3.1. Defining structure of a site

The structure of a site is mainly defined into 3 files: portal.xml, pages.xml and navigation.xml. You can create multiple pages within a single site.

Understanding the "Intranet" site of eXo Platform is a good approach to the site structure. The configuration of the "Intranet" site can be found in the $PLATFORM_TOMCAT_HOME/webapps/acme-intranet.war directory.

portal.xml

The portal.xml file describes the layout and portlets that will be shown on all pages:

Properties which define site name, default locale, access and edit permissions, and some basic configurations (session alive, show portlet information) of the "Intranet" site.


<portal-name>intranet</portal-name>

<locale>en</locale>

<access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

<edit-permission>*:/platform/administrators</edit-permission>

<properties>

<entry key="sessionAlive">onDemand</entry>

<entry key="showPortletInfo">0</entry>

</properties>

Layout which defines layout container, banner, footer, menu and breadcrumbs portlets displayed in all pages. Also, <page-body> is a flag which specifies the position of pages' portlets.


<portal-layout>

    <container id="NavigationBody" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UITableColumnContainer.gtmpl">

        <access-permissions>Everyone</access-permissions>

        <container id="LeftNavigation" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

            <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

            <container id="LeftBreadCrumbNavigationPortlet" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

                <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                <portlet-application>

                    <portlet>

                        <application-ref>platformNavigation</application-ref>

                        <portlet-ref>UIBreadCrumbsNavigationPortlet</portlet-ref>

                    </portlet>

                    <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                    <show-info-bar>false</show-info-bar>

                </portlet-application>

            </container>

            <container id="LeftNavigationPortlet" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

                <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                <portlet-application>

                    <portlet>

                        <application-ref>platformNavigation</application-ref>

                        <portlet-ref>UICompanyNavigationPortlet</portlet-ref>

                    </portlet>

                    <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                    <show-info-bar>false</show-info-bar>

                </portlet-application>

            </container>

            <container id="GroupsNavigationPortlet" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

                <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                <portlet-application>

                    <portlet>

                        <application-ref>platformNavigation</application-ref>

                        <portlet-ref>UIGroupsNavigationPortlet</portlet-ref>

                    </portlet>

                    <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                    <show-info-bar>false</show-info-bar>

                </portlet-application>

            </container>

            <container id="SpaceNavigationPortlet" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

                <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                <portlet-application>

                    <portlet>

                        <application-ref>platformNavigation</application-ref>

                        <portlet-ref>UISpaceNavigationPortlet</portlet-ref>

                    </portlet>

                    <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

                    <show-info-bar>false</show-info-bar>

                </portlet-application>

            </container>

        </container>

        <container id="RightBody" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

            <access-permissions>Everyone</access-permissions>

            <page-body> </page-body>

        </container>

    </container>

</portal-layout>

navigation.xml

The navigation.xml file defines all navigation nodes of a site. The syntax is simply using the nested node tags. Each node refers to a page defined in the pages.xml file that will be explained later.

Node that defines URI, name, label and page reference of the "Intranet" homepage.


<node>

    <uri>home</uri>

    <name>home</name>

    <label>#{portal.intranet.home}</label>

    <page-reference>portal::intranet::homepage</page-reference>

</node>

A node navigation might contain sub-nodes.


<node>

    <uri>connections</uri>

    <name>connections</name>

    <label>#{portal.intranet.connections}</label>

    <visibility>SYSTEM</visibility>

    <node>

        <uri>connections/all-people</uri>

        <name>all-people</name>

        <label>#{portal.intranet.yours}</label>

        <page-reference>portal::intranet::all-people</page-reference>

    </node>

    <node>

        <uri>connections/network</uri>

        <name>network</name>

        <label>#{portal.intranet.yours}</label>

        <page-reference>portal::intranet::network</page-reference>

    </node>

    ...

</node>

Note

For the top nodes, the URI and the navigation node name must have the same value.
For sub-nodes, the URI is composed like <uri>connexions/all-people</uri> where 'connections' is the name of the parent node, and 'all-people' is the name of node (<name>all-people</name>).

When you configure the navigation.xml file, sometimes you need to set the node visibility. To configure the node visibility, simply put <visibility>type_of_visibility</visibility> as a child of the <node> tag.
eXo Platform supports 4 types of node visibility, including:
- DISPLAYED: The node will be displayed.
- HIDDEN: The node is not visible in the navigation but can be accessed directly with its URL.
- SYSTEM: It is a system node which is visible to superusers. In particular, only superusers can change or delete this system node.
- TEMPORAL: The node is displayed in related time range. When the visibility of TEMPORAL node is configured, the start and end dates can be specified by using <startpublicationdate> and <endpublicationdate>.

pages.xml

The pages.xml defines the layout and portlets of specific pages. A page defined in pages.xml will declare name, title, access and edit permissions, and containers (optional). Also, the <portlet-application> is used to declare portlets in a page.


<page>

    <name>activities</name>

    <title>Activities</title>

    <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

    <edit-permission>manager:/platform/administrators</edit-permission>

    <container id="UIUserNavigationPortlet" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

        <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

        <portlet-application>

            <portlet>

                <application-ref>platformNavigation</application-ref>

                <portlet-ref>UIUserNavigationPortlet</portlet-ref>

            </portlet>

            <title>User Navigation Portlet</title>

            <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

            <show-info-bar>false</show-info-bar>

            <show-application-state>true</show-application-state>

        </portlet-application>

    </container>

    <container id="ProfileActivity" template="system:/groovy/portal/webui/container/UIContainer.gtmpl">

        <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

        <portlet-application>

            <portlet>

                <application-ref>social-portlet</application-ref>

                <portlet-ref>UserActivityStreamPortlet</portlet-ref>

            </portlet>

            <title>User Activity Stream</title>

            <access-permissions>*:/platform/users</access-permissions>

            <show-info-bar>false</show-info-bar>

            <show-application-state>true</show-application-state>

        </portlet-application>

    </container>

</page>