Create a new element

def _create_element(name, element_type, data, server=None):
    '''
    Create a new element
    '''
    # Define property and id from name and properties + remove SaltStack parameters
    if 'properties' in data:
        data['property'] = ''
        for key, value in data['properties'].items():
            if not data['property']:
                data['property'] += '{0}={1}'.format(key, value.replace(':', '\\:'))
            else:
                data['property'] += ':{0}={1}'.format(key, value.replace(':', '\\:'))
        del data['properties']

    # Send request
    _api_post(element_type, _clean_data(data), server)
    return unquote(name)