Mass customization of the user interface is one of the benefits of a portal. Customization
makes it easier for a user to complete tasks, and also helps further identify and characterize
the user. A user can define the look and feel of a page, the type of content displayed and so forth.
The 1.3a release of Jetspeed supports an easy to use Customizer. The goal of the customizer is to
provide an easy method to create new pages, selecting portlets and defining layouts for individual
pages.
The Customizer is the second level of customization. The authentication process in Jetspeed determines
what information is presented to the user initially. This is information can, for example,
be dependent on the role of the user.
A screenshot of the Customizer interface is shown below. On the left hand side of the screen is a list
of information sources, or portlets. The content of the list can change per Jetspeed installation. Next
are two columns where the user can indicate using check boxes what information should be delivered to
a Web browser or a WAP device. The selection is stored in the user profile once "Finish" is pressed.
The changes in the configuration are immediately available for the user.