Site Object

Overview

Sites allow you to create a custom, well-tailored experience for your users that provides them with quick access to the pages, tasks, and information that they need in a professional and polished way.

This page provides you with detailed information on how to create and configure a site object. To learn more about how to use sites, see Using Sites. To learn more about how to create functional and beautiful sites, see our Sites Branding design guidance.

Create a site

To create a site object:

1. In your application, go to the Build view.
2. Click NEW > Site.

3. Configure the following properties:

   Property	Description
   Name	Enter a name that follows the recommended naming standard.
   Display Name	Enter a name that will be displayed in the site navigation menu and the browser tab to identify the site.
   Description	(Optional) Enter a description of the object to display to developers only.
   Web Address Identifier	Specify a web address identifier to use as the site's URL. The identifier must be unique in the Appian environment. By default, Appian constructs this property using the Name property you entered, but you can modify the identifier as needed.

4. Click CREATE. Appian opens the site for you to further configure.

Edit properties

To edit the site Name and Description, click Properties in the settings menu .

Edit configurations

The Configurations section allows designers to modify the primary site configurations that determine how users experience the site.

The following table describes these primary site configurations.

Field	Description
Display Name	The name that is displayed in the site navigation menu and the browser tab. You can create a Static display name, or create a dynamic display name using an Expression. If you use an expression to create a display name, that expression will evaluate whenever sites in the environment that the user has access to load or refresh. To avoid your sites loading slowly, don't use long-running expressions, like queries.
Web Address	The section of the site's URL that identifies it. The web address id appears in the URL and in log files.
Show Tempo link in Navigation Menu	Option to show or hide the Tempo link in the navigation menu. You can select to always show it, never show it, or for one or more selected groups.
Show Record News	Option to show or hide the news view on records. When enabled, all records displayed in the site will include the news view. In addition, the latest news will be displayed on the summary view when viewing user records.
Show Task List on Mobile	Option to enable a mobile site task list. When enabled, displays a Tasks list for the site in the Appian Mobile menu . Appian Mobile users can access any offline-enabled tasks from this list, even when they are not connected to the internet. Designers can choose to always show the mobile site task list, never show it, or show it only for select groups.

Add pages

The pages section allows designers to add, remove, modify, or re-order the pages that are displayed in a site. Designers can configure up to 5 pages per site.

Each page within a site can be configured with an action, an interface, a report (task report or Tempo report), or a record list.

To add and configure a site page:

1. In the Pages grid, click Add Page.
2. Complete the Add Page dialog and click OK

The following are the options available when adding or modifying a page.

Field	Description
Title	The page title displayed to users in the navigation bar. This parameter is required and can be configured as a static string or as an expression.
Web Address Identifier	The section of the URL that identifies the page. It appears in the URL and in log files for network devices and servers. By default, Appian constructs this field using the Title you entered.
Width	Determines the width of the content area for the page. The width options are Narrow, Medium, Wide, and Full. Default is Wide.
Icon	The icon displayed to users in the navigation bar.
Type	Indicates the type of content available on the page. The type options are Action, Interface, Record List, and Report.
Content	Specifies which design object is available on the page. In the dropdown list, select an existing object of the Type you selected. For the Interface type, instead of selecting an existing object, you can create a new one by clicking the + icon next to the selection box.
Visibility	Which users and groups can view the page. When conditionally shown, the page is only visible when the expression evaluates to true.

Site hierarchy diagram

Once you add at least one page to a site, the hierarchy diagram appears. This diagram is a visual representation of what powers your site and its pages, with each related object appearing as a node. For site pages that use a process model or a report, the diagram also shows the interface behind the corresponding start form or report.

The diagram dynamically reflects changes as you add, reorder, or delete pages. And more than just a visual representation, it is also interactive. Simply click a node in the diagram to instantly open the underlying object.

Configure site branding

The branding section allows designers to customize the look and feel of a site. These configurations can be set as static or dynamic values.

Use the branding section of the site to configure the following:

• Site logo.
• Colors.
• Page icons.
• Navigation bar style.
• Input and button shape.

Check out the Preview to get a better idea of what your site configurations and branding will look like. To see these configurations applied to an entire page, review the site.

For further information on configuring your site branding, see our site branding design guidance.

The following three tables explain the branding configuration options in the Logos, Border Shapes, and Styles subsections.

Logos

Field	Description	More Information	Default
Logo Image	The logo appears in the navigation bar of the site. The placement of the logo depends on the navigation bar style: Helium style: top right corner of the navigation bar. Mercury style: top left corner of the navigation bar.	File requirements: JPG, PNG, BMP, JPEG, or GIF with transparent background. Be less than 100 KB.	Appian logo.
Logo Alternative Text	The alt text should describe the logo and any text in it and will be announced by screen readers for visually impaired users.	The alternative text can be set by a logo, web address, or expression. To use either a document or web address, select Static.	Logo
Favicon Image	The favicon (or "favorite icon") is the icon that appears in the browser tab or URL bar.	File requirements: ICO file. Size 16x16 or 32x32. Be less than 100 KB.	Appian "a" icon.

Configuring logo images

Each of the image fields have four configuration options for you to choose from:

• Default: Select this to use the Appian logo.
• Document: Select this to use an image within an Appian document folder or knowledge center.
• Web Address: Select this to use a static image hosted on a web server or a content delivery network.
• Expression: Select this to dynamically display an image defined by an expression. The expression must point to a document, output a document ID (integer), or output a text value (web address).
  • Note that if an expression's output is invalid the field will show the default value.

Border shapes

Field	Description	Shapes	Default
Input Shape	The shape applied to all input fields, selection fields, and picker components on all pages in a site.	There are two options for input shape: squared and semi-rounded.	Squared
Button Shape	The shape applied to all buttons on all pages in a site. This includes all buttons for: record view tabs record actions	There are three options for button shape: squared, semi-rounded, and rounded.	Squared

Styles

Field	Description	Default	More Info
Navigation Bar Style	The style of the site's navigation bar determines if icons are displayed with page titles in tabs, which side the logo is on, and the selected highlight color's style. There are two styles: Helium and Mercury. The Helium style displays the logo on the right and icons in the page tabs. The Mercury style displays the logo on the left and no icons in the page tabs. If a site has only one page, this style won't display page tabs.	Helium	The navigation bar style only applies to desktop and mobile browsers. It won't appear in the Appian Mobile application.
Navigation Bar Background Color	On web, this is the background color of the navigation bar. On iOS, this is the color of the app header, tab bar and status bar. On Android, this is the color of the app header bar and navigation bar.	#46708c	-
Selected Highlight Color	The color of the selected tab or selected tab's underline in web and iOS.	#083d5c	-
Accent Color	Affects the color of many elements in all interfaces, such as buttons, links, active field border colors, milestone bars, and section titles.	#1d659c	Avoid grayscale colors (black, white, and gray) that are similar to colors used for interface elements. Avoid green/red colors that are used to indicate positive/negative values.
Loading Bar Color	The color of the bar at the top of the page that indicates when the system is processing.	The accent color.	Select a loading bar color with sufficient contrast against the navigation bar color to ensure users notice it.

Configuring colors

Each of the four color fields have three color configuration options for you to choose from:

• Default: The default color depends on your field.
• Hex Code: Select this option to define a hex code or choose a color using the color picker.
• Expression: Select this option to dynamically set a color defined by an expression.
  • Note that if an expression's output is an invalid hex code the field will show the default color.

If you select a predefined dark color scheme, the values for the navigation bar color, selected highlight color, accent color, and loading bar color are all provided for you.

For more information on sites color schemes and color configurations, see our sites color schemes design guidance.

Design guidance

As you edit your site you may encounter design guidance. Appian design guidance reinforces best practice design patterns that should be implemented in your objects. Guidance is calculated while editing expressions within the site or when a precedent of the site is updated.

When a recommendation or warning is triggered you'll see an indicator icon in the header (A) and next to the corresponding line in the expression editor (B).

Click on the icon in the header to learn more about the suggested guidance (C) and how it can be addressed.

If a recommendation is not applicable to your use case, you can Dismiss (D) that individual recommendation for that site. Learn more about recommendation dismissal. Warnings cannot be dismissed and should always be addressed to avoid complications when the logic in the object is executed.

Site design guidance is also visible outside of the object on the Health Dashboard.

See design guidance for the full list of possible guidance.

Save and review

To save and test your site:

1. In the header bar, click SAVE CHANGES.
2. In the Configurations section, under Web Address, click the site URL to test the site.

Design considerations

This section provides you with guidance and tips to keep in mind while you're creating and configuring your site.

Designing sites with users in mind

• Designers should identify some guiding principals to how they will build sites. Will they be based on functional areas of the business? Will they be based on employee roles? Will they use a custom navigation experience?
• When configuring a site page for web users, consider updating the page width to match the content.
  • For example, actions may have only a few fields and benefit from a narrow page width to avoid having the form look stretched.
  • Another example is a dense interface or report that can benefit from a wide page width or, if users have extra wide monitors, a full page width.
• Safe links and news entry links will take the user out of the site, so consider this when designing sites that include them.

Interfaces as sites pages

• Use interfaces as sites pages to create dynamic dashboards, landing pages, and custom navigation experiences for your users. For design examples and inspiration, check out our complete list of drag and drop patterns to help you craft an efficient and engaging user experience.
• Appian Mobile users must update their application in order to see any sites page that has an interface as its page type.
• Do not use interfaces with rule inputs as sites pages. Instead, use local variables and queries to display data on your sites page.

Reports as sites pages

• Use a report to allow the information in a sites page to be quickly accessible from the Reports tab in Tempo.
• If the information in your sites page doesn't need to be accessible from the Reports tab on Tempo, use an interface for your sites page.
• Reports cannot reference interfaces that use rule inputs. Instead, use local variables and queries to call and display data in the report's interface.

Records and actions as sites pages

Configuring sites to show record news can help improve the collaboration around records. Users can collaborate on existing record news entries in sites, but not create new entries. However, records can be designed to include related actions that can generate new record entries via process.

Sites typefaces

You can configure a custom typeface for sites from the Admin Console. Typefaces are universally applied to all sites on the environment.

Using predefined dark color schemes

• The predefined dark color schemes for sites include predefined colors for the navigation bar and selected highlight color.
• When you select one of the predefined dark color schemes for your site, make sure that all of your site pages are using the same color scheme. To do this:
  • In the interface for your site page, use a header content layouts with the backgroundColor parameter set to the same color scheme used for your site: Charcoal, Navy, Plum.
  • Then, put the page's contents into card layout with the style parameter of each card layout set to the same color scheme used for your site.
• Do not use dark color scheme pages and non-dark color scheme pages together in a site. If all pages in your site don't work well with the predefined dark color schemes, you can create your own custom color scheme for your site and interfaces.
• Dark color schemes shouldn't be applied to pages used on Tempo or across multiple sites with different color schemes. Dark color schemes also do not work with the News and Related Actions tabs on records, record lists, and record related actions. If your site requires any of these, we recommend using the default white background across all site pages.

Using input rounding

Input rounding cannot be applied to the following UI elements:

• Layouts
• Display fields
• Actions
• Grids
• Charts
• Browsers
• Record banners

Using site display names in URLs and navigation menus

• After you've created a site, the web address identifier (URL) won't automatically update if you edit the site display name or define it using an expression.
• Site display names appear in the navigation menu. If you use an expression to create a site display name, that expression will evaluate whenever sites in the environment load or refresh in order for the site display name to appear in the navigation menu. To avoid your sites loading slowly, don't use long-running expressions, like queries.

Site security and logging

The security and monitoring of your site is important. Configure site security to control who can see and edit your site. Monitor your site by checking out site usage and metrics in your environment's logs.

Security

The security role map of a site controls which users can see or modify the site and its properties.

If default security groups are configured for your application, the default security groups pre-populate the role map when you create a site. If default security groups are not configured for your application, you are automatically assigned Administrator permissions for any site object you create. System administrators can always access a site object, regardless of object-level permissions.

See Editing Object Security to modify a site's security.

The following table outlines the actions that can be completed for each permission level in a site's security role map:

Actions	Administrator	Editor	Viewer
View the site	Yes	Yes	Yes
View the definition	Yes	Yes	Yes
View the security	Yes	Yes	Yes
Update the definition	Yes	Yes	No
Update the security	Yes	No	No
Delete the site	Yes	No	No

Logging

Site usage is logged in <APPIAN_HOME>/logs/audit/sites_usage.csv. See Sites Usage Audit for details.

Sites metrics are logged in <APPIAN_HOME>/logs/data-metrics/sites.csv. See Sites Metrics Log for details.

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