PeopleSoft uses Content References (CREF's) to describe how to display content within the PeopleSoft Portal (Enterprise or standard PeopleTools Portal). A very important setting for describing how to display a CREF is the CREF's template. The template describes how the content should be wrapped or "framed." Some templates proxy content into a single HTML page. Other templates use frames to display content. The most common frames template is the template that displays the header at the top, a menu on the left, and a content window on the right. If a CREF does not specify a template, then the Portal will use the default template. The default CREF template is set in PeopleTools > Portal > General Settings. If you haven't changed this setting, then your template is DEFAULT_TEMPLATE, also known as Portal default template. After looking up the default template, we can navigate to PeopleTools > Portal > Structure and Content to view the definition for this template. Templates are stored in the portal registry under Portal Objects > Templates. If your template has a storage type of "Local (in HTML Catalog)", then you can modify your template's HTML directly in this CREF. CREF's with a storage type of "Remote by URL", like the Portal default template, usually retrieve dynamic content from an IScript. Theoretically, you could store your template definition in any format or system as long as it is accessible by a URL (think of the possibilities for dynamic or even hosted templates). The IScript for the delivered Portal default template reads its settings from a different Content Reference. The name of this settings content reference is stored in the field PT_PORTAL_PROFILE of table PS_PTPP_OPTIONS.
SELECT PT_PORTAL_PROFILE FROM PS_PTPP_OPTIONS
With just a CREF name, you will have a hard time changing the template's values. The post Query for Component and/or CREF Navigation contains SQL to help you find the Structure and Content navigation for the CREF stored in PT_PORTAL_PROFILE. If you haven't customized your system, the settings CREF is PT_PORTAL_PROFILE (or PAPP_PORTAL_PROFILE if you are using Enterprise Portal). The PT_PORTAL_PROFILE CREF is stored in the Portal Registry's structure and content at Tools - Hidden > PeopleTools Portal Profile (For Enterprise Portal: Enterprise Portal - Hidden > Enterprise Portal Profile). From this CREF's attributes, you can specify the frame header height, whether to display the menu title, whether to show Search in the menu, as well as many other portal related settings. For example, if you wanted to change the frame header height from the default of 65 to 48 to give you more space for content, you would change the value of the attribute HEADER_FRAME_ROWS from 65 to 48.
