As an administrator, you can fully customize your site— from the applications and features that are available, to the site color-scheme, the home page layout and messages that members see when they first log in. As your site needs change, update your customization options using easy-to-use administration tools.
Here is a sampling of what you can customize in your web office:
To change the site name at the top of your web office:
In the Menu, click Administration > Customize Appearance.
Under the Customize the Look & Feel section on the Appearance page, enter the new name in the Site Name text box.
When you're done, click Save.
There are many places you can put links so that they appear on either your home page or display consistently in your site’s navigation. All of the links and menu items can be conveniently managed through the "Customize Navigation" section by tabbing to the appropriate area that indicates where the item is located.
There are four types of link that can be added and managed:
Navigation links appear in both the Menu and in Quick Links. The Navigation tab allows administrators to position navigational links.
Home Page links display in the "Links" window of your home page, and are divided into My Links (personal) and Public Links sections.
Links can be added to Shortcuts by an administrator, and will display in the Menu under the Shortcuts button. Members can access the shortcuts list under the Shortcuts tab.
My Favorites will display under "My Favorites" in the Menu.
Note: If a member is deleted from your site, their "Favorites" and "My Links" will also be removed.
To create a new link:
Select New > New Link from the Command Bar. The New Link screen appears.
Enter the Link Name to be displayed.
When you type the web address for the link, it
must begin with one of the following prefixes below. If no prefix is used,
the link will be created using the prefix "http://". That is,
"www.mysite" will change to "http://www.mysite.com".
Note: If a user does not have access rights to the areas you
are setting up links for, they will see the link, but may not be able
to access the page.
Acceptable link formats for the URL include:
|
Prefix |
Examples |
|
http:// |
http://www.mysite.com
|
|
https:// |
https://www.mysite.com |
|
mailto: |
mailto:feedback@sitename.com |
|
ftp:// |
ftp://ftp.sitename.com |
|
None |
www.mysite.com, yoursite.sitename.com |
Choose an icon that will appear next to the link (optional).
Specify a location for the link to appear (optional). If no location is designated, it will appear in the Menu. Options include:
|
Menu |
Links appearing in the menu at the left of your screen. These can only be created by an administrator. |
|
Quick Links |
Links appearing at the bar at the top of your screen. These can only be created by an administrator. |
Choose how you would like the link to open when
it is clicked (optional).
Options include:
Opening in the website’s frame 
and replacing the main content portion of your screen.
Opening in the website’s frame 
and hiding the Menu portion of your screen.
Note: The "Home" link will still be accessible
through the top frame when the Menu is not available.
Opening in a new browser window entirely 
and leaving the current website application window untouched.
Move the link to its desired position in the navigation structure by selecting it first and then using the green arrows to position it.
Once the link is placed, click Save. Or, if you wish to make changes on other Links tabs without losing these changes, click Apply.
To reposition the navigation links at the top or left of your site:
Select Administration > Customize Navigation from the Menu. The Customize Navigation screen appears.
Click any of the top or left links to view a description
of the link’s properties in the Properties pane. The Properties pane allows
you to edit, move, or remove the link (to the "Removed Items"
box).
For links in the Menu area, there are up and down positioning arrows
that allow you to reorder the Menu items, and a northeast
pointing arrow, which enables you to move a Menu item to the Quick Links
area. You must first select a Menu item to enable the arrows.
When you click on a Quick Link, the arrows for that area will enable (turn
from grey to green), and you can begin positioning the Quick Links. Clicking
the southwest pointing arrow
will likewise send the Quick Link over to the Menu area. In this way,
links can be interchanged between the two main navigation areas of your
site.
You may want to add separators between links in your Menu. To do this,
click the Add Menu Separator button
at the bottom of the Menu area. A separator line will be inserted, which
you can then move by clicking the up or down arrows.
Once you have positioned the link where you want it, click Save. To remain in Customize Navigation without returning to the Home Page, click Apply.
To remove a navigation link:
Select Administration > Customize Navigation from the Menu. The Customize Navigation screen appears.
Click the link (on the left or top) that you would like to remove, in order to select it. The description of that link appears in the Properties pane.
If the link can be removed, the "Remove"
symbol 
appears in the Properties pane. Click "Remove".
The link is moved to the Removed Items list.
You can also delete separators by selecting them and clicking the "Remove" symbol.
To permanently delete a custom link once it has been placed in the Removed Items box, select the link and click the "Remove" symbol a second time.
Standard web office applications cannot be deleted, though they can be removed from your navigation system by placing them back in the Removed Items box; however, members may still have access to these applications through the mini-"windows" on the home page. If your goal is to remove an application completely, you must disable it.
Note: Disabled applications and custom databases that have been removed from the Menu will not appear in the Removed Items list.
Note: An administrator has permission to remove a custom database from the Menu whether or not the administrator has been granted access rights to that database.
If you are a web office administrator, you can change the address for your site. This is useful, for example, when you are using the site for a project that is ending, and you want to roll over the information on the site to a new project. You don't have to create an entirely new site; you can just change the site address and modify the information on the site.
When you change your web office address all of your data will remain as is and users can log in using their same login names and passwords.
Please note:
Once you change the web office address, if users attempt to go to the old site address, they are not automatically redirected to the new address.
All members must update any bookmarks, Internet shortcuts, or Favorites lists that point to the site.
If members use Web Folders (Network Places in Windows® XP) to access the Documents application, they must update the target of each Web Folder to the new web office address. The simplest way to do this is to create a new Web Folder. See Managing folders via Web Folders for more information.
To change your web office address:
Click Administration in the Menu.
Select Change your web office address (URL) from the Site Administration page.
Enter your new web office address.
Click the Notify members of this URL change checkbox to send all web office members an automated email about this change.
Click Save.
Customize your own home page message and images to greet your members, using the rich text editor. You can copy and paste formatted text and pictures or create your own rich text messages from scratch. Font sizes and colors, margin settings, links, even tables and pictures will all appear right in your site.
The first time you create a home page message, you will be prompted to download the EditLive rich text editor. It's this editor that enables you to include rich text elements in your message.
Requirements: To use the rich text editor, you must be using:
PC: Internet Explorer 6.0 or above, or Mozilla Firefox® 2.
Macintosh: Mozilla Firefox® 2. For best results, it is strongly recommended that you upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS X available from Apple©.
Note: Macintosh users will only have access to the plain text editor in Mozilla Firefox® 2.
To customize your home page message:
From the Menu, select Administration > Customize Appearance. The Appearance screen appears.
In the Customize the Look & Feel section,
for Home Page Message, click the Show
message radio button, and then click the Edit
button to customize your message.
If you have not already downloaded the rich text editor, you are prompted
to do so now. Depending on your connection speed, this download could
take several minutes.
Enter the text and images for your message here.
Using the rich text editor, you can copy and paste formatted text and
pictures into this space (from Microsoft Word®, for example) or you can
create your own rich text messages here. Using the buttons in the rich
text editor, you can include:
Text in the font style,
color, and size of your choice
Upload pictures, images, and clip art from your computer
Hot links to a web page or to a page in your web office
Formatted tables and lists
For more information about how to format text and pictures, please
visit the online help available inside the rich text editor. Click the
Help file menu item in the upper-right
corner of the editor.
Click Save.
If you included an image in your message, you are prompted to upload
the attachment. Click Ok at the
Save Image dialog.
If you'd like to include a logo or picture on your home page, you can put it in this field or in the home page message. When you upload an image here, it automatically appears at the top of your home page, above your home page message. When you put an image in your home page message, you can customize its placement within the message and users can be redirected to a website of your choice when they click the logo.
To add your logo to your web office:
Click Administration > Customize Appearance. The Appearance page appears.
Under the Customize the Look & Feel section on the Appearance page, the following options are available.
|
Home Page Logo |
To add a new logo, click the Browse button, highlight the file you want, and then click Open. The image must be either a GIF or JPEG file (these files end in .gif or .jpg). |
|
Remove |
If you need to remove the logo, click the Remove check box. To replace the logo, click the Browse button next to the Replace Logo field, highlight the GIF or JPEG file you want, and then click Open. |
|
Logo Position |
Choose a position for the logo on the home page by selecting an option from the Logo Position drop-down list. |
|
Logo URL |
If you want members to be redirected to a web site when they click your group logo, enter the URL in the Logo URL text box. |
When you're done, click Save.
To choose a color scheme for your site:
Select Administration > Customize Appearance from the Menu.
In the Customize the Look & Feel section, select one of the color schemes from the Color Scheme drop-down list.
Click Save.
As the administrator, you have the option of turning off the features your group does not use to streamline the appearance of your site. When you disable a feature, no member can see it.
To turn a feature on or off:
Select Administration > Customize Appearance from the Menu.
In the WebOffice Features section, all features that appear on your site have checkmarks beside them. Click the checkmark beside each feature you do not want to appear in your web office.
Click Save.
IMPORTANT: Deselecting either Shortcuts or Favorites will delete all the Shortcuts or Favorites saved for your site. Restoring these features by re-checking the box will not restore the Shortcuts or Favorites that were previously saved.
You have the option of resetting number of days and items displayed on the Home Page for each of the applications you have selected in the WebOffice Features section. If you disable any of these applications in WebOffice Features, you will not be able to configure it here.
To configure the number of days and items displayed:
Select Administration > Customize Appearance from the Menu.
In the Application Settings section, select the number of days and items for each application.
If you would like the application to appear in the "What’s New" section of the Home Page, mark the checkbox.
Click Save.
Put the sections you use most often at the top of your web office home page where you can maintain easy access to it. You can customize:
Which features appear on the home page
The order in which the features appear
The number of days that appear as "New" on your home page applications
The number of items that appear on your home page applications
Site administrators set these default home page customization settings. Members can use these defaults or make their own settings.
To set your personal home page settings, go to Tools > Member Options > Home Page. Then follow the instructions below.
To set the default home page settings for your web office:
Go to Administration > Customize Appearance.
|
What you can customize |
How you do it |
|
Add new features to the home page |
In the drop-down list, select the feature you want to add, and then click the Add button If you have removed features, restore them to the home page by clicking Add in the Content & Layout section. |
|
Remove features on the home page |
In the Left column or the Right column list, highlight the feature you want to remove, and then click the X button. TIP: You can also remove features when you're on the home page. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the home page feature you want to remove. TIP: To temporarily collapse a feature on your homepage, click the minimize ( - ) button in the upper-right corner of the feature "window". |
|
Change the order in which features appear on the home page and organize them into one or two column layouts |
You can move features up, down, right, and left on the home page. Highlight the feature you want to move and use the up-down arrows or the right-left arrows to change its position. By default, your home page content contains mini-"windows" in a two-column layout. To change this, select the single column radio button. Having a single column allows each feature more width in your home page window. |
|
Reset the duration of time items display as "New", and change the number of items shown |
By default your home page shows a set number of items in each application window, and expires the items after a certain number of days. The Application Settings section allows you to customize the number of days items are marked "New" for and determine the number of items displayed on your home page. TIP: For optimal performance of your web office home page, choose a small number of days to show on the Calendar. The more Calendar days you show on your home page, the longer your home page will take to load. |