How do I edit portlets?

Portlets are small application widgets or boxes which appear in specific locations on your website (usually in the left or right sidebars). If you're not familiar with the different kinds of portlets, we strongly suggest you read through the following article first:

• What is a portlet? What are the different kinds of portlets?
  

Portlets are typically added at the top-level of your site and will therefore display on every page. However, you can also manage portlets at the folder-level. This tutorial will guide you through managing top-level portlets only, though managing folder-level portlets is a very similar process.

Note: Only users with the Plan/Design Site role can manage portlets on their site.

To add, remove or edit your site's portlets:

1. Navigate to your subsite's homepage and click on the Contents tab.
   
   
   
   
   
2. In the left and right sidebars, you should see links to Manage Portlets. Click on either one.
   
   
   
   
   
3. You'll be brought to the Manage Portlets for "Your Subsite Name" page.
   
   
   
   (Click to enlarge image.)
   
   
4. To add a new portlet, click on the Add Portlet drop-down menu in the sidebar where you'd like the portlet to be located, and select the type of portlet you want to add. (Click here for a detailed description of each portlet type.)
   
   
   
   
   The configuration options will vary depending on which type of portlet you select.
   
   • Announcements: set the number of items to display, the workflow state that items must be in to be displayed, and whether or not to only show localized announcements
   • Calendar Portlet: no configuration options available
   • Collection Portlet: set the portlet title, target collection, number of items to display, whether or not to display random items, whether or not to display a "read more..." link, and whether or not to show dates
   • Events: set the number of items to display, the workflow state that items must be in to be displayed, whether or not to only should localized events, and whether or not to show past events
   • Navigation Portlet: set the portlet title
   • News: set the number of items to display, the workflow state that items must be in to be displayed, and whether or not to only show localized news items
   • RSS Feed: set the number of items to display, the RSS feed URL (web address), and the feed reload time
   • Recent Items: set the number of items to display, whether or not the portlet should be visible on your public-facing website, and whether or not to only show localized items
   • Review List: no configuration options available
   • Search: enable or disable LiveSearch (search as you type)
   • Seminars: set the number of items to display, the workflow state that items must be in to be displayed, whether or not to only should localized seminars, and whether or not to show past seminars
   • Static Text Portlet: set portlet title, body text, footer text, details link, whether or not to display the portlet border, and whether or not the portlet should be visible on your public-facing website
     
   
   When you're done configuring your new portlet, remember to click Save.
   
   
5. To edit an existing portlet, click on the name of the portlet.
   
   
   
   
   You'll be brought to an editing screen and presented with the configuration options for that portlet type (see the list of configuration options above). When you're done editing, remember to click Save.
   
   
6. To change the order in which your portlets will be displayed on your website, use the blue up and down arrows.
   
   
   
   
   (At this time, you cannot move portlets back and forth between the left and right sidebars. You can, however, recreate the portlet in the opposing sidebar and then delete the original version.)
   
   
7. To delete a portlet, click on the red x in the portlet's box.
   
   
   
   
   
8. In both sidebars, you may see options to Block/Unblock Portlets. By default, portlets are inherited throughout your subsite (so that portlets you add at the top-level will be visible on every page, and subfolders will use the same portlets as their parent folders). Inheritance can be disabled by setting the Parent Portlets option to Block. In most cases, Group Portlets and Content Type Portlets should be set to Use Parent Settings.
   
   
   
   
   After making any changes in this section, remember to click Save Settings.
   
   
9. At the bottom of each sidebar, you'll find a list of Inherited Portlets. Any portlets that are being inherited from a parent folder will be displayed here. If a portlet is being inherited, you cannot edit it directly. You must edit it from the parent folder's Manage Portlets page. (If you're editing the portlets at the top-level of your subsite, you should not see any inherited portlets. Below is an example of what you might see if you were to manage portlets at the folder-level.)
   
   
   
   
   
10. When you're done configuring the portlets for your subsite, you can return to your homepage by clicking on the Return link at the top of the page.
    
    
    
    
    

Note: After making any changes to your portlets, it may take up to a minute for the changes to show up in your subsite and/or on your public-facing website. If your changes do not take effect immediately, please be patient. If you're confident that you saved your changes and they do not show up after 5 minutes, please contact the Web Development Group.