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HCL Digital Experience Product Documentation
Welcome to the product documentation for HCL Digital Experience. Find information about how to install, configure, maintain, and use HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend solutions.
HCL Digital Experience 8.5
Learn how to install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, and use Version 8.5 of HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend.
Online Help
This Online Help is made available in the HCL Digital Experience Help Center for quick references on how to install, configure, maintain, and use HCL Digital Experience.
Online Help topics
Online Help includes HCL Digital Experience information that is available from the product user interface. Online Help for both administrative and content author roles are also available. Help for the Configuration Wizard is also included.
User assistance for content authors
Create an exceptional experience for site visitors. Integrate compelling digital content into your website or intranet by using lightweight content management tools. Edit content and integrate digital assets inline and then publish changes efficiently.
Applications for Content Authors
Use the following applications to create and manage content on your site.
Web content user assistance
Use the web content authoring portlet and inline editing tools to create and manage web content items.
Managing content with the authoring portlet
You use the web content authoring portlet to create and manage web content items such as site areas, content items, authoring templates, presentation templates, components, categories, folders, projects, and workflow items.
Creating items
The basic item creation task is the same for all item-types.
Creating authoring templates
An authoring template is used to define the default authoring settings for site areas and content items. These settings include the design of the authoring form, what fields and elements appear on the authoring form, and default values for fields and elements. You must create authoring templates before you create site areas and content items.
Creating a site area template
Create a site area template to configure the design of the authoring form and determine what elements can be included in the form.

HCL Digital Experience Product Documentation
Welcome to the product documentation for HCL Digital Experience. Find information about how to install, configure, maintain, and use HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend solutions.
- HCL Digital Experience 9.5
- HCL Digital Experience 9.5 [Legacy Content]
- HCL Digital Experience 9.0
  Learn how to install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, and use Version 9.0 of HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend.
- HCL Digital Experience 8.5
  Learn how to install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, and use Version 8.5 of HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend.
  - Overview
    HCL Digital Experience (formerly IBM WebSphere Portal and IBM Web Content Manager) empowers you to create, manage, and deliver engaging omnichannel digital experiences to virtually all audiences with responsive content, targeted offers, seamlessly integrated applications, and consistent branding across channels (web, mobile. and hybrid mobile/web applications and more).
  - Roadmaps to deploy your system
    Review the roadmaps to understand the common deployment, configuration, migration, and integration patterns.
  - Roadmaps to create your website
    Review the roadmaps to understand how to create your website.
  - Online Help
    This Online Help is made available in the HCL Digital Experience Help Center for quick references on how to install, configure, maintain, and use HCL Digital Experience.
    - Online Help topics
      Online Help includes HCL Digital Experience information that is available from the product user interface. Online Help for both administrative and content author roles are also available. Help for the Configuration Wizard is also included.
      - User assistance for content authors
        Create an exceptional experience for site visitors. Integrate compelling digital content into your website or intranet by using lightweight content management tools. Edit content and integrate digital assets inline and then publish changes efficiently.
        Welcome to your Digital Experience
        Learn about the many capabilities that are available for delivering an exceptional Digital Experience to site visitors. The enhanced content authoring experience means you can invest less time developing custom authoring environments. The flexible framework means you can integrate applications and content into your website and still retain a cohesive user experience.
        Building a site with Site Builder
        Use Site Builder to create sites and add sections using predefined site and section templates.
        Adding pages, content, and more
        As a content author, your goal is to visualize the best way to organize information on your site with pages and content. You might need to create a section in the site for a new product or you might want to change the arrangement of pages in the navigation based on customer feedback. Either way, you always start with a project and end with publishing your updates.
        Configure your content spot
        The Configure Spot feature provides a convenient place for selecting the type of content to display in a web content viewer. You can target content to segments, display content with page context, or select a specific content item for the spot.
        Applications for Content Authors
        Use the following applications to create and manage content on your site.
        Web content user assistance
        Use the web content authoring portlet and inline editing tools to create and manage web content items.
        Managing content with the authoring portlet
        You use the web content authoring portlet to create and manage web content items such as site areas, content items, authoring templates, presentation templates, components, categories, folders, projects, and workflow items.
        Managing items by using the authoring portlet
        The authoring portlet is used to create and manage the items that you use to create websites. There are a common set of features within the authoring portlet to assist you work with items.
        Creating items
        The basic item creation task is the same for all item-types.
        Creating a folder
        You create a folder when you need to store a set of the same type of items in a logical grouping.
        Creating site areas
        To create a site framework, you need to create site areas.
        Editing page items
        Pages are created by using the Portal toolbar. If Managed Pages is enabled, a page item is created each time that a page is created in the portal. Pages cannot be created by using the authoring portlet, but you can use the authoring portlet to edit some properties of a page item.
        Creating authoring templates
        An authoring template is used to define the default authoring settings for site areas and content items. These settings include the design of the authoring form, what fields and elements appear on the authoring form, and default values for fields and elements. You must create authoring templates before you create site areas and content items.
        Creating a site area template
        Create a site area template to configure the design of the authoring form and determine what elements can be included in the form.
        Entering identification information
        Specify identification information for the current item, including the name and title for the item. The identification section is common to all item forms.
        Specifying a location for an item
        When you create an item, you can specify the location of the item.
        Defining site area properties
        Specify the characteristics of the item that is generated from the site area template, including the type of item to be created, where it can be saved and version control.
        Defining form properties
        Specify the layout and functions available to authors when you create a new item that is based on this content template.
        Entering item properties
        Specify properties for the current item, including the location of the item and the list of authors and owners that are associated with the item. The item properties section is common to all item forms.
        Granting users or groups access to an item
        Specify the access control settings for the current item to designate which users have access to an item and their level of access. The access section is common to all item forms.
        Entering identification information
        Specify identification information for the current item, including the name and title for the item. The identification section is common to all item forms.
        Setting default site area properties
        You can define default site area properties, such as rendering behavior, default content, and template maps.
        Adding elements to an item
        You add elements to site areas, content items, page items, and authoring templates to store web content specific to those items.
        Entering item properties
        Specify properties for the current item, including the location of the item and the list of authors and owners that are associated with the item. The item properties section is common to all item forms.
        Entering profile information
        Specify the profile information that is used to identify the current item, such as the categories to which the item belongs and any keywords that you want to associate with the item.
        Selecting a workflow
        The workflow section is only visible on item types that are enabled to use a workflow. Only content items, and site areas not based on the default site area template, are enabled by default.
        Granting users or groups access to an item
        Specify the access control settings for the current item to designate which users have access to an item and their level of access. The access section is common to all item forms.
        Creating a content template
        Create a content template to configure the design of the authoring form and determine what elements can be included in the form.
        Defining display settings of fields and elements
        You can define the display properties of field and elements that are displayed on a content form. Different field and element types have different display properties.
        Selecting the digital asset source for image and file elements
        When you add a resource to an authoring template, you can define how the resource is selected when a content item is created.
        Customizing elements with JSP
        A "custom JSP" field is available on some element types when added to an authoring template. You use this field to reference a JSP file to use instead of the element default view in the user interface. You can write JSP to control the design of an element, and to restrict the values that can be entered into an element.
        Previewing an authoring template
        Preview the authoring template to view how the item form appears to the user. You can also test any settings that need validation when the form is submitted, such as a valid workflow or required element values.
        Creating content items
        Content items are based on authoring templates. The fields that are displayed in a content item form can be hidden from different users, so not all of the following steps might be required. Some fields and elements might already contain default data.
        Creating components
        You create components to store a single element that is reused in multiple locations in your website.
        Creating a presentation template
        You use a presentation template define the layout of your web content. Use tags to determine which properties, elements, or components are displayed.
        Creating a taxonomy
        You need to create a taxonomy to store a set of categories.
        Creating a taxonomy
        Categories are used to build a taxonomy.
        Creating project templates
        Projects help content authors group and manage changes across the website. From the site toolbar, content authors can create a new project or use a project template. They can also create a project template from an existing project. When you are preparing the authoring environment, you can use the Web Content Authoring portlet to create and delete project templates.
        Creating a project
        You use a project to manage changes to a set of items.
        Creating a publish action
        A publish action changes the status of an item from "draft" to "published".
        Creating an expire action
        An expire action changes the status of an item from "published" to "expired".
        Creating email actions
        An email action sends an email to a set of users or groups.
        Creating a custom action
        A custom action is used to run a custom workflow action based on a Java class you previously created and added to your system.
        Creating a version action
        A version action causes a new version of an item to be created when run.
        Creating a scheduled move action
        A scheduled move action moves an item to the next workflow stage at a specified date and time.
        Creating a workflow stage
        A workflow stage is composed of a set of selected workflow actions.
        Creating a workflow
        You select the workflow stages to comprise a workflow in a workflow form.
        Generated template types
        You can generate author-ready templates in HCL Web Content Manager to provide content authors a set of predefined content templates that can be selected from the toolbar and used to add content to a page.
        Page component types
        Use these predefined page component types to create custom page components for your content authors.
        How to work with elements
        Each content item that you create contains at least one element type. The elements that are stored in a content item are determined by the authoring template that is selected when you created the content item. Depending on the authoring template, and your level of access, you might also be able to manage the elements in a content item.
        Element designs
        You use element designs to define the design and layout of elements.
        Creating web content tags
        Use HCL Web Content Manager tags to reference elements within presentation templates and element designs.
        Item management features
        HCL Web Content Manager includes a range of features that help you manage the web content items that are used in your system.
        Editing web content portlet settings
        When you add web content portlets to your site, you need to edit the settings of these portlets.
        Personalization
        Personalization can recognize a specific site visitor based on a profile. It can also determine characteristics of a user based on previous purchases, products or pages viewed, or other attributes. If a visitor belongs to a particular geographic region, content specific to that region can be targeted to the visitor. The page is assembled with the personalized information, and the visitor sees a personalized page.
        Search Center
        Use the Search Center to search for documents.
      - User assistance for administrators
        As an administrator, you can manage access to resources in the website, deploy new applications, and more.
      - Directory structure
        The topic shows the naming conventions that are used to denote the location of files on the servers and the types of resources you can find in those directories.
      - Configuration Wizard
        You installed your HCL Digital Experience software. Now let the Configuration Wizard guide you through configuring your system. To begin, select a configuration option and provide basic input about your environment. Based on this information, the Configuration Wizard provides you with examples, recommended values, customized instructions, and scripts that you can run.
  - Installing
    HCL Digital Experience provides flexible deployment options that range from proof-of-concept where you can examine and test functionality to a highly available and scalable production environment. Review the planning information to learn more about hardware and software requirements, high availability, scalability, supported topologies, and much more. Select your operating system and then select the installation pattern that most reflects your business needs.
  - Configuring
    Run the following tasks after you install and deploy HCL Digital Experience. They address tasks that are typically run one time and have a global effect. Some configuration changes are made more frequently or do not have a global effect. These tasks are addressed in the Administering section.
  - Backup and restore
    Backup and recovery of data files and databases is an essential operation for any business system, particularly for data and applications that run in production environments. Create and follow a plan for backing up and recovering data on all tiers of your HCL Digital Experience deployment. IBM Installation Manager must also be included in backup and recovery planning. If you back up the HCL Portal file structure and then install a fix pack, your HCL Digital Experience and IBM Installation Manager become out of sync after you restore the HCL Portal file system. This condition is not recoverable.
  - Migrating
    Successful migration requires significant planning and preparation, understanding the tools that are involved, and careful execution of the appropriate steps in the order provided.
  - Integrating
    Integrate HCL Digital Experience with software such as HCL Sametime to enable your users to collaborate more easily. You can also use the unified task list portlet to integrate HCL with your backend business process software, such as IBM Process Server.
  - Administering
    Use the administration tools that are provided with the portal to do various day-to-day administration tasks. There are two methods for editing portal setup: using the administration portlets or the XML configuration interface. The administration portlets are a convenient way to make real-time updates to the portal's configuration. While the XML configuration interface is suited to more advanced administration, including batch processing of updates.
  - Securing
    Security tasks include setting up property extension databases and custom user repositories, configuring and activating SSL, and configuring authentication. In addition, tasks such as activating Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and NIST SP800-131a security modules and configuring external security managers such as Security Access Manager might be required to secure your portal environment.
  - Monitoring
    HCL Portal includes tools and features to help you monitor the portal site.
  - Setting up a website
    Setting up a website includes, creating pages, adding navigation, setting up search, and adding content to the site. Themes are used to customize the portal's look-and-feel. Out-of-the-box templates and the site wizard can help you set up your portal site faster. You can add wikis and blogs to your site and let users tag and rate content on your site.
  - Staging to production
    During portal solution development, the solution is initially developed, tested, and refined on one server or a limited number of servers. The solution is deployed later on live systems, referred to as the production environment. The process of moving the solution from the development environment to the production environment is called staging.
  - Developing
    This section includes developer documentation on extending applications and development assets for HCL Portal and HCL Web Content Manager.
  - Troubleshooting
    This section helps you resolve problems, use diagnostic tools and tracing to capture HCL Digital Experience system errors.
  - Reference
    View information that can help you use the Digital Experience Help Center including directory conventions, terms of use, trademarks, a glossary, and more.
  - Glossary
    This glossary includes terms and definitions for HCL Digital Experience.
  - Content Template Catalog 4.4
    The Content Template (CTC) is a set of templates that accelerate the process of building a website.

Creating a site area template | HCL Digital Experience

Create a site area template to configure the design of the authoring form and determine what elements can be included in the form.

Before you begin

To create a site area template, open the applications menu and go to Content > Web Content Management and then click New > Authoring Template > Site Area Template.