Widget configuration

What's new

As of censhare 2021.2.x: Frontend customization censhare Web

Due to new webpacked technology that censhare uses as of 2021.2.x, please note that there are important changes to the way custom solutions are developed. A custom frontend requires a modified workflow that is significantly different from previous versions. It includes packaging, building and releasing your customizations into webpack bundles on your test or deployment system and copying them to your production system.

• Customization updates: If the project has its own customization in form of additional frontend code (placed in the censhare-Custom folder), and for any locale that is used, you need to properly build and deploy the extensions. See Release frontend bundles and Build, release, deploy frontend bundles. This can be prepared in a local Dev environment. See Getting started censhare WP. 
• Customization workflow: Developing censhare custom solutions now involves additional steps. You have to set up a DevOps environment that allows you to track, merge, test, stage and deploy the desired scope of changes. Customizations involved building, releasing, and deploying weppacked frontend bundles. See DevOps environment and Build, release, deploy frontend bundles.
• Branding: The dynamic branding with a  Branding asset that is assigned in the  System asset no longer work. The Branding asset is deprecated. If you upgrade your branded censhare from an earlier version below 2021.2.x, you must implement the new branding. Your old branding will not work anymore. See Custom custom branding.
• Custom themes: Create custom theme for Keycloak
• Custom widgets: Custom widget censhare WP

Context

Widgets are used on asset pages and application pages.

Prerequisites

System administrators can create widget configurations and make them available to users in the Add widget dialog of the page actions menu or on asset pages of censhare Web.
System users can add, remove, and edit the widget configurations that appear on pages in their personal workspace.

Introduction

Widgets are user-interface components that interact with censhare Web in a specific way. The standard installation of censhare Web includes a large selection of widget configurations for you to choose from and customize. By default, asset pages contain only the widgets that are appropriate for the selected asset type. For example, the Content tab of a Text asset contains the Content editor and Preview widgets that you need to edit the content. The tabs in censhare Web provide a logical structure for the widgets. For example, the default configuration of the Overview tab on an Article asset page includes the Workflow, Author, and Main content widgets. To provide quick access to widgets that you use frequently, you can create custom tabs for specific products or campaigns.

Key concepts

In censhare Web, the term "widget" usually refers to a widget configuration on your workspace. This widget configuration is an asset with specific parameters. An underlying widget provides the basic functions that the widget configuration uses. When you add a widget to a page, censhare Web adds the preconfigured parameters of the widget configuration and applies the basic functionality of the widget.

censhare Web users can customize many aspects of the widgets in their workspace. For example, add, remove, and rearrange widgets. Users can also configure the widgets in their personal workspace. For example, add another asset relation in the Multi relations widget.

censhare Web solution developers can add custom widgets to the default workspace of a system or make custom widgets available in the Actions menu. See the developer guide on Widgets dev. Due to the webpack technology censhare Web is using, you need to build and release the webpack bundles to make them available in censhare Web. For more information, see Custom widget censhare WP.

Widget management

Based on the configuration of your censhare Web system, you can add, remove, and configure the widgets on application and asset pages. The widgets that are available for a specific page vary. When you customize the widgets on an asset page, the changes apply to all assets of the same type on your personal workspace. When you reset your workspace, all customization is removed.

censhare Web applies your changes to the page template of the asset type (not only to a specific asset page). For example, if you remove the Workflow widget from the Overview tab of an Article asset page, the widget is removed from all Article asset pages in your personal workspace.

The actions that you can perform with a specific widget vary widely. In censhare Web you use widgets to preview assets, manage asset relations, assign workflows, and much more. When you work on an asset page in censhare Web, everything that you do with the asset is done with a widget.

Widely-used widgets

The majority of widget configurations are based on the widgets listed in the table below.
For a complete list of widget configurations, see the Downloads area of this article.

Note: Based on the specific configuration, the appearance of the Report widget varies. The Report widget can mimic the appearance of table or preview widgets. For example, the product preview in PIM is based on the Report widget, not on the Preview widget.

Add widgets

To add a widget to a page, open the page actions menu of the desired page. Select Add widget. A dialog that lists all of the widgets that are available for the selected page opens.

To find a specific widget in the list of available widgets, use the search field at the top of the dialog. censhare Web searches the name and description of all widgets in the list.

To add a widget to a page, select the desired widget and click OK.
To cancel the action and close the dialog, click CLOSE.

Widget actions

To view the actions available for a specific widget configuration, go to the desired widget. Icons for the actions that are available for the selected widget display in the title bar of the widget.

• Configure widget

  To edit the configuration of a widget, open the Actions menu of the desired widget. Select Configure widget. The configuration dialog of the widget opens. Based on the type of widget, the current configuration of the widget, and your permission level, the settings that are editable and available vary.

  For more information, see Generic widget configuration.

• Remove widget

  To remove a widget from a page, open the Actions menu of the desired widget. Select Remove widget. censhare Web removes the widget from the current page and all other pages of the same type in your user account. Removal of a widget changes the appearance of the page only. No data is lost.

• Remove all relations

  To remove all asset relations from the selected widget, open the actions menu of the desired widget. Select Remove asset relations. This action is only available for widgets that contain one or more asset relations.

  For more information, see Relating assets.

Edit properties

Widgets that you can edit display an Edit properties icon when you point to them.

To edit the widget information, click the Edit properties icon. A dialog with input fields opens. Based on the type of widget, the input fields vary.

To save your changes, click OK.
To cancel the action and close the dialog, click CLOSE.
To commit your changes permanently and remain on the current page, click SAVE.
To commit your changes permanently and close the current page, click SAVE & CLOSE.
To discard your changes, click CANCEL.

Add relations

Widgets that manage asset relations display an Add relation icon when you point to them.

To view the actions that are available for a specific widget, go to the desired widget. To add a relation in the widget, click Add relation. The Add asset relation dialog of the selected widget type opens.

To save your changes, click OK. To cancel the action and close the dialog, click CLOSE.
To commit your changes permanently and remain on the current page, click SAVE.
To commit your changes permanently and close the current page, click SAVE & CLOSE. To discard your changes, click CANCEL.

Open

Widgets that contain related assets display an Open icon when you point to them.

To open a search page that lists the assets that are related to the selected widget, click the Open icon. The Related assets of page for the selected widget opens.

For more information, see Relationships between assets.

Arrange widgets

On many pages and tabs in censhare Web, you can change the size and position of the widgets to suit your personal preferences.

Widgets that can be repositioned display a move cursor.

To move a widget, click the header area of the desired widget. Click and drag the widget to the desired position. 

Widgets that can be resized display a resize cursor.

To change the size of a widget, click the bottom right corner of the desired widget. Click and drag to change the size of the widget. 

Note: Changes apply to all asset pages of the same asset type in your user account.

Reset workspace (all pages)

From your user account, you can remove all changes that you make to your workspace and restore the default settings of censhare Web.

To open a menu of actions for your user account, click your user name or user icon in the Top navigation.

To restore the default settings of all pages in your workspace, click Reset workspace in the User menu. After a confirmation request, all of your customizations (including all widgets) are reset to the default workspace of censhare Web.

The Reset workspace action restores all default workspace settings of censhare Web (not just the settings for the asset type that is currently selected). For example, this action clears the items that you marked as Favorites in the Side navigation.

Result

You understand how widgets are used in censhare Web and can customize the widgets in your workspace.

Next steps

Customize the widgets on the pages of your censhare Web workspace to meet your personal needs.