JBoss adds Google Gadgets to portal software

JBoss is introducing an upgrade to its open source portal software on Monday that features integration with Google Gadgets.

With Google Gadgets, developers can drop Google Gadget components onto a portal. These are mini-applications that work with the Google homepage, Google Desktop, or any page on the Web. Examples of Gadgets include a calendar, a weather globe, or a media player.

JBoss Portal 2.6 also adds improvements in personalization, identity management, and workflow, JBoss said. The software will serve as the foundation of the JBoss Enterprise Portal Platform.

Advanced personalization in version 2.6 enables users to personalize individual portlets, including themes, layouts, and content, to suit specific roles. “The personalization has become much easier to do,” said Ram Venkataraman, JBoss’s director of product management.

Portlets may be managed overall or as individual instances. User administration in this version simplifies user creation and features search.

The use of jBPM (Business Process Management) in the product provides content management approval workflow in a configurable process.

Prebuilt LDAP integration is featured with servers supported, including Red Hat Director Server, OpenDS, and OpenLDAP. JBoss Portal 2.6 also features integration with the Ajax4jsf and RichFaces development frameworks.

Extended support for the Web Services for Remote Portlets specification also is featured in version 2.6 with implicit cloning capabilities added. Cloning allows for deploying one instance of a portlet and reusing it with a different configuration.

JBoss Portal 2.6 requires use of JBoss Application Server. The company may enable its portal software to work with other application servers in a future release, Venkataraman said.

JBoss Portal is licensed under the LGPL (Lesser GNU General Public License).