Application menu (modules) #
The menu acts as navigation through the created application. A properly designed menu will positively affect the user experience. The menu acts as a signed document drawer. A user looking at the name of the drawer will expect to find specific contents inside. If the modules are named incorrectly or the documents inside are disorganized, the user will be annoyed or disappointed. Therefore, while developing your application, it is important to remember the principles from this article.
Items displayed in the application menu #
In the app editing mode, After clicking on the menu module, a short form will be displayed.
In the field with the placeholder Add new item, enter the name of the menu item and click the ‘+’ icon on the right. The new item will be added and you will be able to configure it. To do so, click on it.
Settings #
The name of the menu item you selected will be shown in the Name field. You can edit it at any time.
In the Type drop-down list, you can find all types of application items that you can pair with the menu button.
LIST – The list is the most common element that is pinned to the menu button. This is because the list view not only allows an overview of related documents, but also works with them (creating, reading, updating, and deleting). After selecting the list, an additional tab (List settings) will appear at the top. Using this tab, you can decide whether the associated list will display according to its standard settings (global or those selected during list setup), or they will be overridden by the settings selected in this tab.
DASHBOARD – Most applications have at least one dashboard, which is the home page. It can be used as a showcase of the application for the user or a panel to present data in the form of graphs, charts, etc. By clicking on the menu item linked to the dashboard the user will be redirected to the selected one.
FORM – Clicking on the button with the associated form will redirect the user to create a new document based on that form.
PROCESS – Clicking on the button with the associated process will trigger actions related to that process.
LINK – Clicking on a button with an associated link will redirect the user to the desired location in the application or system.
GROUP – This is a special type of button because clicking on it does not redirect the user but only affects the appearance of the menu. Clicking on a button with a group type will show the menu items associated with that group as a drop-down list.
CONFIGURATION – Clicking on the button with the associated configuration will redirect the user to the selected configuration form. A configuration is a special type of form used to store settings for an application. You can learn more about it in this article.
Depending on your selection, a list of elements of the specified type will appear in the Target element drop-down list. The only exception is the Group type, whose single function is to expand nested menu items.
In the Tooltip field, you can enter a short text message that will be displayed to the user when hovers over the menu item name.
You can choose one of the icons from the list (Icon). This will make the item properly highlighted in the application menu.
Permissions #
There is also a Restrict Permissions checkbox in this tab. Checking it will display the Visible for drop-down list. Selecting one of the items in the list will restrict the view of the menu item for the selected user or user group. Restrictions vary depending on what type of item is linked to the menu item.
LIST – A selected user or group of users have access to any document from the selected list
FORM –A selected user or group of users have permission to create documents of a specific type
DASHBOARD – A selected user or group of users has permission to view the dashboard
PROCEDURE –A selected user or group of users have permission to the form-related document created by the associated procedure