Configuring portals to customize FootPrints general user environment

This troubleshooting topic is about configuring portals to customize FootPrints general user environment after migrating from FootPrints version 11.0 to FootPrints version 12.0.

Description

The following table describes general user environment in FootPrints version 11.0 and FootPrints version 12.0:

Resolution

Portals

• In FootPrints version 12.0, the UI appears as a portal, from where users can access the information and functions required for their jobs. 
• A portal includes everything you see in the content section of a browser window. The tabs that appear at the top of the working area and represent different areas of the application are called consoles. Administrators can configure the existing portals and consoles or create new ones.
• You can create different portals to accommodate different types of users. Each portal has its own URL and you can assign a specific portal to each user role. For example, you can assign a default portal to each agent role. To create a portal, navigate to Administration > Portal Management > Portals.The following image displays a console in FootPrints version 12.0.
  
• Only the Default System Portal is created during migration with basic set of consoles including Home, Administration, and Calendar. You can include additional consoles such as Address Book and Knowledge Base from the More menu. The access to consoles in the assigned portal is based on the user's role and the role permission settings.
• You can delete or edit the default system. You can copy it to a new portal and set the portal as the default portal for a role.
• Each portal can be configured with a custom set of consoles, a theme, and logo for a particular role to allow you to create a unique environment for your users.

Consoles

• For the features that you want to provide access to the users, you can configure consoles. A console can be configured to best suit your working environment that supports your business process. To create a console, navigate to Administration > Main > Consoles. Alternatively, you can also create a console from the Portals details page. A console consists of three areas:
  • Actions
    
  • Widgets
    
  • Views
• You can configure following Actions on your console:
  
  • Actions for creating a record of some type such as a ticket, a contact, or a service
  • Actions for navigation to a specific URL.
    You can name the buttons for these actions based on your requirement. For example, you may have a New Incident button or a Company Intranet link.
• The Widgets area might contain one or more of the of the following  elements types:
  
  • Charts based on data from your reports
  • RSS feeds
  • Custom HTML
  • Saved searches
    You can choose a location for the Widgets area such as top, right, bottom, or left.
• Views display as tabs within a console and can contain administration functions, the calendar, record lists such as tickets, saved searches, or category browsers.
  This is an ideal location to put the most commonly accessed data and functions for particular users.