The purpose of this topic is to give an overview of the organization, pages, features and functions that are included in the Akumina Foundation Site default install for both the Home site and the Department Sub-sites.
Foundation Home Site
The Foundation Home Site deployment package is a site template (Digital Workplace Foundation Site) which can be deployed from within the Akumina AppManager using the Site Creator Management app. It is meant to be deployed once in the Site Collection as the home site for the Intranet.
Pages deployed within the Foundation Home Site
Home – Home Landing Page contains section specific content and access to subpages within the current section.
CompanyCalendar – Contains the widget to display an Office Group Shared Calendar if AzureAD is enabled and the group is mapped
Dashboard – Contains a series of widgets that can be enabled by each individual user
Departments – Department Listing with links to the Departments/Subsites
Directory – Contains the People Directory populated from AzureAD, SharePoint or a custom data source
Forms – A dynamic page used to display any form defined in the site
Media Gallery Photo List – Displays the photos that are posted to the Media Gallery
Media Gallery Video List – Displays the videos that are posted to the Media Gallery
My Forms – Displays the complete list of submitted forms by the current user
News List – Contains a section specific list of news articles and announcements.
News Detail – A dynamic page used to display a detailed page views for each of the current site section’s news articles and announcements.
Search – Displays the search results and filters
Home Page
Main Navigation
The Main Navigation appears throughout all the pages of the Foundation Site. The navigation is manageable in the AppManager, supports two level of links, and supports link icons at the top level.
Left Rail Items
The left rail items include the following:
- Avatar (if available) – clicking on the Avatar opens the current user’s directory listing
- My Events – displays events from the current user’s O365 Calendar (requires AzureAD to be enabled)
- My Colleagues – displays the list of Skype contacts for the current user (requires AzureAD to be enabled). Shows presence. Clicking on a name opens a Skype for Business IM window.
- My Dashboard – navigates to the Dashboard page
- My Activity – displays the latest activity (document access/edit, etc.) for the current user (requires AzureAD to be enabled).
- My Apps – displays the list of AppManager apps for the current user
- Add Favorite – allows the current user to save the current page or manual enter favorites (displayed on the Dashboard page)
- SharePoint Bar – allows the current user to show/hide the SharePoint bar in their view (unless permanently hidden by the designer)
Directory Search and Content Search
Each icon opens a search box where the user can search for colleagues in the People Directory (book) or search for content in the current site or throughout the entire Foundation Site (magnifying glass).
Language Selector (only if using Multilingual)
If multilingual is enabled for the Foundation site, the language selector displays the currently selected language and allows the user to switch to any other available language.
Company News Hero Banners
The Hero Banner is made up of four individual instances of a news widget. These instances are pulling their news items from the CompanyNews_AK list. By default, the widgets are set to pull new items based on category tags (Corporate, Finance, Human Resources) and whether the item in marked as “featured”. Targeting can also be set in these widgets to display content based on the current user’s department as an example.
Clicking on a news item navigates the user to the News Detail page for that item.
Department News Rollup
This widget displays the latest news item from up to four of the Sub-sites/Departments. Clicking on a news item will navigates to the News Detail page for that item in the associated department.
Photo Gallery Rollup
This widget displays the last five images added to the image gallery.
Footer Items
The footer items consist of:
- Weather – displays weather for the location set in the widget properties OR for the location of the current user if that information is available in the user profile.
- Traffic – displays traffic for the location set in the widget properties OR for the location of the current user if that information is available in the user profile.
- Industry News – displays the last three articles from the RSS Feed specified in the widget properties
The order and presence of these items in the footer can be controlled by the Footer Controls app in the AppManager Control Apps tab.
Site Alerts
As part of the site header, a Site Alert message can be enabled by the Site Alert App in the AppManager. The Site Alert will be displayed on every page of the Foundation Site.
Company Calendar Page
The Company Calendar page displays the O365 Group Calendar that set in the widget properties. It requires that AzureAD be enabled for the site in order for it to retrieve the specified calendar data. This is a “view only” calendar. Clicking on a calendar event opens the Event Detail view for that event.
Dashboard Page
The Dashboard Page displays a series of widgets that can be individually enabled for the current user using the “Widgets” editing tab. The available widgets are:
- My Team – displays the list of people who are in the same Department as the current user (requires a connection to AzureAD, SharePoint Profile service or a custom data file integration to be enabled for the people data)
- My Favorites – displays the list of favorites created through the ADD FAVORITE button in the left rail
- Document Summary List – The document summary list is a summary view of documents from the current site’s document library. Documents can be filter by Newest, My Recent, Popular or Recommended.
- My Forms – displays the latest forms submitted by the current user
- My Apps – displays the AppManager apps available to the current user (must be logged into the AppManager)
The Dashboard page allows for adding, moving and deleting widgets from the dashboard. For example, when a user first accesses the dashboard page it is not populated with any widgets as it allows them to “customize” to just the widgets they want. Changes are made by “editing” the page using the Edit Page Mode.
To access the “Edit Page” mode
- Click on the tab on the right side of the screen. The Edit Page flyout will appear.
- Click on “Edit Page” to enter edit mode
Once you enter the edit mode, you will see the list of available widgets for adding to the Dashboard. First, we want to add the “My Team” widget. Either search for “Team” in the widget search or scroll down the list of widgets and click on the “My Team” entry. This will add the widget to the page at the top of the left drop zone.
While still in Edit Mode, you can also change the location of any of the widgets by simply dragging and dropping them to new locations. You will see the new location highlighted by a dotted line until you drop the widget. Note that you can “collapse” or hide the flyout while you are dragging and dropping to make it easier.
Finally, to remove an existing widget, simply click on the “x” on the widget.
To commit any of the changes you have made, you must click on the “Save” button at the lower right of the flyout. If you want to exit without saving any of your changes, simply click the “Exit Edit Page” button.
Department Listing Page
Displays the list of the Departments available to the current user (security trimmed). This page is automatically populated by the list of Sub-sites/Departments added to the Foundation site. However, it is possible to block a Sub-Site/Department from being listed on this page using the department settings app.
People Directory
Displays a searchable and filterable list of users. Two views are available: the list view (shown) or a tile view. Default filters include Department and Office Location, but can be modified to include additional categories based on the information available in the people data provided. Search can be done by first and/or last name.
Requires a connection to AzureAD, SharePoint Profile service or a custom data file integration to be enabled to populate the people data.
Profile Summary Card
When a user entry is clicked on in the People Directory, a summary profile card will be displayed which includes the information from their AzureAD record. Also included is a link to their Full Profile card.
Full Profile Card
Clicking on the link to the Full Profile displays the information that the user has entered into their O365 “My Profile” data (accessed from the O365 profile link) in addition to their AzureAD data. The type of data that is displayed on the Full Profile can be configured easily by a developer.
Forms
Dynamic page that displays any enabled form so that the user can complete and submit the form data. IT Help (Main Menu) is a sample form that is provided in the Foundation Site deployment.
Media Gallery Photos/Videos
Displays the photos that have been enabled using the Image Gallery content App. The page is enabled for infinite scroll so will display additional photos as the user scrolls down. Clicking on a photo displays a lightbox window with the larger image.
The Videos page is not populated by default in the Foundation Site. Adding videos requires a connection to the O365 Video service, as well as configuring a custom app. If you are considering using videos, please contact Akumina Support for more information.
My Forms
This page displays a list of all the forms submitted by the current user. It is accessible through the “View All My Forms” link in the My Forms widget on the Dashboard, or could be saved as a Favorite. From here, the user can check on the status of a form submission, as well as view its details.
News Listing Page
The News Listing page displays all items in the CompanyNews_AK list. Listing out the Title of each article and the date it was published. News articles can be managed using the Company News app via the Akumina AppManager.
News Detail Page
The News Detail page dynamically displays the full details of the currently selected article; title, publish date, body, and image. News articles can be managed using the Company News app via the Akumina AppManager.
News and Announcements List (right rail)
The News and Announcements list on the news detail page displays the most recently added company news articles. Each list item contains an image, and linked title of the current item. Clicking on the item will direct the user to the dynamic NewsDetail page where the full article will be displayed using a friendly URL. The view all link at the bottom of the News and Announcements list on the sub site home page will direct users to the NewsList page which contains a full list of all news articles for the Home site.
News and Announcements can be managed/added using the Department News App for the current sub site located in the AppManager.
Search
The Search Results page is displayed as a result of a search performed in the search box in the header. The results page allows for filter of the search results. Clicking on a search result brings the user to the page which contains the search term. Additional searches can be performed directly from this page.
Foundation Home Site – Akumina AppManager Use
The following topics cover the use of the AppManager for managing content within the Home site.
Accessing the Akumina AppManager
From any page of the site/site collection a user who has access to the Akumina AppManager will see MY APPS in the left rail. If not already logged into the AppManager, select MY APPS and click the APPMANAGER link to automatically login and Launch the Akumina AppManager interface.
Viewing Apps for the Home site
Once in the Akumina AppManager a user can look in the top left corner to see the current site/sub-site they are viewing apps for. To switch the view to another site/sub-site the user can click change in the top left corner to select another site which they would like to view apps for.
Select your site in the drop down and click OK
Home Site Content Apps
Below are the default apps which are included in the Foundation Site Home.
Company News: Content App to add events to Calendar_AK list. Added events will be seen on Calendar page, Event Detail page for selected event, and landing page of department site if marked as featured.
Image Gallery: Content App to choose which images from an existing image library to display in the Media Gallery
Important Dates: Content App to define specific date related items for display on the home page without using the calendar functionality. The items are saved in the ImportantDates_AK list.
Main Menu: Content App to add links to the MainMenu_AK list which drives the main site menu which is part of the site header. Added links will be seen on EVERY page of the Site Collection/sub-sites.
Site Alerts: Content App used to enable and define the displayed text for the Site Alert banner which appears in the site header when enabled.
Using the Company News App
- Click on Company News icon
- Click “Add New”
- Enter in the Required Fields of Title and Announcement Title, along with the additional fields of information as needed.
- Click PUBLISH
Using the Image Gallery App
The Image Gallery app will display ALL of the images that are available from the Image Library(s) to which the app has been mapped. The app supports “lazy load” so more images will be displayed as you scroll. The following are the actions you can take using the app to upload images and making them visible in the Media Gallery.
- Pictures currently selected for display in the Media Gallery will appear at the top of the list with a check mark.
- Mousing over an image allows you to add/remove the image from the Media Gallery (+/-), as well as view a larger version of the image
- Click on “Upload Image” to display the Image Upload modal window (4)
- The Image Upload modal window allows you to choose an image to upload, select the image library to store the image in (left menu) as well as make it active in the Media Gallery as part of the upload process. You can upload images without them being immediately available in the Media Gallery as well.
Using the Important Dates App
Click on the Important Dates App
- Click “Add New”
- Enter in the required Title field along with
- The Start Date which is the date that will be displayed on the item
- Sub-text line (optional)
- The link you want the user brought to if they click on the title (optional)
- If using a link, whether you want that to open in the same window or a new one
- If you want to no display (hide) the Important date
- The automatic expiration date where the item will no longer be visible (optional)
- Click Publish
Using the Main Menu App
Click on the Main Menu App
- Adds a link
- Adds a forms link
- Adds a category in the menu
- Deletes a selected link or menu
Inserting a link
In the following example, we
- Inserted a new top level menu category
- Added a new link under that top level menu item
- Can edit the name, URL, window behavior (same or new window) and the icon of the new link if supported. Use the active field to hide/show menu links as needed
Click PUBLISH
Using the Site Alert App
Click on the Site Alert App
- Click “Edit” on the existing message
- Enter in the required Title field along with the Site Alert Message to be displayed
- Click on the “EnableAlert” box if you want to enable the display of the alert
- Set an expiration date which will automatically hide the alert (optional)
- Click Publish
Foundation Sub-site/Department Overview
The department sub-site deployment package is a re-deployable site template which can be deployed from within the Akumina AppManager using the site creator app. This allows admin users to quickly deploy a department sub-site which contains the following pages/sub-pages.
The Department/Sub-Site deployment package is a site template (Digital Workplace Department sub-site) which can be deployed from within the Akumina AppManager using the Site Creator Management app. It is meant to be deployed as many times as needed to create new departments or sub-sites.
Pages deployed within each Sub-Site/Department
Home – Section Landing Page contains section specific content and access to subpages within the current section.
Documents – Contains a document library page specific to the current site section.
News List – Contains a section specific list of news articles and announcements.
News Detail – Is a dynamic page used to display a detailed page views for each of the current site section’s news articles and announcements.
Calendar – Section Specific Calendar Page
EventDetail – Section Specific Calendar Event Detail Page
FAQ – Used to display question answer pairs in an accordion display.
Discuss List – Section Specific Discussion Board List Page
Discuss Thread – Section Specific Discussion Board Thread Page
Discuss New – Create New Section Specific Discussions Board Page
Home Page
The following controls are included on the home page:
Department Navigation
The Department Navigation hamburger menu appears on every page of the Department Sub-site and displays list based navigation specific to the current sub site section. The navigation menu may contain internal and/or external links. Users can also create sub items in the menu that display using an accordion effect. Items in the menu are managed using the Dept Menu App or Quicklinks App for the current sub site which located in the AppManager.
Quicklinks
The Department quicklinks displays a set of frequently used Links in a fly out menu in the left rail which are specific to the current sub site section. The quicklinks may contain internal and/or external links. Users can also create sub items in the menu that display using a flyout effect. Items in the menu are managed using the Dept Menu App or Quicklinks App for the current sub site which located in the AppManager.
Important Dates
Each sub site will have a SharePoint Calendar. The Important Dates Control will display current events (today’s events) and future events from the current sub sites SharePoint calendar which have been tagged as ‘Featured’. Note: Events that have been scheduled in the past will not be displayed. Events will be displayed in chronological order (the order in which the events will occur). Clicking on an event in the important dates list will bring the user to the event detail page for the selected event.
- All calendar events are managed using the Calendar App for the current sub site located in the AppManager. You can use the Calendar app to tag an event as ‘Featured’ so it will be displayed in the important dates list.
Recent Discussion Posts
The Discussions listed on the landing page are the most recently added discussion boards threads that have been added to the current site. You can click on the discussion board to go to the DiscussThread page where the full discussion board thread can be viewed. Users can also click the ‘See all Discussions’ Link to view all discussion.
News and Announcements List
The News and Announcements list on the home page of a sub site displays the most recently added news articles for the current sub site. Each list item contains an image, and liked title of the current item. Clicking on the item will direct the user to the dynamic NewsDetail page where the full article will be displayed using a friendly URL. The view all link at the bottom of the News and Announcements list on the sub site home page will direct users to the NewsList page which contains a full list of all news articles for the current sub site.
News and Announcements can be managed/added using the Department News App for the current sub site located in the AppManager.
FAQs
The FAQs on the landing page show a list of the most recently added FAQs. FAQs are managed as question/answer pairs and clicking on an FAQ question will expand the display to reveal the answer. For the selected FAQ. Selecting All Questions at the bottom of the list will redirect the user to the full list page of FAQs.
The Document Summary List
The document summary list is a summary view of documents from the current site’s document library. Documents can be filter by the following categories using the tabbed interface:
- Newest: Recently added by any user
- My Recent: Recently added by current user
- Popular: Determined by number of page views
- Recommended: Manually tagged as recommended using managed metadata
Documents can be added, edited, and managed directly in the Documents page.
Documents
Documents Folder Tree
The Documents Folder control is a drop-down navigation control that allows the user to navigate the folders present in the document grid. On selecting a folder in the Documents Folder tree the contents of the folder are displayed on the Document Grid. There is no AppManager app associated with this control
Document Grid
The Document Grid control displays the folders and files that are found in its document library. The user may create, view, delete, upload (drag and drop and upload button) and download files. The user may sort files displayed by tabbing through: All Files, which display all files in present folder, My Files, which displays only files the user has added to the current present folder, Popular, displays the most popular files in a folder, Recent, displays most recent files uploaded in present folder. There is no AppManager app associated with this control.
Document Refiners
The default document refiners include date, modified by, and file type. Additionally, you can add managed metadata categories to your document library which can be use as refiners as well. Clicking on an available refiner will refine the current document list to show items that match the selected refiner.
NewsList
Dept News Listing Control
The Dept News Listing displays all items in the DeptNews_AK list. Listing out the Title of each article and the date it was published. News articles can be managed using the Department News app via the Akumina AppManager.
News Detail
Dept News Detail Control
The Dept News Detail control dynamically displays the full details of the currently selected article; title, publish date, body, and image. News articles can be managed using the Department News app via the Akumina AppManager.
Dept News and Announcements List
The News and Announcements list on the news detail page of a sub site displays the most recently added news articles for the current sub site. Each list item contains an image, and liked title of the current item. Clicking on the item will direct the user to the dynamic NewsDetail page where the full article will be displayed using a friendly URL. The view all link at the bottom of the News and Announcements list on the sub site home page will direct users to the NewsList page which contains a full list of all news articles for the current sub site.
News and Announcements can be managed/added using the Department News App for the current sub site located in the AppManager.
Calendar
Calendar Control
Calendar control displays events from the Calendar_AK list. Clicking on an event will take you to the Event Detail Page. Events are added by the Calendar app in AppManager.
Event Detail
Event Detail control
The Event Detail control displays the selected event from the Calendar_AK list and the event can be downloaded and put into outlook.
FAQ Page
The FAQ Control displays the full list of FAQ question/answers in the FAQ_AK list.
DiscussList
Discussion Board Listing control
The Discussion Board Listing control displays the discussions that are in the Discussions_AK list. Clicking on the Discussion like will bring you to the DiscussThread page. Clicking Add New Discussion will take you to DiscussNew page and allow you to create a new Discussion. Discussions can be sorted by creation date, last post and number of replies. Users with ownership of discussion can archive or delete their discussion. This control is not associated with any AppManager app.
Discuss Thread
Discussion Thread control
Discussion Thread control is an item in the Discussion_AK list. Here users may add replies, edit permissions, delete posts or delete the thread. This control is not associated with any AppManager app.
Discuss New
Create Discussion control
In Create discussion control a user can create a new discussion. A new discussion will be added to Discussions_AK. A Link to a file or folder from the document library may be included in a post. By default all users who have access to the site that the discussion is on will be able to view the discussion created. This control is not associated with any AppManager app.
Foundation Sub-site/Department – Akumina AppManager Use
The following topics cover the use of the AppManager for managing content within the Sub-site/Department sites.
Accessing the Akumina AppManager
From any page of the site/site collection a user who has access to the Akumina AppManager will see MY APPS in the left rail. If not already logged into the AppManager, select MY APPS and click the APPMANAGER link to automatically login and Launch the Akumina AppManager interface.
Viewing Apps for a Department Sub-site
Once in the Akumina AppManager a user can look in the top left corner to see the current site/sub-site they are viewing apps for. To switch the view to another site/sub-site the user can click “change” in the top left corner to select another site which they would like to view apps for.
Select your site in the drop down and click OK
Department Site Content Apps
Below are the apps which are included in each newly deployed department sub site.
- Calendar: Content App to add events to Calendar_AK list. Added events will be seen on Calendar page, Event Detail page for selected event, and landing page of department site if marked as featured.
- Department Menu: Content App to add links to the DeptMenu_AK list. Added links will be seen on EVERY page on department site.
- Department News: Content App to add to DeptNews_AK list. Added News items will be seen on the landing page of the department site, News Listing page, and News Detail page for selected article.
- FAQs: Content App to add to FAQ_AK list. Added FAQs will be seen on the landing page of the department site and on the FAQ page for the current site.
- Quicklinks: Content App to add links to the Quicklinks_AK list. Added links will be seen on landing page of the department site.
Using the Calendar App
- Click on the Calendar app icon
- Click Add New
- Enter in Required fields of Title, Time & Reccurrence and EventTitle
- Mark as Featured if you want the event to show up on the Calendar page.
- Click PUBLISH
Using the Dept Menu App or Quicklinks App
Both the Department Menu and the Quicklinks app are the same basic app type (Quicklinks app type)
- Click on the Department Menu App or Quicklinks App
- Adds a link
- Adds a forms link
- Adds a category in the menu
- Deletes a selected link or menu
Inserting a link
In this example I clicked on the folder “Policies” and the Link icon
The link is created in the selected folder
- Enter in link label
- Enter in Link
- Select Active if you want your link to be displayed
- Select whether the link should open in the Same or New Window
- Click PUBLISH
Using the Department News App
- Click on Department News icon
- Click Add New
- Enter in the Required Fields of Title and Announcement Title
- Click PUBLISH
Using the FAQ App
- Click Add New Item to create new FAQ questions answer pairs,
- Fill the Question in the Title field.
- Fill the Answer in the Answer field.
- Drag the grey bars up or down to reorder the questions answer pairs.
- If you would like to create a question answer pair inactive drag the grey bar below the inactive line at the bottom of the app display.
