Can We add more facets to panelPage Componet?

Question

Hi! Frank,
Could you tell me if panelPage component can be customised?
Can we Extend the panelPage,i.e Can we create more facets to the panelPage Component,than what are already provided?
Suppose, the panelPage component has the content that goes to the left bottom,right bottom, but not exactly,at the bottom-centre, or we can have menu tabs (other than menu bar which goes to menu3 facet) in menu1 which keeps the menu tabs near the right-top end of the page, or at the left top if we keep them in brandingAppContextual ;but not in the middle.
There is a lot to be added to Panel Page, It still does not have a lot of regions that every modern web page needs to have. Further limiting the developer to put content in only those few regions in the page which are given to you is like keeping all sorts of nice food but tying one's hands!
If the PanelPage is extendable ,then it will serve as a real Template for any custom design one likes to have.
Can you give an outline of how to do this if posssible?
Thanking you in advance,
Samba.

Answer 1

If you need a completely different layout, you better not use the panelPage component. The panelpage component generates an html table to layout all the component on your page. This is very inflexible, ie., you cannot reposition the items on your page using css.
Html divs are better suited for flexible layouts than tables. The easiest solution is to use a jsf div component, and use css to position the divs. I think Apache myFaces contains a div component.
The current version of adf faces isn't suited for very dramatic layout modifications. Although you can use skinning, this is best used for changing some colors, fonts and maybe some images. It'll be very frustrating if you try more.
The cause of this is that adf faces generates very old fashioned html: think last century html, using table layouts and transparent images. Most html developers these days use semantic html in combination with css, as these have been proven to be very flexible, as can be seen on csszengarden.com.
Another example, apart from panelPage using tables, are tabs. These are also rendered using tables. Most modern html interfaces instead use list, as these are more flexible: you can render them horizontal or vertical just by changing your css. This is not so easy when the tabs are rendered using a html table.
In my opinion adf faces interfaces have the same restrictions as oracle forms applications: you're able to quickly and productively create administrative data entry applications but layout isn't very beautifull.
This doesn't have to be a big problem, you just have to educate your customers: do you want an expensive and very beautifull application, or do you want a cheaper, slightly less good looking application? I think many customers will choose the less good looking application, as has been demonstrated with oracle forms in the past.
Btw, as far as i know, the next version of adf faces should be a lot better, good use of xhtml.