Widget Management
Widgets are the main data visualization tool for users and sit at the lowest level of the user defined interface. There are a variety of different widget types you can use to develop a dashboard of your data. Certain widget types can be placed together in Widget Groups. Widget Groups are used to wrap 1 or more widgets together in a set position relative to each other. Not all widget types are eligible for being placed in a group however. Those that are are listed below:
There are a few other widget types which are managed on this page but are not eligible for inclusion in a Widget Group. They are listed below and covered in their own sections of the help documentation:
Below is a visualization demonstrating these concepts
Here we see a Widget Group at run-time displayed on a layout page. There is a single bounding box (the group) which contains two data visualization widgets - a Real Time Display and a Gauge
The group can be used to organize multiple, potentially related widgets (eg a Line Chart depicting Air Temperature along with a Numeric Gauge showing the current Air Temperature and an RTD showing a derived average over the last hour) together in a meaningful way.
Groups can also simply contain a single Widget if you choose, however as no widget can be directly added to a Layout they must be part of a group to be displayed at run time.
Layouts are a wrapper around a set of Widget Groups and Widget Groups are a wrapper around a set of Widgets.
The same Widget Group shown above in design time makes this even clearer.
Creating Widgets
There are two ways to create a widget, you can do so via the Layout Editor or you can do so via the Manage My Widgets UI. Creation via the Layout Editor is covered in its portion of the help documentation and will not be covered here. Creation via the Manage My Widgets UI is very straightforward:
- Browse to the UI via the Template link on the main menu or from the Home Page via the Widgets button (Recently Used Layouts block).
- Select the type of widget you would like to create from the panel bar on the left.
- Click the +Create New button at the top of the grid on the right.
- Fill out the popup window with appropriate values and click OK
- A blank template is created you'll see the the standard template layout with the editor targeting the type you had selected.
Editing Widgets
There are two ways to edit an existing widget, you can do so via the Layout Editor or you can do so via the Manage My Widgets UI. Editing via the Layout Editor is covered in its portion of the help documentation and will not be covered here. Editing via the Manage My Widgets UI is very straightforward:
- Browse to the UI via the Template link on the main menu or from the Home Page via the Widgets button (Recently Used Layouts block).
- Select the type of widget you would like to edit from the panel bar on the left.
- Find the widget you want to change in the grid and click the Edit button (the one with the pencil).
- You will see the standard template editor loaded with the widget you want to edit. Make your changes and don't forget to hit Save!
Changes made to widgets will potentially effect all running instances of it throughout the ship.
Deleting Widgets
You can only delete an existing widget via the Manage My Widgets UI.
- Browse to the UI via the Template link on the main menu or from the Home Page via the Widgets button (Recently Used Layouts block).
- Select the type of widget you would like to delete from the panel bar on the left.
- Find the widget you want to delete in the grid and click the Delete button (the one with the trash can).
Be sure the widget is removed from any Widget Group referencing it or users will have gaps in their UI should they include those groups in a Layout
Management of Widget Groups via the Manage My Widgets UI is not as featured as doing so via the Layout Editor. If you want to create/edit Widget Groups it is best to do so via the Layout Editor where you have control over placement of individual widgets.