An adornment is seen only in Map and Timeline views and is used to provide a means of adding visual elements to the background of the Map view. In a Timeline, adornments only draw if they have both a $StartDate and $EndDate. Note that Outline view has a rough equivalent in separator notes which are shown only in outlines and not other view types.
As an adornment cannot be listed in an Outline, an agent cannot match or act on it.
Although adornments are not listed in most other views like Outline, these objects do have attributes. To control details like the border width, select an adornment and either use the [Cmd]+[Opt]+[I] shortcut or select Get Info from its context menu to open the Info dialog. Most attributes are irrelevant for an adornment except those in the Map section.
Note that adornments do get counted in the outline order numbering, even if not visible there; the are counted as the last sibling children of the note on whose Map view they appear (see a deeper explanation of this mechanism). This ensures the adornment always sit behind any notes on the map. Using 'send to back' on a note in Map view will not place it behind any adornments. However, if the map has more than one adornment it is still possible to use the sent forward/back commands to re-arrange the stacking order of adornments alone.
As adornments (can—as 'smart' adornments) act as a form of container, they have support for Actions just like agents and container notes. As with a container note, the action string is stored in the $OnAdd attribute, and is triggered when a note or agent is dragged onto the adornment. A note being 'on' an adornment occurs if all or part of the note lies within the adornment's boundaries.
Given their role in a map, adornments show their name but not $Text. Indeed, it is not generally useful to use adornment $Text, but it can be used as a form of hidden note.
Adornments show their locked/sticky states with lock and push-pin icons (though only when the adornment is selected). The push-pin and lock icons are packaged separately in the application allowing custom icons to be added.
A prototype can hold adornments—at its sub (container) level—though they will only be visible in map view of the prototype container.
Adornments are discussed further under discussion of the Map view and Timeline view.