Portals are useful for managing different tasks, but they could be even better with some customisation. Imagine being able to add a ribbon with your own commands, like "invoke service portfolio" on "mysite," or a panel with quick buttons like "manage participants" on a matter portal. This would make it easier to get things done quickly without navigating through multiple menus.

Custom Menu Panel and Ribbon

To solve this, we're introducing two new widgets: the Custom Menu Ribbon and the Custom Menu Panel. These widgets let you add and customise menu commands directly on your portals. You’ll be able to use the same system that powers other menus and custom actions, making it easy to set up.

• Custom Menu Ribbon: Perfect for adding a ribbon with custom commands to a general portal.
• Custom Menu Panel: Great for adding a panel with quick action buttons on specific portals related to work items.

The commands you can choose from will depend on where you're adding them:

• On a global portal, you’ll see commands that fit into global menus—nothing that needs a work item context.
• On a work item portal, you get a wider selection, including both global commands and those specific to work items, like "manage participants."

Custom Menu Ribbon

The Custom Menu Ribbon widget lets you add a custom ribbon with specific commands. Here’s how you set it up:

• Title, Icon, and Subtitle: Choose a title, icon, and subtitle that fits your portal's style.
• Adding Commands: Use the standard menu editor to pick and add the commands, providers, and categories you want.
• Rendering: Once you’re done, the ribbon appears as a standard ribbon in your portal, with all the commands available.

This makes adding a custom ribbon to your portal easy so that users can access their favourite commands quickly.

Custom Menu Panel

The Custom Menu Panel widget is more flexible and perfect for work item portals. Here’s how you set it up:

• Header and Footer: You can add text or images at the top (header) and bottom (footer) using rich text editors.
• Sections: Add sections before and after the header and footer for more commands or content.
  • Optional Button Colours: You can even change the button colours to match your portal’s look or the importance of the actions.
  • Adding Commands: Like the ribbon, you can add commands using the standard menu editor, but this time without providers or categories.
• Rendering:
  • The panel shows up as a widget in your portal.
  • If a section has no options (maybe because of security settings), it won’t show up, keeping things tidy.
  • If a section has one or more options, it will display:
    • Before RTE (any content you added before)
    • Buttons for each command, styled with icons, titles, and your chosen colours.
    • After RTE (any content you added after)
  • The footer appears at the bottom, wrapping things up.

This widget is perfect for adding quick access buttons to work item portals, where you need to quickly access certain actions.

Review

The Custom Menu Ribbon and Custom Menu Panel widgets make it easy to customise your portals with the commands you need. Whether you’re working on a global portal or something more specific to work items, these widgets let you put the proper commands right where you need them, saving you time and effort.