PeopleTools 8.55 – Fluid User Interface Enhancements
With the release of PeopleTools 8.55, those that have upgraded have realized the value in many of the new features this version offers. There are significant enhancements in the areas of dashboards, reporting, analytics, query and the all-important update manager (all of which we will discuss in future blogs). The one area that is receiving a lot of buzz, and requests to IT departments from the user community, is in the area of the Fluid User Interface.
For those of you not familiar, Oracle describes the Fluid User Interface like this: PeopleSoft Fluid User Interface moves away from pixel-perfect page layout and provides greater flexibility with the enhanced use of cascading style sheets. PeopleSoft application fluid pages scale from large screen devices (laptops and desktops) to the reduced viewing space of tablets and smartphones. Many commercial websites use a similar design model whereby the presentation and layout of information is adjusted dynamically to conform to the dimensions of the user’s device. The Fluid User Interface design approach gives developers just this type of control over the user experience. When a larger screen size (a screen with more “real estate”) is detected, the application content will adjust and conform accordingly to fill the space effectively. Similarly, if a smaller screen size is detected, non-essential information can be removed and the presentation of content will adjust to flow in a usable way.
New Fluid User Interface Enhancements in PeopleTools 8.55:
- PeopleTools Portal Technology includes enhancements that support developing and delivering:
- Fluid activity guides (guided process for building with 7 different templates)
- Fluid dashboards
- Fluid related content (user can view or quickly access information that supports, extends, and augments any PeopleSoft transaction)
- Tile enhancements
- Ability to take action from the tile itself, without going into the tile
- Options on sizing of tiles on the dashboard
- Display external contents inside a tile
- Tile Wizard (browser based GUI that walks the user through the steps in creating and publishing a tile)
- Branding enhancements (brings your branding to the Fluid User Interface)
- Conditional navigation enhancements (render a page either in classic mode or fluid mode based on conditions and factors)
- Homepage enhancements
- Tiles resize based on the content they display
- Reflect updated content elsewhere in the PeopleSoft system
- Display external content
- Navigation Bar is improved for use with small form factor devices. When screen width is limited, the NavBar will show only the tile list. The user can navigate from a tile in the list to the second level and make a selection, or navigate back to the tile list; but only the tile list will be displayed. This makes a fluid page and the NavBar specifically work better in touch first mode.
- Related content can now be associated to fluid components. Related content appears as a side-page which can be pulled from the right hand side. There is also the ability to embed related content within a tile.
- Master Detail Components (similar to PeopleSoft WorkCenters) gives developers more power and flexibility when designing pages for navigation and to assist users by bringing together commonly accessed application components within a single navigational structure. The overall master-detail component enables navigation between multiple components. The collection of components represents a collection of work typically performed by a particular role. When users tap items in the navigation pane, the target pane displays the appropriate detail content.
These are just some of the many new enhancements in PeopleTools 8.55 that will make providing a fantastic end user experience more straight-forward for your IT team and allow you to take advantage of all of the benefits PeopleSoft 9.2 offers your business.
Email us today to discuss the new enhancements in PeopleTools 8.55!
