Introduction
GEMS Homepage Tabs enable users to personalize the data displayed to them and get exactly the corporate information needed to appear in one central location.
Homepage Tabs allow easy navigation, seamless data access through data hyperlinks, and easy access to quick tools through GEMS right-click functionality and panels to customize views. This tutorial discusses the customization of tabs and panels.
If a user is using the Homepage Tabs when that person logs into GEMS, these are arranged in tabs across the top part of the screen.
Please note: If you are unable to view any tabs on your profile - For information on how to enable and view tabs see Appendix A.
Homepage Tabs
Homepage Tabs can be created by any edit user and are specifically for that user. The only time this is not the case is when the person creating the tabs is also an administrator, tabs can be shared among different user roles as they see fit. For more information about sharing tabs to different user roles, see Manage Homepage Tabs for User Roles – Admin Only.
Each Homepage Tab is comprised of a series of panels that displays list data. Those panels can be created, collapsed, repositioned, expanded, deleted, or adjust the number of items to display.
Please note: Your organization may have customized the appearance of homepages tabs to meet their own data visibility requirements. Therefore, the screen presented after logging in may look different from the default options described here. Screenshots in this tutorial may vary depending on security and user screen layout settings.
Perform Actions on Panel Data
Using the Entities & People Homepage Tab displayed above as an example, within a Homepage Tab you will have instant access when you click on a company, person, or non-affiliate Snapshot where you can view and edit data. For more information on the Snapshot see the Edit User Guide tutorial.
Please note: Many actions that can be performed on panels on a homepage tabs, e.g exporting data, repositioning the panels can also be performed on the panels in a Snapshot and will have the same results.
Also available is the right-click, the shortcut menu for a single entity or multiple entities. When you right-click on a single entity the shortcut menu gives you instant access to a range of actions that you can perform on that entity.
Open - opens a new tab with the entity in their Snapshot view.
Edit – opens the Basic Screen in edit mode.
Report – Gives access to a user’s favorite reports which can be ran on the selected entity.
Add/Remove Favourite- Adds or Removes that item from the Favourite list.
In the below example the user wants to open three entity records simultaneously from their Entities & People tab. The user can do this by first checking off the entities to open then using the right-click options and choose open from the shortcut menu.
If the user chose to open, there will now be three additional tabs with each entity in snapshot view.
Panel Refresh
If data changes have occurred in GEMS and are not displayed yet in a panel - a panel refresh option is available on each panel menu - to update a panel, click on the panel button
and select the Refresh option as shown below.
Please note: As well as the refresh option in each individual panel, there is also a Refresh All Users option in the User Menu. This option is available only to administrator users and is used to remove temporary pages from the server.
Hide Contents of a List Panel
Users can collapse a panel to hide its contents and then display them again using the Hide Panel Contents button in the panel header bar. This feature can be used to hide the panels that are not currently in use; this keeps the homepage tidy and may also load the data in other panels faster.
By selecting the (-) icon the panel is collapsed. To redisplay the contents of the panel, click the button again, which is now displayed as an expand button (+).
Export Data from Panels
Users can export data from any of the panels on the homepage to the following applications:
MS Excel
MS Word
Text
To export the data displayed in a panel tab click on the panel
button and select the Export option.
The Export Data tab opens.
Choose the desired file format e.g. Word from the Export as drop-down list and click export.
The table below shows the results of an export above into Microsoft Word.
Name | Entity Type |
ABC Company, Inc | Private company limited by shares |
DEF Ltd. | Private company limited by shares |
MNO Ltd. | Private company limited by shares |
US Learning and Development | Private Corporation |
User Education Training Opportunities LTD | Private Corporation |
Repositioning Panels
Once added, to reposition a panel:
Drag and drop the panel to the desired location. Using the cursor hold the title bar of the panel that is moving and begin to drag.
Clear purple bars indicate potential new locations for a panel and a full purple bar indicates where a panel is currently going to be placed.
Release the mouse to drop the panel in the desired location.
The alert panel below is now located under the people panel.
Editing Homepage Tabs
A GEMS administrator and an edit user can add content to any homepages tabs as well as create new homepage tabs – both actions are completed through the Page Settings section of GEMS.
Please note: Access to the Page Setting section can be controlled using the ‘My Page Settings Link’ access level.
Please see the Managing Security (User Roles, Users, and Access Levels) Tutorial for details on access levels.
Within Page Settings - users can add panels, add homepages tabs and arrange the layout of the homepages Tabs. The example shown below is that of adding an Alert panel to the existing Entities & People homepage. To access the page setting configuration panel
User highlights the Entities & People Homepage Tab.
User clicks and then clicks Page Settings in the dropdown menu.
Adding a Predefined Panel
Once in the Page Settings Configuration panel, the Panel Catalog is displayed by default. This contains the available panels that can be added to a homepage. This will vary according to your access and User Role within the system.
The table below explains all the different possible panels that can be added to a Homepage Tabs.
Panel | Description |
Advanced Reporting | This panel contains lists of recent, favorite, and new advanced reports created using the Advanced Reporting module. You can run the reports directly from this panel. The ‘Date As At’ option in the panel enables you to run the report to contain data as it was on a specific date. |
Alerts Panel | This panel contains a list of announcements, emails sent/received, subscriptions, and the status of the job queue. |
Companies | This panel is used for verifications. It consists of the My Companies, All Companies and Recent Companies tab. The Companies Panel enables you to submit an entity for verification after it has been updated. |
Compliance Dashboard | This panel contains the Compliance Dashboard which shows the compliance levels of entity data to selected rules. |
EDIM | A data import panel used to import pre-formatted data into GEMS. |
List Panel | A blank panel that can be configured to contain any data. |
Manage Snapshots | This panel contains a list of all snapshots defined in GEMS. It is available for use by administrators to add or amend existing snapshots from this panel. |
Manage Verifications | This panel contains a list of all audit events as well as lists of outstanding and completed verification tasks. It is available for use by administrators. |
Tasks | This panel lists all the tasks assigned to the logged-in user. |
To add an Alerts Panel as an example:
First select the checkbox for the Alerts Panel.
Then choose where on the page the panel should be added, for example Column 3 (meaning the right-hand side of the page) from the Add to drop-down list.
Click on Add as shown in the figure below.
The Alerts Panel is added to the third column on the Entities & People homepage.
Deleting a Panel
To remove a panel from a homepage, click the three-line drop down menu and choose Delete from the menu options.
Select the ‘Delete Permanently’ checkbox on the confirmation message screen and click OK. The Panel is then removed from the Homepage.
Please note: If the panel is contained in the Panel Catalog in Page Settings, list panel above, you can add it again after deletion. If you have deleted the People or Non-Affiliates Panel or a custom List Panel, and you want to add them again, you must add a new list panel and configure it for People/Non-Affiliates/ the data you require.
Add a Customized New Homepage Tab
Users can have any number of Homepage tabs, with panels set up on each tab to fit their individual needs. For example, one homepage tab could contain company-based panels, with the next homepage tab containing person-based panels.
To add a new Homepage tab, proceed as follows:
From the User Settings menu - click Page Settings
Click Add a Homepage Tab
Type the name of the new homepage and click Add.
The new Homepage Tab is then available to be customised.
Panel Layout
Once created, the new Homepage Tab will automatically take you to the Panel Catalog screen as seen above and you can begin to add panels. The default layout is one column. You may be interested in changing the layout to have 3 columns or any other setup. Changing the layout will reorganize the panels that are already on the tab. If you are not satisfied where the panels are located, they are easily moved as discussed, in Repositioning Panels.
To change the layout of the tab. Proceeds as follows:
In the left navigation panel, select Layout to see the different layouts available.
Select the desired layout from the options available
Please note: Users may need to consider the most appropriate monitor and screen resolution, in the example given in the figure below. Now, when a user adds panels to his Homepage Tab, they will be added to fit in the layout chosen.
Add and Configure List Panels on a Homepage
A List Panel is a blank panel containing tabs that you can add and configure to display the content you want on your homepages. These List Panel tabs can be tailored to contain a specific category of information, like Favourites, Recently Opened, Recently Added, or data returned from a saved search.
Users can add List Panels in the same way as the other panels available in the Panel Catalog on the Page Settings screen as follows:
In the Panel Catalog, the user selects the List Panel checkbox, then they choose the column and click Add.
A blank list panel is then displayed on the homepage as see below.
Users can add multiple instances of a list panel to a homepage and give them appropriate names depending on the content that will be displayed in each. For example, they can rename a new List Panel as ‘Favourites’ if it is going to contain tabs that list their favorite companies, people, and non-affiliates.
To rename a panel, click the Settings tab in the List Panel.
(If you dont see the Setting tab, click the three-line dropdown menu and select Settings from the list to view the Settings tab.)
In the Panel Name text box, delete the existing default name (List Panel) and replace this with "Favourite" (or your chosen panel name).
Once you have entered your new panel name, click Save.
The panel heading is changed to "Favourite."
Change Results Per Page Amount for a List Panel.
You can change the results per page that will display in the list panel results.
Click the Settings in the List Panel.
Amend the Results Per Page field to the desired list results size.
Click Save.
Add List Panel Tabs
Multiple tabs can be added to a single panel. The below example outlines how to add tabs for Companies, People, and Non-affiliates to the Favourites Panel. You may repeat this process as need to create different panels or tabs.
To access panel settings, click on Settings in the List Panel (see above to access settings). to display the Panel settings and enters the following criteria on the Settings tab:
Tab Name: Companies
Results per page: 20 (this specifies the maximum number of records to be displayed at a time)
List Contents: Favourite (selected from a drop-down list)/Companies (selected from the drop-down list)
Please note: Creation of a panel and creation of a tab are shown separately for clarity, but it is possible to complete both together.
Next, add the People tab to the Favourites Panel. To open a new List Settings tab, click the add tab button (+). The result is that as a user marks various companies, people, and non-affiliates as favorites from different parts of GEMS, they will subsequently be listed on this custom panel on his homepage.
Add Saved Searches Tabs to Panels
List Panels can also be used to display Saved Search data.
To include data from a Saved Search from the List Contents drop-down choose Saved Search. In the below example the user would like to use a Saved Search which displays all archived companies.
They set up the rest of the tab with the following criteria:
Tab Name: Archived Companies
Results Per Page: 10
List Contents: Saved Search (selected from drop-down list)
Company Search (selected from drop-down list)
Archived (selected from drop-down list)
The user now has their homepage tab with all the necessary panels and custom lists set up as seen in the figure below.
Closing Page Settings
To close the Page Settings Configuration Panel, click close in the left navigation pane.
Manage Homepage Tabs for User Roles – Admin Only
Please note: This functionality is available to administrator users only.
As we have discussed Homepage tabs allow you to customize the information on your screen. However, to control the data that is displayed for certain users, the administrator can set up User Roles in the system and then ‘push out’ homepage tabs to each User Role. This helps the administrator to ensure that a standard homepage setup is in place for groups of users.
For information on how to create a user role and add users to it, please see the Managing Security (User Roles, Users, and Access Levels) Tutorial.
Once a homepage tab has been shared with other user roles, if the administrator changes or deletes that homepage tab, only their homepage tabs are affected, meaning other users Homepage Tabs are not affected. Also, worth noting affected. Also, as with other customizations, users are free to make changes to these tabs after the have received the panels from the Admin and these changes will only impact their Homepage Tabs.
If the administrator would like to provide a new updated configuration, the homepage tabs will need to be shared again and the Admin should ensure that the option to overwrite personalization checkbox has been selected. This way the previously shared Homepage Tabs will be replaced with the newly configured Homepage Tabs.
Please note: When user personalisation is overwritten all of a user’s tabs are removed and replaced with those specified by the admin.
If an administrator would like to “push out” tabs to other users they will need to proceed through the Page Settings Menu and click ‘Manage Homepage Tabs’ on the left side of the Page Setting Configuration Menu to display the following three selection boxes:
Available Homepage Tabs – This displays the list of the homepage tabs currently on their screen.
Selected Homepage Tabs – This displays that Admin is the homepage tab to be shared.
Please note: Clicking on arrows between Available and Selected Homepage Tabs, moves a homepage tab to either selected or not selected (available).
User Role(s) – the administrator selects the User Role they would like this homepage tab given to.
In the example below ‘Edit User’ checkbox in the User Role(s) field and then clicks the Go button.
Please note: All affected users will be logged out of GEMS if they are currently logged in.
The following dialog box is then displayed to indicate the successful assignment of the Admin Tab to the Edit User Role.
The selected Homepage tab will then be published to each user in the User Role and they will see the tabs that the administrator has defined for their role on their homepages when they next log into GEMS.
Overwrite User Personalisation with New Homepage Tabs – Admin Only
As discussed above, Admin’s can ensure that new tab configurations are implemented for user roles, superseding any personalization of the homepages carried out by a user.
To overwrite user personalization with new homepage configurations, the administrator proceeds as follows:
When the administrator has selected the homepage tabs and the User Role(s) in Page Settings (as described above), they then click on the checkbox located above the Go button as shown below.
With the Clear Personalisation checkbox selected, the administrator clicks the Go button to commence the ‘push out’ of the tabs.
When the administrator clicks the Go button, a check is completed to ensure that there are no users with a valid session running. If there are any users mid-session, then a list of such users is displayed.
Please note: The admin clicks the Proceed button and this will automatically close all active user sessions.
After the administrator clicks Proceed and there are no users with current sessions open, another confirmation message is then displayed asking again if they wish to proceed.
Once OK is selected then the “push out” of tabs commences. If cancel is selected, the message disappears, and the previous screen is displayed.
When the administrator clicks OK, the same message box from earlier is displayed, stating which tabs have been successfully assigned to which user role(s), but this time with a message indicating that user personalization has been cleared.
The new tab(s) are pushed out to the selected user role(s), any users within those role(s) will have their current personalization overwritten and will see the new configured tab(s).
If there is any failure during the push out of selected tab(s) to the user role(s), an error message is displayed, advising the administrator that the update has failed and to review the error log for more information.
Deleting a Homepage Tab
Users can delete a Homepage tab from the Manage Tabs section in Page Settings.
To delete a Homepage Tab select the Homepage Tab to be deleted in Available Homepage Tabs and moves it to the Selected Homepage Tabs box. Click the Delete button located below the Up/Down arrows next to the Selected Homepage Tabs box. Then click on Go,
A confirmation dialog box is then displayed advising that the Homepage Tab will be permanently deleted from the system. The Admin selects the ‘Delete permanently’ checkbox and clicks the Ok button.
Please note: Homepages can also be deleted by Edit users provided they have the correct access levels granted by the administrator.
Security Access Levels
There is an Access Level that controls whether users can see the Manage Homepage Tabs option in Page Settings. This access level is only available for User Roles of type Administrator.
The access level is available in the Item Type drop-down list and is called ‘Manage Tabs’ and you can select None in the Access Level field to make it unavailable.
Appendix A
Show All Homepage Tabs
Please note: As mentioned previously, the ability to customize the views in GEMS depends upon company policy.
To turn on tabs, do the following:
On the GEMS homepage (Home Hub or Homepage Tabs), click on the in the top right-hand corner and then click on Details. As highlighter below.
In the left navigation menu, click on the ‘+’ link in the left navigation menu next to User Preferences and then click the General link.
Click the Edit button to change your settings as highlighted in the figure below.
To see the tabs in addition to the Home Hub, when you log in, select ‘Show All Tabs When ‘Home’ Tab Enabled’ checkbox.
Scroll down to the end of the Click the Save button. Changes will take effect the next time you log into GEMS.