How to share a custom UI in ArcGIS Pro?

[CharlesBailey3]

Is there any way to share the UI customizations in ArcGIS Pro through a template?  I need to use a project package but the pane arrangement, visibility etc. is not carried with the package. I need something similar to the 'Normal.mxt' template in ArcMap which will honor the changes to the default UI and share them along with the package. Is this possible? Thanks, cob

[KoryKramer]

I think what you're running into is https://community.esri.com/ideas/11404 but maybe Amir Bar-Maor‌ or Jason Camerano‌ could confirm.

[CharlesBailey3]

Yeah it's similar, but I'm working with UI panes rather than map views - it

should really just conserve the state of the settings with the project when

it is saved. It does this on the original machine so there's some

incarnation of a 'normal' template saved somewhere, but apparently it can't

be transferred to a recipient machine in Pro. I hesitate to ask, but is

this something that might be addressed through a custom configuration? I

went through the tutorials and saw that the ribbon tabs could be

manipulated, but not sure about the UI panes. Even if so it wouldn't be a

feasible solution for us - we'd have to set up a shortcut to the config on

each user's machine and we are spread out all over the state. But I was

just curious if the dev team considered this to be the Pro way to share UI

settings across computers. Thanks - cob

[JasonCamerano]

Yea, unfortunately the placement of the actual TASK pane is by default docked on the left side and it can be overlapped by other panes.  We have made undocking the Task Pane and even the Designer pane a best practice for proper usage of Tasks.  I'm not sure of custom configuration of re-skinning the application right now.  As per Kory Kramers link to an idea, that is another feature entirely that has been requested that we have thought about.  Being able to format the views to a certain layout/docking order. 

[JillHalchin]

You can share a lot of the customizations.

These might be helpful. 

Quick Access toolbar

More customization

Favorites

[CharlesBailey3]

This is great, but are you saying these customizations can be shared in a

project, template or package? It seems to me that all of these settings are

saved on the user's local machine and not in the project or template or any

where else I can find... please correct me if I'm wrong... thanks, cob

[JillHalchin]

It doesn't look like the interface customizations, favorites, etc. go with a package, template or project.  Those are in files in your user profile on your machine (user/appdata/...). The hacks that I linked to tell you which folders/files in your profile will contain the customizations. You can copy those files from your machine and put them on another person's computer, or on another computer that you use. Because the files go in the user profile, each person who uses the computer will need the files added to their personal profile.

[MatthewDriscoll]

Did you ever find the equivalent of the normal.mxt for Pro? 

[CharlesBailey3]

No, we just have a doc that tells the user where to find the task and dock

it in a panel. We actually thought about setting it up manually on each

user's machine, which would be much easier than the custom configuration

and we would still have to make the shortcut for them. Let me know if you

find a better way. Thanks, cob

[MatthewDriscoll]

Just found this on a reddit post.  I have not tested it yet.  We have one very picky user and want to have this information ready if needed.  

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGIS.Desktop.Config.daml

https://www.reddit.com/r/gis/comments/9gl9vr/does_arcgis_pro_have_a_way_to_save_customization/

[CharlesBailey3]

Yeah I remember the daml from going through the custom config tutorial. I

don't see that file on my test machine, and I think it would only be there

if someone had previously created a custom configuration. Furthermore I

don't think you could just copy this file to the folder on the target

machine ala ArcMap, because you have to set up the shortcut with the path

to the pro exe as well as the daml location. And the user.config file seems

to only contain elements pertaining to tool environment settings and such,

not the UI. However, I did find an xml file in there which seems to

reference (since I'm not an xml expert) panel docking settings kinda like

you would see on a web page so I am going to copy this file to the same

folder on another machine and see what happens - no great expectations but

will let you know. Thanks, cob