Assign an interface layout through an interface template

Set the layout — Classic or Nova — for everyone who uses one interface template, and optionally forbid them to change it. A template already decides which menu its users see; the layout is one more setting on the same template.

Note

A locked layout beats a user's own choice. An unlocked one is only a starting point: the user can override it in Settings. With no layout anywhere, everyone gets Classic.

How to#

To assign a layout, open Ribbon → Developer → Configuration → Menu builder. In Nova, press the Developer icon at the bottom of the left strip, then pick Menu builder under Configuration. The Developer area shows only for roles that may open it; if you do not see it, ask whoever administers the stand.

In the list at the top left, choose the template — for example Warehouse. The badge shows the template name, its items, and its users; a ★ marks the default template. Do not pick Model menu: it is the menu every template receives on top, and it has no layout.

Next to Default and Assign to users…, find Layout. Open it and choose one of three values:

• No preference — the template says nothing. Users keep their own choice, or get Classic.
• Classic — the top ribbon.
• Nova — the module strip and menu tree.

The value is saved the moment you choose it. There is no Save button for it.

To stop users from changing it, switch on Forbid users to change it. The switch is greyed out while Layout is No preference: a lock needs a layout to lock. Switching it on saves at once. If you set Layout back to No preference, the lock is cleared too.

Press Assign to users…, tick the users who should get this template, and press Save. A user already on another template is marked "(has another template)"; ticking that user moves them here. Users without a template get the one marked Default (the ★).

The layout reaches a signed-in user with the menu; ask them to reload the page. In Settings → General → Interface layout they now see one of two things: Classic and Nova enabled (not locked), or the buttons greyed out with the line "Your administrator has fixed the layout in your interface template." (locked).

Example

A distributor has three templates.

Template	Layout	Forbid users to change it
Warehouse	Nova	on
Office	Classic	off
Managers	No preference	off

• A storekeeper on Warehouse sees Nova and cannot switch to Classic.
• An accountant on Office sees Classic. If she presses Nova in Settings, she gets Nova.
• A manager on Managers has no layout from the template. With nothing chosen, he sees Classic. If he presses Nova, he gets Nova.

Now switch Office to Forbid users to change it: the accountant's own Nova choice stops counting and she sees Classic. Her choice is not deleted — switch the lock off and Nova returns.

The order of rules, from strongest to weakest:

Save as… copies the layout and the lock together with the menu. A new template starts with No preference.

Tip

To try Nova on a few people first, make a template for them with Layout = Nova and the lock off, and assign only them. Everyone else stays on their template. To roll back, set Layout to No preference; users who picked a layout themselves keep their pick.

Tip

Other systems read the same two values from GET /api/metadata/menu/my: shell ("ribbon", "nova", or empty) and shellLocked (true or false).

If the command refuses#

See also

• Switch the interface layout
• Grant a role
• Find a screen in the Nova layout

Same topic for other readers: Developer