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# Banner

<link-summary>UI guidelines on using banners.</link-summary>

<tldr>

**Implementation:** [`EditorNotificationProvider`](%gh-ic%/platform/platform-api/src/com/intellij/ui/EditorNotificationProvider.java)

**Related:** [](notifications.md#editor-banner)

</tldr>

A banner notification informs the user about the state of a specific context in the project. For example, when there is a missing or broken configuration for some file.

![](banner_error.png){width=796}

## When to use

Use a banner if user actions should attract attention in a file tab, tool window, or dialog, but are not required immediately.

![](tool-window.png){width=600 style=block}
*Reconnecting to the database is required to make edits.*

![](dialog-example.png){width=500 style=block}
*The component needs to be installed to run the available virtual devices.*

Do **not** use a banner if there is no particular UI component it can be tied to. Use a [balloon notification](balloon.md) in the main window instead.

For all other cases, choose another notification type.

### Types of banners

#### Information

Use when actions can improve the user’s workflow but are considered optional and can be safely ignored.

![](information-example.png){width=733 style=block}
*The new tool window UI is suggested to improve the workflow for version control.*

#### Warning

Use to suggest actions that can impact the user’s workflow.

![](warning-example.png){width=698 style=block}
*Generated files should be edited directly.*

#### Error

Use to suggest actions that are required to unblock the user’s workflow.

![](banner_error.png){width=796 style=block}
*Syntax highlighting and other inspections are broken until a JDK is defined for the project.*

## How to use

![](banner_structure.png){width=504}

### Message

* The message should be [short and descriptive](writing_short.md) (two sentences at most) and follow the [Punctuation](punctuation.md) guide.
* Use sentence case capitalization.

### Actions

* The action name should be [short and descriptive](writing_short.md), preferably not longer than two–three words.
* Use sentence case capitalization.
* Limit the number of actions to two to make the call to action clear in the specific context.
* Use the built-in 'Hide' action instead of creating a separate one.

### Icon (optional)

* 16&times;16 icons can be used to complement the message, e.g., a gift icon to advertise functionality.

### Placement

* Place the banner at the top of the related UI component.
* It can float or be adjacent to the content, depending on the amount of available space and whether the content’s vertical shifting needs to be minimized.

![](float-example.png){width=509}

*The banner floats on top of the preview surface to reduce shifting during code editing.*