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Portal User Guide

The Portal gives selected users access to exactly the pages, documents, forms, news, processes, and tasks that are relevant to them. The available menu entries and actions can differ by customer, project, role, and installation.

The current portal implementation is built from database-managed portal pages and reusable boxes. A page defines the layout and zones; boxes render the actual content such as document lists, news, process maps, forms, search results, galleries, or customer-specific widgets.

Image placeholder: Portal start page Add a full-page screenshot of the portal start page. Highlight the header, search, language selector, application shortcuts, news/notification area, content zones, and footer.

Logging In​

Portal users normally open a customer-specific URL such as /portal/page?id=home, /portal/page?idx=home, or /portal/main. Depending on the installation, authentication can be handled by a local login form, SSO, or OpenID Connect.

If the portal is public or semi-public, the first page may be rendered with an anonymous technical user. Protected actions redirect the user to the configured login page.

After login, the portal uses the user's permissions, language, roles, and customer-specific configuration to decide which pages, boxes, documents, and actions are visible.

Image placeholder: Portal login Add a screenshot of the customer login page, including the login form, brand area, and any SSO/OpenID option if enabled.

Header and Navigation​

The portal shell contains the most important global actions:

  • the portal logo or customer brand
  • global search with the CTRL + K shortcut
  • the button to set the current page as entry page
  • language selection when more than one language is available
  • application shortcuts
  • important news and notifications
  • the user menu

Portal navigation is built from portal page objects. A page can have child pages, direct content, and reusable boxes. Direct links can use either a technical object id or a stable page index:

  • /portal/page?id=<object-id>
  • /portal/page?idx=<page-index>

Users should normally follow the provided navigation and links. Direct URLs still pass permission checks, but manually changed links can lead to an empty page, a login page, or a permission-denied response.

Image placeholder: Portal header Add a close-up screenshot of the header with callouts for search, shortcuts, important news, language selection, entry-page button, and user menu.

Page Layouts and Zones​

A portal page consists of a master page, a page layout, and one or more zones. Typical layouts include one-column, two-column, three-column, four-column, image, iframe, admin, and empty layouts.

Boxes are assigned to zones such as A, B, C, D, E, Chronos, Footer, Admin, Redaktion, or Prozesse. The selected page layout decides where those zones appear on screen.

This means the same box can be reused on different pages or moved to another zone without changing the template code. For users, the visible result is a dashboard-like page made of content blocks.

Image placeholder: Page zones Add an annotated layout diagram showing a portal page with zones A, B, C, Chronos, and Footer.

Boxes and Content Blocks​

Boxes are reusable content blocks. Each box has a template, a target zone, optional data source settings, and optional visibility restrictions.

Common box categories are:

  • news, alerts, and information panels
  • document lists and QMS document lists
  • search boxes and search result lists
  • link lists, application links, and download links
  • process maps and process document lists
  • galleries, random images, sliders, and media blocks
  • calendars, event lists, duty agendas, and birthday lists
  • profile forms, detail views, and task-related forms
  • customer-specific widgets

Only boxes that pass publication and permission checks are visible to normal users. In edit or administration contexts, additional unpublished boxes may be available for configuration and testing.

Image placeholder: Portal boxes Add a screenshot of a portal page with several different box types and short labels for each box.

News and Important Messages​

Important news can appear in the header notification menu. The portal can show unread counts and recent high-priority news entries. Selecting a news entry opens its detail view or modal, depending on the configured template.

News boxes can also be placed directly on pages. They are typically used for internal announcements, operational updates, employee information, or customer-specific messages.

Image placeholder: Important news Add a screenshot of the important-news dropdown and one opened news detail.

Document Lists​

Document list boxes display documents from a DQL or SQL query, a list profile, or the child objects of the current box. A typical document list shows:

  • document icon
  • title
  • date
  • owner
  • file size

Depending on the template, lists can support paging, sorting, filtering, horizontal scrolling, and export actions. Documents open either in the content endpoint, a viewer, or a direct download link.

Image placeholder: Document list Add a screenshot of a document list with title, date, owner, size, sorting, filtering, and export controls highlighted.

Document Viewer and Downloads​

Portal pages can expose documents in a simplified way. Depending on permissions and template design, users can:

  • open a document preview
  • download content
  • inspect metadata
  • upload or replace files
  • add attachments
  • follow a link from an e-mail directly to a document

The displayed filename is derived from the object name when possible. If the object name already contains the file extension, the portal keeps it; otherwise the original content extension is appended.

Image placeholder: Document viewer Add a screenshot of a PDF or document opened from the portal, including preview area, download action, and metadata if visible.

The portal contains a global search in the header and can also provide search boxes on individual pages. Search can use full-text search, object-name search, or template-defined DQL/SQL queries.

Search results only show objects that the current user is allowed to see. If a page, document, or box is unpublished or blocked by ACL, it is hidden.

Image placeholder: Portal search Add a screenshot showing the global search field and a search result page with at least one document result.

Lists and Tables​

Many portal templates use table-based lists for documents, profile data, QMS entries, telephone lists, subscriptions, and other structured data. These tables may include:

  • quick search
  • column sorting
  • paging
  • export to Excel, CSV, or copy
  • horizontal scrolling for wide data sets
  • server-side loading for larger result sets

The available controls depend on the selected template and profile.

Image placeholder: Portal table Add a screenshot of a DataTable-style portal list with search, paging, export, and horizontal scrolling.

Process Maps​

Process-map boxes present business processes visually and link them to related documents. A process map can group areas such as executive processes, guest-journey processes, support processes, or customer-specific process categories.

Selecting a process area loads the related document list. This makes the portal suitable for QMS handbooks, operational instructions, and process-controlled document collections.

Image placeholder: Process map Add a screenshot of the process map with one selected process area and the related document list.

Forms and Tasks​

Portal forms are usually based on profiles and customer-specific templates. A form can be used to edit an existing object, create a new object, or complete a workflow step.

Forms can be split into tabs such as Main, Description, Versions, and System. The visible fields and actions depend on the selected template, the profile configuration, and the user's permissions.

Typical actions are:

  • fill required fields
  • upload supporting documents
  • save changes
  • submit a form
  • approve or reject a request
  • leave a comment

Image placeholder: Portal form Add a screenshot of a portal form with tabs, required fields, save actions, and a workflow action if available.

Activity Feed and Comments​

Some detail views can show an activity feed. The feed combines system events and user comments, for example changes, workflow actions, uploaded files, or manual comments.

System entries help users understand what happened to an object. Comments allow users to add context without changing the structured fields.

Image placeholder: Activity feed Add a screenshot of a detail page with the feed open. Mark the difference between system activity and user comments.

Application Shortcuts​

The application shortcut menu provides quick access to connected applications and common portal areas. Entries can have labels, icons, colors, and direct links. The available shortcuts depend on the installation and user permissions.

Image placeholder: Application shortcuts Add a screenshot of the application shortcut dropdown with several configured applications.

Language​

The Portal uses the user's configured language when available. If no user language is set, the default system language is used. Translation tables can provide labels and messages for portal templates.

If a label is missing in the selected language, the fallback language or the original template text may be shown.

Permissions​

A user can only see content that passes the relevant permission checks. Portal visibility is influenced by:

  • DMS object permissions
  • user roles
  • obj_acl or legacy cq_acl
  • page publication state
  • box publication state
  • customer-specific template logic

If content is missing, it is usually caused by permissions, ACL restrictions, unpublished pages or boxes, or an unexpected login context.

Working Safely​

Portal users should use the provided actions instead of manually changing URLs. Before saving a form or submitting a workflow action, users should check required fields, attachments, comments, and the selected target action.

If a page, document, or form does not behave as expected, reload the page first. If the issue remains, note the portal URL, the visible error message, the action that was performed, and the approximate time. This information helps support teams trace the relevant portal page, box, template, and audit entry.