Managing Portlets

Modified on Tue, 13 Nov, 2018 at 5:35 PM

Portlets are the boxes to the left and right sides of your page that display self-contained pieces of information. Different types of portlets can contain different types of information.

Michigan Libraries has developed a tutorial video if you prefer to watch it before stepping through this tutorial.

Some examples of portlets include:

Calendars
RSS feeds from external sites
Navigation menus
Library Locations
Customized text, images, and links like your "Locations & Hours" information

Portlets can be added to any page or folder on your site. Keep in mind that adding a portlet to a folder (for example, your "News & Events" folder) will cause that portlet to appear not just for that folder, but for any folder that's created within it (unless you choose to hide it in the child folder). Once created, a portlet can be modified, deleted, or moved above or below other portlets, but this can only be done from the location in which the portlet was created.

Where was my portlet created?

Because portlets can only be changed in the location where they were created, it is important to know how to find the correct folder or page. To do this, you can start from any location in which you can see the portlet.

Open a page on which the portlet you want to modify or delete is visible. Take note of its placement (right or left side of the screen) and position relative to the other visible portlets.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Manage portlets link to go to the Portlet Management screen for that page.
Portlets are represented here by the portlet's title. Look for the one that corresponds to the portlet you're interested in.
If the portlet is listed under "Portlets assigned here" then it should have up/down arrows and an "X" next to its name, indicating that it was created here and can be modified on this page.
If the portlet is listed under "Parent portlets" this indicates that it was created at a higher-level location in your site's folder structure. There are two ways this can happen:
1. If the page or folder you are currently editing is contained within a folder, you should see a "Go to parent folder" link in the middle of the page.
  
  Clicking this will take you to the Portlet Management screen for that folder. If the portlet you're modifying was created here, you will see it in the Portlets assigned here section. You may have to go up multiple levels to find the folder in which it was created.
2. If the page you are currently editing is the default view for the folder, you may need to edit the portlets for the folder itself. If this is the case, you will see an Info message in the middle of the screen, above the page's title, indicating that this is the case. The message will read, "You are managing the portlets of a default view of a container. If you wanted to manage the portlets of the container itself, go here."
  
  Clicking on the hyperlink at the end of the message will take you to the Portlet Management screen for the folder, where you should see your portlet under Portlets assigned here.
If the portlet is listed under "Group portlets", this indicates that it is displayed for all members of a group to which your User ID belongs. To modify these, go to User Actions
(the menu that opens when you click your user name in the top right corner of the page)
> Site Setup > Users and Groups > Groups > [select Group] > Group Portlets.
If the portlet is listed under "Content type portlets", this indicates that it is displayed on all pages of a specified type. To manage these portlets, go to User Actions (the menu that opens when you click your user name in the top right corner of the page) > Site Setup > Types > [select type] > Manage portlets for this content type.