Customize Homepage - 2020.3 to 2022.2

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

Applies from version 2020.3 to 2022.2

Overview

The Customizable Homepage feature enables Server Admins and, starting in 2022.1, Catalog Admins to customize the Alation homepage using a number of configurable elements such as a logo, headline and background color of the search banner, Quick Links, Custom Link Lists, and Object Preview Windows.

The Alation Catalog homepage can be customized to highlight specific Catalog content and to increase discoverability of the Catalog information.

The default homepage includes the following sections:

  • Search Banner: Features the Alation logo, headline, and a search box on a dark blue background (defaults to Alation branding).

  • Quick Links: A list of action links.

  • Recently Visited/Starred/Watching: A list of catalog pages a user has visited, starred, or is watching.

A customized homepage can include the following additional custom sections:

  • Alert Banner: An alert message with customizable appearance and text that appears directly below the search banner. Available from 2022.1.

  • Curated Link Lists: Lists of links configured to be present on the homepage (optional).

  • Object Preview Windows: Preview windows for supported Alation objects configured to be present on the homepage (optional).

Default Homepage:

../../_images/newHomepage_01.png

Customized Homepage:

../../_images/newHomepage_02.png

Customization options for the homepage sections are listed below:

Section

Required

Customizable

Search Banner

Yes

Yes

Quick Links

Yes

Yes

Recently Visited/Starred/Watching

Yes

No

Custom Content:

  • Alert Banner (from 2022.1)

  • Custom Link Lists

  • Object Preview Windows

No

Yes

Alation Analytics V2 Leaderboard (from 2021.4)

No

No

Note

The Recently Visited/Starred/Watching section cannot be modified.

You cannot change the order of the sections. It is always:

  • Search banner on top

  • Alert banner (if added) directly under the search banner (from 2022.1)

  • Quick Links on the left under the search banner (and alert banner if added)

  • Recently Visited/Starred/Watching on the right under the search banner (and alert banner if added)

  • Curated Content (if added) under Quick Links and Recently Visited/Starred/Watching

It is not possible to hide the Quick Links or Recently Visited/Starred/Watching sections.

Customize Homepage

Homepage customization requires the role of the Server Admin or, starting in 2022.1, Catalog Admin.

  • Catalog Admins: Click on the Settings gear icon in the top right corner. A dropdown menu appears. Click Customize Homepage.

  • Server Admins: Click on the Settings gear icon in the top right corner. The Admin Settings page appears. Under the Catalog Admin section, click Customize Homepage.

The following sections provide the details of customizing each part of the homepage.

Theme Color

Starting in 2022.1, the Background Color setting has been renamed as the Theme Color and given its own section. The theme color applies to icons and tab titles throughout the Catalog. It also affects the search banner’s background if the search banner is configured to use the theme color.

To change the theme color:

  1. In the Theme Color section, hover over the hex code and click the Edit icon next to it.

  2. Enter the hex code of your brand color. A preview of the selected color will be available in the Preview section on the right.

    Note

    Choosing a dark color provides better readability of the headline and icons throughout Alation.

    ../../_images/newHomepageThemeColor.png
  3. If the color you entered could make the headline difficult to read, a warning will appear advising you to change the color.

Search Banner

The search banner is the topmost section of the homepage. The default homepage style and content is provided by Alation. The following features of the search banner can be customized:

  • Banner size (starting in 2022.2)

  • Background color

  • Background image (starting in 2022.1)

  • Logo

  • Headline text

  • Headline color

../../_images/newHomepage_04.png

After you have applied customizations, make them available for all users by clicking the Custom Homepage Banner toggle. This switch can also be used to turn the customizations of the banner off. When it is in the OFF state, the homepage uses the default design of the banner.

Background Color or Image

You can configure the search banner with a custom background color or, starting in 2022.1, a background image.

Background Image in 2022.1 and Later

  1. In the Background section, select Image.

  2. If you select Image, a dotted rectangle will appear. Drag and drop an image into the rectangle, or click inside the rectangle to select an image from your hard drive.

    Note

    The image must be in JPEG, JPG, or PNG format and must be a minimum of 1200 x 350 pixels in size.

    ../../_images/newHomepageImageBackground.png
  3. A preview of the homepage will be available in the Preview section on the right. The new banner image will appear on the homepage as soon as it’s finished uploading. Users may have to refresh their screen to see the new image.

Background Color in 2022.1 and Later

  1. In the Background section, select Theme Color.

  2. See Theme Color above for instructions on changing the theme color.

Background Color from 2020.3 to 2021.4

  1. Hover over the hex code in the Background Color section and click the Edit icon next to it.

  2. Provide the hex code of your brand color. The provided color is applied to the search banner as well as icons and tab titles throughout the catalog. A preview of the selected color will be available in the Preview section on the right.

    Note

    Choosing a dark color provides better readability of the headline. The headline text color will always be white.

    ../../_images/newHomepage_05.png
  3. A warning message will be displayed to change the color, if the provided color makes the headline difficult to read.

Headline

The headline is the text that appears directly above the logo and the search bar when you have chosen a large or medium search banner. If you’ve chosen a small search banner, the headline text no longer appears.

You can change the text of the headline as desired. Starting in 2022.2 you can change the headline color. This also affects the color of the icons on the right side of the top toolbar.

To change the headline text:

  1. In the Headline section, hover over the headline text and click the Edit icon.

  2. Enter your custom headline text into the box.

To change the headline color:

  1. In the Headline section, hover over the hex code and click the Edit icon.

  2. Enter the desired hex code. Check the Preview to the right to see what it will look like. Be sure to choose a color that provides good contrast against your chosen background.

Alerts Banner

Available from 2022.1

Alation provides a customizable alerts banner that appears on the homepage, right below the search banner. You can choose one of four banner styles and enter custom text to provide messaging to your Alation users.

Starting in 2022.2, users can dismiss the alert. It will reappear as soon as any kind of change is made to the alert content or style.

To enable and configure the alerts banner:

  1. Catalog Admins: Click on the Settings gear icon in the top right corner. A dropdown menu appears. Click Alerts.
    Server Admins: Click on the Settings gear icon in the top right corner. The Admin Settings page appears. Under the Catalog Admin section, click Alerts.
  2. In the Message box, enter the desired text. Your changes are saved automatically.

    Note

    Starting in 2022.2, you can apply rich text formatting with the provided toolbar. In 2022.1, formatting is not supported.

  3. Select a Style.

  4. In the Turn ON / OFF section, click the toggle button to enable or disable the alert banner.

Enable or Disable the Alation Homepage

If the homepage is not required, you can disable it and use the older version of the homepage. Once you disable the Alation Homepage, the user cannot see the co-branded search or navigate to the Quick Links and the Recently Visited pages.

To enable or disable the homepage:

Go to Admin Settings > Feature Configuration > Enable the 2020 Alation Homepage.

../../_images/newHomepage_14.png