Blogs

Liferay: An Overview 

What is Liferay? 

• Definition: Liferay is an open-source enterprise portal platform that offers content management and collaboration tools. 

• Key Features: 

• Create custom digital experiences without sacrificing speed, flexibility, or cost. 

• Tailored to meet the needs of various business domains. 

• It falls under the category of Horizontal Portals. 

Horizontal Portals 

• Definition: Portals that can be used to create solutions for any business domain. 

• Examples: 

• E-commerce solutions 

• Healthcare solutions 

• Assessment tools 

• News and weather forecasting 

• Cricket scores 

• Email 

• These all are combined on a single access point. 

• For view an example of horizontal portal you can visit the yahoo Uk portal. 

• Analogy: Like opening a Sunday newspaper with a variety of interesting topics. 

Liferay: A Java Framework 

• Framework of Java with pre-built features. 

About Liferay, Inc. 

• Founded in 2004, Liferay, Inc. is an open-source company. 

• Offers free documentation and paid professional services. 

• Mainly focused on enterprise portal technology. 

• Headquarters: Diamond Bar, California, United States. 

Liferay's Products 

• Liferay Portal 

• Liferay Commerce 

• Liferay Analytics Cloud 

• Liferay DXP Cloud 

Web Portal vs. Website 

• Web Portal: 

• Definition: 

• “A specially designed website bringing information from diverse (different) sources “. Like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way". Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displaying information (using a portlet). 

• Or We can say that A portal is a single size of window where different-2 types of information are hosted on the different-2 cloud platforms/servers. 

• Note :- A portal can be a website but a website can not be a portal.

• Functionality: 

• Collection of multiple applications on a single platform. 

• Portlet:  

• portlets are small or any size (that can be fit into portal) pluggable user interface components that can be used to create dynamic web pages within a portal framework. often, the user can configure which ones to display. 

• Web apps in Liferay Dxp are called portlets. 

• Adoption of Specifications: 

• Adopts the portlet specification for building web components. 

• Additional Specifications: 

• Integrates JSR 168 or JSR 286 for portlet development. 

• Utilizes a unified access point for various applications. 

• Enables dynamic content presentation through portlets. 

• Supports secure and personalized user experiences. 

• Website: 

• Definition: 

• A single application, not a portal. 

• Functionality: 

• Generally, it serves a specific purpose, such as providing information, selling products, or sharing content. 

• Adoption of Specifications: 

• Adopts other specifications or frameworks. 

• Additional Specifications: 

• May use W3C's Web Components or popular frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js. 

• Typically focused on a singular user experience. 

• Provides a straightforward and focused interaction with users. 

• Adapts design and functionality based on specific goals. 

Liferay Portal Features 

• Omni-Channel: 

• Works on any device matrix (tablet, mobile, desktop). 

• Robust Platform: 

• Quickly build and serve sites for any client. 

• Easy-to-use development framework. 

• Community Edition (CE): 

• Free for users and customers. 

• Enterprise Edition: 

• Paid subscription for additional features and support. 

Liferay's Contributions 

• Innovations: 

• Introduced Web OS. 

• Deployed AJAX-enabled user interfaces. 

• Active community involvement. 

• Built-in Content Management System (CMS) and Collaboration Suite. 

Out-of-the-Box (OOTB) Features 

• User Management 

• Role Management 

• Permissions 

• Workflow 

• Authentication 

• Web Content Management (WCM) etc. 

Conclusion 

• Liferay Portal excels in: 

• Web Content Management 

• User Collaboration 

• Development Platform 

• Customization 

• Choose between Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition based on your needs.