Drupal Dashboard: Advanced Dashboard Tools for Content Editors & Site Builders

Several factors converged in summer 2023, leading us to start working on Content Planner version 2. Our plans for improvements received a significant boost when Mediengruppe Klambt approached us with specific use cases. Concurrently, we at NETNODE were developing NodeHive Headless CMS. Our goal was to integrate Content Planner, particularly its dashboard, as a pivotal element of the NodeHive experience. This marked the beginning of our focused efforts.

In early January 2024, after making some small updates to the dashboard, I shared an update on LinkedIn because I was pleased with the results. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many people sharing it within their communities. This inspired me to write this blog post and create this video.

The dashboard is available now and fully open source!

The recent achievements are truly remarkable, warranting celebration. Here are a few highlights of the Content Planner's Dashboard functionality:

Drupal Dashboard Highlight: Powerful widgets

The content planner dashboard comes with many built in widgets. Currently we provide the following widgets out of the box:

• Content Status Widget
• Publication Tracker
• Recent Kanban Activities
• Welcome User Widget
• Create Content
• Data Statistics
• Text/HTML Widget
• Database Table Report
• System Information
• Drupal Blog
• Matomo Monthly Graph Stats
• Matomo Weekly Stats
• Matomo Yearly Traffic Stats
• NodeHive Spaces (Optional with NodeHive Core module)
• User Widget
• Views Widget
• Last 10 Webform Submissions
• Active Webforms and Submissions

• My Recent Edits (Optional with NodeHive Core module)
  Recent Edits (Optional with NodeHive Core module)

Drupal Dashboard Highlights: Multiple dashboards

We support adding multiple dashboards, each with its own set of widgets and customizable visibility for certain roles.

Drupal Dashboard Highlight: Very small dependency footprint

You only need to install the content planner module which has only one dependency, namely the Scheduler module. It's likely that you already have this module installed.

Drupal Dashboard Highlight: Flexible layout

We've adopted a straightforward, yet effective, approach for dashboard layouts. These are structured into six columns. Users can specify the number of columns a widget occupies, along with its weight. On the dashboard configuration page, users can easily drag and drop widgets to arrange them as desired.

The layout is denser than the usual Claro or Gin styles, designed to display ample information on one screen while incorporating CTA buttons on widgets for additional details.

Drupal Dashboard Highlight: Gin theme compatibility

We strongly recommend using Gin, as its classes are integrated into the dashboard, allowing for the reuse of custom colors.

Important note: To avoid confusion, the Content Planner Dashboard is not the same as the Dashboard initiative (which intends to bring a dashboard to Drupal core).

What's Next?

The new features are currently available in version 2, which is in development. Our next step is to release a stable version. We encourage you to test and explore these new features.

How to install?

• Install the Content Planner Module using composer 

• > composer require 'drupal/content_planner:2.0.x-dev@dev'

• Enable the module
• Start configuring the dashboard (see video about Drupal Dashboard)

Join Us in Shaping the Future

Your feedback and contributions have been invaluable in making the Content Planner Dashboard a reality. We invite you to continue this journey with us. Test the new version, share your insights, and be a part of a community that's reshaping content management.

For the latest updates, tutorials, and community discussions, follow us on our social media channels and our website. Your involvement makes a difference. Together, we can create something extraordinary.