Adding Portlets

Simple Portlet

A simple portlet is a portlet that can contain custom text, images, etc. and is useful for highlighting events, announcements, etc. that you wish to feature on your site. To add a simple portlet:

1. Navigate to the location in the site where you want the portlet to be located.
2. On the green menu bar, click add item and then select portlet from the drop-down menu (you must be logged in to see the add item menu):
   
   
3. You will see a blank Edit Portlet panel.
4. In the Title field, enter a title for your new portlet.
5. If desired, enter a short description of the information the portlet will contain. Entering a description is optional, but encouraged. The Description field is not displayed in the portlet and is for meta-data and internal purposes only.
6. The Body Text area is where you will enter the content you wish to highlight. The Body Text section allows you to easily edit and style your content using the CMS’ built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, also called the FCK editor. You can use the buttons and tools that appear to add basic formatting to your text. These tools, which behave much like the tools and buttons in most word processing programs, are described in further detail in Formatting and Editing Content with the FCK Editor.
   Note: the left and right columns have a fixed width, so tables, image and links should not exceed 150 pixels
7. Select the Right Column for the Portlet position.  Even though Simple Portlets can be added to the Left or Right column, the site is designed for all Simple Portlets (except the contact information) to appear on the Right column.
8. Check the Show Portlet checkbox, or the portlet will not appear in your site.
9. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click save to create the new portlet. The main content area automatically switches to the view tab so that you can review your new portlet.
10. If the content looks acceptable, and you want to make the portlet available to the public, click the state indicator in the green bar and select publish from the drop-down menu. Left column portlets (such as one for contact information) will appear regardless of a 2 or 3-column layout, but right-hand (3rd column) portlets will only appear in pages/folders where the 3-column layout option is checked. The portlet will appear on pages contained in the same folder as the portlet, so if you want the portlet to appear throughout the site, it must be copied to other folders where you want it to be visible.
    

    Note: Published portlets automatically appear in the navigation, like any other item. You typically won't want this because of the redundancy, so be sure to exclude the portlet from navigation.

Smart Folder Portlet

A smart folder portlet is a way of displaying items from a Smart Folder in a portlet view. The site is designed for all smart folder portlets to appear on the right column of a 3 column layout. To add a smart folder portlet:

1. Navigate to the location in the site where you want the smart folder portlet to be located.
2. On the green menu bar, click add item and then select smart folder portlet from the drop-down menu (you must be logged in to see the add item menu):
   

   

3. You will see a blank Edit Smart Folder Portlet panel.
4. In the Title field, enter a title for your new portlet.
5. If desired, enter a short description of the information the portlet will contain. Entering a description is optional, but encouraged. The Description field is not displayed in the portlet and is for meta-data and internal purposes only.
6. The Body Text area is where you can enter content that will appear above the listed smart folder items. The Body Text section allows you to easily edit and style your content using the CMS’ built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, also called the FCK editor. You can use the buttons and tools that appear to add basic formatting to your text. These tools, which behave much like the tools and buttons in most word processing programs, are described in further detail in Formatting and Editing Content with the FCK Editor.
   Note: the left and right columns have a fixed width, so tables, image and links should not exceed 150 pixels
7. Select the Right Column for the Portlet position.  Even though Smart Folder Portlets can be added to the Left or Right column, the site is designed for all Smart Folder Portlets to appear on the Right column.
8. Check the Show Portlet checkbox, or the portlet will not appear in your site.
9. Click browse to open a pop-up window where you can browse your site and to choose the Smart Folder that you want to appear as a portlet. Click view to preview the contents of the selected Smart Folder or click insert to choose the Smart Folder. Then click close window to save your changes.
   
   
10. You can also set how many items that will be shown in the portlet. Similar to the News and Events portlets, a More link at the bottom of the Smart Folder Portlet will show a complete list of the Smart Folder items.
11. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click save to create the new portlet. The main content area automatically switches to the view tab so that you can review your new portlet.
12. If the content looks acceptable and you want to make the portlet available to the public, click the state indicator in the green bar and select publish from the drop-down menu. The portlet will appear on all 3-column pages contained in the same folder as the portlet. A page must have the 3-column layout option checked, as smart folder portlets live in the third/right column. 
    

    Note: Published portlets automatically appear in the navigation, like any other item. You typically won't want this because of the redundancy, so be sure to exclude the portlet from navigation.

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