Oracle Help for the Web

What is an item?

| Definition | Related Help Topics | Additional Information |

Definition

Items are one of the basic components of an OracleAS Portal page. Items are based on item types. Item types define the contents of an item and the information that is stored about an item. Users with the appropriate privileges can add an item or create an item type. The information stored about an item is determined by the attributes of the item type.

Item types

The types of items that you can add to a page vary based on which item types the page group administrator has included in the page group. For a complete list of the built-in item types provided by OracleAS Portal, see What are item types? If these built-in item types do not provide enough flexibility, users with the appropriate privileges can create additional custom item types to meet their requirements.

When users create a custom item type they are not adding an item to the page group. They are creating a new item type in addition to the types that OracleAS Portal provides. Page group administrators can add custom item types to the list of item types displayed to users.

Arranging items in advance

OracleAS Portal lets users set up page groups in advance without waiting for content to be finalized. For example, a user can add a file item for a document that is being created, then upload the final version of the document later when it is ready. This provides users ample time to determine how items should be arranged in pages before actually finalizing the content.

Main item features

OracleAS Portal provides many item-related features which support document collaboration among different users and groups. The main item features include the following:

When item versioning is enabled, previous versions of an item are retained instead of being overwritten when the item is edited. This means that users can have a record of all the changes made to an item and can revert to a previous version if necessary.
OracleAS Portal includes item level security which lets an item creator choose which specific users or groups are able to access the item.
With document control, groups of users can edit items via a check in and check out process. This feature restricts a user from editing the item while it is being edited or checked out by another user.
When an item includes the Publish Date attribute, a user can add an item to a page anytime, yet have it displayed in View mode to other users, only on a specified date in the future.
When an item includes the Expiration Period attribute, a user can specify how long an item should be displayed on a page.
The "Create With Approval" page privilege allows authorized users to add items that must first be approved before they are displayed to other users in View mode.

Additional Information

On Portal Center:

For more information go to the documentation section of Portal Center.