Customize social list definitions using inline editing

We can customize the list view definitions by defining the following settings in inline editing mode. List view definitions are represented by content items of the social list definition authoring template. This customization is normally done by a web designer or a page editor.

To define these settings, we need the access permissions for editing the web content item representing the view definition. We do not need edit access permissions to the Web Content Viewer portlet that shows the view definition.

The list view definitions provided with social rendering use the IBM Connections search service feed to retrieve the social objects displayed in the list. This has the following consequences:

• Only information available in the IBM Connections search feed can be displayed in the social lists.

• Updates to social objects in IBM Connections do not appear in the social lists provided with social rendering until the index of the IBM Connections search service was updated.

For more details about how to administer the IBM Connections search service, read the information about Administer Search in the IBM Connections product documentation.

The following settings and options are available for customizing social list view definitions using inline editing:

Name

Specify a name for the list of social items. The name must consist of at least one alphanumeric character (a-z, A-Z,0-9). It can include spaces and the following special characters: $ - _ . ! ( ) ,

Display Title

Specify the display title for the list of social objects. If we use the default presentation template, a change to the display title also changes the heading shown for the list of social objects on the page. Alternatively, we can specify Localizations instead of a display title. In this case, the portal ignores the default display title and uses the display title of the respective language instead. Social rendering provides a default text provider named Social Rendering. It includes a translated default display title for each language the portal supports. To display the translated default titles, proceed as follows:

1. Click Localizations.

2. Select the Text Provider Social Rendering.

3. In the Text Provider Key field, type the key SR_CONTENT_FILES.

4. To save the updates, click Save and Close.

Content Sources

Select the content sources to include in the list of social objects. We can select multiple content sources. Each content source corresponds to a IBM Connections service. Social rendering supports the following IBM Connections services: activities, blogs, bookmarks, communities, files, libraries, forums, profiles, wikis, and events.

Outside social rendering, some of the IBM Connections services serve multiple social objects. For example, the Forums service serves objects of type Forum topic and Reply. Social lists serve only the object types that are listed in the following table.

Content source	IBM Connections service	Content type the content source serves in social lists
Activities	Activities	Activity
Blogs	Blogs	Blog post
Bookmarks	Bookmarks	Bookmark
Communities	Communities	Community
Events	Events	Event
Files	Files, Libraries	File
Forums	Forums	Forum topic
Profiles	Profiles	Profile
Wikis	Wikis	Wiki page

Filter by Community

We can limit the contents of a social list to a community by filtering. The following options are available:

Limit to community associated with this page

If we select this option, the list contains only social objects from the community associated with the current page.

Limit to selected community

Use this option to select a community. If we select a community, the list contains only social objects from the selected community.

Do not limit to a community

If we select this option, the list is not limited to social objects that belong to communities. Social objects are listed, independent of whether they belong to a community or not.

For more information, read the WebSphere Portal product documentation under the topic about Manage community associations.

User profiles are not considered to be content of a community. If we activate community filtering, the resulting lists do not contain any user profile entries.

Filter by Type of Access

Display only public objects in this list. If we do not select this option, the list can also include social objects that are owned by or shared with the current user who views the list.

Filter by Search Term

Specify the text for which we want the portal to search when it retrieves the social objects for the list from IBM Connections. This field corresponds to the query parameter of the IBM Connections Search API. For more information about the supported values and operators, read the Search service documentation for the IBM Connections server.

Filter by Tags

Specify a comma-separated list of tags to adjust the list of social objects. If specified a tag filter here, the list displays only social objects that are tagged with these specific terms. If the same tags are deselected from a tag cloud portlet, this filter still applies as it is specified by the author, not by the end user. For more information, read Use the portal Tag Cloud with lists of social objects.

Tag Selection Support

Select this option to make this social list reflect tag selection information that is generated by the portal Tag Cloud portlet. If a user selects a tag in the portal Tag Cloud, the portal adds this tag dynamically to the existing tag filter of the current social list.

Dynamic Filtering

Select the dynamic contexts for filtering the list. The following options are available:

Enable dynamic search term filtering

If we select this option, the list shows the social objects for a search query based on the public render parameter filters with the value sr:searchterm:searchterm, where searchterm is the search term the user specified. If a dynamic search term is available, it overrides the Filter by Search Term setting. For more information about the public rendering parameter filters, read Dynamic list-rendering contexts.

Enable dynamic author filtering

If we select this option, the list is filtered based on the selected IBM Connections user profile. The list shows the social objects of which the author is the user represented by the selected user profile. Selecting a user profile means the user clicks a user profile link from a list that is resolved by the connections POC resolver in the portal. For more information about the social object resolution, read Specify in the design component how social object links are resolved.

Sorting Criteria

Specify the sorting criteria used for the list of social objects. We can choose between the Last updated and Relevance options.

Sorting Order

Specify the sorting order used for the list of social objects. We can choose between Ascending and Descending order.

List Appearance

Select a component that formats the list of social objects. We can select only IBM WCM Personalization components that have the keyword ibm.portal.socialrendering assigned in their profile section. To enable the profile section for IBM Web Content Manager components, set the control.Cmpnt=com.aptrix.pluto.taxonomy.ProfileControl property in the WCMConfigService.properties file and restart the portal. For more information about this type of Web Content Manager Personalization components, see Customize the visual design of social lists.

By default, we can choose between two appearance types:

Simple

The Simple appearance is useful for a mobile view, as it contains fewer data.

Comprehensive

The Comprehensive appearance provides more information of the following types:

• The person who made the last update to the social object

• The date of the last update to the social object

• Tags assigned to the social object

• The summary of the social object.

Both of these default appearances are responsive to the theme columns, screen width, and screen orientation. Social rendering uses default CSS styles to provide this responsiveness. For example, they can be useful if users use different types of devices to view the lists or change between portrait and landscape views on a mobile device.

Maximum Results (hidden)

This field is an optional input field. This setting is hidden by default. To make it show, click Show hidden fields at the beginning or end of the screen. Specify the maximum number of content items included in this list. This figure determines the maximum number of social objects that IBM Connections returns. Set a positive integer. It is good practice to match this number with the number of results the Personalization component can display specified at the List Appearance element. To determine that number, multiply the Results per page by the Maximum pages to include of the Personalization component.

We can also configure this setting globally for all social list portlets in the WP Connections Integration Service in the WAS admin console. See Configure the maximum number of items loaded from IBM Connections. If we leave the Maximum Results field empty for a social list, then the value set in the WP Connections Integration Service applies as the default.

Custom Properties (Hidden)

This field is an optional input field. It is hidden by default. To make it show, click Show hidden fields at the beginning or end of the screen. Add one or more custom properties in this input field. Use such more custom properties to add more flexibility to the layout of the list as required. For example, we can change the layout of your social list by defining a specific condition that uses the custom property added in this field. The following code sample shows how we change the color of the social list heading by specifying the string blue at the Custom Properties element:

[Plugin:Equals text1="blue" text2="[Element context='current' type='content' key='custom']"]
   <h2 style="color:blue;">[Property context="current" type="content" field="title"]</h2>
[/Plugin:Equals]
[Plugin:NotEquals text1="blue" text2="[Element context='current' type='content' key='custom']"]
   <h2 style="color:black;">[Property context="current" type="content" field="title"]</h2>
[/Plugin:NotEquals]

Custom Link Resolution Root Page (Hidden)

Use this field to control the social object resolution behavior for links that users click in this list. For more detailed information, read Social Object Resolution.

Parent Customize view definitions for portal site visitors

Related concepts:

Social object resolution

Related tasks:

Use the portal Tag Cloud with lists of social objects
Customize the visual design of the view definitions
Manage community associations
Configure the maximum number of items loaded from IBM Connections

Related information

Dynamic list-rendering contexts
Administer Search