--- title: "Showing Titles and Descriptions on Tiles" description: "How the texts of a tile work in the Vitextra Smart Tiles web part: the title and the description, the Show Titles and Show Descriptions settings, the Font Size steps, single-line display and truncation, the tooltip, icon-only tiles, the web part title, and writing texts that fit." url: https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10249 language: en published: 2026-10-09 modified: 2026-10-10 products: - "Smart Tiles" author: "Roger Gagne" tags: ["Smart Tiles title description", "Show Titles setting", "Show Descriptions", "tile font size", "tile tooltip", "icon-only tiles SharePoint", "web part title", "tile text truncation", "SharePoint navigation labels", "Vitextra Smart Tiles texts"] --- # Showing Titles and Descriptions on Tiles How the texts of a tile work in the Vitextra Smart Tiles web part: the title and the description, the Show Titles and Show Descriptions settings, the Font Size steps, single-line display and truncation, the tooltip, icon-only tiles, the web part title, and writing texts that fit. ## Introduction A tile carries two texts: a **title**, which names the destination, and an optional **description**, which says in a few words what the visitor will find there. Together with the title of the web part they are all the words on a panel of [Smart Tiles](https://vitextra.com/en/products/smart-tiles), so it pays to know exactly how they are displayed. This article covers the two texts, the settings that show, hide and size them, and the tooltip. ## Title and description Both texts are entered in the **Properties** dialog of a tile: click the **…** button of the tile and choose **Edit Properties**. - The **Title** is shown in the tile under the icon, in the **Font Color** of the tile and at the **Font Size** of the web part. - The **Description** is shown under the title in smaller, slightly lighter text — three quarters of the title size, but never smaller than 12 pixels. Each text occupies a single line. A text that is wider than the tile is cut off with an ellipsis (…); it is not wrapped. The full text is always available in the tooltip. ![Title, description and the tooltip](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10249/title-description-en.png) *Title, description and the tooltip* ### The tooltip Resting the pointer on a tile shows a tooltip with the title and, on a second line, the description. The tooltip is shown even when the texts are hidden on the tile, so a panel of icon-only tiles still explains itself on hover. Screen readers announce the title of the tile as the name of the link. ## Show Titles and Show Descriptions Two toggles in the **Appearance** group of the property pane control the texts of all tiles at once: |::Setting::|::Effect::| |:---|:---| |**Show Titles**|On by default. Switched off, the titles disappear from all tiles and the icons are centered. Use it for a mosaic of well-known app logos or for image tiles that need no label.| |**Show Descriptions**|On by default. Switched off, the descriptions disappear from all tiles but remain in the tooltips. Use it for a compact panel, or when only a few tiles have a description and the panel looks uneven.| ![Texts shown, descriptions hidden, icons only](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10249/show-titles-descriptions-en.png) *Texts shown, descriptions hidden, icons only* 📝 **Note** The texts are hidden, not removed. Switching a toggle back on restores every title and description exactly as it was entered. ## Font Size **Font Size** in the **Appearance** group sets the size of the titles in seven steps: 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28 and 32 pixels. The description follows at three quarters of the title size. The default is step 3 (18 px). Larger text needs wider tiles: at 28 or 32 px a title of two or three words already fills a Small tile. Pair large font sizes with Medium and larger tiles, or with short titles. ## Tiles without a title A tile whose title is empty, or whose titles are hidden by the setting, shows the icon centered vertically. Give such a tile a description anyway — it appears in the tooltip — so that the destination has a name for visitors who are not sure what the icon means. ❗ **Important** A tile that links to a YouTube video and uses the video **Thumbnail** as its background shows no texts on the published page, whatever the settings: the thumbnail is the content of the tile. The title and the description of such a tile are visible in edit mode and in the tooltip. ## The web part title Above the tiles there is a title for the whole panel. Click the placeholder *Web Part Title* in edit mode and type the heading — it is rendered in the style of the other web part titles on the page. Leave it empty if the panel needs no heading; nothing is shown in its place on the published page. ## Writing texts that fit - **Titles of one to three words.** *Help Desk*, *Book a Room*, *Expense Reports*. Verbs work well for actions, nouns for places. - **Descriptions that add something.** *Submit hours by Friday* tells more than *Time sheet system*. Keep them under about 40 characters so that they fit a Small tile at the default font size. - **No repetition.** The description should not restate the title; if there is nothing to add, leave it empty — the tile looks cleaner without an empty second line. - **Consistency.** Either every tile in a panel has a description or none does. A few tiles with a second line make the rows look uneven. 💡 **Tip** How tile width is set, and therefore how much text fits, is explained in [KB10247. Tile Sizes and Layout in Smart Tiles](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10247). The **Properties** dialog is described in [KB10242. How to Add and Edit a Tile in Smart Tiles](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10242). Learn more about the product: