keyboard, a gesture recognition system, a speech
recognition system, etc.
[0022] 2. Select a Create icon in the Users bar (not shown). The
Create New Users page then appears.
[0023] 3. In a Create New User page (not shown), enter the user
Name, Password, and User Type.
[0024] In one embodiment, a registered user can be associated with
a property set. A property set is a convenient way to give a name
to a group of properties for a specific purpose. Generally
speaking, a property can be considered a name/value pair. Property
sets serve as namespaces for properties so that properties can be
conveniently grouped and multiple properties with the same name can
be defined. Properties can include the following information:
2 Name Value Property The name of the property, such as Gender.
name Data type Specifies the data type of the property value. For
example, possible data types are Text, Numeric, Floating-Point
number (equivalent to Double in Java), Boolean, and Date/Time.
Selection Specifies whether a property is single-valued (has a
single mode default value) or multi-valued (has a collection of
default values). Value range Specifies whether the defaults are
restricted to one specific value, one or more specific values, or
any value. Description A textual description of the property,
perhaps describing the purpose of the property. Values A list of
values from which the user will pick, and you can designate which
of the values is the default.
[0025] By way of a non limiting example, a property set called
Demographics can describe portal user properties such as Age,
Gender, Income, and so forth. Because property sets create unique
namespaces for properties, another property set can also have a
property called Gender, and the two values will be kept separate.
Property sets and other user attributes can be edited using a
GUI.
[0026] By way of a non limiting example, a registered user can have
property set named Customer Properties which defines properties for
an e-commerce customer, for example, such as First Name, Last Name,
Home Phone, Email, and Customer Type. In one embodiment, the
following procedure can be used to assign property sets to the new
user:
[0027] 1. In a Create New Users page (not shown), Select the name
of the new user. A user management page for your new user appears
(not shown).
[0028] 2. Use a drop-down menu to select a property set for the
user (not shown).
[0029] A portal user can be promoted to an SA by adding them to the
System Administrator group. In one embodiment, in order to assign a
portal user to the System Administrator Group, they must have
already been registered as an SA. In one embodiment, the following
procedure can be followed:
[0030] 1. Select the User Management icon 100 in the Administration
Tools Home page (FIG. 1). A User Management page appears.
[0031] 2. Select a Groups icon in the User Management page (not
shown). The Group Hierarchy page appears (FIG. 2).
[0032] 3. In the Group Hierarchy page, Select "SystemAdministrator"
200.
[0033] 4. An Edit Groups page (not shown) displays information for
the SystemAdministrator group and allows a registered portal user
to be added to the group.
[0034] In one embodiment, before a user can be given PA or GA
authority, they must first be added to the AdminEligible group.
AdminEligible members are registered users that are added to the
AdminEligible group by an SA. In another embodiment, registered
users can be added to the AdminEligible group by a PA or a GA. In
one embodiment, the following procedure can be followed to add an
SA:
[0035] 1. Select the User Management icon 100 in the home page
(FIG. 1). A User Management page appears (not shown).
[0036] 2. Select a Groups icon in the User Management page. The
Group Hierarchy page appears (FIG. 2).
[0037] 3. In the Group Hierarchy page, Select the AdminEligible
link 210.
[0038] 4. Select an add/remove icon (+/-) in an AdminEligible page
(not shown).
[0039] 5. Search a for user to add to the AdminEligible group (not
shown).
[0040] 6. Highlight the desired user and Select a right arrow to
add them to the Group Search Results list (not shown).
[0041] FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary delegated
administration GUI in one embodiment. In one embodiment, PA's have
authority to manage aspects of their associated portal. A PA is
created by adding a member of the AdminEligible group to the Portal
Administrator group and specifying their privileges. SA's and PA's
can create a new PA from an existing AdminEligible user. A PA may
have authority in multiple portals. In one embodiment, the
following procedure can be used to create a new PA:
[0042] 1. Select the Portal Management icon 102 in the home page
(FIG. 1). The Portal Management home page appears (FIG. 3), listing
all group portals within the portal application. Group portals
provide a means for organizing users with common characteristics
into a single category. Portal groups also allow for the definition
of different views of a portal for different user groups, making it
seem as if users in each group are looking at completely different
web sites.
[0043] 2. Select the Edit Portal Administrators link 300. An Edit
Portal Administrators page appears (not shown).
[0044] 3. In the Edit Portal Administrator page, Select Create New
Administrator. An Add New Portal Administrator page appears (not
shown).
[0045] 4. Select a user to add to the Portal Administrator group
(not shown). Any user in the AdminEligible group or existing GA is
eligible.
[0046] 5. The Delegate Administration page appears (FIG. 4).
[0047] FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary delegated
administration GUI in one embodiment. Checking each box allows the
new PA to perform that function on any group portal within the
associated portal application. In the User Management row 400, if
"Grant" is checked, the PA can create, add, remove, delete, and
edit properties of users. In one embodiment, delegated system
administration involves the conveying of a capability (e.g., the
ability to perform a system administration task) from one user to
another. If "Can Delegate" is checked, the PA can choose to assign
or remove the user management authority of other PA's or GA's
associated with this portal application.
[0048] In Portal Page Management row 402, if "Grant" is selected,
the PA can perform portal page administration. In one embodiment,
portal page administration entails controlling behavioral aspects
that a visitor experiences when accessing a portal, such as whether
a portlet is viewed as a popup window or a smaller window within
the page of origin. A portlet is an application that manages its
own GUI. In one embodiment, a portlet is implemented as a JSP. If
"Can Delegate" is checked, the PA can choose to give or remove
portal page management authority of other PA's or GA's associated
with this portal application. If "Can Set Entitlements" is
selected, the PA can control visitor portal page capabilities by
associating entitlement segments with portal pages. In one
embodiment, an entitlement segment is a dynamic visitor group based
on common characteristics that allows a member of the group to view
certain aspects of a portal. For example, if a portal provides
information about upcoming city council elections in Los Angeles,
an entitlement group for that portlet could consists of visitors
who live in Los Angeles county and are of voting age. Meeting an
entitlement segment's criteria may also give the user certain
privileges in a portal. In the above example, any visitor that
lives in Los Angeles county and is of voting age might be given the
ability to edit the presentation or color scheme of their
portal.
[0049] Portlet Management row 404 controls a PA's authority of the
management of portlets. In one embodiment, if an administrator has
the capability of managing portlets, the administrator can define
and modify the resources that are available to a portlet. The
administrator can also set portlet defaults, such as whether the
portlet will be available to users, whether the portlet can be
minimized, whether the portlet can be maximized, etc. If "Grant" is
selected, a PA can perform portlet administration. If "Can
Delegate" is selected, a PA can choose to give or remove portal
management authority of other PA's or GA's associated with this
portal application. If "Can Set Entitlements" is selected, a PA can
control visitor group capabilities by associating entitlement
segments with portlets.
[0050] In one embodiment, a skin can be a collection of files that
includes a cascading style sheet and a directory of images that
define the look and feel of a portal. Every button, banner, portlet
header, background color, and font characteristic can be determined
by the skin. Skins management entails selecting the default skin
for a group portal and determining what skins are available to
users for customization of their view of a portal. In the Skins
Management row 406, if "Grant" is selected, a PA can perform skins
management. If "Can Delegate" is checked, a PA can choose to give
or remove skins management authority of other PA's or GA's
associated with this portal application.
[0051] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary group portal home
GUI in one embodiment. In one embodiment, GA's are users in the
AdminEligible group who are given limited administrative authority
for specific group portals. For a user to be a GA, they must first
be placed in the AdminEligible group by an SA. In one embodiment,
the following procedure can be used to create a GA:
[0052] 1. Select the Portal Management icon 102 in the Portal
Administrator Home page (FIG. 1). The Portal Management Home page
appears (FIG. 3).
[0053] 2. Select the group portal for which you wish to add a GA.
The Group Portal Management Home page appears (FIG. 5).
[0054] 3. Select "Edit Delegated Administration Settings for Group
Administrators" 500. An Edit Group Administrators page appears (not
shown).
[0055] 4. Select Create New Administrator. A Choose Administrator
page appears (not shown).
[0056] 5. Select a user to add to the Group Administrator group
(not shown).
[0057] 6. The Delegate Administration page appears (FIG. 4).
[0058] 7. In the Delegate Administration page, determine what
authority the GA will have. Checking each button allows the new GA
to perform that function for this group portal only. In one
embodiment, these functions are a subset of the functions available
to PA's.
[0059] FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary user management
GUI in one embodiment. In another embodiment, once a GA or PA
exists, their administration authority can be modified using the
above procedures. Likewise, once a portal user is registered, the
user can be added to a user group and associated with a group
portal. In one embodiment, the following procedure could be used to
manage existing users and groups associated with a portal:
[0060] 1. Select the Portal Management icon 102 in the home page
(FIG. 1). The Portal Management home page appears (FIG. 3).
[0061] 2. Select the Group Portal you wish to edit in the Portal
Management Home page, the Group Portal Management home page appears
(FIG. 5).
[0062] 3. In the User and Group Management section, select User
Management 502. The Edit Users in Group page displays a list of
users for the selected group (FIG. 6).
[0063] 4. To remove a user from the group, select the desired user
and Select the Remove User From Group button 600. The user will be
removed from the group and will no longer be displayed in the
list.
[0064] 5. To delete the user from the system, select the desired
user and Select the Delete button 602. The user is deleted from the
system and is removed from the display list.
[0065] 6. To create new users, Select Create New Users 604.
[0066] 7. To add users to the group, Select Add Users to the Group
606; The Add users to Group page displays a list of available users
(not shown).
[0067] 8. Select the user you want to add to the group and Select
the Add User to Group button (not shown).
[0068] In one embodiment, SA's and PA's can create a new group
portal within a portal application. Portals are designed either for
single users or for groups. A group portal can restrict portal
access to specific visitors and set up delegated administration for
portals. There can be multiple group portals within a portal. Group
portals can share portal resources, such as layouts and portlets,
but can be configured differently to satisfy the needs of each
group separately. Because users are designated individually as
members of a group, a group portal provides a form of
personalization. In one embodiment, the a group portal could be
established with the following procedure:
[0069] 1. Select the Portal Management icon 102 in the home page
(FIG. 1). The Portal Management Home page appears (FIG. 3).
[0070] 2. Select "Create a New Group Portal" 302 in the Portal
Management Home page. A New Group Portal page appears (not
shown).
[0071] 3. Enter a display name for the group portal (not
shown).
[0072] 4. Select a user group to associate with this group portal
(not shown).
[0073] 5. Select a template for the new group portal by selecting a
group portal to use as a template (not shown). In one embodiment,
templates can specify the layout or location of elements on a
portal page.
[0074] 6. In a Create New Group Portal page (not shown), determine
the following information:
[0075] a) Whether to Copy Entitlements: You can copy existing
entitlements from the template group portal and keep them as is
and/or edit them later. You can also choose not to copy the
existing entitlements and create new entitlements.
[0076] b) Whether to Copy Group Administrators: When you copy GA's,
the same GA's will have the same authority in this group portal as
those in the template group portal you have selected. If you choose
not to copy the GA's you can assign your own. If you choose to copy
the existing GA's you can add to or remove them later.
[0077] In one embodiment, an administrator can select which skin is
associated with a group portal. A skin can be a collection of files
that includes a cascading style sheet and a directory of images
that define the look and feel of a portal. Every button, banner,
portlet header, background color, and font characteristic can be
determined by the skin. Skins management entails selecting the
default skin for a group portal and determining what skins are
available to users for customization of their view of a portal. In
one embodiment, the following procedure can be followed to specify
this information:
[0078] 1. Select the Portal Management icon 102 in the home page
(FIG. 1). The Group Portal page appears (FIG. 3).
[0079] 2. Select the Group Portal you wish to edit in the Portal
Management Home page, the Group Portal Management Home page appears
(FIG. 5). Under Appearance and Content section, Select "Select
Skins" 506. A Select Skins page displays a list of unused and
available skins (not shown). The default skin is indicated by an
asterisk (*) (not shown).
[0080] 3. To view a thumbnail of a skin, highlight the desired
skin. A thumbnail of that skin will appear under the Preview Skin
heading (not shown).
[0081] 4. To set a new default, highlight the desired skin and
Select Set as Default; the new default skin is marked with an
asterisk (*) (not shown).
[0082] 5. You can move skins between the Available and Unused lists
by selecting the skin and Selecting the left and right arrows.
Making a skin available means that visitors can select that skin
when personalizing their portal (not shown).
[0083] FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary portal page
selection GUI in one embodiment. The portal page selection GUI
allows an administrator to determine the order in which the page
tabs will be displayed. Portal page tabs appear as buttons or tabs
on a portal page and act like bookmarks when selected, each able to
render a different page within the portal. Portal pages can be
thought of as panels or panes that are swapped into and out of a
display region of the available portal real estate. In one
embodiment, an administrator can select and order pages in a group
portal using the following procedure:
[0084] 1. Select the Portal Management icon 102 in the home page
(FIG. 1). The Portal Management Home page appears (FIG. 3).
[0085] 2. Select the Group Portal you wish to edit. The Group
Portal Management home page appears (FIG. 5).
[0086] 3. In the Group Portal Management Home page, Select "Manage
Portlets" 508, A Pages, Layouts, and Portlets page appears (not
shown).
[0087] 4. Select the "Select and Order Pages" link. The Select and
Order Pages page displays a list of available and unused pages
(FIG. 7). The Home (default) page 700 is indicated by an asterisk
(*).
[0088] 5. To reset the Home page, highlight the desired page and
Select Set as Home 704; the new default page is indicated by an
asterisk (*)
[0089] 6. You can move pages between the Available Pages and Unused
Pages lists by selecting the page name and selecting the left 708
and right 706 arrows. Making a page available means that visitors
may choose to display the page as a tab when personalizing their
portal.
[0090] 7. You can reorder pages by selecting the desired page in
the Available Pages list and using the Up 710 and Down 712 arrows.
This determines the order in which the page tabs will be
displayed.
[0091] FIG. 8 is an illustration of an exemplary portal page
attribute GUI in one embodiment. In one embodiment, an
administrator can modify the following page attributes:
[0092] a) Available 802: The page will be available to visitors and
can be customized by a user.
[0093] b) Visible 804: The page will be visible to a visitor
default (e.g., the page will have a page tab which, when selected,
will render the page).
[0094] c) Mandatory 806: A visitor will always see this page. That
is, they cannot remove it from their personalized portal.
[0095] d) Display Name 808: The display name for the page, this is
the name that visitors will see.
[0096] FIG. 9 is an illustration of an exemplary page entitlements
GUI in one embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment, an
entitlement segment is a visitor group based on common
characteristics that allows a member of the group to view certain
aspects of a portal. An administrator can specify the permissions
granted to each entitlement segment as follows:
[0097] a) Can See 906: Select the radio buttons to grant or deny
availability of this page to the entitlement segment members. For
example, in FIG. 9 the entitlement segments "Developer" 900 and
"Experienced Java Developer" 902 have been granted the ability to
see the selected page, whereas the default segment "EVERYONE" 904,
representing users not belonging to the above-mentioned entitlement
segments, is denied the ability to see the page.
[0098] b) Can Remove 908: Select the radio buttons to grant or deny
the entitlement segment members the ability to remove the portal
page from their view.
[0099] FIG. 10 is an illustration of an exemplary portlet
attributes GUI in one embodiment of the invention. In one
embodiment, an administrator can set the following attributes using
the GUI:
[0100] a) Available 1000: The portlet will be available to the
visitor.
[0101] b) Visible 1002: The portlet should be visible to the
visitor default.
[0102] c) Minimizable 1004: The portlet can be minimized by the
visitor.
[0103] d) Maximizable 1006: The portlet can be maximized by the
visitor.
[0104] e) Default Minimized 1008: The portlet is minimized in the
visitor default.
[0105] f) Floatable 1010: The portlet can be opened in a new
browser.
[0106] g) Mandatory 1012: The visitor will always see this page.
That is, they cannot remove it from their personalized portal.
[0107] h) Display Name 1014: The display name for the page, this is
the name that site visitors will see.
[0108] FIG. 11 is an illustration of an exemplary portlet
entitlements GUI in one embodiment of the invention. In one
embodiment, an entitlement segment is a dynamic user group based on
common characteristics that allows a member of the group to view
certain aspects of a portal. An administrator can set the following
attributes:
[0109] a) Can See 1100: Check the radio buttons to grant or deny
availability of the portlet to the entitlement segment member.
[0110] b) Can Edit 1102: Check the radio buttons to grant or deny
the entitlement segment members the ability to edit the
portlet.
[0111] c) Can Remove 1104: Check the radio buttons to grant or deny
the entitlement segment members the ability to remove the portlet
from their view. The entitlement segment "Everyone" represents
every user in the system and is the default if a user does not fall
into an entitlement segment.
[0112] One embodiment may be implemented using a conventional
general purpose or a specialized digital computer or microprocessor
programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as
will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art. Appropriate
software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers
based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be
apparent to those skilled in the software art. The invention may
also be implemented by the preparation of integrated circuits or by
interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component
circuits, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the
art.
[0113] One embodiment includes a computer program product which is
a storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in
which can be used to program a computer to perform any of the
features presented herein. The storage medium can include, but is
not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical
discs, DVD, CD-ROMs, microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs,
RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs, flash memory devices, magnetic
or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or
any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions
and/or data.
[0114] Stored on any one of the computer readable medium (media),
the present invention includes software for controlling both the
hardware of the general purpose/specialized computer or
microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to
interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results
of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not
limited to, device drivers, operating systems, and user
applications.
[0115] The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of
the present invention has been provided for the purposes of
illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive
or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many
modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner
skilled in the art. Embodiments were chosen and described in order
to best describe the principles of the invention and its practical
application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to
understand the invention, the various embodiments and with various
modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated.
It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the
following claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *