Configure personalization sites
Applies To: Office SharePoint Server 2007
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Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14
In this article:
Create personalization sites
Design personalization sites
Target personalization site links
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides a template for creating personalization sites. Personalization sites use a Current User Filter Web Part that can be connected to other Web Parts on the page to display content that is personalized for each user who visits the site.
Unlike personal sites, which combine Web Parts that display information configured by Shared Services Provider (SSP) administrators by configuring user profiles and personalization policies with content customized by each user, personalization sites are designed to be customized by site owners for a larger audience.
Site owners are selected during initial deployment by SSP administrators when they configure personalization links. The site owner of each site is typically the site administrator for the site, and decides which audiences to use when targeting the display of the personalization link on the My Site navigation bar.
Site administrators, possibly working with site designers, create and customize personalization sites based on recognized business needs.
Create personalization sites
Creation of personalization sites is straightforward. A personalization site can be created by any user who has the create sites permission. Use the following procedure to create a personalization site.
Create a personalization site
On the Site Actions menu, click Create Site.
On the New SharePoint Site page, in the Title and Description section, type a title and description for the personalization site.
In the Web Site Address section, type a directory name to complete the URL in the URL name text box.
In the Permissions section, select the desired permissions.
In the Template Selection section, click the Enterprise tab, and then click Personalization Site.
Configure navigation options and site categories depending on the purpose of the site and your site hierarchy and site navigation plans.
Click Create.
Design personalization sites
Design of personalization sites can be simple or complex depending on the need of the site. The key personalization sites for the initial deployment are identified during site hierarchy planning based on the needs of your organization. Consult site hierarchy planning, and then design each personalization site to meet your identified needs.
The list of Web Parts that can be used in designing personalization sites is provided in part in the planning documentation, developer documentation, and technical reference documentation for Office SharePoint Server 2007. For more information about the full capabilities of Web Parts, see this documentation. The key concept to understand regardless of the exact Web Parts used is how to connect the Current User Filter Web Part to other Web Parts.
Use the following procedure to connect the Current User Filter Web Part to other Web Parts.
Connect the Current User Filter Web Part to other Web Parts
On the Site Actions menu, click Edit Page.
Add the Web Parts that you want to connect to the filter Web Parts, based on your plan for the design of this site.
On the Current User Filter Web Part, click the Edit menu, point to Connections, point to Send Values To, and then click the name of the Web Part that you want to connect to the filter Web Part.
Note
Some connected Web Parts can accept a default value from the Current User Web Part. The procedure to connect these Web Parts uses the Send Default Value To connection option, but is otherwise the same.
On the Configure Connection Webpage dialog, in the Consumer Field Name menu, select the property to filter by.
For example, to filter the contents of a Documents Web Part, select Modified By to filter the list in the Documents Web Part to display only the documents modified by the current user.Click Finish.
Click Exit Edit Mode when you are done connecting Web Parts.
Target personalization site links
Personalization site links determine how personalization site links appear in the My Site navigation bar. Links to personalization sites are targeted by using audiences. The SSP administrator creates audiences and assigns an owner and set of audiences for each personalization site link. The owner is responsible for maintaining the targeting of the link over time by selecting new audiences, but typically cannot create audiences.
Personalization sites do not have to appear in the My Site navigation bar. However, users are much more likely to view a personalization site and work on the information they see on a personalization site if it is one of the sites that appears in the My Site navigation bar.
Because the personalization sites created during initial deployment represent key business processes identified during planning, it is usually a good idea to include links to the sites in the My Site navigation bar and carefully consider how those links are targeted.
Use the following procedure to configure personalization site links.
Configure personalization site links
On the SSP home page, in the User Profiles and My Sites section, click Personalization site links.
On the Personalization Site Links page, click New to add a link to a personalization site.
On the Personalization Site Links: New Item page, in the URL section, type the URL of the link that you want to appear in the My Site navigation bar, and type a description for the link.
In the Owner section, type the account name of an owner for the site link. This user is typically the site administrator for the personalization site.
In the Target Audiences section, select one or more audiences to use. Only members of these audiences will see the link in the My Site navigation bar.
Click OK.
For more information on configuring personalization site links, see Configure targeted content.
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