In this blog post, we review the steps for customizing StoreFront 1811+ so that the default landing page is the Categories view. This is useful for customers with a lot of published resources because categories are an intuitive way for users to quickly find their applications without needing to memorize their names.

Prior to version 1811, there was a well-known customization that could be used to achieve this. But due to technical changes and a UI-refresh in newer versions, that customization no longer works. Thankfully, StoreFront is rather flexible, so some minor changes were all that were needed to restore this functionality. The modification will work for both Receiver for Web and Receiver for Windows. It has been validated against StoreFront 1906 but should work with any post-1811 version. It requires JavaScript to implement.

StoreFront 1811+ Categories View

Step 1: Add code to script.js
Within Windows Explorer on the primary StoreFront server, navigate to the following path:

[Drive Letter]:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\[Store Name]Web\custom

For example:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\TestStoreWeb\custom

Create a backup of script.js and open in Notepad as an administrator.

Note: If you plan to make a lot of changes to this file, it would be beneficial to add your domain user account to the security properties of the file and give yourself full control. That way, in the future, you can just open the file by double clicking it instead of using an elevated notepad.

Add the following content to the bottom of this file:

CTXS.Extensions.afterDisplayHomeScreen = function (callback) {
  CTXS.ExtensionAPI.changeView("store");
};

CTXS.Extensions.onViewChange = function (viewName) {
  if (viewName == 'store') {
    window.setTimeout(function () {
      var btn = document.getElementById('categoriesTabBtn'); //Get the categories button.
      btn.click(); //Click the categories button as if we are a user
    }, 1000); 
    //Wait 1 second after we switch tabs to make sure 
    //the view is loaded before we trigger our click.
  }
};

Step 2: Propagate your changes
Now that the change is implemented, on your primary StoreFront server, navigate to the Server Group tab and click Propagate Changes. This will pause your server group and replicate the customizations to the other servers in the group (users will not be able to connect during propagation, so be sure to do this only during off-hours).

Want More Customizations?

This post is part of a StoreFront customization series. For more step-by-step guides on customizing StoreFront, check out the entire series (we’ll update that post as more items are added to the series).


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