Customize the Portal Website


Portal Overview Information Guide -> Customize the Portal Website

The Portal website is a user definable web page, from which your customers can access product and account information, or even use a Shopping Cart to generate product quotations and reservations.

A standard Portal website layout with cascading style sheets is provided by Texada Software.
The Portal can be used in this standard default format, or the website layout and style sheets can be completely modified and redesigned by a web designer to reflect your firm's personality and preferences, including logo, fonts, and colors.
Portal Presentation and API themes for website access and information retrieval can even be controlled and customized at the individual customer level.

WEBSITE Setup by your store's Web Administrator
On the Internet, only your firm's web administrator can access and personalize your web page.
Your web administrator account number is webadmin combined with the password setup in Global Portal Settings.

The webadmin login prompts on the website appear as follows:
        ACCOUNT NUMBER: webadmin
        USER NAME:      -leave blank (assumes administrator)
        PASSWORD:       -as defined in Global Portal Settings

        LOG IN button     (to accept login ID)
        
The web administrator can only be logged into the website on one session at any time.
All sessions are tracked in Current Active Sessions, where they can also be terminated if required.

Note: If the webadmin does not log out properly, the webadmin session will have to be cleared manually from Current Active Sessions.

Appearance and Verbiage of general Portal Login Screen
When anyone initially accesses your Portal website a login screen appears.
The title for the login screen can be customized by the text for Login Heading in Global Portal Settings.

A Password reminder utility can also be setup to email the customer his forgotten password.
For details refer to Customer Administrator and Employee Access .


Appearance and Verbiage of Customer Welcome Screen
Once a customer has successfully logged onto the website, a "Welcome Screen" is displayed.
This screen is suppressed when the web administrator signs in.

The screen title displays the text for Welcome Words as setup in Presentation Themes according to the theme assigned to the customer in Portal Customers.
For details on customizing themes and style sheets refer to API Themes and to Presentation Themes.
Additional store bulletins or seasonal greetings can be setup by theme to display on the Welcome Screen for a specified date range. For details refer to Web Portal Comment Codes.

MENU CONSTRUCTION
Your firm's web administrator can fully control the presentation and customization of your Portal website.

After logging onto the website as outlined above, the web administrator can build a menu of API's to be made available to your customers, or can modify the default API selection provided by SRM software.
When the webadmin first signs on, the customer "Welcome Screen" is suppressed.

SELECT API THEME TO MODIFY
This screen is suppressed if your firm does not utilize multiple API Themes.
If your firm has setup multiple themes then the webadmin is now prompted to select the theme from the drop-down list and click on the SELECT button.
The custom API theme can be assigned to the customer in Portal Customers to suit the customer's needs.
If a custom web menu is not generated for a customer, then the standard default web menu applies.
To view and update the standard web menu, select -Default Web Index- from the drop-down box and click SELECT.

WEB MENU
The menu appears for this theme in a banner across the screen displaying the web categories, for the administrator and also for the customers.
e.g. Accounting, Contract Inquiries, User Profile, Shopping Cart, etc.

Move the mouse cursor over each menu item to view and access the options and utilities available in the drop-down list under that category heading.

This selection can be completely customized as your default or by specific themes, for unique customer access.

These are some of the API options that can be made available for customer use:


API SELECTION AND DESIGN
The web administrator can click on the heading option to customize the categories in the menu banner, editing what is accessible on the menu, and the text of the heading descriptions for a theme.
The administrator can also click on the individual menu options in the drop-down boxes to customize or edit the options, including the selection filters and input prompts, and the output results returned by each API (Application Program Interface) .

The layout of each menu or menu option is split between the Heading and the Details.
To view the construction of an existing category or API, just click on your choice in the menu banner or in the drop-down box, or to create a new API menu option, click on + symbol.


EDITING HEADING or ADD MENU ITEM
The Heading record is displayed for menu categories and API menu options, including the following fields:
INDEX ID
This value automatically assigned and is meant for internal use only by the programs.

DESCRIPTION
This is the description listed on the Web menu or drop-down box.
It can be over-typed as required.
API CALLED
This is the API call name for a utility or function.
It should be left blank for menu categories meant to be listed in the menu banner, as no Input selection Parameters or output Set Record details are required.
  • Menu Category:
    This field does not apply to menu category options, and is left blank if the Heading record is meant to setup a menu heading or category in the Web menu banner, and no Input selection Parameters or output Set Record details are required.
    The SHOW DETAIL action is not even provided, as it is not relevant.

    Menu category headings always display in the root position on the banner, meaning any following functions or API's will default to display in the drop-down box under the menu category.

    Note: If menu headings are not setup, i.e. only API's are listed on the web menu, then the API's are automatically listed in the root position.

  • Menu Option:
    To assign an API call name for a utility or function, click on the drop-down button to view and select from the available API options.
    After the Header has been SAVED, then the SHOW DETAIL option will become available.

  • URL Link:
    If this field is set to User Defined API a link to another website can be established on the Web menu banner.
    Links to any other website can be offered, although usually it is your own company's or a related supplier's.
    The SHOW DETAIL action is not provided as it is not relevant.


DISPLAY
This field is set to YES if the new option should be displayed on the Web menu.

URL LINK
A related URL link can be entered, only if the "API CALLED" field above is set to User Defined API.
This could be your firm's own website, a supplier's site, or any other related site, or even a favorite search engine.
e.g. http://www.texadasoftware.com

INSERT BEFORE
This option only applies when a new option is being added to the menu.
Click on the drop-down button and select the existing option that this new option should precede.

RESET ROOT
This field does not apply to category or menu headings, as menu headings are always placed in the root position on the Web menu banner.

In designing the Web menu, if menu headings are utilized all APIs following are nested under the heading until the next menu heading is listed.

The Reset Root field can control the position of an API or a User Defined URL Link, that usually defaults to display nested in a sub-menu.
When this field is set to Yes, the option is moved into the root position on the banner, rather than displaying under the previous sub-menu heading.
Subsequent APIs and User Defined URL Links on the web menu will also be reset to the root position until the next menu heading is listed.


Finished?
Click the SAVE button to save any changes made to the Heading fields.

Click SHOW DETAILS to display and access the Detail fields that control the Input Parameters and the Output Record Sets of the API menu option.
This action only applies to Headings that have a valid API name in the API CALLED field.
(i.e. not blank, and not User Defined API)


EDITING DETAILS
The API Details can be accessed by clicking SHOW DETAILS on the right, to view, modify, and define the Input Parameters first, and then the actual output Record Sets that are to be produced.

Topic Keyword: WE0003
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