Add a Custom Task to Your Homepage
After you create a custom task, add it to the homepage for your users to access. At this point, you can also customize the task’s tile and add tailoring. To do all this, follow these steps in ThingWorx:
1. Create a thing for the task
First, you need to create a ThingWorx thing for the task.
1. In the search box at the top, type +thing to quickly get to the command. Then, in the list of results, select +Thing.
2. In the General Information area for the thing, next to Name, type a name for the Thing. For example, NewTaskThing. This is the name of the thing, but it doesn’t have to be the display name for the task.
3. Next to Tags, find the tag Custom apps, and then add it to the list of tags.
4. For the Thing Template box, make sure the value is this: PTC.Converge.App.CustomizedAccessAppConfigTemplate.
5. Next to Implemented Shapes, select PTC.CustomAccessAppThingShape.
6. Click Save.
2. Select the mashup
Now that the task has a thing, we’ll select the mashup. The mashup is the task you are adding to the homepage.
1. Go back to the NewTaskThing, and then click Edit.
2. Next to Home Mashup, select the mashup name that corresponds to the task. For example, it could be mycompany-new-mashup.
3. Click Save again.
4. Switch back to ThingWorx Navigate for a moment. Refresh the browser and notice that your new task appears in a new row on the page.
3. Change the name and image on the tile
The task now appears on your homepage, but you may want to customize the appearance of the tile. In the next steps, we’ll add the name of your task and assign it a new icon.
1. Go back to your NewTaskThing in ThingWorx and click Edit.
2. On the left, under ENTITY INFORMATION, select Properties.
3. On the right, under ThingShapes-Properties, there is a row in the table for the icon image. In the Value column, click Set. The dialog box Set value of property:appIcon opens.
4. Click X to remove the existing icon, and then start typing the name of the new icon.
5. Select the file name in the result list, and then click Set.
6. Change the name that is shown by setting a new value for the useCaseNameToken property. In the Value column, click Set, and then set a new name.
7. Click Save again, and then switch back to ThingWorx Navigate. Refresh the page: your new task is updated.
4. Add the ability to tailor your custom task
Next, you may want to add the ability to tailor the task. A tailoring page is another mashup, so you’ll need to select it, and then connect it using the following steps.
1. Back in ThingWorx, click the Home tab, and then under VISUALIZATION, click Mashups.
2. Find the name of the tailoring page’s mashup, and then copy it.
3. On the NewTaskThing tab, find the property row tailoringMashupName, click Set, and then paste and set the mashup’s name.
4. Save again, and then return toThingWorx Navigate to refresh. The tailoring pencil appears on the tile, and the tailoring mashup is connected.