Specifying presentation options for a Link control

Three predefined formats are available for Link controls: Strong, Standard, and Simple. Using these formats consistently in your application makes the user interface more predictable and makes it easier for users to complete forms.

Prerequisite: Add a link control to a layout.

  1. On the Presentation tab of the Properties panel, set the Control format option to one of the following settings:
    • Strong – Use this format for the primary link on a form. Use it only once per view.
    • Standard – Use this format as a secondary style.
    • Simple – Use this format for the least important links on the form.
    • Other – Use a custom format created in the Skin rule. Press the Down Arrow key in the adjacent field to select the custom format.

    To convert existing customized Link controls to a predefined format, use the pzUpdateButtonLinkFormats activity. For more information, see Update-Button-Link-Formats.

  2. Optional: To add a label to the link, select the Include a label check box and in the adjacent field enter the text for the label or press the Down Arrow key and select a predefined label.
  3. Optional: To specify a format for the label, press the Down Arrow key in the Label format field and select one.
  4. In the Type field, select one of the following settings to determine what happens when a user clicks the link at run time:
    • URL – Launches the URL that you specify in the adjacent field.
    • Email – Opens the email composer and uses the text that you enter in the adjacent field in the To: field of the email message.
    • Phone – Opens the phone dialer or another configured phone application.
  5. Optional: Set advanced presentation options.
    Instead of creating a new custom format in the skin, you can adjust elements in a cell by applying Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) helper classes. For example, you can use a CSS helper class to center an element in a cell or to double the standard right margin for the element.
    • Cell read-write classes – Click the Open helper class picker icon to specify one or more CSS helper classes to apply to this cell when the form is displayed in read-write mode. You can enter several helper classes, separated by a space. Alternatively, you can enter the name of a custom style to apply to this cell.
    • Cell read-only classes – Click the Open helper class picker icon to specify one or more CSS helper classes to apply to this cell when the form is displayed in read-only mode. You can enter several helper classes, separated by a space. Alternatively, you can enter the name of a custom style to apply to this cell.
    • Inline style (not for production use) – You can use this field to define an inline style by entering CSS code. However, entering an inline style results in a guardrail warning. For maintainability and reuse, the recommended approach is to use read-write or read-only classes.
    For more information, see CSS helper classes.