Let's talk FCC - Catalogs, Groups, Site Settings & Services (Part 2 of 3)

[liz_cawley]

In part 1 of this blog series we talked about FCC in general and familiarized ourselves with the Apps, App Tile Wizard and Account Apps tabs. In this blog post we're going to create a category and a group, we're going to make some changes to our site and review the services offered. When we're finished we'll view all our changes in the launchpad.

Catalogs

The catalogs tab provides the same functionality as the previous Manage Categories tile. Catalogs enable role based access to apps and tile groups for a given launchpad site. If an end user is assigned to a catalog they will be able to search that catalog for apps in their launchpad.

• To create a new catalog select the plus icon from the bottom of the master view.
• On the Properties tab give the catalog a name
• On the apps tab select the plus icon and choose the app(s) you wish to assign to this catalog
• On the roles tab select the plus icon and choose the role(s) you wish to assign to this catalog (Note: if this is your first time in FCC you will only have the SAP provided 'Everyone' role to choose. In Blog 3 I will show you how to create more roles.)
• save your entries

Tile Groups

Select the Tile Groups tab and similar to the steps we took to create a new catalog we will now create a new group. A group is used to ensure that related apps are organized and visible to end users in the launchpad. If admins enable personalization for end users then they can move the groups/tiles around to add their own level of personalization.

• To create a new group select the plus icon from the bottom of the master view
• On the Properties tab give the group a name
• In the Assigned Roles section choose the icon on the right to add relevant roles
• in the Assigned Tiles section use the plus sign to add tiles to the group
• Save your entries
• The Layout tab is a new feature and it allows you to see the layout of the apps based on a specific role

Site Services

The Site Services tab allows admins to configure the runtime settings of a site.

Select the Edit button from the bottom right. By default the site is named 'Default launchpad', change this to a more meaningful name and optionally add a description.

Notice under the User Capabilities section that personalization and theme selection are checked by default meaning that your end users have the option to apply their own personalizations in the launchpad and change their themes. If you uncheck these then users will loose those privileges.

Tile opacity is a cool feature that changes the color of apps based on usage. The idea behind this feature is to draw users attention to the apps they use more frequently. As the name indicates, the hide groups feature allows end users to hide groups they don't want to see in their launchpad. the Search option will put a search bar in the launchpad so end users can search for apps.

Finally, SAP JAM integration needs to be checked if you want to integrate with SAP Jam. Further configurations are required and I won't be covering them in this blog post.

Pick and choose which features you want to play around with and then choose the Save and Publish options, confirm the popup message. (I'm going to choose tile opacity, hide groups, user personalization and search for my launchpad)

At the top of your browser, next to your user name on the right side you will see a small desktop icon. This icon has replaced the Site Preview tile from the previous version, select this icon to open a new browser tab where you can preview your site.

Now you can see the user capabilities selections you made. If you chose the Search feature then you should have a magnifying glass at the top of your launchpad that allows you to search by app name or keywords. If you selected tile opacity click around on a few tiles and then refresh your browser to see the tile changes. If you chose Hide groups, then choose the drop down next to your name and select hide groups. This will bring a popup where you can turn the groups on and off, turn a few off and see them immediately removed when you return to your launchpad.

Next, open the tile catalog. In the catalog drop down notice the Human Resources catalog we created earlier in this post and it contains the 2 apps we assigned to it.

Select the homepage to return to your launchpad and then open the Show/Hide groups panel and notice the internal group that we created is listed with the apps we assigned to it.

Services

The Services tab offers admins quick access to additional tools to support their administrative tasks. Tools such as:

• Translations - This tool allows you to manage the translations for your site. To date multiple languages are supported and you can read more information in the Admin Guide
• UI Theme Designer - This option will open a new browser tab that takes you into theme designer where you can create and export themes to support your business and corporate needs
• Theme Manager - After you've created a theme you can access theme manager to upload various themes and then easily assign them to sites
• Transport Manager - This option as the name suggests allows admins to easily export all site content or catalogs and/or import content to their site

In part 3, I will show you how you can share the work you've done in your extended demo with end users in your organization.