Customize Your CMS Dashboard (Release 3.5)

Owned by Nina Cardillo
Last updated: 19-Jan-2024
7 min read

For SmartServer 3.6 and higher, see Customize Your CMS Dashboard.

For SmartServer 3.4, see Customize Your CMS Dashboard (Release 3.4). 

For SmartServer 3.3 and prior releases, see Customize Your CMS Dashboard (Release 3.3 and Prior). 

You can interact with the SmartServer CMS using a CMS dashboard. Each CMS dashboard is a collection of widgets, where a widget is a view of specific SmartServer resources and services. Resources include device types, devices, datapoints, and datapoint properties. Services include scheduling and alarming. You can create multiple dashboards to have different views of the SmartServer depending on your intended use of the SmartServer. For example, you can create an Integration dashboard that you use while integrating the devices on your site, and you can create an Operation dashboard to use while operating your site. 

The following sections describe how you can create, edit, and customize CMS dashboards:

Modifying the Dashboard

The dashboard is a unit of the SmartServer CMS user interface that provides a set of properly organized widgets. You can create, rename, or remove dashboards in edit mode. Edit mode provides the ability to set up and customize the SmartServer CMS user interface. When enabled, it allows you to create, remove, or rename dashboards, as well as to add, remove, move, and resize widgets. All interactions with widget functionality are blocked to prevent unintended actions.

Creating a Dashboard

To create a dashboard, perform the following steps:

  1. Enable edit mode by clicking the Settings button () located on the SmartServer app bar.



    A dropdown menu appears.


     
  2. Select the Edit action. Doing so enables widget selection on the left side of the dashboard and disables the dashboard widget functionality.



  3. Click the Create Dashboard button (). A new dashboard appears,



  4. Customize the dashboard widgets by selecting the appropriate widget checkboxes for your needs.

    To add a widget to the dashboard, select the checkbox next to the desired widget(s) located on the sidebar. The selected widget(s) will be placed on the current dashboard.

    To remove a widget from the dashboard, deselect the desired widget’s checkbox located on the sidebar. The widget will be removed from the current dashboard.




  5. In the NEW DASHBOARD field, enter a name for the dashboard (e.g., OPERATION in this example).



  6. Click the Settings button () and select the Edit action to disable edit mode.



    The dashboard functionality resumes.

Removing a Dashboard

To remove a dashboard, perform the following steps:

Note: If you have multiple dashboards and remove the last one, a default dashboard will be displayed.
  1. Enable edit mode by clicking the Settings button () located on the SmartServer app bar.



    A dropdown menu appears.



  2. Select the Edit action. Doing so enables widget selection on the left side of the dashboard and disables the dashboard widget functionality.



  3. Click the Remove Dashboard button () that appears next to the name of the dashboard that is to be removed.



    The selected dashboard is removed.



  4. Click the Settings button () and select the Edit action to disable edit mode.



    The dashboard functionality resumes.

Customizing Widgets

Positioning Widgets

You can change a widget’s position on the dashboard by dragging the widget using the mouse and placing it in its new position on the dashboard. To change the position of a widget, perform the following steps:

  1. Enable edit mode by clicking the Settings button () located on the SmartServer app bar.



    A dropdown menu appears.


     
  2. Select the Edit action. Doing so enables widget selection on the left side of the dashboard and disables the dashboard widget functionality.



  3. Drag and drop the widgets into desired positions. In the example below, the Device Types widget is moved above the Devices widget.



  4. Click the Settings button () and select the Edit action to disable edit mode.



    The dashboard functionality resumes.

Sizing Widgets

You can change a widget’s size by dragging the corner of the widget using the mouse until the desired size is achieved. To change the size of a widget, perform the following steps:

  1. Enable edit mode by clicking the Settings button () located on the SmartServer app bar.



    A dropdown menu appears.


     
  2. Select the Edit action. Doing so enables widget selection on the left side of the dashboard and disables the dashboard widget functionality.



  3. Drag the corner of the widget to the desired size.



  4. Click the Settings button () and select the Edit action to disable edit mode.



    The dashboard functionality resumes.

Expanding Widget View

To expand a widget to full-screen, click the Expand button (). 

Collapsing Widget View

To exit full-screen mode, click the Collapse button ().


Closing Widgets

To close a widget, (edit mode should be disabled) click the Close button (). 


Confirm the close operation by clicking OK on the Confirmation dialog box.


Using the Sidebar

In edit mode, the sidebar is used to add or remove widgets. When edit mode is disabled, the sidebar is used for fast navigation between the widgets.

You can click a widget in the sidebar to quickly focus on that particular widget in the dashboard.

For example, click the Connections widget in the sidebar.



The dashboard adjusts so that the Connections widget appears in view as shown below.

Setting Notifications

THE Notifications button IS AVAILABLE WITH SMARTSERVER 3.2 update 2 AND HIGHER.

Notifications appear as yellow messages at the top right part of the CMS dashboard. These messages provide the date and time of the event, the notification type, and a message description.

The Notifications button () appears on the main CMS dashboard allowing you to manage notifications. 

The default setting for notifications to appear is on.

Note: Notifications should be enabled when importing a new XIF to ensure that there are no errors before using it to create devices. 

Click the Off Notifications button () to turn notifications off.

Click the On Notifications button () to turn notifications on.

A badge above the Notifications button will appear with the total count of notifications that are in the queue. Hovering over the badge will display a count of information, warning, and error messages that are in the queue. 

Notifications are set per session, on a per user basis. If you log out of the SmartServer, the next time you log in, the notifications will appear.