IBM WebSphere portal integration

A central paradigm of FirstSpirit™ portal integration is the approach in which editorial content from FirstSpirit™ is perfectly integrated in the portal servers, especially with respect to the "fully coordinated" look. This also includes using the "native", portal server specific mechanisms (themes, skins, screens) to automatically output the content and navigation elements in the current look & feel of the portal. FirstSpirit™ is capable of servicing both standard portal themes, as well as supporting any custom themes via suitable page attributes.

Advantage:

Even complex layout scenarios can be completely covered by this, always starting from the defined corporate design.

The editing process is not affected by this flexibility of the portal look. Editors continue to maintain their content as usual, without having to worry about the output logic.

Efficient content management in the portal requires that the switch between the live portal and the editing environment is only "a click" away. To ensure this, a single sign-on has been implemented between FirstSpirit™ and the portal server. Within the portal, each page is checked to ensure the logged in user has write privileges for the object.

Advantage:

Each editor can immediately modify the content using a "one click edit" button. Content management could hardly be any quicker or more practical.

Displaying editorial content and embedding it in existing portal navigation is a technically demanding task. Aspects such as

• seamless visual integration,
• support for any designs required (theme, skin and screen compatibility) and
• hyperlink capability through special portal links and
• multilingualism

are necessary properties, which make the added value of the solution plausible. Nevertheless, in FirstSpirit™ the focus is on ease of content maintenance.

Advantage:

An editor can completely concentrate on the creation and maintenance of their content without having to have any portal know-how. For example, setting a link to other pages is done conveniently using a tree selection dialogue, even if technically complicated portal references are created as a result in the background. FirstSpirit™ ensures the link consistency, even if the referenced element is moved.

FirstSpirit™ also does the layout creation and integration in any specified portal theme, completely in conformity with the portal due to its powerful template engine, without the editor having to concern themselves with it at all.

Truly deep portal integration of a CMS stands and falls with the elegant integration of content in the portal's own navigation structure. FirstSpirit™ generates "native" portal navigations.

Advantage:

Administratively generated portal menu items and content menu items from FirstSpirit™ are no longer visually and technically distinguishable. This makes it possible for all portal functions available in the standard, e.g. the

• portal's own bookmark management,
• navigation forwards/backwards using portal buttons and
• click history or automatic breadcrumb navigation
• generation of labels and pages

to be automatically used for FirstSpirit™ content, too.

Portal servers provide sophisticated user, rights and role management, which enables personalized display of content and applications. FirstSpirit™ supports the rights and role management of the portal server by re-using the existing existing permissions infrastructure. This makes it possible for editors to define read privileges for their content, while the portal server checks compliance with the runtime privileges for each user.

Advantage:

Re-using the portal infrastructure for security and permissions, avoids duplicate data storage for users and roles, while at the same time the complete permissions control for content can be carried out by editors in FirstSpirit™. Administrative interventions on the portal side are no longer necessary for permissions control.

The free programme of portal integration

The full capability of a corporate portal can always be achieved when work processes and editorial content are optimally combined. To achieve this, FirstSpirit™ introduces a new role: the portal editor .

The portal editor cannot only create and maintain conventional editorial content but at the same time is also able to use FirstSpirit™ to directly position and configure applications (portlets) previously released by the portal administrator in any places within the portal.

Advantage:

Portal applications and editorial content can be freely combined and positioned by using FirstSpirit™. At the same time, the arrangement of the elements on the page can be determined by the FirstSpirit™ editor, for example, the choice of a single or multi-column layout.

The portal administration is therefore relieved of many tasks, as the usually technically motivated integration of applications in the portal shifts to the portal editor in FirstSpirit™. Ultimately, the complete content and applications of the portal can therefore be conveniently maintained by FirstSpirit™.

The portlets for display of the FirstSpirit™ content within the WebSphere portal are one hundred percent in conformity with the Java portlet specification standard (JSR 168). This ensures the maximum portability and upgradability of this solution.

The IBM Websphere portal server supports a concept of virtual portals, which can be created in a very convenient way without repeated performance of the installation process. Such virtual portals are created by partitioning an existing installation into several logical servers. End users do not notice any difference whatsoever, whether their query is serviced by a full installation or a virtual portal.

FirstSpirit™ supports this concept of virtual portals and is able to service this client capability of the IBM Websphere portal server through separately configurable deployment targets and mechanisms.