# How the interface is organized

Apps open from the home menu and the app dock, menus and breadcrumbs lead to list, kanban and form views, every record action sits in one Actions menu, and the look of the interface is yours to set.

The platform is one web application made of apps. Whatever the app, the same shell surrounds it: a way to reach the apps, menus inside each app, a few kinds of views to look at records, one menu for the actions on a record, and a look you set once and find again on every device. Knowing these five pieces is enough to find your way in any app.

## Apps: the home menu and the app dock {#apps-home-menu-and-dock}

When you sign in, the home menu opens: a full-page grid of the apps you have access to, over a wallpaper, with a search box (**Search applications...**) that already has the focus. Type part of an app's name and press Enter to open it; the arrow keys move between tiles and Escape closes the grid. Drag a tile to reorder; the order is saved on your user account and shared with the app dock. The dock is the narrow strip of icons on the side of every screen (**Applications**): one icon per app, the current one highlighted, each named in its tooltip; drag the icons to reorder them too. The apps button in the top bar reopens the grid at any time (**Home menu**, or **Previous view** to return to the screen behind it). On a phone the dock gives way to a floating button (**Apps**, or **Back** when the grid is open) that you can move by holding it. When no app matches the search, the grid shows **No applications found** and **Try a different search term**.

## Menus and breadcrumbs {#menus-and-breadcrumbs}

Inside an app, the top bar lists its sections, and each section opens a menu of screens; in Contacts, for example, the contacts themselves and the configuration. The breadcrumbs next to them trace the path you took: a list, then the record you opened from it; click an earlier step to go back to it. On a phone a menu icon opens a side panel with the same sections under the name of the app (**Menu** when it has none), and the back button of the browser first closes whatever is open, a dialog or a panel, before leaving the screen.

## Views: list, kanban and form {#views}

A screen shows records in a view, and the icons at the end of the search bar switch between the views available: **List** (rows with a checkbox at the start and sortable columns), **Kanban** (cards, often grouped in columns by stage), and on some screens **Calendar**, **Graph**, **Pivot** or **Activity**. Opening a record shows its form: one record with its fields, its tabs and, on most models, the chatter. Forms save by themselves when you leave them; the cloud icon (**Save manually**) saves at once and the cross next to it (**Discard all changes**) drops what you typed. **New** creates a record; on a form the button shows only a plus sign on phones. The search bar above every list and kanban offers **Filters**, **Group By** and **Favorites**; a separate how-to covers them.

## The Actions menu {#the-actions-menu}

Every list, kanban and form carries one gear button with the word **Actions** (Alt+U). On a form it gathers the actions of that record: the buttons the app provides come first, above a line, then the generic entries **Duplicate**, **Archive** (or **Unarchive**) and **Delete**, and a **Print** section when a report exists. Instead of a status bar across the top, the current stage shows as a compact pill next to the actions, with the other stages in its dropdown. On a list with nothing selected the menu offers **Export All** and **Import records**; tick some rows and it offers **Export**, **Duplicate**, **Archive**, **Unarchive** and **Delete** for the selection. The keyboard shortcuts of the buttons that moved into the menu keep working.

## Your look: light, dark, glass and wallpapers {#theme-modes}

The sliders icon in the top bar (**Settings**) opens a small hub of choices about the interface, all yours: a day and night switch between the light and the dark scheme; **Background**, the picker of the wallpaper behind the home menu (32 designs plus **None**; **Nebula** is the default); **Glass**, which makes the surfaces translucent so the wallpaper shows through inside the apps (off by default); **Language**, the interface language, which reloads the page; **Chatter**, **Side** or **Bottom**, where the chatter sits on forms; and **Density**, **Compact**, **Default** or **Cozy**, how tall the rows of a list are. Each choice is saved on your user account, not in the browser, so it follows you to every device. On your first visit the scheme of your operating system is adopted once; after that, the switch decides.

---

- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/essentials/how-the-interface-is-organized
- Updated: 2026-10-13
- Version: Essentials 19.0.2.0.5