Alma Split View Hides Main Menu, Affecting Cloud App Access
After rolling out the new UI for the “All Titles Search” with split-view functionality, the main menu is no longer persistent. The menu (which contains location, notifications, cloud apps, etc.) disappears when entering split view.
This is particularly problematic for institutions that frequently use cloud apps in their workflows—for example, when editing physical items. While cloud apps can be pinned before entering split view, this workaround is not satisfactory. Pinning apps adds unnecessary clicks and is easy to forget, resulting in frequent toggling in and out of split view.
As a consequence, many staff members have stopped using cloud apps and instead revert to more manual and time-consuming options (often using Run a Job). In these cases, the new UI is not perceived as an improvement.
To improve usability and maintain workflow efficiency, the main menu should remain visible in split view, similar to the Quick Links menu.
Line Eidstø
shared this idea
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Christian
commented
I have just requested in the case that the Product Managment joins the discussion on idea|exchange. Let's see ...
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Line Eidstø
commented
Thank you for your reply.
The update that allows opening the sliding panel in full view was not available when I submitted this idea. While this improvement helps somewhat, I still believe the current design is not optimal. It continues to require unnecessary clicks, makes navigation harder for users, and does not feel intuitive.
In the August release, the Quick Links menu was made persistent in the sliding panel view. However, this menu is less critical than the persistent main menu. In your response, you mentioned that the product team decided not to display the persistent menu because “the user is focused on the specific task” when using the sliding panel. I would argue that this is precisely why the persistent menu should remain visible: when users are focused on a specific task, they often need quick access to the cloud app menu to complete that task efficiently.
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Christian
commented
Dear Line,
we had a case in this matter. Here is the answer and the improvement with the Alma November 2025 release:
"Based on the product team's analysis and recommendation, this behavior is expected: when a sliding panel is open, the persistent menu's icons are not displayed. There are two reasons for that: the user is focused on the specific task, and we also wanted to avoid opening menu panels above the sliding panel, which would look disorderly and unclear.
(...)
In addition, I would like to suggest using the "View in full page" option of the sliding panel. It was developed to assist with using the persistent panel icons when the sliding panel is open. When this option is selected, the sliding panel is extended to full view, and the icons are displayed again."Kind regards,
Christian.
