A system and method is disclosed for accessing properties used to customize network documents to a user. In one aspect of the system and method, an application developer may obtain user properties that are stored on multiple storage mechanisms by using a single logical name, which is a user-friendly name of a data structure on one of the storage mechanisms. The user-friendly name makes it faster and easier for an application developer to create applications. The user-friendly name also frees the application developer from having to determine the location of the storage mechanisms on the network.