Displaying Custom Tabs

[This is preliminary documentation and is subject to change. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

The 2007 R2 release of the Office Communicator Web Access contact list window can be supplemented with up to 32 custom tabs that are displayed at the bottom of the window and link to other Web pages or applications used by your organization. The process for displaying a custom tab in the Communicator Web Access client consists of the following steps:

Note

The files containing any content used by a customized login page, tab, or menu, must be in a trusted location on the network.

  1. Creating the content that you want to load in the custom tab.
  2. Configuring the XML tab definition file that is used to specify custom tabs used by Office Communicator 2007 R2, Office Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant, and Communicator Web Access.
  3. Configuring the CustomConfig.xml file that is used to specify customization settings that are specific to Communicator Web Access.

To display custom tabs

  1. Create the content that you want to display in each tab, and then save that content to a trusted location on your network that will be accessible to Communicator Web Access and any other clients that display custom tabs. Content can be a static Web page or a Web application that includes HTML, JavaScript, ActiveX controls, and pop-up windows.

    We recommend that you test the content you create for custom tabs to ensure that the content displays as expected in all clients that support custom tabs. If the content for a specific tab does not display properly in Communicator Web Access clients, you can specify that Communicator Web Access clients should not display the tab.
  2. Do one of the following:

    • If you have already configured custom tabs for Office Communicator or Communicator Attendant, use a text editor to open the existing XML tab definition file, and then add the <client> element and sub-element as described in this topic.
    • If you have not yet configured custom tabs for Office Communicator or Communicator Attendant, use a text editor to create a new XML tab definition file that uses the following schema:
       <tabdata> 
       <tab> 
       <image>https://site/image.png</image> 
       <name>Tab title</name> 
       <tooltip>Tooltip text</tooltip> 
       <contenturl> https://site/content</contenturl> 
       <userid>true</userid>
       <contactid>true</contactid>
          <accessibility>inside</accessibility>
          <client>
             <communicatorwebaccess>true</communicatorwebaccess>
          </client>
       </tab> 
       </tabdata>
    

    The following elements must be included in the XML document:

    Element Description Allowable Values

    image

    The image to use as the tab’s icon.

    A UNC path or URL on your network.

    name

    The title of the tab.

    An alphanumeric string.

    tooltip

    The text to display in the tooltip when the user hovers over the tab with the mouse.

    Any alphanumeric string.

    contenturl

    The location of the content that you created in the previous step.

    A UNC path or URL on your network.

    userid

    Whether the application hosted by the tab will use the ID of the user who is signed in to provide user-specific information such as where a user is located on a map.

    TRUE, FALSE

    If TRUE, the application hosted by the tab will read the ID of the user who is signed in. For example, this can be used if the application provides user-specific information such as where a user is located on a map.

    If FALSE, the application hosted by the tab does not require the user ID.

    contactid

    Whether the application hosted by the tab will use the ID of a selected contact in the contact list to provide contact-specific information such as where a contact is located on a map.

    TRUE, FALSE

    If TRUE, the application hosted by the tab will read the contact ID of a selected user in the contact list. For example, this can be used if the application provides contact-specific information such as where a contact is located on a map.

    If FALSE, the application hosted by the tab does not require a contact ID.

    accessibility

    Whether the tab should be displayed in the client used by internal users, external users, or both.

    INSIDE, OUTSIDE, BOTH

    If INSIDE, only users connecting to Communicator Web Access from inside the network will see the tab.

    If OUTSIDE, only users connecting to Communicator Web Access from outside the network will see the tab.

    If BOTH, all users connecting to Communicator Web Access will see the tab.

    client

    Specifies that Communicator Web Access clients should display the tab. (When you configure custom tabs, Office Communicator 2007 R2 and Office Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant display the tabs by default.)

    Sub-element can include <communicatorwebaccess>.

    communicatorwebaccess

    Specifies that Communicator Web Access clients should display the tab.

    TRUE, FALSE

    If TRUE, the tab is displayed in Communicator Web Access, in addition to Office Communicator and Communicator Attendant.

    If FALSE, the tab is displayed in Office Communicator and Communicator Attendant, but not in Communicator Web Access.

  3. When you are finished configuring the tab definition file, save it as an XML file.

  4. On the computer running the Communicator Web Access server, use a text editor to open the CustomConfig.xml file in the <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2\Communicator Web Access\Server\CWA\Client folder.

  5. Change the value of active attribute of the <tabs> element to TRUE.

  6. Then, between the <location> tags, type the location and name of the XML tab definition file. For example, c:\Program Files\Contoso\ Server\tabs\tabs.xml.

    Note

    The location of the custom tab definition file can be specified using a local path, UNC path, or URL on your network. If you have deployed Office Communicator 2007 R2 Group Policies, the location of the custom tab definition file is specified in the registry in the TabURL policy under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator.

  7. When you are finished, save and then close the CustomConfig.xml file.