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 Designing Sites and Portals.

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.

Properties

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

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.

Pages

The pages section allows you to add, remove, modify, or re-order the pages that are displayed in a site.

While you can configure up to ten pages in a site, configuring eight or fewer pages will usually offer the best experience for users. See Designing Sites and Portals: Pages for guidance to help you create better user experiences and Mobile Considerations for guidance about mobile-first sites.

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 header 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 to display with the page title in the header bar. The file-o icon is selected by default. Icons display when using Helium style or when viewing the site on Appian Mobile.
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	Determines which users and groups can view the page. If Only show when is selected, the page is only visible when the entered expression evaluates to true. Otherwise the page is hidden.

The order of the page titles in the site object determines the order of the page titles in the header bar. To reorder the pages, use the and arrows.

The icon displays to the right of the page title if the Visibility option is set to Only show when.

After 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.

As you add, reorder, or delete pages, the diagram automatically updates. You can also double-click an object in the diagram to open it.

Header and 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.

You can configure the following for each site:

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

For further information on configuring site branding, see Designing Sites and Portals.

The following sections explain the branding configuration options.

Branding Preview

Check out the Branding Preview to get a better idea of what your site configurations and branding will look like. To see these configurations applied to the site, save the site object and click the link under Web Address to open the site. Note that the branding preview doesn't reflect how the site will appear in Appian Mobile.

Click TRY A DARK COLOR SCHEME to choose a dark color scheme for your site and view instructions to configure your site interfaces to use the color scheme. See Using predefined dark color schemes for more information.

Header

Field	Description	Default	More Info
Style	The style of the site header bar determines if icons are displayed with page titles, which side the logo is on, and the style of the Selected Page Highlight Color. There are two styles: Helium and Mercury. The Helium style displays the logo on the right and icons with the page titles. The selected page is underlined with the Selected Page Highlight Color. The Mercury style displays the logo on the left and no icons with the page titles. If a site has only one page, this style won't display a page title. The background of the selected page changes to the Selected Page Highlight Color.	Helium	The header bar style only applies to browsers. It doesn't affect sites in Appian Mobile.
Show site display name in header bar	Determines whether the navigation menu displays as the Display Name of the site, or the icon.	Turned off	This setting only affects web browsers, not Appian Mobile.
Color	In browsers, this is the background color of the header bar. On iOS, this is the color of the app header navigation bar, tab bar, and status bar. On Android, this is the color of the app header bar and header bar.	#46708c	-
Selected Page Highlight Color	The highlight color of the selected page in the header bar.	#083d5c	For Helium style, this is the underline color of the selected page. For Appian Mobile and Mercury style, this is the background color of the selected page.
Logo	The logo to display in the header bar. The placement of the logo depends on the header bar style: Helium style: Right side of the header bar. Mercury style: Left side of the header bar.	Appian logo	File requirements: JPG, PNG, BMP, JPEG, or GIF file type. Transparent background. Less than 100 KB.
Logo Alternative Text	Text used by screen readers to describe the logo for accessibility. You should update the default value to something that conveys the same information as the logo, such as the company or entity name or any text used in the logo.	Logo	The alternative text can be set by a logo, web address, or expression. To use either a document or web address, select Static.

Branding

Field	Description	Default	More Info
Input Shape	The shape applied to all input fields, selection fields, and picker components on all pages in a site.	Squared	Options: squared and semi-rounded.
Button Shape	The shape applied to all buttons on all pages in a site. This includes all buttons for record view tabs and record actions.	Squared	Options: squared, semi-rounded, and rounded.
Accent Color	Affects the color of many elements in all site pages, such as buttons, links, active field border colors, milestone bars, and section titles.	#1d659c	Avoid grayscale colors (black, white, and gray), since these are similar to colors used for interface elements. Avoid green/red colors, since these are commonly 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 header bar color to ensure users notice it.
Favicon Image	The favicon, or favorite icon, is the icon that appears in the browser tab or URL bar.	Appian "a" icon	File requirements: ICO file. 16x16 or 32x32 pixels. Less than 100 KB.

Configuring colors

Each color field has three color configuration options 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.
  • 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 header 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 the site color scheme design guidance.

Configuring logo and favicon images

The logo and favicon fields have four configuration options to choose from:

• Default: Select this to use the Appian logo.
• Document: Select this to use an image that is stored as an Appian document.
• 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). If an expression's output is invalid, the default image will display.

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 view the site

To save and view the site:

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

Considerations for configuring sites

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

See Designing Sites and Portals for design guidelines you should follow to give your users the best user experience.

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.

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.

Minimum Appian Mobile version to see more than five pages

For sites with more than five pages, Appian Mobile users must be on at least version 23.2 of the app to see any page past the fifth page.

Typefaces

You can configure a custom typeface in the Admin Console. Typefaces are universally applied to all sites and portals in the environment.

See Custom Typefaces for more information.

Using predefined dark color schemes

• The predefined dark color schemes for sites include predefined colors for the header 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.

Components that aren't affected by input shape rounding

Input shape rounding is not 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.

Feedback