Adding Links

Overview

A link is portal content that is addressable using a universal resource locator (URL). You can create links to sites on the Web or on a local intranet, and share the links with groups of users. Users who can access the links can include the links in collection portlets and display them on pages in the portal. You can also add links to portlets that you share with users.

Create and Share a Link

To create and share a link, follow these steps:

Verify that a permissions tree folder exists for the group with which you want to share the link. If necessary, create a permissions tree folder. See Managing Portal Permission Trees in Metadata .
Log on to the SAS Information Delivery Portal as a group content administrator (in order to share the link).
You can create a new link and add it to a portlet, create a new link independently of a portlet, or add an existing link to a portlet. When you create the link, you can share the link with a group that is defined in SAS metadata. If you are adding an existing link, you can edit the link in order to share it.

Note: For instructions about creating and sharing a link, see the online Help that is provided with the portal (see the "Links" section).
Implement authorization (access control) for the target content. Take any necessary steps to control access to files, reports, or other items that the link targets. For example, if the link opens to a page that contains a report, you might want to implement authorization on the report. For general information about authorization, see Understanding Portal Authorization.

Note: A link's URL might target an HTTP document that is independent of the portal or outside of the portal environment. The portal does not secure the physical document for this type of link. However, you can secure the document through Web server security. See the documentation for your Web application server.
Make the link available in the portal by sharing the link. For general information about sharing content, see Sharing Content in the Portal .
When you share the link with a group, all members of the group can search for and add the link to their collection portlets. You have other options for making the link appear in the portal, including these options:
- You can edit a collection portlet in order to add the link to the portlet. You can share the portlet with a group, including the PUBLIC group. Group members can search for and add the portlet to their pages.
- After adding the link to a collection portlet, you can add the portlet to a page that has been shared or that you intend to share with a group. Depending on the page's share type, group members will either see the page the next time they log on, or group members can search for and add the page to their portal views.
  
  Note: If you logged on as a portal administrator, you can edit any portlet or page in the portal. If you logged on as a group content administrator, you can edit only portlets and pages that you have created, or portlets and pages that have already been shared with the group for which you are administrator.
- You can also search for the link and publish it to a SAS publication channel, and add either the SAS publication channel or SAS package to a collection portlet.

After you have created a link, you can edit the link, remove the link from a portlet, or delete the link permanently from the portal environment. Any changes that you make to a shared link are seen by all users who can access the link. If you permanently delete a shared link, the link is removed from all portal views.

For complete instructions about creating, sharing, editing, or deleting a link, see the online Help that is provided with the portal. For general information about sharing portal content, see Sharing Content in the Portal .

Note: All portal users can create and add links to their collection portlets. Only users who are authorized as a content administrator for a group can share a link with the group, or can edit a shared link.