---
title: Reference - Managing UI elements
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

You can edit UI elements of a particular module in the **Modules** application. Edit a module and select the **User interface** tab. The UI element tree shows all UI elements in the system, but you can edit only UI elements that belong to the module.

> **Note:** **Warning**: Do NOT use the _Customize_ option to edit the UI elements of the default Kentico modules. The system may overwrite such changes when upgrading or hotfixing to a newer version. Instead, add your own UI elements under a [custom module](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/custom-development/creating-custom-modules.md) and then use the resulting interface instead of the original.

When creating new elements or editing existing ones on the **General** tab, you can set the following properties:

| General                                       |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Display name                                  | The name of the element displayed in the user interface tree.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Code name                                     | Serves as an identifier of the UI element. Must be unique within the module.<br>You can leave the _(automatic)_ value to have the system generate an appropriate code name based on the Display name.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Parent element                                | Allows you to change the position of the element in the user interface tree. The system places the current element under the selected parent element.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Module                                        | Select the module to which the UI element belongs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| Element appearance                            |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Caption                                       | Sets the caption of the UI element in the user interface. If empty, the system uses the element's **Display name**.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| Element icon type                             | Determines the type of the icon used to represent the element in the user interface. You can choose between:<br>An image file (**Path**)<br>A [font icon](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/custom-development/working-with-font-icons.md) (**Class**)<br>Fill in the corresponding property:<br>**Icon path** – The path to the image file. You can enter either a full relative path (_\~/App\_Themes/Default/Images/CMSModules/list.png_) or a short path inside the Images folder in App\_Themes/Default/Images (_CMSModules/list.png_).<br>**Element icon class** – The name of the font icon class.**Info:** This interface does not support visual selection of icons. You need to enter the full name of the icon class. To see a list of available icons, refer to the [Kentico icon list](http://devnet.kentico.com/docs/icon-list/index.html) page on DevNet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Icon size                                     | The size of the UI element icon. Takes effect only for UI elements included in ribbon-like toolbars.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| Description                                   | A text description of the UI element. The system displays the description in tooltips.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Display breadcrumbs                           | Indicates whether the UI element is represented within the breadcrumb navigation in the administration interface header. The breadcrumbs show users their current location within the interface and allow them to navigate to parent elements.<br>This property is only visible when creating new UI elements below the [application](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/using-the-kentico-interface.md) level of the user interface tree (i.e. under the _CMS -> Administration -> (Category) -> (Application)_ section of the tree). For existing elements, you can edit the value on the **Properties** tab under the _Breadcrumbs_ property category. Do NOT enable the property for UI elements representing applications.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Element content                               |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Type                                          | Sets the type of the element's content:<br>**Page template** - a UI template based on the portal engine. You can manage the template on the _Properties_ and _Design_ tabs.<br>**URL** - a web form (aspx file) or web page specified through the _Target URL_ property.<br>**User control** - a dynamically loaded user control (ascx file) specified through the _Target URL_ property.<br>**JavaScript** - the element executes a JavaScript action when clicked (the element does not have content).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Page template                                 | Selects the UI template that provides the content for UI elements of the _Page template_ type. You can configure the template on the **Properties** tab of the UI element.<br>**Save as new template** - saves the current template as a new re-usable UI template. This can be useful if you wish to use an ad-hoc template for other UI elements.<br>**Clone template as ad‑hoc** - creates a copy of the current UI template as a new ad-hoc template. Allows you to modify the design of the UI element without affecting other elements that use the original template.<br>**Edit template properties** - opens a new window where you can configure the properties of the currently assigned UI template.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Target URL                                    | Specifies the path to the file that provides the content for UI elements of the URL or User control type. For example: _\~/CMSModules/Content/CMSDesk/Default.aspx_<br>For _URL_ elements, you can also enter absolute URLs, for example: _http://www.google.com_                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| JavaScript                                    | Enter the JavaScript action executed by _JavaScript_ type elements.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| Element restrictions                          |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Access condition                              | Sets a macro condition that must be fulfilled to view the UI element's content. If the condition is false, the element displays an access denied error instead of the content.<br>**Note**: All descendant elements in the user interface tree automatically inherit the condition.<br>You can create the condition using the following [macro rules](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/macro-expressions/writing-macro-conditions/building-conditions-using-macro-rules.md):<br>Current user has permission<br>Current user has privilege level<br>Or the following methods if you prefer to write the macro condition code directly:<br>CurrentUser.IsAuthorizedPerResource("module code name","permission code name")<br>CurrentUser.CheckPrivilegeLevel(UserPrivilegeLevelEnum.GlobalAdmin)<br>For information about macro options and syntax, see:<br>[Writing macro conditions](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/macro-expressions/writing-macro-conditions.md)<br>[Macro syntax](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/macro-expressions/macro-syntax.md)<br>[Macro methods - User membership and permissions](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/macro-expressions/reference-macro-methods.md#user-membership-and-permissions) |
| Check module "read" permisson                 | If enabled, users must have the **Read** or **GlobalRead** permission for the UI element's **Module** to access the element's content. The system displays an access denied error for users without the read permission.<br>Has no effect for elements whose module does not have read permissions.<br>If enabled, the system also checks the read permission for all child elements.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Visibility condition                          | Sets a macro condition that must be fulfilled for the UI element to be visible in the system's administration interface.<br>For information about macro options and syntax, see [Writing macro conditions](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/macro-expressions/writing-macro-conditions.md).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Is global application                         | Can be configured for UI elements that represent [applications](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/using-the-kentico-interface.md).<br>If enabled, the application remains available for administrators even if no site is running on the current domain.<br>If disabled, the application is hidden (even for global administrators) when the current site is not running, for example if manually stopped or due to an expired license.<br>Also applies to all child elements.<br>For example, the default _Sites_ application is global and remains available even if the current site is stopped. The default _Pages_ application is not global, because it cannot function without the content tree of a running site.**Warning:** **Warning**: Do not disable the **Is global application flag** for the default global applications.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Requires Global administrator privilege level | Can be configured for UI elements that represent [applications](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/using-the-kentico-interface.md).<br>If enabled, the application can only be accessed by users with the **Global administrator** [privilege level.](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/managing-users/user-management.md) Other users cannot see the application.<br>Also applies to all child elements.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |

## UI personalization settings

On the **Roles** tab, you can directly configure which [roles](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/managing-users/role-management.md) are able to see the selected UI element when [UI personalization](https://docs.kentico.com/k12sp/managing-users/ui-personalization.md) is enabled.

> **Info:** Configuration made on the **Roles** tab is reflected in the **UI personalization** application and vice versa.

Click **Copy permissions from parent** to delete all existing UI element permissions and add new ones based on settings of the parent UI element.

> **Note:** Using **Copy permissions from parent** affects all available sites, i.e. not only the currently selected one.
>
> Because the root-level UI element cannot have any UI access permissions assigned, the button is disabled for all first-level UI elements

To check if a particular element is visible to a user, you can select the user from the **Report for user** drop-down list. After doing so, a sum of all permissions granted to the user's roles is displayed in the first line, highlighted in green color. Roles where the selected user is a member will be highlighted.
