# Better names for index patterns **URL:** \ **Category:** Kibana\ **Created:** [November 12, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178 "2020-11-12T09:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tuckson](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Tuckson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/1 "2020-11-12T09:23:18Z")
Hi, In several screens in Kibana you use the indexpatterns to select in which indices your query should run. However, these patterns an become pretty ugly, especiallywhen also taking remote indices with them. Is there a way to give those an alias or a name so users have a better understanding what kind of data they are looking at? I would like to see those names then in the indices dropdown on the upperleft for example? ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 9:32am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/2 "2020-11-12T09:32:46Z")
Hey, you should be able to use Elasticsearch index aliases for this: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/indices-aliases.html#indices-aliases-api-add-multi-alias-ex](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/indices-aliases.html#indices-aliases-api-add-multi-alias-ex) Create an alias with the name you want to see in the UI via dev tools, then create the index pattern pointing to the index. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tuckson](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Tuckson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 9:44am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/3 "2020-11-12T09:44:00Z")
Can I use these with datastreams? Since my indexpatterns point to a datastreams. And as far as I can see, I still need to seperately name local and remote alias, right? like: `*:,` ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 9:52am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/4 "2020-11-12T09:52:20Z")
About your second question: Yes, you would still have to specify remote indices. I definitely see the use case to have nice looking identifiers on the Kibana side. Could you open a feature request for this here: [https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/new?template=Feature\_request.md](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/new?template=Feature_request.md) ? About datastreams - I'm not 100% sure about this, I forwarded the question to more knowlegable colleagues. ---
**Author:** ![flash1293](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flash1293/32/41227_2.png) [@flash1293](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flash1293)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 10:26am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/5 "2020-11-12T10:26:59Z")
Just got the confirmation - Aliases don't work together with data streams ---
**Author:** ![Tuckson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tuckson](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Tuckson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/6 "2020-11-12T14:51:08Z")
That's a pity. Will make a feature request edit: [https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/83295](https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/83295) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/better-names-for-index-patterns/255178/7 "2020-12-10T14:51:26Z")
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