General In-Portal Questions
What is In-Portal?
In-Portal is an Open Source CMS (Content Management System) that is designed for Web 2.0 standards.
What is Web 2.0?
While there is no “formal” definition, most professionals associate Web 2.0 standards with interactive websites that enhance sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration.
What is Open Source?
Open Source software is free to use and customize and the approach offers full accessibility to the source code. The decisions and the direction in the software’s development are determined by the community. Please refer to the Open Source Approach section of the website for more information.
Is In-Portal Free?
Yes, it is! Feel free to download and use In-Portal for any of your projects.
Is In-Portal right for my project?
We sure hope so but it is up for you decide that. Thousands of websites utilize In-Portal so chances are it will be a good solution for you as well. If you are a Web Developer, we have prepared a CMS of Choice for Web Developers guide to make your decision easier. If you are a Programmer, please check out our CMS of Choice for Programmers guide.
What level of experience is required for In-Portal?
In-Portal is specifically designed for users of all levels: from beginners to advanced. You don’t have to be a technical user to use In-Portal but at the same time it doesn’t limit advanced programmers from doing impressive things. Everything about In-Portal, from its features to the Administrative Console is designed to give you the most control and flexibility without overwhelming you or compromising it features. In-Portal even has three sets of built-in admin interfaces depending on your level of experience and your needs.
Does In-Portal have a feature I need?
Chances are, it does. In-Portal has all the features most websites would ever need. Additional functionality can be installed using modules. You can also customize the code. Please refer to the list of main features, along with the section for modules and their features on the website. If you can’t find what you are looking for, you can always check the documentation or ask on the community forum.
Where can I download In-Portal?
You can download In-Portal from the download section of our website.
Which version should I use?
We recommend you download and install the latest Stable version of In-Portal from the download section of our website. If you are an advanced user, however, you may also want to look at BETA versions and even Release Candidates depending on your needs. For more information on versioning, please refer to Research & Development section.
Is In-Portal SEO friendly?
Yes, In-Portal is designed to work well with Search Engines. It has support for mod-rewrite for SEO-friendly URLS and lets you define META tags for every page of your website.
What are some sites running on In-Portal?
There are thousands of websites running on In-Portal so it will be impossible to list them all but we have prepared some case studies for you to see.
What are In-Portal’s requirements?
You can see In-Portal’s technical requirements here.
Installing & Configuring In-Portal
How do I get started?
If you are lost and don’t know where to start, please check out our Getting Started section and just follow the steps.
How do I install In-Portal?
Installing In-Portal is a very straightforward process. Most work is automatically handled by the installation script. Please refer to the installation instructions for more information.
What are In-Portal modules?
Currently, In-Portal has five popular modules (not counting In-Portal itself) that can be used to expand its functionality. You can install any combination of modules depending on your needs. Please visit the Features & Modules section of the website for more information.
How do I configure In-Portal?
Most of the In-Portal’s configuration is done through the Administrative Console (the back end). It can be accessed by adding “/admin/” to the end of the URL where In-Portal is installed. In fact, most of In-Portal’s users only use the Administrative Console to manage the data as well as their settings and preferences.
How do I customize In-Portal?
In-Portal offers different levels of customization depending on your needs: website’s content and data, settings, design, and functionality, can all be customized and tailored to your requirements. All of content and data and most settings are managed using the In-Portal’s Administrative Console and require no or very little technical expertise. Design customizations to your website can be performed through the Design mode of the Administrative Console, or more advanced users may choose to work with the HTML and In-Portal tags directly within the template files. Finally, additional functionality can be expanded using In-Portal’s modules and advanced users and programmers may customize the functionality of In-Portal by modifying its code. If you need help or more information on how to address your exact needs, please refer to the documentation or you can also ask other members on the community forum.
Using In-Portal
What are Sections? What can I do with them?
You can think of Sections as Folders on your computer. Sections are used to organize data and content of your website but they also act as pages of your website. For example, you may have a section called “About Us” that contains information about your company. You can also have subsections under “About Us”, for example: “Our History”, “Contact Information”, etc. In-Portal will accordingly maintain the structure and the navigation of your website. Additionally, sections act as “folders” or “containers” for other data types. For example, you may have products listed under the “Product Catalog” section, news articles under “News”, etc. This allows you to easily maintain the structure and navigation and keep everything organized on your website.
How can I change the structure of my website?
The structure of your website can be managed through the Structure & Data section of the Administrative Console of In-Portal. Each Section that you see there represents a separate webpage on your website. You can add new sections, rename, modify, and move them around like you do with folders on your computer. Please refer to the previous question for more information on how to work with sections.
How can I change In-Portal’s look and feel?
In-Portal’s look and feel is defined by themes (collections of template files). Everything you see on the front end of the website (actually, the back-end as well) is defined by templates. Templates are essentially HTML files that contain special tags telling In-Portal where to output your data. By changing these templates you can change the design, as well as the layout of your entire website. Templates are organized into themes, which you can download and install to try various different looks for your website. You can also create and customize your own themes. It helps to have a basic knowledge of HTML to completely customize a theme. However, there are some layout changes that you can easily perform using the “Design Mode” under “Browse Website” in the Administrative Console. It lets you reorganize layout and various elements and provides you with convenient access to the corresponding templates for each element of your website.
How can I expand In-Portal’s functionality?
In-Portal’s functionality can be expanded one of two ways: Either by downloading and installing an extension module, or by making modifications to the code. It really depends on what is that you are trying to accomplish. In-Portal has a wide range of modules that can be downloaded and installed in minutes and that will expand your In-Portal website with a lot of useful features. Check out the Features & Modules section of the website for more information. Obviously, if you need something completely custom or unique, you may be looking at making modifications to the code or having someone help you with that.
Troubleshooting Questions
How do I get help with my problem / question?
One of the best ways to get help is through the online forum where other community members will answer your questions or will help you with the issues at hand. However, if you need an immediate assistance, you may also want to consider commercial support services.
Is there documentation for In-Portal?
Yes, in fact, there are two kinds of documentation. There is User Documentation for users of In-Portal and there is also a Developers Guide for more advanced users and programmers who us In-Portal for their projects or may be looking at expanding In-Portal’s functionality.
How do I report a bug or get it fixed?
Please see our guide into Testing and Reporting Bugs on how to report and fix bugs.
Websites / Infrastructure Questions
Why are there are two different websites?
In-Portal.com website is for users of In-Portal. It has information on how to use the software, its features and modules, as well as provides access to downloads and support.
In-Portal.org website is for developers and contributors to the In-Portal project. It has more technical information about In-Portal, as well as guides on how contribute to and participate in In-Portal’s development, along with development tools and resources.
Are the websites running on In-Portal?
Of course! Both (In-Portal.com and In-Portal.org) websites are running 100% on In-Portal.
Why do I need to register?
Registering as a community member will allow you to participate in the community, get important updates, contribute to the In-Portal’s development, and much more.
Where is my profile information?
You can access your profile by logging into your account. If you have used the old version of the website, your old login information will still work.
What are Google Groups?
Google Groups are used by In-Portal Teams for the purpose of collaborating and communicating on important tasks and projects.
Community Questions
What is In-Portal Community?
In-Portal’s community consists mainly of web professionals: webmasters, web developers, web designers, programmers, and other enthusiasts. In-Portal is managed and run by its community for the benefits of the community members so if you are interested in taking part, or would like to contribute, please consider joining the community.
How do I join the Community?
You can join the community simply by registering on the website. You can then learn about various ways you can contribute in the How to Contribute section of the website.
How are the decisions made? Who is in charge?
Members of the In-Portal Community are in charge of making all decisions. Each Team has a Team Leader who is a senior contributor responsible for running things smoothly within their respective team.
What are Teams?
All of the work in the In-Portal Project gets done in Teams. Teams are made up of volunteers. Each Team has its purpose as well as an area of functional expertise. For more information about teams and how they operate please refer to the Introduction to Teams & Mailing Lists.
Who are Team Leaders?
You meet the team leaders on the Leadership Team section of the website.
How do I become a partner?
Please see the Regional Partners section for more information.
Licensing Questions
What license does In-Portal use?
In-Portal uses an Open GPL license. For more information, please refer to the license page.
Why is In-Portal a registered trademark?
Unfortunately, there have been many cases with other open source projects where software intended for free was getting repackaged and sold to unsuspected customers. In order to protect the In-Portal community, its reputation and the integrity of the project, we have registered In-Portal as a trademark.
What license do commercial modules use?
Commercial modules use a commercial license that can be accessed here.
Contributing Questions
How can I contribute to In-Portal?
We have put together a detailed Contribute section on the website that describes many ways you can contribute to In-Portal.
Why should I contribute to In-Portal?
By contributing to In-Portal you become part of the Community that determines its future and turns it into a reality. If you’ve ever dreamt of a perfect CMS solution for your projects or wanted to become part of something big, this is a perfect opportunity to realize both of these dreams.
How do I get started?
If you would like to contribute but don’t know where to start, please refer to the How to Contribute section of the website.
How can I make a donation?
You can make a donation into one of the In-Portal’s funds though the Make a Donation page on the website.
