Customizing the Web Interface site icon
The Web Interface has the default site icon, and provides a means to change the site icon. A site icon, also called shortcut icon or favicon, is a small image that is associated with a particular Web Interface site. You can change the site icon for each site separately.
When you open a Web Interface site in your Web browser, the site icon appears in the browser’s address bar. The site icon also appears on the History and Favorites lists, making it easier to identify the site. In addition, the site icon helps identify and differentiate the site on the Windows taskbar.
If you want to use a custom icon for your Web Interface site, consider the following. A site icon must be an image in the ICO file format, square in size, and at least 16x16 pixels. The recommended size of a site icon is 16x16 or 32x32 pixels as Windows uses site icons in the Web browser's address bar (16x16) and on the taskbar buttons (32x32). However, in case of larger icons on the desktop, Windows may stretch a site icon to 64x64 pixels and more. To achieve the best experience, consider creating an ICO file that contains your site icon in several sizes, including the 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64 pixel icons.
To change the site icon
- Open the Web Interface site in your Web browser, click Customization on the Navigation bar, and then click Global Settings.
- In the Web Interface site icon area, click Change and supply the ICO file containing the desired icon.
- Click Save, and then click Reload for the changes to take effect.
You can revert to the default icon by clicking Restore Default in the Web Interface site icon area. To apply your changes, click Save and then click Reload.
Customizing the name of the Web Interface user
The Web Interface displays the name of the logged-on user in the area above the Navigation bar, retrieving that name from the “Display Name” property of the user account in Active Directory. In case of empty display name, the name is retrieved from the “name” property. This default behavior may not be suitable for all situations.
Suppose the Web Interface user has two accounts: a regular account and another account with elevated privileges (“admin” account). When logged on to the Web Interface, such a user needs to know which account is currently used, so as to be sure that inappropriate actions cannot be performed. If both the regular and admin accounts have the same display name, a different property should be used to identify the user. The Web Interface addresses this requirement by allowing a user property other than “Display Name” to be selected for the presentation of the Web Interface user.
To select a user property for the presentation of the Web Interface user
- Open the Web Interface site in your Web browser, click Customization on the Navigation bar, and then click Global Settings.
- Under Logged-on user name format, click the Change button, and then select the user property you want.
- Click Save, and then click Reload for the changes to take effect.
To identify which property is currently used for the presentation of the Web Interface user, point to the user name under Logged-on user name format and review the tooltip that appears. Thus, under default conditions, the tooltip reads “The 'Display Name' property is used as the name of the logged-on user in the Web Interface. Click 'Change' to use a different property.”
Customizing the Navigation bar
The left area on Web Interface pages, referred to as the Navigation bar, provides menu items for navigating between Web Interface sections. By default, it includes a number of top-level menu items. Expanding a top-level item on the Navigation bar may display subordinate items. In this section, the collection of the items that are subordinate to a given item is referred to as the menu group associated with that item.
You can add, modify, re-arrange, and remove menu items on menu groups and on the Navigation bar. A point-and-click interface helps you manage the menu items and their subordinate items, providing flexible options to customize the Navigation bar.
The changes you make to the Navigation bar affect every user of the Web Interface site. For example, when you remove a menu item, the item is not displayed to any user of the Web Interface site.
To customize the Navigation bar
- On the Home page of the Web Interface site, click Customization.
- Click Customization Tasks; then, click Customize Navigation Bar in the right pane.
- In the hierarchical view of menu items, click to select the item you want to change, and then use command buttons to make changes.
The following table provides an overview of changes you can make.
Table 2: Navigation bar customization tasks
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Add an item to the Navigation bar. |
Click the Menu Bar entry, and then click Add. Type a name for the new item and the URL of the page you want the new item to open. Then, click OK. |
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Add an item to a menu group. |
Click the item that the menu group is associated with, and then click Add. Type a name for the entry, and the URL of the page you want the new item to open or the name of the script function (command) you want the item to execute. Then, click Add. |
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Change the position of an item on the Navigation bar or within a menu group. |
Select the item and click the Up or Down arrow button. |
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Change the name of an item. |
Select the item and click Properties. Then, type the name you want, and click OK. |
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Move an item to the Navigation bar. |
Select the item and click Move. Then, click the Menu Bar entry. Adjust the position of the item as needed by clicking arrow buttons and then click OK. (This also moves the entire menu group, if any, associated with the item being moved.) |
|
Move an item to a menu group. |
Select the item and click Move. Then, click the item that the destination menu group is associated with. Adjust the position of the item as needed by clicking arrow buttons and then click OK. (This also moves the entire menu group, if any, associated with the item being moved.) |
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Hide an item so that it does not appear on the Navigation bar. |
Select the item and click Hide. (To display an item that is hidden, select the hidden item and click Unhide.) |
Customizing the Home page
The Home page of the Web Interface site includes a number of items that serve as entry points to individual sections of the Web Interface. Each item occupies a clickable area on the Home page, and includes the caption (name of the item), text describing the item and a picture providing a graphical illustration of the item. Clicking an item displays a page that is identified by a certain property of the item (this property is referred to as “URL to open”).
You can add, modify, re-arrange, and remove items on the Home page. A point-and-click interface helps you manage the items, providing flexible options to customize the Home page.
The changes you make to the Home page affect every user of the Web Interface site. For example, when you remove an item from the Home page, the item is not displayed to any user of the Web Interface site.
To customize the Home page
- On the Home page of the Web Interface site, click Customization.
- Click Customization Tasks; then, click Customize Home Page in the right pane.
- In the list of items, click to select the item you want to change, and then use command buttons to make changes.
The following table provides an overview of changes you can make
Table 3: Home page customization tasks
|
Add an item to the Home page. |
Click Add. Type a name for the new item and the URL of the page you want the new item to open. Optionally, type any text to display in the item area, and change the picture for the item. Then, click OK. |
|
Change the position of an item on the Home page. |
Select the item and click the Up or Down arrow button. |
|
Change the name or description text of an item. |
Select the item and click Properties. Then, type the name or description text you want, and click OK. |
|
Change the picture to be displayed in the item area. |
Select the item and click Properties. Under the Picture to display label, click Change. Type the path and name of the picture file, or click Browse to select and open the picture file. Then, click OK. |
|
Hide an item so that it does not appear on the Web Interface pages. |
Select the item and click Hide. (To display an item that is hidden, select the item and click Unhide.) |
By adding a home page item, you can customize the Web Interface to integrate custom applications together with the Web Interface pages. The Advanced properties section in the dialog box for managing a home page item provides the Open the URL in a frame option for this purpose.
With the Open the URL in a frame option, a home page item can be configured to open a Web application so that the application’s pages are embedded in a standard Web Interface page. When this option is selected, the page identified by the URL to open property of the home page item is embedded in a Web Interface page instead of being displayed in place of the Web Interface page in the Web browser window.
The Advanced properties section also provides the ability to configure a home page item so that a number of optional parameters are automatically appended to the query string of the URL when the user clicks the item. This enables the Web Interface to pass certain data to the Web application associated with the home page item. You can modify parameter names. The parameter values are generated by the Web Interface when the user clicks the home page item. The following table summarizes the available parameters.
Table 4: Query string parameters
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DN |
Distinguished Name (DN) of the user account of the Web Interface user. Example: DN=CN%3dAaron%20Beh%20Santos%2cOU%3dEmployees%2cDC%3dDomain%2cDC%3dCompany%2cDC%3dCom |
|
IdentificationDomain |
DNS name of the Active Directory domain that holds the user account of the Web Interface user. Example: IdentificationDomain=domain.company.com |
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IdentificationAccount |
Pre-Windows 2000 name (sAMAccountName) of the user account of the Web Interface user. Example: IdentificationAccount=ASantos |
|
LCID |
Hex code of the locale identifier specific to the Web Interface language selected by the Web Interface user. Example: LCID=409 |
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IsDsAdmin |
“True” or “False” depending on whether or not the Web Interface user is assigned to the Active Roles Admin role and thus has administrative rights on Active Roles. Example: IsDsAdmin=False |
|
CurrentLanguage |
Locale name specific to the Web Interface language selected by the Web Interface user. Example:
CurrentLanguage=en-US |
|
PortalHomePage |
URL of the Home page of the Web Interface site you are customizing. Example: PortalHomePage=http://Server/ARServerSelfService |
|
TaskID |
The identifier of the Web Interface command used to open the URL. Example: TaskID=d8371ae8-1215-40ac-b0c4-391c3225a426 |
