With TYPO3 version 10LTS a new module is shipped: the dashboard for TYPO3. In this post, I will give you a short introduction to this new feature and how you can use this dashboard.
A lot of different types of users are using your TYPO3 installation. Of course you have the editors. Most of the times, this is the largest group of users. Besides the editors, your marketing or SEO agency might login to your TYPO3 installation and last but not least, the people that make your TYPO3 installation work, the developers.
You can imagine that all those groups have different reasons to login to your installation. An editor might want to write a new blog post or want to check if the content is still up to date. A SEO agency might want to check if important pages are well optimized for search engines and a developer wants to see if everything in your installation is still working as smooth as before.
One thing they have in common: there was no out-of-the-box starting point for these users. A starting point where they get the information they need to do their job. And this is why I started the TYPO3 Dashboard Initiative. To make sure TYPO3 gets its starting point to help users do their job in the backend of TYPO3.
When you have installed the dashboard for TYPO3, it is by default the startup module. So, when you login to the backend, the dashboard will open.
Initially you will have a personal dashboard with some basic widgets, welcoming you to the backend of TYPO3. But it wouldn’t be a real dashboard when you can’t alter this dashboard or even create new dashboards.
To add a new widget, you click the big button on the bottom right with the plus sign. A screen will open to show you which widgets you can add. The widgets are grouped by topic. A developer of a widget can define to which group a widget belongs or can even create new groups. When you have selected a widget you want to add, the widget will be shown as the last widget on the dashboard.
Of course, it is also possible to remove a widget from your dashboard. Like with moving a widget, hover over the widget with your mouse pointer and now use the icon with a bin sign. After confirming that you want to remove the widget from your dashboard, the widget will not be shown on the dashboard anymore.
With these options you can totally personalize your dashboard for TYPO3.
Some people have multiple tasks to do in the backend of TYPO3. On one day they need to add some news items, the other day they need to work on optimizing pages for search engines. With these different tasks, you also might want to have multiple dashboards. Luckily it is possible to have multiple dashboards in TYPO3.
To create a new dashboard for TYPO3, use the button with a plus sign just after the tabs with the currently available dashboards. A new window will be shown to create the new dashboard. Besides giving the dashboard a name, you can also select a preset. When you select a preset, it will create a dashboard with some preselected widgets on it. By default, you only have the “Empty dashboard” preset, but your system administrator can create those dashboard presets. When you have given a name and chosen a preset, the dashboard will be created and opened. From this moment, you can personalize this dashboard again, just like with the other dashboard.
To switch between dashboards, you can use the tabs on top of the dashboard. The open dashboard will be saved in your user settings. The next time you go to the dashboard for TYPO3, it will open your last opened dashboard.
If you want to rename your dashboard, you click on the button with the cog icon in the top right of the dashboard. A screen will be shown to rename the current selected dashboard. If you don’t need the current dashboard anymore, you can remove the dashboard by using the button with the bin icon in the top right of the dashboard.
This was just an introduction to the dashboard for TYPO3. We think that with this dashboard, your work will be a little bit easier.
In a next blog post I will tell you everything about the available widgets and how to extend the dashboard for TYPO3 as a developer. So, stay tuned!
Do you have a question? Do you want to work together? Just send me a message and I will get in touch as soon as possible.
