Configuring the User Interface (UI) for Users
As an administrator, you configure the company’s default user interfaces by customizing page layouts for different user profiles in the company. To perform this work, you must be an administrator with the SUPER permission set. In addition, profiles must be set up and the appropriate users assigned to them. For more information, see Managing Users, Profiles, and Role Centers.
You configure the user interface for multiple users by customizing pages for a particular profile that the users are assigned to. You do this by using the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, and customizing the same way that individual users personalize their own workspaces, that is, by using the Customize feature. The difference is that you open the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client in the configuration mode. Typical customizations include which actions to include on the ribbon, how fields are placed on FastTabs or in FactBoxes, and which menu items to include in the navigation pane.
TIP
A quick way to implement UI configurations for a profile is if you already have a configured profile in another Dynamics NAV database. You can then export that profile, and then import it into the current database. For more information, see Exporting and Importing Profiles.
Consider the following information before you begin to configure the UI:
- If you configure a page, then the page cannot be personalized by users in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client. When users open the page for personalizing, a
icon displays in the banner, and the user is prevented from making changes.
Before you begin to configure the UI, the application can be configured to show and hide UI elements (such as fields, FastTabs, and FactBoxes) based on license or user permissions. For more information about how this is done, see Removing Elements from the User Interface According to Permissions.
To see the effect of the UI Elements Removal option, you can log on as a test user with the permission set of the profile you are configuring. The reason is that you as the administrator have the SUPER permission set, and you can therefore not see and test the resulting user interface during your own logon.
- When you make UI configuration changes for a page that a user has personalized, the user’s UI personalization is preserved, and is not overwritten by the new page configuration. Likewise, when you cancel your UI configuration of a page that a user has since personalized, the user’s UI personalization is not canceled.
- The only situation where UI configuration does overwrite UI personalization is when a UI element is removed by configuration. For example, if the administrator removes a field that the user has renamed or moved, then the field is still removed from the user’s user interface.
- You can record UI configurations of the same page based on different access points to the page. For example, the Sales Orders window can be customized to look different when opened from the Customer Card window than when opened from the Sales Order Processor Role Center. The point from which you access the page to be customized is recorded in that specific page customization. Accordingly, there may be multiple page customization records in the database, as you can be seen in the Delete Profile Configuration window.
- Unlike when users change the size of windows or the width of columns on their own computer, any such basic view changes that you make during your configuration of the UI for a profile are not saved to the profile and will not be available for users assigned to the profile. Basic view changes are computer-specific.
Configuring a Profile with the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client in Configuration Mode
Open a command prompt, and type the following command to change to the installation folder of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client. For example:
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\110\RoleTailored Client"
Type the following command to start the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client in the configuration mode for a specific profile:
Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe -configure -profile:"profileid"
Replace profileid with the name of the profile that you want to configure.
For example, to configure the Accounting Manager profile, use this command:
Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe -configure -profile:"Accounting Manager"
You are now ready to start configuring the UI, which you do the same way as individual users personalize their own workspaces. For more information, see Personalizing Your Workspace in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client.
Canceling UI Configuration
You can cancel UI customizations that you have made as configuration for a profile in three ways:
Cancel all UI customization that you have made for a profile by using the Clear Configured Pages button in the Profile Card window.
Cancel UI customization that you have made for specific pages for a profile by deleting rows in the Delete Profile Configuration window.
Cancel UI customization that you have made for a specific UI area for a specific page for a profile by using the Restore Defaults button in the Customize window.
Users can make UI customizations under their own user logon to personalize their user interface. When you cancel your UI configuration of a page that a user has since personalized, the user’s UI personalization is not canceled. Likewise, when you make new UI configuration for a page that a user has personalized, the user’s UI personalization is preserved, and is not overwritten by the new page configuration.
The only situation where UI configuration does overwrite UI personalization is when a UI element is removed by configuration. For example, if the administrator removes a field that the user has renamed or moved, then the field is still removed from the user’s UI.
In the Delete User Personalization window and with the Restore Defaults button in the Customize window, users can cancel UI customization that they have made to pages under their own user logon. When they do so, the layout of those pages is reset to any UI customization that the administrator has configured for the profile. If the profile has not been configured, then the layout of the user’s pages is reset to the default profile configuration. For more information about how users cancel personalization, see Cancelling Personalization.
To cancel all UI customization that you have made for a profile
In the Search box,, enter Profiles, and then choose the related link.
Select the profile for which you want to cancel all UI customizations, and then, on the Home tab, in the Manage group, choose Edit.
In the Profile Card window, on the Actions tab, in the Functions group, choose Clear Configured Pages.
NOTE
All UI customizations for the profile, both those installed with the application and those made by the administrator, are canceled. No page layouts specific to the profile remain in the database.
To cancel UI customization that you have made for specific page for a profile
In the Search box,, enter Delete Profile Configuration, and then choose the related link.
Select the profile/page set for which you want to cancel your UI customization, and then, on the Home tab, in the Manage group, choose Delete.
IMPORTANT
If you have configured different UI customizations of the same page based on different navigation paths to the page, then each page customization will be listed in the Delete Profile Configuration window with the same information. There is no information to identify which row relates to which navigation path. Therefore, you must either delete rows one by one followed by visual checks on the page, or you can delete all rows with UI customizations for the profile/page.
All UI customization for the page for the profile that you have ever made on the installation or since you last used the Delete Profile Configuration window is canceled. The layout of the page is reset to the standard layout of the page object.
To cancel UI customization that you have made for a specific UI area for a specific page for a profile
You can undo changes for that you have made to individual UI areas, such as a ribbon, by using the Restore Defaults button in the Customize window. Alternatively, you can undo all UI changes that you have made for a profile by using the Delete Profile Configuration window.
The UI customization for the profile of the particular UI area on the particular page is canceled. The layout of the UI area on the page is reset to the default configuration, as made either by the administrator or as installed with the application.
See Also
Customizing Dynamics NAV
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