No need to worry about breaking links when changing a URL in Plone. The original link still works behind the scenes (this is called an Alias, or Redirect).

How to Shorten a URL

1. First, a couple of settings on your site need to be changed. Ask your site administrator or your friendly WebLion representative to enable Short-Name editing for you.  He or she will change settings at the following locations:
   • /@@site-controlpanel
   • /prefs_user_details in your user profile.
2. Once these settings have been changed, you are ready to edit URLs. Log in to your site, go to a content item whose URL you wish to shorten, and Edit the item. You should now see an additional field, called Short Name. 
   
   
   
   You can now shorten or change the Short Name to whatever you wish, as long as it is a well formed URL. Because it's part of the item's web address, the Short Name must not contain sp a ces, under_scores, MixedCase, ALLCAPS, or $ym%ols. These can create usability issues or just not work.
   
   Well Formed Short Names:
   • conference
   • foster-conference
   Badly Formed Short Names:
   • CONFERENCE
   • foster conference
   • FosterConference
   • foster_conference
   • foster-conference@psu
3. Once you have carefully renamed the Short Name, save your changes. Your content item will now have a new URL.

In the Add Portlet menu, select RSS Feed.

You will see the following screen:



In the Number of items to display field, Indicate how many Twitter posts you want to display in the portlet. You can edit the portlet and change this number any time.

In the URL of RSS feed field, place the URL you created in Step 1. For example,

http://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name=weblion

The Feed reload timeout field indicates the number of minutes that will pass between times when the portlet will refresh data on your site. The default is 100 minutes. That means that every 100 minutes, the portlet will refresh itself and show any new Tweets posted during that time. If needed, you can shorten the Feed reload timeout so that it posts new Tweets more often.

Why is my RSS portlet title so weird? Can I change it?
If you're asking this question, you're probably still using Plone 3. In Plone 3, it is not possible to change the Title of RSS portlets -- the portlet grabs the title from part of the feed. In Plone 4, you will be able to specify a Title of your choice for RSS feeds.

It's a container that dynamically sorts and displays content based on a set of criteria regardless of where that content may be stored on your site.

Similar to:

• Search engine returning results
• Query from a database
• Itunes Playlists

Itunes Example: Joe Satriani smart playlist. 

Each time I put in a new cd or add new music by Joe a army of trained monkeys goes and puts the songs inside of my playlist.

Trained Monkeys

Search Result

But Joe is also in multiple bands.

I want this music to be included in my Satriani's playlist so I change the search query so that it matches any of the rules.

• Get any song that has Joe Satraini as a artist OR
• Grab any song that Chickenfoot is the artist as well.

Modified Search Rule

Result:

Many attributes

There are many kinds of attributes I can search for:

• Artist
• Album rating
• album artwork
• composer
• description
• album artist
• date added
• date modified
• ......

Attributes

Song limits

I can limit how many songs this playlist can get. I can have it get the last 10 songs that was added to the playlist.

This is how collections works in plone. It is a playlist of news stories, events, latest photos...

Collections are Powerful!

They Reduce Redundancy!

They Reduce Redundancy!

• Oh, and outdated content
• Broken links, too!

Harness the Power!

Here are just a few great options:

• Categories
• Date of publication
• Type of content

Collections reduce the redundant content, outdated content, and unintentionally broken links.

Common Applications for Collections

• News
• Events
• Photos displayed by date range
• Content displayed by category

Collection Demo

Excuse me while I switch Machines...

Other Search Terms that are useful...

Dates

There are a LOT of Dates!

Date results display the results with the oldest date first, otherwise known as ascending order

• Creation Date - the date the document was made. You can't change the creation date of an object.
• Effective Date - the date when an object is published. You can change the effective date.
• Expiration Date - refers to the day that the item will no longer be publicly available.
• Modification Date- the date the object was last edited. You can't customize this date.
• Event Specific Dates - only apply to objects that are Events.
• Start Date - the date that an event starts
• End Date - the date that the event ends

Creation Date and Effective Date are very similar. They both represent a beginning point of an object. Keep in mind when choosing which one you want to use, an object can be created long before it's published. Thus you would get different results in a Collection depending on which date you used.

We recommend using Effective Date rather than Creation Date for date-oriented collections. This way, your collection shows results based on when they became viewable to the public, which is usually more relevant to the audience of your collection. Also, you can manually adjust the Effective Date to control the sort order, which you can't do with Creation Date.

The Expiration Date is also customizable through the Edit tab. By default, objects have no expiration date.

The Modification Date is the date the object was last edited. Note that this date is determined the day the object is created and will automatically change every time the object is edited. There is no way to customize this date.

Event specific dates - Start and End Dates are very effective for creating recent events and upcoming events collections that will let your audience know what your organization is doing and will be doing in the future.

Setting Dates

Setting up Criteria for dates can be confusing. They have a setup that is not like any of the other Criteria. First, you have to choose whether you want a Relative Date or a Date Range.

A Date Range will allow you to specify an exact range of dates, such as 01/02/08 to 02/02/08. The Date Range is useful when you want to create a Collection with a static date that won't change.The Relative Date allows you to construct a conditional statement. For instance, items modified less than 5 days in the past. The Relative Date can be very useful as it will allow you to create Collections that are automatically updating themselves, such as a Recent News collection or an Upcoming Event section.

Date Range

The Date Range is very easy to understand. Both a Start Date and End Date are required (do not confuse these terms with the Event Specific dates!). The Date Range allows us to enter a beginning and an end date and the display everything within that time frame. Notice also that it allows us to specify a specific time of day as well.

Relative Date

Looking first at the Relative Date option, you can see we have three options to fill out.

I want the results to include objects More or Less than Which Day, In the Past or Future.

The first option is Which Day. This allows us to select the number of days our criterion will include. One of the options is called Now. Using this will set the date range to the current day. The other two options do not matter and can be ignored when using Now.

If you are choosing one of the other two options, here is a statement you'll want to learn: I want the results to include objects More or Less than Which Day, In the Past or Future.

Keeping that in mind, the second option is In the Past or Future. This enables us to choose whether we are looking forward or backward into time.

The last option is More or Less. Here we can choose from three options. Less than allows us to include everything from now to a period of time equal to or less than the Which Day setting, either in the past or future. More than will include everything from beyond our specified number of days equal to or more than Which Day. Finally On the Day will only include things that are on the day we specified in the Which Day. Using the example in the image above if we had selected On the Day instead of Less than our Collection would display only objects that were modified (we are using the Modification Date criterion) 5 days ago.

Now, try reading the statement from above, substituting in the field options you chose.

Creator

When using the Creator criterion, we are filtering objects based on who created them. This might be useful if you want to do a featured author section, where you would only want to display content on your site that has been created by a certain author.

As you can see we have several options for our criteria type. They allow us to restrict the creator to the person currently logged in, enter the name of another user as text, or to select users from a list.

If you want to display results from multiple users, you would need to use the List of values option. Otherwise you would normally use the Text option unless the creator you wanted to select was yourself in which case you would use Restrict to current user.

Description

The Description field is essentially a search box type criterion. However, instead of searching the title and body of a page, it will only search for the text in the Description field of a content object. This criterion is only really useful if you fill out the Description field consistently for all your content objects.

Location

Using the Location criterion is much like specifying a location when you search for a document on your hard drive. By specifying a Location criterion, the results that are displayed in your Collection will only come from that location, most commonly, a folder. This can be useful if you only want to display content that is in the About Us section of your site, for example. This is also useful for narrowing Collection results when combined with other criteria.

Specify a Location

To specify a Location, simply click the Add button, which will pop up a new window showing you a directory of your site.

Put a check next to the item you want.

You can open folders to view content contained within them by clicking directly on the title of the folder you want to open. You may also use the Search box to search for the Title of an object.

Search Text

Search Text is a very useful criterion. It is similar to the search box on your site or an Internet search engine. It takes the text you specify and searches the Title, Description, and Body of all objects and returns any that have the word or phrase you specify. This is useful when you want to find objects that have to deal with a certain thing, especially if the word or phrase appears across many content types.

Related To, Part 1

The Related To field is another field, like Category, that must be specified on a content object prior to being used for a Collection. The Related Items field on an object (found in the Edit area, inside the Categories tab) lets you specify which other objects in your site are similar or are relevant to the object you created. By specifying this field, when you create an object you can create a web of related content that will reference each other (think of a "see also" kind of function).

When you have done this, you can use the Related To criterion in a Collection to display anything related to a specific object.

Related To, Part 2

• Remember the Related To Values list does not work based on which objects are related to content, but on which objects have another object related to it.

Setting Sort Order

Set Sort Order allows a field to sort the results of a collection. Checking Reverse causes the results to display in reverse of the default display order.

After saving the collection, the search criteria will be applied and the results displayed when the collection is viewed. You can create any number of collections for such custom views.

Also, understand that you must publish the collection for results to be visible to the anonymous user.

Setting the Sort Order, Option One:

The order that search results are displayed in a collection is determined by Sort Order.

• Text results - Results display in alphabetical order
• Creator
• Short name - in Plone speak, another name for the URL of an object
• Title

Setting the Sort Order, Option Two:

• Object property results - objects are grouped together by the specified properties
• Tags
• Item type
• Related to - limits results to only those objects that have Related To information specified on their properties
• State

Setting the Sort Order, Option Three:

• Date results - displays the results with the oldest date first, otherwise known as ascending order
• Creation Date - the date the document was made. You can't change the creation date of an object.
• Effective Date - the date when an object is published
• Expiration Date - refers to the day that the item will no longer be publicly available
• Modification Date- the date the object was last edited
• Event Specific Dates - only apply to objects that are Events
• Start Date - the date that an event starts
• End Date - the date that the event ends

Ready to See Your Collection?

Just click View!

.

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Portlets are areas you create to add and display content. Portlets can be added to the left and right of the center body area and can contain myriad content ranging from news, events, calendars, RSS feeds, collections, plain text, and more. Also, you can set properties and policies for showing the portlets.

Think of a portlet like a bucket!

Why Use a Portlet?

• You have content you want to have special focus, like news.
• You need to specify the configuration data for an item. - i.e. number of entries to show.
• You want to give the content editors a choice about when and where to display content.
• You'd like to show it only to some groups or users.

Portlet Hierarchy

When managing portlets sitewide, keep in mind that they are inherited:

• Portlets set up at the Site Root propagate down through the entire site.
• Portlets set up at the Folder level propagate down through that entire Folder.
• Portlets set up on a single noncontainer Content Item do not propagate.

Blocking Parent Portlets

• If you want a different set of portlets or order of portlets for a particular section, you must use the Block/unblock portlets controls, to "block" the parent portlets. When you block Portlets, you must explicitly add all the Portlets that you wish to see on the child page.

Here is an example of Plone's portlet hierarchy:

You can see that the Navigation portlet propagates down through the entire site. Recent Items is visible through the first and second level, but has been blocked in the third. Documentation has added a Collection portlet, and Tutorials and Videos have added Search.

Managing Portlets

To start creating and editing portlets, you must click on the Manage Portlets link. Usually, this is found at the bottom of the left and/or right columns. Under Manage Portlets, you can create new portlets, remove portlets, rename, and rearrange portlets.

Once you click the link, you'll see:

Plone's Portlet Control Panel

Adding a Portlet

Click on the Add Portlet drop down box and choose the type of portlet you would like to add. We discuss the different options available in a moment.

Understand that you have the ability to work with portlets on both the right and left side of the page. This is because there are left and right columns. Portlets will only appear on the side(s) that you add them.

Also, there is no limit to how many times you can use a certain type of portlet or an individual portlet, or a limit to how many total portlets can be on a page.

Portlet Types shipped with Plone

• Calendar
• Classic
• Collection
• Events
• Login
• Navigation
• News
• RSS Feeds
• Recent Items
• Review List
• Search
• Static Text

Calendar Portlet

This simple, non-customizable portlet displays a small calendar of any events on the site.

Classic Portlet

A Classic Portlet is...

• In the manner of older versions of Plone
• Created by your site administrator using a page template in the Zope Management Interface (ZMI)
• Handy when you want a simple custom portlet that can be used anywhere on the site
• For example, the Need Help Now? portlet at weblion.psu.edu/documentation

Collection Portlet

A Collection Portlet displays a Plone collection. Collection portlets can be used for jobs such as:

• Displaying topic-related news or events in different sections of your site
• Creating custom navigation
• Creating those below-the-footer displays of links, features, etc. Like at agsci.psu.edu

Portlet Header and Target Collection

Give your Collection Portlet the title of your choice in the portlet header field. Then search for and select the Target collection—that's the collection whose results you want displayed in your portlet.

Limit, Randomization, Link, and Dates

In the Limit field, you can specify how many items you want displayed in the collection portlet—if you do decide to limit the display, you may want to check the box next to Show more... link so that users can get to the rest of the items in the collection.

You can randomize the display by checking the box next to Select random items.

If you want the publication dates of items to be visible, check the box next to Show dates.

Collection Portlet Display

When you save your changes and click Return, you should see your collection portlet display. If you do not see your portlet, check your portlet settings, and check the original collection to make sure it is displaying items.

Events Portlet

An Events Portlet displays upcoming events. You can control how many are displayed as well as which workflow state to show. For instance, if you choose Published, only published Events will show up in the portlet. If you want only certain events to show up, use a Collection Portlet instead.

Login Portlet

Selecting this adds a non-configurable Login Portlet. Don't be confused if you do not see the login portlet once you add it. Only anonymous users can view the portlet.

Navigation Portlet

The Navigation Portlet provides a structured navigation tree of the site or folder.

You can title the navigation portlet to reflect its location, or simply call it Navigation.

Next, indicate the Root Node, or folder on the site that you want the portlet to navigate. If you want it to map out the entire site, leave the root node field blank.

If you select Include Top node, your navigation portlet will list the Title of the site or folder at the top of the navigation tree.

Current Folder, Start Level, Depth

You can indicate whether you want your navigation portlet to list only the items in the current folder.

When setting up site-wide navigation, you can indicate the Start level, that is, the number of folder levels below the site where you want the navigation to begin displaying. If you indicate 0 as the Start level, the navigation will appear at the top of the site and everywhere below. 1 means it will not appear at the top of the site. And so on...

You can also control when the navigation tree should stop. A navigation tree depth of 0 means that there is no limit. A navigation tree depth of 1 indicates only the root folder, and so on.

You can edit your navigation portlet as many times as you need to until you get the navigation just right.

Navigation Portlet Display

News Portlet

The News Portlet is much like the events portlet. You can chose the Number of items to display and the Workflow state. If you want to display only specific News Items, use a Collection Portlet.

RSS Portlet

With RSS Portlets, it's simple to collect RSS feeds and display them on your site.This is a great way to post material from blogs, news portals, social media, and the like.

Choose a Title for the feed, the Number of items to display, provide the URL of RSS feed, and in the Feed reload timeout field, specify how frequently you want the feed to refresh on your site.

RSS Portlet Display

You get a More... link for free, which leads to the full content of the item.

Recent Items Portlet

The Recent Items Portlet displays a list of items on your site with recent modification dates.

You can specify how many items to display in the Recent Items Portlet. An All recent changes... link leads to the full list.

Search Portlet

The Search Portlet provides a search box. If you enable Live Search, users will see live results of their searches (if JavaScript is enabled on their browsers).

Search Portlet Display

The Search Portlet will search titles, descriptions, and body text of your site's content.

Static Text Portlet

The Static Text Portlet allows you to add content just as you would on a page. Along with a Title (Portlet header) and Body Text, you get an optional Border, Footer, and Details Link.

Static Text Portlet Display

Use Static Text Portlets for content that you cannot provide using the other portlet types. Static Text Portlets also are best for content that does not change frequently and content that doesn't get reused in various places on the site.

Editing an Existing Portlet

To Edit, Reorder, Hide, or Show portlets, be sure you are at the site level where the portlets actually were added.

To edit the properties of an existing portlet, click on the name of the portlet. Each type of portlet will have different configuration options available to it.

Rearranging Portlets

To rearrange your portlets, simply click the blue up or down arrow. This will affect the order your portlets are displayed on the page.

Removing Portlets

To remove a portlet, click the "X" next to its name.

Hiding Portlets

In Plone 4, you can show/hide portlets using the associated show/hide links present.

Showing a Portlet

When you're ready to use the portlet again, click Show.

Beware the Default View

When you set about creating Portlets that you want to propagate, be careful to that you are creating the Portlet at the Site Root or Folder and not at the Default View:

• my-site.edu/front-page is not the Site Root. my-site.edu/ is.
• my-site/cheeses/cheese-home is not the Folder Level. my-site/cheeses/ is.

Check the URL

When setting up Portlets that you want to propagate through an entire folder, look at the URL after following the Manage Portlets link. If the default view is visible in the URL, remove it before adding the portlets. In the example below, tasty-suet-cakes is the Default View for the Folder /feeding/. Simply shave /tasty-suet-cakes off the URL, and you're good to go.

• You're at the Default View: http://chickadees.org/feeding/tasty-suet-cakes/@@manage-portlets
• You're at the Folder: http://chickadees.org/feeding/@@manage-portlets

Blocking and Unblocking Portlets

Your content inherits Portlet Settings from the Parent container—the Folder that the content lives in, not folders farther upstream.

You can Block these portlet settings:

In Plone 4, users can now see what's being blocked and what's being inherited.

Blocked Items are Grayed Out

A blocked portlet will be grayed out on on the portlet management screen:

Which Portlets to Block

When blocking and unblocking portlets, understand what those three different pulldown menus are about:

Parent Portlets

• Affects all portlets, including Group and Content Type Portlets.
• But, settings for Group and Content Type Portlets can override for these two portlet types.

Group Portlets

• Created by your Site Manager for Groups of Users.
• Block and Do not block override parent settings.

Content Type Portlets

• Assigned in the Plone Control Panel to specific Content Types by your Site Manager .

• Block and Do not block override parent settings.

ContentWellPortlets

ContentWellPortlets is a very handy add-on Plone product that allows you to place portlets above the main content, below the main content, and in the footer area.

ContentWellPortlets Controls

You can add up to six portlets in these areas.

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