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TWiki Dashboard Add-On

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Create professional dashboards for intranet home, teams, knowledge bases and more

Introduction

A dashboard comes into play when users need to get an overview of their work and want to navigate quickly to relevant places. This TWiki application is designed to give administrators a tool to quickly create dashboards for intranet home, team homepages, project homepages and knowledge bases.

Usage

The add-on defines several sections that are used to create dashboards. This can be done either via DASHBOARD or INCLUDE variables. A dashboard is constructed using the following sections:

Dashboard screenshot (click to enlarge)

  • section "dashboard_start"
    • section "banner"
    • section "box_start"
      • Box 1 content
    • section "box_end"
    • section "box_start"
      • Box 2 content
    • section "box_end"
    • ...etc...
  • section "dashboard_end"

Banner(s) and boxes fill the dashboard width, and are arranged left to right, top to bottom.

Dashboard using DASHBOARD variable 

%DASHBOARD{ section="dashboard_start" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="banner" ... }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_start" ... }%
Box 1 content
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_end" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_start" ... }%
Box 2 content
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_end" }%
...etc...
%DASHBOARD{ section="dashboard_end" }%
     

Dashboard using INCLUDE variable 

%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="dashboard_start" }%
%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="banner" ... }%
%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="box_start" ... }%
Box 1 content
%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="box_end" }%
%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="box_start" ... }%
Box 2 content
%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="box_end" }%
...etc...
%INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="dashboard_end" }%

Section ="dashboard_start"

The "dashboard_start" section starts a dashboard. It is the container of banners and boxes. A dashboard needs to be closed with a "dashboard_end" section. Parameter:

Parameter Description Default
width="" Width of dashboard in pixels, should match banner width, optional "1024"

Section ="banner"

The "banner" section defines a banner with an image. All content is specified by parameters, e.g. there is no start and end banner section. Parameters:

Parameter Description Default
image="" Banner image URL, optional. Attach your own image, default 1024x150 pixels, or use one of the TWikiDashboardImages. Example:
"%ATTACHURL%/myteam.jpg" 		URL of marin-headlands.jpg image
title="" Banner title, optional. If you specify a TWiki link make sure to use Web.TopicName, not just TopicName. (no title)
text="" Banner text below title, optional (no text)
width="" Banner width in pixels, optional.
Note: It should match the dashboard width and banner image width 		"1024"
height="" Banner height in pixels, optional "150"
button1=""
button2=""
...
button8="" 		Banner buttons, optional. Each button has elements separated by the pipe symbol ("|"). A button can either link to another page, or popup a modal box. A popup is shown if the button has 3 or more elements. Popup button elements: Button label, box title, box content, box width in pixels (optional, default 600), box height in pixels (optional, default 400). Link button elements: Button label, link. A link can be a Web.TopicName or a URL. If you specify a TWiki link make sure to use Web.TopicName, not just TopicName.
Example:
  button1="Button label|Web.LinkTarget"
  button2="TWiki Help|TWiki.WebHome"
  button3="Popup Demo|Modal box demo title|Modal box content|600" 		(none)
style="" CSS of banner box, optional "border: none 0;"
titlestyle="" CSS of banner title, optional.
Example: To show white title text for dark banner image:
titlestyle="color: white;" 		"margin: 10px 15px; padding: 0; font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 600; color: #333333;"
textstyle="" CSS of banner text, optional "margin: 35px 15px; padding: 0; color: #333333;"
contentstyle="" CSS of button container "bottom: 0; right: 0; margin: 0; padding: 10px 10px; color: #333333;"

Note: The popup (modal dialog box) depends on the TWiki:Plugins.ModalBoxAddOn.

Section ="box_start"

The "box_start" section starts a box. A box needs to be closed with a "box_end" section. Parameters:

Parameter Description Default
title="" Box title, optional. HTML can links can be used. If you specify a TWiki link make sure to use Web.TopicName, not just TopicName. (no title)
width="" Width of box in pixels, optional.
Note: This is the usable width of the box content, it does not include 32 pixel of box border and padding 		"300"
height="" Box height in pixels, optional "200"
style="" CSS of outer box, optional "border: solid #d0d0d0 1px; padding: 15px;"
titlestyle="" CSS of title, optional "text-align:center; font-size:19px; font-weight:bold; color: #333335; padding:0 0 12px 0; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden;"
contentstyle="" CSS of content "overflow:auto;"

Section ="box_end"

The "box_end" section ends a box. It has no additional parameters.

Section ="dashboard_end"

The "dashboard_end" section ends a dashboard. It has no additional parameters.

Dashboard Dimensions

The default dashboard is 1024 pixels wide, which is just about the right size for laptop screens. The TWikiDashboardImages are designed for this width. By default, boxes are 300 pixels wide and 200 pixels high for a 3 column layout. The following screenshot shows the dimensions.

dashboard dimensions

When designing custom dimensions keep in mind that banner(s) and boxes are arranged left to right, top to bottom.

Example

This example defines a simple dashboard. Write this: 

%DASHBOARD{ section="dashboard_start" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="banner"
 image="%PUBURL%/%SYSTEMWEB%/TWikiDashboardImages/marin-headlands.jpg"
 title="Dashboard for %WIKIUSERNAME%"
 titlestyle="color:#800000;"
 button1="TWiki Help|%SYSTEMWEB%.WebHome"
 button2="TWiki Variables|%SYSTEMWEB%.TWikiVariables"
 button3="Popup Demo|Modal Popup Demo|This requires the TWiki:Plugins.ModalBoxAddOn|400"
}%
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_start" title="Box 1 title" }%
Box 1 content
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_end" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_start" title="Box 2 title" }%
Box 2 content
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_end" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_start" title="Box 3 title" }%
Box 3 content
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_end" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_start" title="Box 4 title" width="992" height="100" }%
Box 4 content
%DASHBOARD{ section="box_end" }%
%DASHBOARD{ section="dashboard_end" }%

As documented earlier, an alternate syntax for %DASHBOARD{ section="..." ... }% is %INCLUDE{ "TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="..." ... }%.

This example generates the following dashboard:

Dashboard for TWikiGuest
Popup Demo
TWiki Variables
TWiki Help
Box 1 title
Box 1 content
Box 2 title
Box 2 content
Box 3 title
Box 3 content
Box 4 title
Box 4 content

Dashboard Logic

This section defines the actual dashboard. View the raw text of this topic to look under the hood.

Installation Instructions

Note: You do not need to install anything on the browser to use this add-on. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the add-on on the TWiki server.

Show details toggleopen.gif Hide details toggleclose.gif

  • For an automated installation, run the configure script and follow "Find More Extensions" in the in the Extensions section.

  • Or, follow these manual installation steps:
    • Download the ZIP file from the Plugins home (see below).
    • Unzip TWikiDashboardAddOn.zip in your twiki installation directory. Content:
      File: Description:
      data/TWiki/TWikiDashboardAddOn.txt Add-on topic
      data/TWiki/VarDASHBOARD.txt.txt DASHBOARD variable documentation topic
      data/TWiki/TWikiDashboardImages.txt Topic with dashboard banner images
      lib/TWiki/Contrib/TWikiDashboardAddOn.pm Add-on Perl module
      pub/TWiki/TWikiDashboardAddOn/*.png Screenshots of dashboards
      pub/TWiki/TWikiDashboardImages/*.png Dashboard banner images
    • Set the ownership of the extracted directories and files to the webserver user.

  • Add-on configuration: 
   * %SYSTEMWEB%.TWikiDashboardAddOn variable, documented in %SYSTEMWEB%.VarDASHBOARD:
      * Set DASHBOARD = %INCLUDE{ "%SYSTEMWEB%.TWikiDashboardAddOn" section="%section%" %IF{ "'%height{ default="" }%'!=''" then="height=\"%height%\"" }% %IF{ "'%width{ default="" }%'!=''" then="width=\"%width%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%image{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="image=\"%ENCODE{ "%image%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%title{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="title=\"%ENCODE{ "%title%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%text{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="text=\"%ENCODE{ "%text%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button1{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button1=\"%ENCODE{ "%button1%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button2{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button2=\"%ENCODE{ "%button2%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button3{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button3=\"%ENCODE{ "%button3%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button4{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button4=\"%ENCODE{ "%button4%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button5{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button5=\"%ENCODE{ "%button5%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button6{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button6=\"%ENCODE{ "%button6%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button7{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button7=\"%ENCODE{ "%button7%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%button8{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="button8=\"%ENCODE{ "%button8%" type="quote" }%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%style{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="style=\"%style%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%titlestyle{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="titlestyle=\"%titlestyle%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%textstyle{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="textstyle=\"%textstyle%\"" }% %IF{ "'%ENCODE{ "%contentstyle{ default="" }%" type="entity" }%'!=''" then="contentstyle=\"%contentstyle%\"" }% }%

  • Test if the installation was successful:
    • See if example above work

Add-On Info

  • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Create professional dashboards for intranet home, teams, knowledge bases and more

Add-on Author: TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny
Copyright: © 2012-2014, TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny, TWiki.org
© 2012-2014 TWiki:TWiki.TWikiContributor
License: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Add-on Version: 2014-04-11
Show Change History toggleopen.gif Hide Change History toggleclose.gif
2014-04-11: TWikibug:Item7371: Document that TWiki links in title and button parameters require Web.TopicName notation
2014-01-08: TWikibug:Item7406: New title and titlestyle parameters for banner section
2013-08-15: TWikibug:Item7154: Updated nasa-airfield.jpg
2013-07-15: TWikibug:Item7154: Add a new banner image by Blackstation
2013-04-06: TWikibug:Item7154: Add 13 new banner images by Peter Thoeny, 1 by Google
2013-04-22: TWikibug:Item7151: Change CALC to CALCULATE in image library
2013-04-06: TWikibug:Item7154: Add 9 new banner images by Jeffrey Pang, Peter Thoeny, Romain Guy, Steve Dunleavy
2013-02-13: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 5 new banner images by Joi Ito, Jon Brack
2013-02-04: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 3 new banner images by Cindy Cornett Seigle, Danny Hope, Zsolt Andrasi
2013-02-01: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 9 new banner images by Dan Tentler, Jake Rome, Jim Crossley, Juhan Sonin, Matteo Leoni, Paul Downey, Steve Bowbrick, Tom Woodward
2013-01-31: TWikibug:Item7091: Use TWISTY in installation instructions and change history
2013-01-31: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 8 new banner images by Peter Thoeny
2013-01-06: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 4 new banner images by David Yu, Joi Ito
2012-12-28: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 7 new banner images by David Yu, ETH Zurich, Peter Thoeny
2012-12-04: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 10 new banner images by CERN
2012-11-28: TWikibug:Item7041: Add 12 new banner images by Andreas Schaefer, Angela Ju, David Yu, Jeff Keller, Martin Eckert, NASA, Paulo Ordoveza, Peter Thoeny, Sean Fitzgibbon
2012-11-11: TWikibug:Item7020: Categorize TWiki Variable DASHBOARD
2012-11-05: TWikibug:Item7021: Add 6 more banner images by David Yu, Diliff, Goro Kosaka, Jens Hausherr, Koppi2, Sbittante
2012-10-13: TWikibug:Item6972: Add TWikiDashboardAddOn to core distribution; multiple banner buttons with button1="" button2="" ...
2012-10-12: TWikibug:Item6981: Add 12 more dashboard banner images
2012-10-06: TWikibug:Item6954: Initial version
TWiki Dependency: $TWiki::Plugins::VERSION 1.3 (TWiki-5.0)
TWiki:Plugins.ScrollBoxAddOn
TWiki:Plugins.SpreadSheetPlugin version 2012-04-04
TWiki:Plugins.ModalBoxAddOn required if popup buttons are used
CPAN Dependencies: none
Other Dependencies: none
Perl Version: 5.005
Add-on Home: http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/TWikiDashboardAddOn
Feedback: http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/TWikiDashboardAddOnDev
Appraisal: http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/TWikiDashboardAddOnAppraisal

Related Topics: VarDASHBOARD, TWikiDashboardImages, ScrollBoxAddOn, TWikiAddOns

 
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