What is it?
To ensure user guidance and providing additional context information, instead of only displaying all accessible entity types in a long list as the default system behavior, the Explorer navigation dropdown can be organized into group items, e.g. based on use cases or domains. For example, a Technology Portfolio Management group may be created to consolidate all entity types relevant to that specific use case to make navigation for responsible users more intuitive and ensuring they can quickly find what they need.
How does it work?
If having the access to the configuration, a user can navigate to Settings > System Administration > Manage Explorer Menu to access the Manage Explorer Menu configuration page.
Here, a table overview of all currently configured Explorer menu groups is displayed, showing the title (1), creation date (2), and the entity types comprising the individual group (3). On the right side, the typical Actions panel (4) gives access to different quick actions, such as editing an existing Explorer group item (5), deleting a particular group (6), only disabling a particular group (7), or configuring the order of the entity types comprising a group (8). Note that groups may also be deleted in bulk if selected and confirmed via Update (11). Click Order Menu Groups to define the order of all existing menu groups in the Explorer dropdown (10).
To create a new menu group, click the Add Menu Group button (9), which will direct you to the Create Explorer Menu Group page. Here, a Title must be provided per enabled system language, since dependent on a user’s language preference, the group label translation will be displayed. Secondly, the entity types pertaining to a group must be selected (at least one entity type). All entity types, incl. Campaign Submissions and Roadmaps are listed (if the modules are enabled).
Note that one entity type can only be selected once per menu group, however, the same entity type can be configured for multiple Explorer groups, e.g. configuring the Technology entity type for a menu Technology Portfolio Management, as well as a menu Technology Scouting.
Once ready, confirm the configuration by clicking the Done button to be redirected back to the Manage Explorer Menu page, while simultaneously enabling the menu group.
Note that the same visibility logic for entity types as in the default Explorer navigation dropdown applies, where a user will only see the entity types for which the user has view access. Thus, if a user does not have view access for any entity type in a group, the particular group will not be displayed to the user.
Overall, if menu groups are configured for the Explorer, the order will be defined the following:
- All Elements quick filter
- My Elements quick filter, incl. Created by me, Followed by me, Liked by me, Shared by me, and My Drafts
- Configured Explorer menu groups, based on the defined order (10)
- Listing any other entity type not configured in a menu group
Note: if all entity types configured for a menu group have been disabled from the Entity Manager or deleted, the group item will be displayed with a note indicating that all configured entity types have been disabled or deleted. Re-enabling one of the disabled entity types, the user would have to re-edit the group and re-select the previously disabled entity type and save again, for the menu group to have the entity type assigned again.