Management of the Dashboard Site | Microsoft SharePoint(TM) Portal Server 2001 Resource Kit (Examples & Explanations Series)

With SharePoint Portal Server you can decide your own level of customization for the dashboard site. The default dashboard site lets you quickly deploy an out-of-the-box total portal solution that facilitates finding, creating, and sharing all of your mission-critical data.

You can access the Management page on the dashboard site only if you are a coordinator on the Portal folder in the workspace. By using this page, you can manage other users' subscriptions, manage discussions on the workspace, and flush the application cache for the dashboard site.

In addition, you must be a coordinator on the Portal folder in the workspace to customize the dashboard site and the Web Parts that make up the content of the individual dashboard pages. The Content, Layout, and Settings management pages, accessed through links at the top right of the dashboard site, provide the tools for dashboard customization. In order to customize a personal dashboard, you must be a coordinator for the individual dashboard folder.

Customizing the Appearance of Your Dashboard Site

You can customize the appearance of the dashboard site for your organization by modifying the following elements:

Dashboard title
Dashboard description
Dashboard image and logo
Font style, size, and color
Web Part layout

Coordinators at the workspace level have access to three management pages on the dashboard site to update the content and appearance. You can change the style settings (colors and fonts on the dashboard) by using the Settings management page. You can view and modify the layout of Web Parts on a dashboard by using the Layout management page. To add new Web parts, use the Content management page.

Modify Settings

To edit the settings for a particular dashboard, on the navigation bar of the home page, click the link for that dashboard. To open the Settings management page for that dashboard, click Settings. Use the controls on the Settings management page to edit the following settings for the dashboard:

Dashboard Name, Caption, and Description
Predefined Style
Refresh Rate

For more information about dashboard settings, see Appendix B.

Change the Layout

SharePoint Portal Server creates a dashboard from a customizable assortment of Web Parts, which are discrete units that contain specific sets of information. You can view and modify how these Web Parts appear by using the Layout management page.

SharePoint Portal Server arranges the dashboard in a framework that consists of five different sections. This framework and the sections that it contains appear in an outline on the Layout management page. Each section can contain several Web Parts. If a section is empty or does not contain any Web Parts, that section does not appear on the dashboard.

Although you can configure the dashboard to support a framework with any number of sections, a given dashboard implementation can support only a single framework at a time. You can change the basic default framework only by rewriting the dashboard implementation. Only a developer familiar with the Microsoft Digital Dashboard architecture should perform this task. Consider the following points when configuring the layout of a dashboard:

The position and order in which SharePoint Portal Server displays the Web Parts contributes to the effectiveness and usability of your dashboard. Experiment with different Web Part arrangements to make the best use of your dashboard space.

You cannot add new Web Parts to the dashboard from the Layout management page. To add new Web Parts, go to the Content management page.

You must use Internet Explorer 5 or later to access the link to the Layout management page. For Internet Explorer 4 and for Netscape Navigator, SharePoint Portal Server does not display the Layout link because these browsers do not fully support required actions on the Layout management page.

Modifying Default Content

To configure Web Parts for a particular dashboard, on the navigation bar of the home page, click the link for that dashboard. To open the Content page for that dashboard, click Content.

Add content to existing Web Parts. You can add content to default Web Parts.
Add or Remove Web Parts. You can add and remove Web Parts from a dashboard.

For more information about customizing dashboard content, see Appendix B.

Add Content to Default Web Parts

The coordinator configures the links to the content that appears in the default Web Parts by adding documents to the News, Announcements, or Quick Links subfolders in the Dashboard Site folder in the workspace.

The News Web Part lists general items of interest, such as company news, departmental news, stories from news services (for example, the Associated Press), and so on. For example, the News Web Part in the dashboard site of a sales and marketing group might contain links to all of the current press releases.
The Announcements Web Part lists company announcements, departmental events, and so on. For example, the Announcements Web Part in the dashboard site of a sales and marketing group might contain announcements regarding a new employee, exceptionally high quarterly sales figures, or a departmental picnic.
The Quick Links Web Part contains links to other content of interest, such as company resources. For example, the Quick Links Web Part in the dashboard site of a human resources group might contain links to employee information, project schedules, or benefits information.

If you associate the Link property with an item, SharePoint Portal Server renders the hyperlink for that item as a hyperlink to the link target rather than a hyperlink to the item itself. SharePoint Portal Server crawls the Link target and makes the content of the Link target available for full-text searching.

Add and Remove Web Parts

Use the Content page to choose the Web Parts that appear on the dashboard. To configure Web Parts for a particular dashboard, click the link for that dashboard on the navigation bar of the home page. To open the Content management page for that dashboard, click Content. Use the controls to select the Web Parts that appear on the dashboard.

Importing and Creating Web Parts

There are three ways to add Web Parts to a dashboard. Choose from among the following:

Import from a Catalog. SharePoint Portal Server provides a default catalog. As a coordinator, you can add additional catalogs.
Create from Office XP. By using Microsoft Office XP, you can create Web Parts quickly and easily.
Create Custom Web Parts. You can develop your own Web Parts and import them to a dashboard.

Import Web Parts from a Catalog

Add Web content to your dashboard by using Web Parts from a pre-existing catalog of Web Parts.

To import a Web Part from a catalog to your dashboard:

From your Web browser, open the dashboard to which you want to add a Web Part.
Click Content.
In the Web Part Catalogs section, click Microsoft Web Part Gallery.
Depending on whether a coordinator has customized the dashboard site, there may be other catalogs available as well.
Select the Web Parts you want to add to the dashboard.
Click Import. SharePoint Portal Server adds the new Web Part.
If necessary, you can change the layout and settings for these parts on your dashboard from the Layout and Settings links. You can also change dashboard content at any time by clicking Content on the dashboard title bar.

Create Web Parts from Office XP Documents

Office XP documents that you save to a dashboard folder automatically become Web Parts for that dashboard.

To save a document from an Office XP application as a Web Part for a dashboard:

On the File menu of an Office XP application, click Save As Web Page.
In the dialog box, click Web folders, and then double-click a Web folder linked to a workspace to open it.
Click the folder, and then double-click the appropriate folder to select it as the destination folder for the document.
To save a Web Part to an existing dashboard, choose the Portal folder and then the appropriate subfolder. By default, the Portal folder is hidden. You must be assigned to the coordinator role at the workspace level to add or modify content in the Portal folder. To save a Web Part to a personal dashboard, choose the Dashboards folder and then the appropriate subfolder. You must be assigned to the coordinator or author role to add or modify content in the Dashboards folder.
Verify the file type and file name for the Web Part, and then click Save.
SharePoint Portal Server displays a form to specify a title and a description for the Web Part along with the position on the page in which it should appear on the dashboard.
Click OK.
The new Web Part appears on the dashboard.

If necessary, you can change the layout and settings for these parts on your dashboard from the Layout and Settings links. You can also change dashboard content at any time by clicking Content on the dashboard title bar.

Create Custom Web Parts

You can create your own Web Parts in many different ways. One of the easiest ways is to create one from existing Web content by using a URL. You can also create a Web Part that uses embedded Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) or JavaScript to generate the content to display on your dashboard.

To create a Web Part from SharePoint Portal Server:

From your Web browser, open the dashboard to which you want to add a Web Part.
Click Content.
Only the original creator of the dashboard or a coordinator on the folder for the personal dashboard can access the Content link.
Click Create a New Web Part. Type the name and description of the Web Part, and then choose the layout position.
Click Save.

Enabling Personal Dashboards

You can create your own custom dashboards using the Personal Dashboard Web Part. For example, you can use the Personal Dashboard Web Part to create a dashboard for a specific project, team, or collection of data.

Personal dashboards are dashboards created by users that consist of one or more Web Parts chosen by the creator. You can import Web Parts from a catalog, create Web Parts by saving content from Office XP as a Web Part, or create custom Web Parts directly from SharePoint Portal Server.

Personal dashboards are stored as folders in the Dashboards folder at the root of the workspace (http://server/workspace/Dashboards). All Web Parts that appear on the personal dashboard are stored as items in the personal dashboard folder.

Create a Personal Dashboard

If you are a coordinator at the workspace level, you can allow users who are authors on the Dashboards folder in the workspace to create their own personal dashboard from the home page of the dashboard site. To do this, you can either create the personal dashboard for each user or add the Personal Dashboards Web Part to the page on the dashboard site from where you want to allow users to create their own dashboards.

If you allow users to create their own dashboards, those users can also create their own Web Parts that run script on the server. Since the server is a shared resource and the Web Part code can affect the server function (though only the user's security limitations), you should examine server resources and security policy before implementing this feature.

To enable personal dashboard creation:

On the dashboard site, click the Management link to open the Management dashboard, and then click the Content link at the top of the page.
On the Content management page, select the Personal Dashboards Web Part, and then click Export.
Choose a location on your hard drive to save the exported Web Part.
Click OK.
SharePoint Portal Server saves the Web Part as a .DWP file on your hard drive.
Go the page on the dashboard site where you want the Personal Dashboards Web Part to appear, and then click the Content link at the top of the page.
Click Import a Web Part File.
On your hard drive, locate the .DWP file for the Personal Dashboards Web Part that you exported, and then click OK.
The Web Part appears on the page you selected.
In the workspace, right-click the Dashboards folder, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab.
Allow appropriate users to create personal dashboards by making them Authors on the Dashboards folder.
Click OK.

Users who are Authors or Coordinators on the Dashboards folder can create personal dashboards from the Personal Dashboards Web Part on the dashboard site.

To disable personal dashboard creation for a single user, change the user's role from Author to Reader on the Dashboards folder.

To disable personal dashboard creation for all users, remove the Personal Dashboards Web Part from the dashboard site, and change the appropriate users from Authors to Readers on the Dashboards folder.

To create a personal dashboard:

From the dashboard site, click Create a new personal dashboard.
Type a unique name for the dashboard, a caption, and a description. Each of these fields is described as follows:
- Name. The title that appears at the top of each dashboard. The name you select for the dashboard must be unique. If you select a name that is already in use for another dashboard on your network, an error message appears, and SharePoint Portal Server prompts you to select another name.
- Caption. A brief descriptor or tagline that displays above the title. The caption should be brief, no more than a few words. You can use it to give a collection of dashboards a unifying theme. For example, you might have several dashboards to present Web content for different manufacturing facilities, and use the caption "Production" to indicate to users that they are all related.
- Description. A brief textual description of the dashboard or other beneficial information for dashboard users.
There are other advanced settings where you can specify things such as the style sheet to use for the dashboard, or the name of a Help file.
Click Save. SharePoint Portal Server saves the new dashboard to the Dashboards folder, and the dashboard appears on your dashboard site. You can now add Web Parts to your personal dashboard.
Users can also create additional sub-dashboards from a personal dashboard. This allows a user to create multiple dashboards under one single navigation structure.

Access Personal Dashboards

Once they are created, you can view personal dashboards by using a Web browser by typing the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that corresponds to the specific personal dashboard in the Dashboards folder. For example, if you create a personal dashboard called "Production" in the Manufacturing workspace on the server called "Adventure," you would use http://Adventure/Manufacturing/Dashboards/Production as the URL in your Web browser to display the Production dashboard.

Users assigned to the Reader role for the folder containing the personal dashboard can view the dashboard from their Web browser. If you want to restrict access to your personal dashboard, you must manually change the roles assigned to specific users or groups for the folder that contains the dashboard.

Delete a Personal Dashboard

You can only delete personal dashboards from the Web folder for the workspace in which they are stored. You cannot delete them from the dashboard site of the workspace.

To delete a personal dashboard:

In Windows 2000, open Web folders and double-click a Web folder that links to the workspace.
In the workspace, double-click the Dashboards folder.
Right-click the folder for the specific dashboard you want to delete, and then click Delete.

Administering Discussions and Subscriptions

You can access the Management page on the dashboard site only if you are a coordinator on the Portal folder in the workspace. By using this page, you can manage other users' subscriptions, manage Web discussions, flush the application cache for the dashboard site, and create personal dashboards.

For more information about implementing Web discussions, see Chapter 10, Planning Web Discussions.