Designer interface
After you open an application, you see the Designer menu bar and the application preview. The application preview includes the toolbar and the sidebar.


Use the menu bar to perform basic and administration tasks, define general settings, or launch Portals and IBM Cognos tools.
Note: The menus available to you on the menu bar depend on your permissions.
The following menus can be available on the menu bar:

The File menu includes the following items.
Item | Use this item to |
---|---|
New | Add a new application. For details, see Create application. |
Open | Open an application. |
Close | Close the application. |
Save | Save the application. |
Save As | Save a copy of the application, including settings, content, and tabs. |
Save and Publish | Save and publish the application. For details, see Publish application. |
Export | Export the application. For details, see Export application. |
Import | Import an existing application. For details, see Import application. |
Exit | Exit Portals Designer. |

The Application menu includes the following items.
Item | Use this item to |
---|---|
Settings |
Open the Application settings dialog. You can use the Application settings dialog to define settings, features, themes, and security for the application. For details, see Application settings. |
Delete | Delete the application from Designer and any published version from Portals. |
Publish the application. For details, see Publish application. | |
UnPublish | Unpublish the application. For details, see Unpublish application. |
Revision history |
View the revision history of the application. For details, see View revision history. |

The Tab menu includes the following items.
Item | Use this item to |
---|---|
Settings |
Define the tab settings, add quick links, and secure the selected application tab. For details, see Tab settings. |
New |
Add a new tab with no content. For details, see Add new tab. |
Delete | Delete the selected tab from the application. For details, see Delete a tab. |
Duplicate |
Make a copy of a tab with the predefined content and settings that you want to reuse on another tab. For details, see Duplicate a tab. |

The Administration menu includes the following item.
Item | Use this item to |
---|---|
Themes | Add and remove theme files in Designer that can be afterward used in the applications. For details, see Manage themes in Designer. |

From the Launch menu, you can open:
- Platform Home page
- Portals

Use the Help menu to view details about Designer (version and copyrights) and access Designer Online Help.


The toolbar includes the application tabs, the user profile, and the More Options menu.
The following items are available if they are selected in Application > Settings > Features, in the Toolbar group.
Item | Use this item to |
---|---|
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Search: Enable consumers to search through the content added to the application. No settings are required in Designer. |
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Quick links: Enable consumers to view the links to the favorite web content that you add to the application tabs by using the Tab Settings dialog. |
The following items are available in the More Options menu if they are selected in Application > Settings > Features, in the Toolbar group.
Note: In the published application, these features are available only if the content is displayed.
Item | Use this item to |
---|---|
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Export to PDF: Enable consumers to export reports and report views to PDF format. No settings are required in Designer. In the published application, this feature is available for reports and report views under |
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Send to Email: Enable consumers to send reports and report views via email. No settings are required in Designer. In the published application, this feature is available for reports and report views under |
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Export to Excel: Enable consumers to export reports and report views to Microsoft Excel format. No settings are required in Designer. In the published application, this feature is available for reports and report views under |


The sidebar shows the features that were added to the application in Application > Settings > Features, in the Sidebar group. The sidebar is part of the application and is available when consumers open the application.
The following sidebar buttons are available depending on the application settings.
Item | Description |
---|---|
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Content: Click to add and manage the content for consumers. For details, see About content. |
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Snapshots: No settings are required in Designer. If the feature is added to the sidebar, then consumers can create and manage the report snapshots. |
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Bookmarks: No settings are required in Designer. If the feature is added to the sidebar, then consumers can create and manage the report bookmarks. |
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Filters: Click to add IBM Cognos prompt reports that define filters for reports. For details, see About filters. After the filters are defined, consumers can apply them to content. |
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Collaborate: No settings are required in Designer. If the feature is added to the sidebar, consumers can create the discussion threads, to-do items, attach report views, snapshots, and external documents to their discussions. |
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: No settings are required in Designer. If the feature is added to the sidebar, consumers can create Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Adobe PDF presentations and booklets containing the reports and other content. |
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Guide: Click to create analytic paths to the reports that were added to the application. After the analytic paths are defined, consumers can find the reports that are relevant to specific business questions. For details, see About Guide. |
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Alerts: Click to add IBM Cognos alert reports. After the alerts are added, consumers can follow the alert reports that are available to them based on their IBM Cognos user rights. For details, see About alerts. |
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Glossary: Click to add and manage business terms, definitions, and descriptive information about reports, guidelines, KPIs (key performance indicators), and other content. For details, see About business glossary. |
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Toolbox: Click to configure access to IBM Cognos tools. |
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