WebSphere Product Center is a web-based application that is accessible by a web browser with access to the web/application server where WebSphere Product Center has been installed. The graphical elements create an easy and pleasant experience for users.
Each of WebSphere Product Center’s modules is aligned with a user’s role and responsibility. By providing a role-based modular design, users can focus on information relevant to their position, which decreases the learning curve and accelerates product training.
Three primary user roles have been aligned with each of WebSphere Product Center module.
Module
Role Name
Role Description
Product Manager
Content Managers
Users that extensively use WebSphere Product Center for data entry and data maintenance
Collaboration Manager and
Data Model ManagerBusiness Process Analysts
Users responsible for setting up the data module and business rules for Content Managers
System Administrator
System Administrator
Users responsible for the uptime of the WebSphere Product Center application and related services
Browser software
Internet Explorer 6.0 is REQUIRED to be used with WebSphere Product Center. If WebSphere Product Center is accessed using a browser version prior to IE 6.0, an error message appears and notifies the user of a required upgrade to IE 6.0.
Minimum recommended resolution
The minimum recommended resolution is a "full" 1024 x 768 ratio. If the resolution is less than 1024 x 768 and the Windows taskbar is located on the left or right sides of the screen, the application will not fully maximize.
IE settings
The following IE setting are required when running WebSphere Product Center.
1. Automatically check for new version of stored page
2. Use the menu path Tools > Internet Options and click on the General tab. From the "Temporary Internet Files section, click "Settings".
3. Set cookies, files and history to be cleared after WebSphere Product Center has been upgraded
4. If a new version of WebSphere Product Center has been installed, all users need to clear their cookies, files, and history from Internet Explorer. This clears any temporary information that was used for the previous version of WebSphere Product Center.
- From the Internet Explorer browser window, use the menu path Tools > Internet Options and click on the General tab. Click Delete Cookies, Delete Files, and Clear History.
Browser toolbars
It is not recommended to install non-IE toolbars as it may cause issues when using WebSphere Product Center. For example, some toolbars may include ad pop-up blockers set as a default, which would not allow new pop-up window to open in WebSphere Product Center.
The WebSphere Product Center login screen is accessed through a web browser with intranet access.
Note: To login to WebSphere Product Center, a user account must be created, which is handled by the WebSphere Product Center Application Administrator.
Logging in to WebSphere Product Center
1. Type the URL provided by the WebSphere Product Center administrator. The following screen appears:
Figure 1.1 - WebSphere Product Center Login Screen
2. Type your "Username", "Password", and "Company", then click the Login button. To enter a company name, click "Options >>" and the "Company" field appears.
Once the user logs into WebSphere Product Center, the user’s Collaboration Area Console appears with access to all of WebSphere Product Center’s PIM modules in the menu bar and the left pane components, which can be customized to catalogs, alerts, selections, etc.
User information
The User’s name and associated company code appear in the top of the quick access bar of the WebSphere Product Center application.
Figure 1.2 - User Information
Troubleshooting login
The following are some issues that may occur during the login process:
- Error message "Invalid username/password/company code"
If this message appears in a popup dialog box, click OK and re-enter the information in the Login screen.If the WebSphere Product Center application continues to deny access, contact the local WebSphere Product Center Administrator to check the status of the user account.
- Browser cannot open the WebSphere Product Center web application.
Click the Refresh button. If the problem persists, contact the WebSphere Product Center Administrator as the application server may be out of service or undergoing maintenance.
Navigating WebSphere Product Center is made simple with the use of the user-configured Left Pane Access toolbar on the left side of the GUI. Adding a catalog allows quick access to its items and attributes. If desired, the Left Pane Access bar can be hidden to expand WebSphere Product Center’s workspace.
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Figure 1.3 - Object list
Alerts – Identifies the status of any current alerts.
Bookmarks – Links to user-defined locations, including searches. Great for components most commonly use.
Last visited – Stores the last five pages that have been visited.
Selections – All saved catalog selections are displayed.
Spec Explorer –Displays the search result of specifications and attributes.
Custom Tools – Displays the available customs tools available to the user
Catalogs – Displays a list of available catalogs to the user
Organizations –All Organizations available are displayed in the drop-down selection.
Hierarchies –All Hierarchies available are displayed in the drop-down selection.
Note: Components and catalogs in the Left Pane appear in the order they are added.
The following icons are available in the left pane and are referred to in the user guide by the names shown in the table below:
REFRESH - refresh the left pane
COLLAPSE - collapse a product group
ADD - add a Product Group
EXPAND - expand a product group
EXIT - Remove the product group from Left Pane
Hide Left Pane
Hiding the Left Pane can increase the amount of usable WebSphere Product Center workspace.
Hiding the left pane access bar
1. To hide the Left Pane Bar, select Window > Hide left pane from the menu bar. The Hide left pane is marked with a check.
2. To unhide the Left Pane Bar, unselect Window > Hide left pane from the menu bar. The Hide left pane is unchecked.
Alerts table
The alerts table presents the status and number of alerts that are active. The types of alerts include:
- Error alerts
- Info alerts
- Actionable alerts
Adding the Alerts table to the Left Pane
1. To add the Alerts Component to the Left Pane, select Alerts from the Left Pane drop-down selection and click the ADD button. The Alerts component appears in a table, which displays any active alerts.
2. Click on any alert number hyperlink to view the details for the alert. Click REFRESH to refresh the table information.
Bookmarks
Different areas of WebSphere Product Center can be bookmarked, which appear in the Bookmarks list.
Adding Bookmarks list to the Left Pane
- To add Bookmarks to the Left Pane, select Bookmarks from the Left Pane drop-down field and click the ADD button.
Adding or removing a bookmark from the Bookmarks list
1. Navigate to the page in WebSphere Product Center that will be bookmarked.
2. Used the Add Link button from the Bookmarks list in the Left Pane to add the page as a bookmark.
3. Use the Remove Link button from the Bookmarks list in the Left Pane to remove bookmark links from the Bookmarks list.
Add link
Remove link
Last Visited List
When a page is visited, it is automatically added to the Last Visited component and captures the last ten pages that have been visited. The list is cleared when the user logs out of WebSphere Product Center.
Adding Last Visited list to the Left Pane
1. To add the last visited list to the Left Pane, select Last Visited from the Left Pane drop-down field and click the ADD button.
2. Click the page name to display the page.
Note: The last visited list resets when the user logs out.
Selections
Adding the Selections component to the Left Pane will display all of the Basic Selections that have been created. When an catalog item selection is created, they appear in the Item Selection Console and are automatically added to the list of Selections in the Left Pane drop-down field.
Adding Selections to the Left Pane
1. To add selections to the Left Pane, select Selections from the Left Pane drop-down field and click the ADD button.
2. Once a selection has been added to the Click on any selection name from the Left Pane drop-down field to view the results/details for the selection. Click REFRESH to update the list of selections.
Spec Explorer
Add the Spec Explorer to the Left Pane to search and view all specs available to the user.
Adding Spec Explorer to the Left Pane
1. To add the last visited list to the Left Pane, select Last Visited from the Left Pane drop-down field and click the ADD button.
2. From the Spec Explorer, click Show Search and search for a spec.
3. From the results list, click on a spec name and it is added to the Spec Explorer.
Custom Tools
All custom tools (customized application within WebSphere Product Center) can be added to the Left Pane.
Adding Custom Tools to the Left Pane
1. To add custom tools to the Left Pane, select Custom Tools from the Left Pane drop-down field and click the ADD button.
2. From the Custom Tools section, select a custom tool to add to the Left Pane.
Catalogs
All catalogs available to the user including the catalog's category hierarchy is listed in the drop-down field and can be added individually.
Adding a catalog
- To add a catalog to the Left Pane, select a catalog from the drop-down field and click ADD. The Catalog appears in a collapsed format.
Organizations
All organizations that have been created are included in the drop-down field and can be added to the Left Pane.
Adding an Organization Hierarchy
- To add an organization hierarchy to the Left Pane, select an organization hierarchy from the drop-down field and click ADD. The hierarchy appears in a collapsed format.
Hierarchies
All hierarchies that have been created are included in the drop-down filed and can be added to the Left Pane.
Adding a hierarchy
1. To add a hierarchy to the Left Pane, select a hierarchy from the drop-down field and click ADD. The hierarchy appears in a collapsed format.
2. To remove the catalog from the Left Pane, click Exit. This does not delete the catalog, but removes it form the Left Pane view.
Short menus
There are a series of short menus that can be accessed in the Left Pane for additional functional options. To access a short menu in the Left Pane, right click on an object in the Left Pane and a short menu appears with different functional options. The available menu options differ between objects.
For example, right click on an item and the short menu displays the following functions (Cut, Copy, Insert Before, Remove, Delete). If a menu selection text is colored gray, then the function is not available.
Add a Catalog to the Left Pane to view its contents. The catalog explorer is displayed in a Windows explorer folder format.
- Folder structure represents the catalog’s hierarchy tree
- Items are ordered within category folders
- Unassigned items are placed in a separate "Unassigned" folder
- Click on a category to view its attributes
- Click to view an individual item or list of items
- Right click in the Left Pane to access the short menus
Figure 1.4 - Catalog/Category explorer
Changing catalog version, hierarchy, or selection used
1. To change the current version, hierarchy, selection that is being used for a catalog, click Show On-Demand Search.
2. The current values for the catalog are displayed. Change the Version, Hierarchy, and/or Selection as desired and the catalog is updated in the Left Pane.
3. Click Hide On-Demand Filter to collapse this feature.
Show Populated Categories
There is an option to hide the list of categories that are not populated with items. From the Show On-Demand Filter features in the Left Pane, click on Show Populated Categories checkbox.
Searching a catalog in the Left Pane
A search for an Item or Category can be performed in the Left Pane. Each catalog that is added to the Left Pane has a Show On-Demand Search function, which allows an item or category search by a user-defined string or primary key.
1. Click Show On-Demand Search to expand this feature and enter a search criterion.
2. Select to perform an Item Search or Category Search and press Enter or click
to view the results.
Figure 1.5 - Search in left pane
3. Click Hide On-Demand Search to collapse this feature.
At the top of the application is a menu bar that navigates to all the major functional areas of WebSphere Product Center. Each of the top-level menu items identifies a separate major functional area of WebSphere Product Center and all sub-level menu items include related functions to the major functional area.
- Click on a top-level menu item to view all of its associated components
Figure 1. 6 – Menu bar
WebSphere Product Center uses the concept of consoles throughout the application (i.e. Catalog Console, Import Console, etc.). A console allows a user to configure and save actions that are often repeated, thus complex operations can be performed with a single click of the mouse.
Note: The list of consoles can be accessed from Bookmarks in the Left Pane. "Consoles" and "My Home" are default bookmarks and cannot be deleted.
Figure 1.7 - WebSphere Product Center console list
Accessing the console list
To access the list of available consoles in WebSphere Product Center, add the bookmarks component to the Left Pane.
1. Select Bookmarks from the drop-down menu and click the ADD icon.
2. The default bookmark that appears, which cannot be deleted, is "My Home", "Consoles", and any saved Rich Search templates. Click the Consoles bookmark to view the list of available consoles.
WebSphere Product Center’s navigation map displays a detailed level of every WebSphere Product Center component, which is mostly organized as they appear in the dynamic menu bar.
Accessing the navigation map
1. To access the navigation map, use the following menu path:
Window > Navigation Map
2. Several items in the navigation map are hyperlinked. Click on the hyperlink to display the corresponding page.
Figure 1.8 - WebSphere Product Center 's navigation map