# Creating and editing

> Three ways to create a stratum, and what the editor holds once one exists.

![blueprint:josh/creating-a-stratum](https://blueprintr.io/embed/josh/creating-a-stratum?exclude=cmtpwd5jo001j11r44fw410t7&hideTabBar=1#h=620)

## From the shape

Right-click a shape on any diagram in the blueprint and choose
**Add Stratum…**. The stratum is created and anchored to that shape as soon as
you choose it, so the modal opens on a stratum that already exists. Close it
without typing and the stratum stays; fill in the content later if you would
rather keep drawing.

This is the normal path. It is available in step 1 of the editor as well as
step 2, so you can write detail while the diagram is still taking shape.

Once a shape carries a stratum, the same menu reads **Edit Stratum…** and the
shape is marked on the canvas.

## From the Resources & Strata step

Step 2 lists every stratum in the blueprint. **Add Stratum** here creates one
that is not yet bound to anything; use the [link picker](/foliums/blueprintr-user-guide/strata/linking-strata)
to point it at a shape afterwards.

Use it when you are writing several strata in one sitting and binding them
later, or when the detail exists before the drawing does.

## From a diagram embedded in prose

A diagram inside a Rich Text tab has its own kebab menu with **Add Stratum…**.
Strata bound to an embedded diagram behave exactly like those on a tab canvas.

## Inside the editor

A stratum has a **name**, and one or more **tabs**. The name is what readers
see on the hover preview and in the window's title bar, so write it as a label
rather than a sentence.

> [!TIP]
> Give the stratum the same name as the shape unless there is a reason not to.
> A reader who clicks "Order queue" expects a window titled "Order queue".

![The stratum modal: icon, name and kind on one row, the anchor below it with Change, Remove and + Add, then the tab strip](/api/folium-assets/cmtp06kci0001tjm2smu5oluz/raw)

Add a tab with **Add tab** and choose its
[kind](/foliums/blueprintr-user-guide/strata/tab-kinds). Reorder tabs by
dragging; the first is what opens by default.

The **Anchor** row shows what the stratum is attached to. **Change** repoints
it, **Remove** detaches it, and **+ Add** anchors the same stratum to another
shape, for detail that belongs to two places on a drawing.

## Deleting

Deleting a stratum that something links to leaves those links dangling, and
the reader sees them as missing. The delete confirmation lists the referrers
first: inline `stratum:` links, linked callouts, and any stratum whose
diagram link points inside the one you are removing. Read that list before
confirming.