Developing Content for My VT

Channel Design Concepts

Portals combine content and services from many sources. Each distinct piece of content is called a channel. From a user's perspective, a channel provides information or offers a way to perform a task, or both. However, from the perspective of a content provider there are four distinct types of channels, sometimes referred to as cameos:

• Information cameo channel: a non-interactive type of channel that typically contains information such as news headlines, lists of links, or an article or some other text.
• Data cameo channel: a non-interactive type of channel that contains dynamically generated data tailored to the individual user, such as reports or report summaries, or some personal information contained within a database.
• Web cameo channel: an interactive or non-interactive channel that might contain an image or the contents of an existing web page.
• Application cameo channel: an interactive channel that allow user to perform tasks such as searching or updating information.

Channel Cameo Examples

Information Cameo Channel - BBC News Headlines (RSS)

Data Cameo Channel - Student's class schedule (XHTML)

Web Cameo Channel - BEV web page (HTML)

Application Cameo Channel - Banner Timetable Query (XHTML)

Audience is an important factor to consider when designing a channel. Remember that your channel can be delivered to faculty, staff, students, or alumni, or any combination of those affiliations. For channels that target one affiliation, you might incorporate audience specific help or application features or information.

Dynamic channel types such as Application or Data channels may require user authentication. My VT incorporates a locally developed single sign-on framework called authPortal. Single sign-on eliminates the need for a user to log in again, once they have logged into the portal. AuthPortal can be used to integrate most existing web applications that require PID/passwords for authentication so that they are accessible from within the portal without requiring additional authentication. This does require a modest amount of custom development. You can also specify whether single sign-on for your channel is on or off by default. Users can override that setting if they wish. Contact the portal team to learn more about this option.