Creating a Service Catalog

On selecting ‘Service Catalog’, three types of category (container) are available: Add Category, Add App Store, and Add Panel. Each type supports a different type of data: a standard category supports associated services/catalog endpoints, an App Store displays multiple items from the vendor catalogs, and a panel supports the display of externally sourced HTML information.

All types must have a category name set but this name can be hidden for display, which may be appropriate where a full image is being used. Drill-down to the next page is achieved by clicking the image or the title.

The presentation of the Service Catalog can be adjusted via the Theme page in Administration: this includes supports for several display options, although certain settings can be overridden when editing a specific category. If good quality images are available for the associated services, consider using a Tiled Display Type. Solid background images display best in this mode. The Service Catalog can contain as many categories as desired at this top-level, either inside or outside the carousel and/or service menu if enabled.

The display of all categories can be controlled by an ‘enabled’ flag, which allows configuration to take place or perhaps temporary unavailability of the services included, without being visible to the end-user. Be aware that the category will still be visible within the Admin area.

Creation/editing of categories and positioning / re-ordering of categories within the catalog is actioned within two modes: Edit or Layout mode, on the right of the Service Catalog home page in Admin. When in Layout mode, using the panel on the right, categories may be moved (dragged) in or out of the carousel and service menu. Categories outside the carousel can be sized for display, using ‘T-shirt’ sizes: XS, S, M, L, and XL. This determines how much horizontal space a category will take up on the page.

The home page title (top left) can be displayed or hidden.

The search facility, displayed at the top of each service catalog page, performs a full ‘OR’ search, with the results ranked by the number of search words found. Service name, service description and attribute fields are searched.

Creating a Service Catalog Welcome Message

The ‘Welcome’ message is an optional section that can be included at the top of the Service Catalog.
This can be accessed via the Edit button at the top-level Service Catalog page. If the carousel is enabled, the welcome message can be displayed above the carousel or as the first (default) ‘category’ in the carousel. This positioning can be configured via the Layout mode editor.