diff --git a/src/core/js/edit_mode.js b/src/core/js/edit_mode.js
index c9976c8d3e70bf45af863ba1be4fdf8e12320de7..50325e97d4dabcd16fae2a2817314f4a7ddf3243 100644
--- a/src/core/js/edit_mode.js
+++ b/src/core/js/edit_mode.js
@@ -188,6 +188,10 @@ var edit_mode = new function() {
 
 
     this.set_entity_dropable = function(entity, dragover, dragleave, parent_drop, property_drop) {
+        if (getEntityRole(entity) === "Property") {
+            // currently no parents and subproperties for properties.
+            return;
+        }
         var rts = entity.getElementsByClassName("caosdb-entity-panel-body");
         for (var rel of rts) {
             rel.addEventListener("dragleave", dragleave);
@@ -604,16 +608,14 @@ var edit_mode = new function() {
         ];
         if (getEntityRole(roleElem[0]) == "Property") {
             const current_datatype = getEntityDatatype(entity);
-            for (const input of this.make_datatype_input(current_datatype)) {
-                // returns [`atomic_datatype`, `reference_scope`, `is_list`]
-                inputs.push(input);
-            }
+            inputs.push(edit_mode.make_datatype_input(current_datatype));
 
             const current_unit = getEntityUnit(entity);
             inputs.push(edit_mode.make_unit_input(current_unit));
 
             // TODO currently no parents for properties. Why not?
             parentsSection.hide();
+            header.attr("title", "");
         } else if (getEntityRole(roleElem[0]) == "File") {
             inputs.push(this.make_input("path", getEntityPath(entity)));
         }
@@ -665,14 +667,16 @@ var edit_mode = new function() {
 
 
     this.make_unit_input = function(unit) {
-        const unit_input = $('<div class="form-group"/>')
-            .append(form_elements
+        const unit_input = $(form_elements
                 .make_text_input({
                     name: "unit",
                     label: "unit",
                     value: unit,
                 }));
-        return unit_input;
+        unit_input.toggleClass("form-group", true);
+        unit_input.find(".col-sm-3").toggleClass("col-sm-2", true).toggleClass("col-sm-3", false);
+        unit_input.find(".col-sm-9").toggleClass("col-sm-2", true).toggleClass("col-sm-9", false);
+        return unit_input[0];
     }
 
     this._known_atomic_datatypes = [
@@ -688,8 +692,10 @@ var edit_mode = new function() {
     /**
      * Make three input elements which contain all necessary parts of a datatype.
      *
-     * The three input elements are for the `atomic_datatype`, which is one of
+     * The three input elements are wrapped in a single DIV.form-group.
+     *
      * @param {string} [datatype] - defaults to TEXT if undefined.
+     * @returns {HTMLElement}
      */
     this.make_datatype_input = function(datatype) {
         var _datatype = datatype || "TEXT";
@@ -715,7 +721,7 @@ var edit_mode = new function() {
         const datatype_selector = $(form_elements
                 ._make_field_wrapper(datatype_config.name))
             .append(form_elements._make_input_label_str(datatype_config))
-            .append($('<div class="col-sm-9"/>').append(select))[0];
+            .append($('<div class="col-sm-3"/>').append(select));
 
         // generate select input for the RecordTypes which are the reference's
         // scope.
@@ -740,7 +746,16 @@ var edit_mode = new function() {
         const list_checkbox = form_elements
                 .make_checkbox_input(list_checkbox_config);
 
-        return [datatype_selector, ref_selector, list_checkbox];
+        // styling
+        $(list_checkbox).children().toggleClass("col-sm-3",false).toggleClass("col-sm-9", false).toggleClass("col-sm-1", true);
+
+        const form_group = $('<div class="form-group">').append([datatype_selector, ref_selector, list_checkbox]);
+        form_group.find(".form-group").toggleClass("form-group", false);
+        form_group.find(".col-sm-3").toggleClass("col-sm-2", true).toggleClass("col-sm-3", false);
+        form_group.find(".col-sm-9").toggleClass("col-sm-3", true).toggleClass("col-sm-9", false);
+
+
+        return form_group[0];
     }
 
     this.make_input = function(label, value) {
diff --git a/src/core/js/form_elements.js b/src/core/js/form_elements.js
index cdc4b54176c2c635f7482f1812622cb0064ac6ba..d005dd8b494a96bcdefc7c7fde35190c0203f47e 100644
--- a/src/core/js/form_elements.js
+++ b/src/core/js/form_elements.js
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ var form_elements = new function () {
             let ret = $(this._make_field_wrapper(config.name));
             let name = config.name;
             let label = this._make_input_label_str(config);
-            let type = config.type;
+            let type = config.type || "text";
             let value = config.value;
             let input = $('<input class="form-control caosdb-f-property-single-raw-value" type="' + type +
                 '" name="' + name +
diff --git a/src/core/xsl/entity_palette.xsl b/src/core/xsl/entity_palette.xsl
index aea42a8750a74f509557bcf842e4d1f8dc97bef9..65f2bb7ccdbb15b83a5e4c1865e4686d06701bb6 100644
--- a/src/core/xsl/entity_palette.xsl
+++ b/src/core/xsl/entity_palette.xsl
@@ -51,9 +51,22 @@
   </xsl:template>
 
   <xsl:template match="Property">
-    <li class="caosdb-f-edit-drag list-group-item caosdb-v-edit-drag">
-      <xsl:attribute name="id">caosdb-f-edit-p-<xsl:value-of select="@id"/></xsl:attribute>
-      <xsl:value-of select="@name"/>
-    </li>
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="name()='name'">
+          <!-- ignore name property -->
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="name()='description'">
+          <!-- ignore description property -->
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="name()='unit'">
+          <!-- ignore unit property -->
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <li class="caosdb-f-edit-drag list-group-item caosdb-v-edit-drag">
+          <xsl:attribute name="id">caosdb-f-edit-p-<xsl:value-of select="@id"/></xsl:attribute>
+          <xsl:value-of select="@name"/>
+        </li>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
   </xsl:template>
 </xsl:stylesheet>