Customizing the Sidebar

The Sidebar is highly customizable, so that you can select particular items to display in the Start Bar as well as change the overall Start Bar appearance. You will be able to revert to the default Start Bar settings at any time.

Customizing the Sidebar items

The Sidebar contains links for accessing most of Alloy Navigator Express components, including various views, actions, reports, etc. Links are arranged in sections. You can add new sections and links, rename each item, change their order, or remove items that you don't need.

To customize the Sidebar items, right-click anywhere in the Sidebar and click Customize on the pop-up menu. The Customize Sidebar window opens. The window contains two panels:

• Available (on the left side) - the list of links that can be added to the Sidebar.

• Displayed (on the right side) - the list of sections and links currently displayed in the Sidebar.

You can customize Sidebar items as follows:

• To add a new section to the Sidebar:

  1. Click Create Section to bring up New Section window.

  2. Type a section name and click OK.

• To add a link to the Sidebar:

  1. In the Displayed panel, expand the section that will contain the new link.

  2. In the Available panel, browse for the link to add and click Add (or double-click the link).

  NOTE: You can add the same link to multiple sections.

• To rename a link or section:

  1. In the Displayed panel, select the item and click Rename.

  2. Type a new name and click OK.

• To delete a link or section:

  • In the Displayed panel, select the item and click Delete (or double-click the item).

  NOTE: When the section you delete contains links, those links are also deleted.

• To change the order of Sidebar items:

  • In the Displayed panel, select an item (link or section) to re-order and use the Up or Down button to change its location.

  NOTE: You can use these buttons to move a link from one section to another.

• To restore the default Start Bar settings:

  • Click Default.

When you have finished customizing the Sidebar, click OK in the Customize Sidebar window to apply your changes.

Changing the Sidebar style

Alloy Navigator Express displays the Sidebar in one the following styles:

• Navigation Bar - Displays the expanded section at the top. The expanded section contains large navigation icons. Clicking an icon opens the selected Alloy Navigator Express component in the workspace panel on the right.

  Click here to view the Navigation Bar style

  

• Task Pane - Displays the expanded section in the list of other sections. The expanded section contains small navigation icons. Clicking an icon opens the selected Alloy Navigator Express component in the workspace panel.

  Click here to view the Task Pane style

  

• Modules and Views - Displays the expanded section at the top. The expanded section contains small icons for navigation to Alloy Navigator Express components and links to all views available for each component. Clicking a component icon opens the selected component in the workspace panel on the right; clicking a view link applies the selected data view to the data grid.

  Click here to view the Modules and Views style

  

To change the Sidebar style:

1. Right-click anywhere in the Sidebar, and then click Customize to bring up the Customize Sidebar window.

2. Select the desired style from the Style list and click OK.

Alternatively, you can click Tools > Option on the main menu to bring up the Options window, click the Display tab and select the style from the Main Sidebar list. For details, see Applying display options.

Related Information

Desktop App user interface

Sidebar

Working with views