Every portal page contains 3 areas:

- Header: contains navigation buttons, portal logo and Welcome message or User Login information.

- Main Content: welcome page or module content is displayed here

- Footer: contains portal navigation hyperlinks

The Portal is configured with 3 default users and 4 security levels, as shown to the right.

Security Level 0:
All visitors who are not logged in have security level 0 with limited permissions, allowing them to view portal areas. The administrator may configure the portal to allow or disallow anonymous visitors from submitting new content like Events, Links and Classified Ads.

Security Level 1:
All users who register and log in to the portal are automatically assigned security level 1, allowing them to fully participate in portal community activities. They can submit new content, although some of such content may require approval by an editor or administrator.

Security Level 2:
This security level can be assigned to users only by the administrator, and is usually assigned to editors who may submit, review, approve, change and delete content.

Security Level 3:
This is the highest security level, available only to portal owners/administrators and allows them to modify and delete users, configure portal settings, and send email notifications to users.

Additionally, as shown to the right, the Administrator can configure each module by specifying if users need to be logged in to be able to submit new content, such as Events, Links, Classified Ads or Discussions.

Welcome page is the main portal navigation area. It consists of several blocks that display partial content of the module or other data. The blocks also serve as access points for navigation into module pages. 

Welcome page components are laid out into 3 columns:

left column

- search block that allows to search portal content by keyword

- events summary that displays several nearest events

- discussions overview that displays most recent threads

- links area that display selected links to external sites

middle column contains short articles extracted from database, with links to full text of each article or related URL.

right column

- classifieds summary presenting most recent classified ads

- poll/voting area with the active Poll

- news section displaying news articles or other content extracted from external news sites
In the default setup, the news section is utilizing JavaScript component provided by www.Moreover.com

Article Page
Article Page shows the Content of the Article, as well as  Related URL if such is configured.

Editing Articles and Including Graphics
System editors and administrators may add and modify articles. All articles are in HTML format, and should not contain additional carriage returns. If carriage returns are placed in the article content, the system assumes that they are not in HTML format and automatically converts carriage returns to HTML <br> tag, which allows the viewer to see properly formatted line breaks.

At this time, the system does not allow for uploading images, however you may manually Ftp images to your server, then using HTML include them in the Article Content. For example, you may include an image by entering this HTML code in Article Content : <img src=images/my_image.gif>

Events Module displays and manages event data. These are event information submitted by users or by the administrator to share  with portal users. Event information contains name, date and description fields as well as location and fee information. Event page displays summary of future and past events and search form for both of them.

In order to view event details, the user clicks the "More..." hyperlink that is shown below event's name (in bold). This  navigates into event detail page.

Portal users/visitors may submit own events by clicking the "Add Your Event (subject to approval)" hyperlink positioned below the  event list. This navigates into event submission form that accepts event information, registration and PayPal payment details (if applicable). Submitted event must be approved by portal editor/administrator in order to display in portal.

Each event may be configured to allow others to register for the event and/or to accept PayPal payments on behalf of organizers of the event.

If an Event is configured to allow User Registrations, users can register for this event by filling out registration form located on event details page. Additionally, the user who submitted the event (usually event organizer) can view the list of registered users on the same page.

Depending on Event module settings configured by the administrator, submitted events may need to be approved by portal editor or administrator in order to be active and shown in the Events module. Editors and administrators can approve events and make changes via the administration section.

Links Module

Links Module manages list of hyperlinks to external sites.

Links page displays searchable list of active links. By clicking the "Add New Link" button one can submit own link by supplying information into the Link Submission Form.

Depending on module settings configured by the administrator, submitted links may need to be approved by portal editor or administrator in order to be active and shown in the Links module.

Classifieds Module

This module allows users to submit and view categorized classified ads. Ad information includes name and description of trade object (if applicable), location and contact information, as well as the amount and expiration date. Classifieds page displays searchable list of active ads. The Classifieds page also provides an option for submitting new classified ads.

Depending on module settings configured by the administrator, submitted links may need to be approved by portal editor or administrator in order to be active and shown in the Links module.

Forums and Discussions

Forums Module allows users to participate in threaded conversations divided into thematic forums. Each forum is assigned a user that is moderator.

Discussion List
After selecting a Forum, the user sees Discussions included in that Forum. Discussions can be be searched via provided search box. Message Authors, Forum Moderators and System Administrators additionally see an "edit" button in the rightmost column, allowing them to edit or delete the message.

Discussion Thread View
When users choose a message in the Discussion List, they then see the original message, as well as all replies to that message. Reply Authors, Forum Moderators and System Administrators additionally see an "edit" button below replies, allowing them to edit or delete them.

Thread/Response Submissions and Email Notifications
Users can participate in discussions by clicking on "New Thread" or "Reply" button, upon which they can submit their message.
At the same time, users are given an option to enter their email address and specify if they like to be notified about future replies to the Thread.
Emails are sent only if the system is configured to send emails in the administration. If you do not want to enable email notifications in the discussions, you may edit HTML pages (DiscEdit.html and DiscReply.html) and remove corresponding sections.

My Portal

Users who are registered and currently logged into the system may access "My Portal" area where they can review their submissions and newsletter subscriptions. Specially, users see the Links, Events, Classified Ads and Discussion Threads that they submitted when accessing the system. Users also see the approval status of each submission. Additionally "Email Subscription" section to the right shows user's current newsletter subscriptions and provides an option to subscribe or unsubscribe for each.

User Registration

First-time portal user can register to access restricted portal areas and services using "Join Us" button located in portal header. The registration form can also be used to modify user information if the user is already logged-in.

The user is logged into the system if the Welcome Message contains user name shown below header buttons.

Upon successful Registration, user is automatically logged in and redirected to the main page, while email confirmation is sent to the user via email, with his login and password. Email notifications can be turned off in the administration section.

All new users are automatically assigned Security Level 1, which allows them to participate in portal community activities. The Administrator (Level 3), can  upgrade security level of a user to Level 2 (Editor) or Level 3 (Administrator).

Login Page

Users who wish to participate in online community activities may need to login to access certain areas of the system. Each registered user is asked to provide Login and Password, which he or she can use later to login.
Users who forget their password, may submit request for the password to be sent to them via email. Upon entering Login or Email Address in the "Forgot Password" section, the system searches the database and if the user is found, the system automatically sends an email to him or her. The "Forgot Password" section is not shown if the system is configured not to utilize the email feature.

Portal Administration
The Administration Module is accessible only to Editors (Security Level 2) and Administrators (Security Level 3) and can be used to manage Portal Content and Configuration.

Most of the administration pages are organized as two page editing schema. One page contains list of available items (optionally with searching capabilities) and by clicking items in this list one can navigate into another page containing a form for modifying item data or entering new item data.

The following administrative sections are available:

Data Administration
This section is used for review and maintenance of content and categories. Form here, authorized users (Editors and Administrators) may access corresponding administration areas, such as Event Maintenance, Link Maintenance, Classifieds Maintenance, Poll Maintenance, etc.

Member Administration
This section is used to search, review and edit list of registered portal users. The administrator can modify user information, delete users, as well as assign security access level to each user. The Member List page contains "Export To Excel" link, allowing export of Members to Excel.
Members can also be assigned a membership status for organizational purposes, such as candidate, member, or supporter. This status is not used elsewhere in the portal.

Email Newsletters
This page can be used to send email messages to selected portal users. It allows selection of Subscribers who subscribed to particular Newsletter. It is also possible to send an email to all Newsletter subscribers. Members who did not subscribe to any emails will not receive any emails, even if "All" is selected.
The administrator also needs to enter email parameters, such as From, Subject and email Body.
Email history is also shown on the screen.
Email functionality may require additional email component to be installed on the server. The portal system allows the administrator to select email component that he wants to utilize as long as such component is installed on the server. Please contact your hosting company regarding email component that they support.

System Configuration
This page contains portal configuration options that affect portal functionality. They include:

• Portal URL
  URL of portal welcome page, used to redirect users back to the portal, when they submit event payments via PayPal. This URL is also used to notify members about new discussion messages. Please make sure that Portal URL always contains a slash (/) at the end.
• Article Category for Main Page
  Here the administrator may select an Article Category to be shown on the Main Page of the Portal. Selecting "All" will display all articles on the Main Page, as long as they are Active and individually marked for inclusion on the Main Page.

Module Configuration
This section allows the administrator to setup individual module access settings. The Events, Links and Classifieds module allow administrator to specify if new submissions require approval by editors or administrator. All modules provide an option to be accessible only by registered members.
Additionally, "expanded discussion search" option turns on/off the alternate Discussion Search Results page. When turned "On", the Discussion Search Results page shows individual replies instead of discussion topics.

Email Configuration
On this page, the administrator can specify various settings related to sending emails to portal users. The system provides an option of selecting an email component that will be used to send emails. The following options and email components are currently supported:

• None/Disabled
  This Option disables all emails, however the users can still subscribe to be notified about new messages in the Discussions module. If you do not want to enable email notifications in the discussions, you may edit HTML pages (DiscEdit.html and DiscReply.html) and remove corresponding sections.
• Screen Output/Test
  This option is provided for testing only, and will cause the system to display email messages on the screen instead of actually sending them. However, this option will show errors on most pages that try to send emails. This is because after information is sent to the web browser, the program can no longer change the page to for example display confirmation message or return to the main page. You should use this option only for your own testing, while being aware that the system will not work properly.
• CDONTS
  This commonly used email component is included with Windows NT. More information about CDONTS can be found here.
• ASPMail
  Refer to http://www.serverobjects.com/products.htm#aspmail for information about this component.
• Jmail
  Visit http://www.dimac.net/ for information about this component.
• SimpleMail
  Visit http://www.adiscon.com/ for information about this component.
• AspEmail
  Visit http://www.aspemail.com/ for information about this component.

Please be aware that above email components are not included with the Portal, but the system can utilize them if they are installed on your server.

Additional Email settings include:

• SMTP/Remote Host
  All email components except CDONTS require SMTP Host, which is a server that processes emails by contacting other servers and distributing messages to them. You can usually utilize here the same host that you use for outgoing mail in your standard email client, such as MS Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora.
• Email Sender Address
  Here, you should supply your email address or the address as you want to appear as "From Address" in the emails that the Portal system sends
• Registration Confirmation and Lost Password Body
  In this area you can supply the email message that you want to send to users when they register or forget their password. You may also use special tags {login} and {password}, which will be replaced with the actual Login and Password of the user that is being emailed.

Approval Queue
This area of the Administration screen shows the number of Events, Links and Classified Ads that were submitted by users and need approval.

Daily Visits
This area shows the total number of User Visits and Page Views by day.

Support
This URL connects you directly to UltraApps Support System where you can submit technical questions, issues and requests. You may also register your Portal for free support and updates.

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