Administration Menu

Owned by Morten Lindequist Køhler
Last updated: Apr 26, 2024 by Jesper Gjedde
20 min read

Introduction

The Administration menu is where Perfion administrators manage the setup of Perfion.

image-20240419-101413.png

Items

In Items you build the “structures” to be expose under Items in the main menu.

image-20240411-130600.png

Recommended best practice is to expose high volume data carrying items to be managed on a daily basis by “normal” Perfion users. This can be Products, Images, Files, Spareparts, etc. Other data carrying items with low volumes, lower update frequencies or more restricted access can be managed by super users in Feature Data.

TECH NOTE: In web clients older than 5.4, you selected which sections from the windows client to expose as tiem structures in the web client. From version 5.4 and forward, item structures in web client must be built and managed separately from the windows client.

Create or edit an Item structure

Name

Click Add New to create a new item structure, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing item structure. Both open a dialogue where Name is preselected in the left menu. Here you type in the name of the item structure in all active languages:

Feature & Icon

On the Feature & Icon tab, you select the base feature users can manage in the main grid. This is typically a feature called something similar to the name you gave the item structure on the first tab.

You can also add a logo file to be shown in the top menu of the application together with the name.

Categorizers and Searches

On the Categorizers and Searches tab, you manage the options users will have to browse and search for items. You can:

  • Delete option (red X)

  • Translate name to all active languages (globe)

  • Sort options (drag-drop the 6-dot handle)

  • Specify name in main language (Name (XX))

  • Choose type (Categorizer or Search)

  • Choose categorizer feature or search panel (Feature / Search)

  • Add new option (Add New)

Each row corresponds to en entry in the drop down users see at the top of the left pane of the item structure:

User Access / Group Access

On these two tabs, you grant users and/or user groups access to the item structure:

NOTE: In previous versions, administrators automatically had access to all items. From version 5.4 and forward, administrators must also be granted access to item structures to see them. This allows you to build item structures specifically for some user groups that administrators do not need to see in their daily work.

Channels

In Channels you build your output channels.

Channels are exposed under Channels in the main menu and in the Publish work mode.

Create or edit a channel

Channel Name

Click “New Channel” to create a new channel, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing channel. Both open a dialogue where Channel Name is preselected in the left menu. Here you type in the name of the channel in all active languages:

Channel Feature & Icon

On the Channel Feature & Icon tab, you set up the structure of the channel:

  • In Channel Feature you select the feature holds the structure of the channel. This is typically a selectable feature called something similar to the name you gave the channel on the first tab.

  • In Related Item Feature you select the feature that holds the items you want to publish in the channel. This is typically your main product feature, but it can also be other selectable features like images, files, spareparts, etc.

You can also add a logo file to be shown in the top menu of the application together with the channel name.

User Access / Group Access

On these two tabs, you grant users and/or user groups access to the channel:

This completes the channel setup, and the channel is now available in relevant menus.

TECH NOTE: The trained Perfion administrator will recognize, that building a channel is mostly a UI concept. A channel allows users to publish items with the purpose-built channel concept and publish work mode in the web client. From a technical perspective, when an item is published into a channel, the item is simply assigned a value in the channel feature.

Global Search

In Global Search you can activate global search on individual base features.

When Global Search is activated on a base feature, it becomes available for users in the top left corner of the relevant Item section:

Create or edit a global search

Features

Click “New Search” to create a new global search or click the pencil icon to edit an existing search. Both open a dialogue where Features is preselected in the left menu. Here you set up how the global search should work:

  • In Base Feature you select the feature the global search should work. This will typically be a feature you use in one of your Item structures.

  • In Search Feature you add additional configured features in which the global search should look for matches to users’ input. The global search will always search in the selected base feature, so you should not add that. You could add Item Name, Category and Color:

With this setup, the global search now appears in sections where Product is base value in the main grid. The global search will return items with values matching the search word in the base value or in either of the defined search features.

Searches

In Searches you build search panes.

Search panes are used in Items allowing users to search for items via a specific set of features:

Create or edit a search

Name

Click “Add New” to create a new search, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing search. Both open a dialogue where Name is preselected in the left menu. Here you type in the name of the search:

Options

On the Options tab, you set up the structure of the search pane. Each row represent a searchable feature in the search pane. Rows can be added, deleted and sorted.

This table explains each column.

Feature

Select the feature users can search for.

All feature types can be added to the search pane. Features cannot be updated in an existing row. If you want to from one feature to another, you must delete the row and and a new.

Filter Type

Select how users will search for values in the feature.

Options in this column depends on the selected feature. For some feature types, only a single option is available (preselected).

Search

A normal input field will appear where users can type in the value they want to search for.

Min / Max

Two normal input fields will appear where users can type in a minimum and a maximum value to search between.

Select

A selector will appear where users can pick a single value to search for

Select Multiple

A selector will appear where users can pick multiple values to search for

Scope

This is a legacy function.

None

Use None if suggested by system.

Exact

Use Exact if suggested by system.

Intervals

Do not change to Intervals even if this is possible. The search pane in web client will return incorrect selection of items if Intervals is selected.

Operator

Select which operator to use when users search for values. Available operators depend on selected feature and filter type.

=

Value on item must match exactly (no wildcards allowed)

!=

Value on item must be different from

> 

Value on item must be larger than

>=

Value on item must be larger than or equal to

< 

Value on item must be smaller than

<=

Value on item must be smaller than or equal to

LIKE

Value on item must match exactly (wildcard % allowed)

Notes:

LIKE works the same as “=” if no wildcard is applied.

If wildcard % is added after search value (e.g. ABC%), the value on item must begin with ABC

If wildcard % is added before search value (e.g. %ABC), the value on item must end with ABC

NOT LIKE

Opposite to LIKE

MATCH

Value on item must contain specified value (wildcard * allowed)

Notes:

If wildcard * is added after search value (e.g. ABC*), the value on item must begin with ABC

If wildcard % is added before search value (e.g. *ABC), the value on item must end with ABC

NOT MATCH

Opposite to MATCH

IN

Value on item must be any of specified values (no wildcards allowed)

Notes:

Use semicolon (;) as separator between values.

If you type 8;12;20 in the value column, filter will return items with 8 or 12 or 20 as value

NOT IN

Opposite to IN

BETWEEN

Value on item must be between two specified values

Notes:

Use BETWEEN on numeric features only.

Use semicolon (;) as separator between values.

If you type 8;12 in the value column, filter will return items with values between 8 and 12 (both end-values included)

IN HIERARCHY OF

Value on item must be identical to or a child/grand child of the specified value

Notes:

Use IN HIERARCHY OF on selectable features with a hierarchy.

If you type Cooking in the value column, filter will return items with value Cooking or any child/grand child of Cooking.

EXECUTE

Value on item must match the criteria of the selected search item

Notes:

This operator is only available for Search features with Select as Filter type.

In these cases, the EXECUTE operator will add the search criteria of the user-selected search item to the other search criteria defined by the user.

Top View Groups and View Groups

In Top View Groups and View Groups you can add, edit and delete the primary and secondary groups used to organize features in the Item Editor.

Create or edit a group

Name

Click Add New to create a new group, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing group. Both open a dialogue where you manage the name of the group in all relevant languages:

Security Groups

In Security Groups you can add, edit and delete security groups. Security Groups control the permissions users and groups have to features assigned to the security group.

Create or edit a security group

Name

Click Add New to create a new security group, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing group. Both open a dialogue with the Name tab preselected. Here you manage the name of the group in all active languages.

User Permissions / Group Permissions

In User Permissions and Group Permissions you manage permissions for users and groups.

Permissions are grouped under Items and Feature Values. To understand this destinction, think of a selectable feature like Color. This feature consists of a list of Items (Red, Blue, Green, etc) that users can choose between when setting a Color value on a product:

  • Permissions set under Item control users rights to add, edit and delete colors from the list of items. These permissions are only used for selectable features.

  • Permissions set under Feature Values control users rights to set color values on products.

Permissions, Items

Meaning (examplified by the Color feature mentioned above)

Read

This is the minimum - and mandatory - permission you can grant. With this permission users can see the list of color items in Feature Data.

Edit

With this permission users can edit the names of existing color items in Feature Data (e.g. change Reed to Red).

Move

With this permission users can move existing color items from one parent to another. This is only relevant if the list of items is organized in hierarchies.

Create

With this permission users can add new color items to the list (e.g. add Maroon to the list)

Delete

With this permission users can delete existing color items from the list (e.g. delete Maroon).

NOTE: Deleting a color item will remove the color from all products where it is used as value.

Permissions, Feature Values

 

Read

With this permission users can see color values on products but not edit them.

Edit

With this permission users can add, change and remove color values on products.

Edit+

With this permission users can add, change and remove color values on products EVEN if product is locked for editing in general by Feature Item Security.

NOTE: Feature Item Security allows you to remove all permission to manage data on a product when the product has a specific value in a specific selectable feature. A typical example would be to remove all permissions to manage data on a product when its Status is set to Discontinued. Feature Item Security can not be managed in the web client yet.

Users

In User you can add, edit and delete Perfion users.

Create or edit a user

General

Click Add New to create a new user, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing user. Both open a dialogue with the General tab preselected. Here you manage the basic user settings.

ID

Unique ID of the user.

The ID is used for login, and it is used as identifer for all changes the user does to data in Perfion. The ID cannot be changed when user has been created.

Name

User’s full name.

Description

For internal information only. Not used by the application.

Windows Domain User

Adding a Windows Domain User (DOMAIN\userid) will enable the user to bypass the login screen of the Perfion Window client.

NOTE: Windows Domain User has no effect in the Perfion web client. User must always login.

Email

User’s email address.

Default Feature Group

The selected Top View Group will be preselected when user opens an item editor.

Active

Only Active users can log into Perfion. Inactive users are not included when number of users is calculated against limitations in license file.

From AD

This option is only available if AD integration is enabled.

When option is checked, the basic user administration…

Language Permissions

In Language Permissions you manage the user’s general permissions to read or edit data in different languages.

Specific languages

When a specific language is added to the user’s profile, the user is granted general permisssions to Read or Edit data for localized features in that language. In the example below, the user can edit English data and read German data.

NOTE: Spcific languages can be sorted using the 6-dot handle (drag-drop). The language at the top of the list is the user’s primary language which is shown by default in grids and item editors.

Non-localized features

This option controls the user’s general permissions to read or edit non-localized features.

Member of

In Member of you manage the user’s memberships of User Groups.

Roles

In Roles you control what the user can do in the Perfion client in addition to reading/editing data.

  • Has role directly - role is assigned directly to the user

  • Has role from group - role is assigned via membership of a user group (hover the ?-icon to see which groups)

Reporting

 

Can execure reports

Controls if user is allowed to create reports via the “New Report” option in right-click menus.

Can design reports

Controls if user is allowed to design report template.

Template design tool is only available in windows client.

Can export via reports

Controls if user is allowed to export report data via the “Export Report Data” option in right-click menus.

Feature Data - Import/Export

 

Can export data from grid

Controls if user is allowed to export data, images and files from grid via the three options in 3-dot menu in main grids.

Can import data

Controls if user is allowed to import data and view import logs via the two options in the Tools menu.

Can import data without validator

Controls if user is allowed to import data without validation of selectable values.

  • If allowed, user can create new selectable values (e.g. new colors on the color list) from data in the import file.

  • If not allowed, “Selectable feature validation” will be locked to “Validate all features” in the import dialogue. Import will stop if import file contains unknown selectable values.

Related Sort Order - Import/Export

 

Can import related sort orders

Controls if user is allowed to import related sort orders. This could be the order of which products are shown in a catalog.

Import of related sort orders is only available in windows client.

Can export related sort orders

Export of related sort orders is only available in windows client.

Actions - Import/Export

 

Can import actions

Controls if user is allowed to import actions via 3-dot menus and right-click menus in Action.

Can export actions

Controls if user is allowed to export actions via 3-dot menus and right-click menus in Action.

Scheduling

 

Can edit schedules

Controls if user is allowed to edit schedules in the scheduler.

The Scheduler is only available in windows client.

Log

 

Can access Log

Controls if user is can access the master log and search through all data changes.

The master log is only available in windows client.

Can access Recycle Bin

Controls if user can restore deleted items via “Recycle Bin” option in the 3-dot menu in main grids.

Developer

 

Can access API Tool

Controls if user can execute API queries via the API Tool.

The API Tool is only available in windows client.

Actions

 

Can execute actions

Controls if user is allowed to execute actions via the option in the Tools menu and via right-click menu on items.

Can manage actions in Web Client

Controls if user is allowed to manage actions via the Actions option in main menu.

Feature Data

 

Can access Feature Data

Controls is user is allowed to manage feature data via the Feaure Data option in main menu.

Filtered Values

 

Can manage filtered values

Controls if user can manage filtered values configurations.

Filtered values configuration is only available in windows client.

Supplier Portal

 

Can access supplier portal and accept/reject supplier items

Controls if user can log into the Perfion supplier portal and accept/reject supplier items.

This option is only relevant when supplier portal is included in license.

Can accept/reject supplier data

Controls if user can accept/reject supplier data updates in the Perfion web client.

This option is only relevant when supplier portal is included in license.

User Groups

In User Groups you can add, edit and delete user groups.

Create or edit a user group

General

Click Add New to create a new user group, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing user group. Both open a dialogue with the General tab preselected. Here you manage the basic user group settings.

Members

In Members you can add and remove users from user groups.

Roles

In Roles you control what members of the user group can do in the Perfion client in addition to reading/editing data.

Please refer to Users - Roles for explanation about each role.

Dashboards

In Dashboards you can add, edit and delete dashboards.

Create or edit a dashboard

Name

Click Add New to create a dashboard, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing dashboard. Both open a dialogue with the Name tab preselected. Here you type in the name of the dashboard in all active languages:

Structure

In Structure you manage the “content” of the dashboard.

  • Left pane shows the current structure of the dashboard

  • Right pane shows elements you can add to the dashboard

Sections

Sections are the main groupings/deviders in dashboards.

Add a section

Sections are shown as headlines in the left pane.

Drag the [Section] element from the right pane to the left to add a section. This opens an overlay where you can give the section names in all active laguages

Rename/translate a section

Right-click a section in the left pane and choose “Edit Section” to manage name/translations.

Move a section

Drag section vertically in the left pane to its new position.

Delete a section

Right-click a section in the left pane and choose “Remove Section” to delete it from the dashboard.

Line Breaks

Line Breaks forces the following widget to start in a new row inside the section.

Add a line break

Drag the [Line Break] element from the right pane to the left to add a line break.

Move a line break

Drag line break vertically in the left pane to its new position.

Delete a line break

Right-click a line break in the left pane and choose “Remove Widget” to delete it from the dashboard.

Widgets

Widgets are the main elements of the dashboards.

Add a widget

Drag the widget from the right pane to the left to add it to the dashboard. Widget are placed inside section alongside line breaks.

Move a widget

Drag the widget vertically in the left pane to its new position.

Edit a widget

Right-click any widget and choose “Edit Widget” to open the widget in edit mode. Refer to Widgets below to learn how to edit a widget.

Delete a widget

Right-click a widget in the left pane and choose “Remove Widget” to delete it from the dashboard.

User / Group Access

On these two tabs, you grant users and/or user groups access to the dashboard:

Widgets

In Widgets you can add, edit and delete widgets.

Create or edit a widget

Titles

Click Add New to create a widget, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing widget. Both open a dialogue with the Titles tab preselected. Here you type in the title and the subtitle of the widget in all active languages:

Settings

In Setting you build the widget.

Wdiget action

In this drop down you decide the main appearance of the widget.

Group by

This option groups returned items by the feature you choose in Feature. This allows you to build bar charts, pie charts, etc.

Has value

This option groups returned items in two groups; those that have a value and those that do not have a value in the feature you choose in Feature. This option allows you to build bar charts, pie charts, etc. with exactly two elements.

Total count

This option simply shows the number of returned items:

Wdiget type

In this drop down you select the chart type you want for your widget.

Bar chart

Horizontal bar chart

Pie chart

Doughnut chart

Count

NOTE: Count is the only available option when Widget action is set to Total count.

Base feature

In this selector you choose the base feature the widget should work on.

You can choose any selectable feature as base feature for your widget. This enables you to build widgets that monitor not only your main “items”, but any list of items you would normally manage in Feature Data.

Feature

In this selector you choose the feature to “group” returned items by. The drop down is active when you choose Group by and Has value in Widget action.

You can choose any selectable feature as grouping feature for your widget. Normally it only makes sense to choose features which are part of the configuration of the selected base feature.

Filter

In this selector you choose the filter the widget must use to return items. The filter is the most essential part of the widget:

The list of available filters depends on the selected base feature. It works like this (exemplified with the Product feature):

  • The selected base feature must have a Filter Feature selected in its feature definition:

  • The Filter Feature (which is always a Search feature) must have one or more items when you look in Feature Data. These items are the filters you choose between in the widget setup:

  • Each item in Feature Data must have a query:

  • The query is the essential part that returns items to the widget.

View

In this selector you choose the view the widget must load in the main grid when a user clicks an element in the widget.

You can always choose between Standard Views and Group Views:

Customized Views are only available if a Views Feature has been selected on the base feature in its feature definition. The logic is the same as explained under Filters above.

Refresh mode

In this drop down you select the refresh mode you want for your widget.

Scheduled/Manual

This option will not reload the widget when users load the dashboard. It will show data from “last refresh”. For performance reasons, this can be usefull for widgets that return large amounts of items.

Users must click the refresh button in the widget themselves, or you can use the Perfion Scheduler to create a job that refreses the widget at given intervals.

On every load

This option will reload the widget every time the user loads the dashboard.

 

The Preview pane (right side) of the Settings window will refresh itself when you change selections in the left pane. Use the checkbox “Use example data in preview” to determine if you want to see your own data (slower reload) or just example data (faster reload).

Active languages

In Active languages you can add, edit and remove the languages, for which you maintain data in Perfion.

Edit an active language

Access to language

Click the pencil icon to edit an existing language. This opens a dialogue with the Access to language tab preselected. Here you can see a list of users with access to the selected language.

Click the red X to remove the language from a user.