New Dashboard Proposal
October 27, 2009
Since we are now working more and more on django CMS' usability, we start to see a lot of things that can be improved. One of the first things that jumps to mind is the dashboard of django CMS, or the lack of it.
We have put together a first draft of the dashboard:
(click on the picture to see fullsize version)
The basic ideas are:
- - Most used functions as icons at the top
- - Structuring the modules (i.e. applications and administration)
- - Only one line per module
- - Additional info on the right side
As mentioned, this is a first draft. So your feedback or other ideas are very welcome!
Update:
Comments
18:32
Make it now!
The only thing I would add is I think there should be some header-based navigation that persists across all the pages.
The first real-world example that jumps to mind is the one in Wordpress but it's a very common concept.
20:45
Yes, that's a good point! You mean like, for example:
- Dashboard
- Pages
- Applications
- Administration
20:50
Sieht toll aus, kann es kaum erwarten!
22:48
I like it.
07:49
Divio, Oli:
Exactly, a header main navi would kick some tiny arses. And Divio's suggestion is good I think.
Maybe the "applications" could be thought a bit more.. it may not be clear for the dummest user. Now, I know the dummest users shouldn't be let in, but you know it'll happen :)
- Osku
11:42
@Divo,
I think dashboard could be implicit (clicking the logo) but the others sound good.
I would have:
- djangoCMS logo (taking you to dashboard home)
- Site map taking you to the Pages display
- a "+" after sitemap for adding a new page directly
- Applications drop-down. There's no sense in just having a link as it would just be the same as the dashboard home page. Allow people to get direct access to the specific section from the nav.
- Admin drop-down. As above for the same reasons.
- a "Return to site" link (lord knows why the Django admin doesn't have this already!)
12:17
We will work on a upgraded version, based on your feedback. Stay tuned!
20:55
An install manager would be possible?
00:08
Far more important would be a more granular structuring of the admin interface. We need to be able to split various models among various pages - best would be a header navigation and each menu point would have it's own dashboard. For a bigger site this is usually needed, for instance an online shop will have users that login which may only add products - they should only have access to the products dashboard. The transport company may only have access to the transport menu point and it's dashboard to manage the shipments to clients or headquarters. The owners of the store may have access to all of these dashboards. Currently I haven't found a setup that allows for multiple dashboards and correct user permissions. django-admin-tools comes close and may even be extended to use a conditional factory class to spawn the correct dashboard within the right context (init_with_context comes to mind). Just a thought...