Adjusting the Admin area - Width

    • 119 posts
    October 7, 2017 11:18 AM EDT

    Feature Request: Adjusting the Admin area - Width.

    Feature request sequence:  A

    Description: It will benefit every admin of the SE software; The admin area is more user friendly after changing to full 100% width. Why only use a fix width of 950px if you have a full screen to work with?

    All fields and other data on one line instead of being cropped to the next line. Also the Layout Editor will look much better with a wider list for the widgets. Also the "login as Member" link will show up on the Member Manager page instead of scrolling to the right.

    Most of us admin will prefer a wider screen to look at.

     

    This request is: for the layout adjustment of the admin area in total.

    At the minute it is only using a "width: 950px" which is way too low as it cripples all columns and data. An examples below you see the 950px.

    • The layout should be a minimum width of 100%.

    So all columns in the rows look much better. 

    • "The Members > Manage Members" needs a full overhaul to adjust to the new width.
    • Member names should not end in "Jack Tes......" this should be full names.
    • All fields shown should be on one line and not cropped to the next line. Get rid of the 1% for the column or increase it so it fits a good looking column without cropping to the next line.

     

    • All other modules with listings need to be checked for the overall width.
    • All other modules should get the columns checked for width.
    • All other modules should have the columns adjusted to the full width of a field and not ending in dots.

     

    Here a sample of Width: 950px

     

    Here a sample of the layout editor, look already better at 1400px width, preferable full 100% if possible. The list of widgets are easier to read, better than the small list at 950px:

     

    Here a sample of the columns messed up at 950px, should be adjusted to full 100% width of the page to suit the columns better:

     

     

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    October 9, 2017 9:09 AM EDT

    Yeah I work from a macbook pro and have had this issue a lot (the login not showing, etc). Good idea.

    • 119 posts
    October 9, 2017 11:03 AM EDT

    @Donna

    I work from a desktop pc with is 1900px wide, but it is not showing everything as the admin is set to 950px wide. 

    Will you accept this feature request?

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    October 9, 2017 11:06 AM EDT
    Will this be 100% Responsive? Although I wish ADMINcp used more of the display real estate, my concern is compatibility across devices/displays. I'd rather have plain vanilla that always works unless SE can guarantee that adding this doesn't detract from anythg else. I'm concerned with how fragile ADMINcp already is.
    • 53 posts
    January 30, 2018 12:01 AM EST

    I was going to create my own post about the admin panel but thought I would add to this thread instead. With the onset of Responsive Web Technologies, is there any plans to redesign the admin panel? Even if it was closer in line with SE Cloud. There is just too many missed opportunities to manage my sites from my mobile phone because of the antiquated admin panel.

    • 58 posts
    February 8, 2018 5:23 AM EST

    love this request!

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    February 8, 2018 7:18 AM EST

    This is something we had in the pipeline to update admin panel. We couldn't do it on this release. 

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    March 1, 2018 3:14 PM EST

    My vote is still 'plain vanilla'.  Although I see the benefit (even for myself using more recent displays), my 2 primary concerns are:

    A.  If it's wider, what happens on displays that can't handle the extra data-width?  Which leads me into my next concern.

    B.  Although I asked if it would be Responsive, I take that back because I don't want it to be.  There are too many issues with Responsive not displaying well across devices, unless you have a very Responsive, Responsive Theme.  But I don't want to risk ADMINcp issues due to its reliance on a Theme - ADMINcp being the backend shouldn't be open to any risks of improperly displaying content.  There's a reason in the US that most banks/insurance/etc. firms still have 'old-fashioned' text based apps displaying inside current OSs - and this is one of the reasons.  I'd much rather have something that always works for everyone on the majority of devices.  I've seen .css issues preventing proper display in ADMINcp and simply don't want to risk that.

     

    My 2 cents is that since multiple columns are useful for much of ADMINcp, that the page be horizontally scrollable (so that if it all fits on a wide display, then great; but if not, everyone else isn't penalized but can still see the data via scrolling).  Yes, I don't like having to scroll, but that's safer than some other options, and it may be moot depending on the display width.

     

    Other non-risky suggestions/ideas?

    • 119 posts
    March 4, 2018 7:59 AM EST

    Coming back to your question "Other non-risky suggestions/ideas?" ... the RISK FACTOR = There is NO RISK.

    max-width, width, min-width in percentage or a fixed (px) width in the CSS is supported by all main browser.

    The RISK-precentage of choosing the wrong data with a smaller viewing area is larger.

    I love it when you refer to the Banks, I used to install banking systems, card/encoding printers and banking servers, but our systems where as you said "text" based  but will use up the whole viewing area of the screen, not 60% or 70% and with the columns proper presented. Some viewing areas used more than 2 screens to show the data needed. But then we don't use MySQL for banking systems, more like Oracle and DB2 (IBM), IBM mainframes (text based) systems are used for the core banking. Some new banks are using the 'newer' Cassandra and Postgres as database systems with their own main frame terminals.

    I don't know how it is possible to compare SE PHP and a Banking System as they are two different types of systems; programming languages/programs/operating systems/databases/security.

     

    For the CSS styling;

    • The data labels and actual record data will not be touched, just lined out better for a better viewing.
    • We are using at the minute about 60% of the screen in the admin panel which can be 100% of your screen. Which results in less scrolling and minimise the risk choosing the wrong line of data.
    • The over all width will be set by max-width or at width:100%, columns will have a min-width so data will be displayed proper in the columns and not 1 item displayed over two lines and/or cropped. Which is supported by most main browsers.
    • The admin panel is not a full responsive layout as you described "as part of a theme". The Admin panel will never be part of a theme it will have its own CSS styling.

    So the over all RISK is none as the actual data is not touched, just displayed in a better form.

     

     

  • gs
    • 857 posts
    March 4, 2018 9:19 AM EST
    - didn't mean to step on toes
    - last year .css (yes, from a Theme) interfered with the display of my ADMINcp and SE was paid to fix it. I simply don't want anything done to 'help' me view more info if this might interfere with displaying info. To me, the possibility of not viewing/accessing ADMINcp is a risk I don't wish to take.
    - risk: mentioned above - never mentioned data, only display of data
    - comparison of SE to Banking: yes, I realize they are quite different but I never compared all that you somehow read - I simply mentioned the display of info. Much like comparing two red cars - a Ferrari and Buick, one is comparing the paint color, not in anyway putting them in the same league and comparing other things.

    I would like this FR - as long as there's 0 risk to viewing/using ADMINcp. You are obviously more of an expert than me and believe there's no risk. I'm just a simple guy who has experienced .css interfering with ADMINcp, contrary to your belief. Hence, my concern.
    This post was edited by gs at March 4, 2018 9:25 AM EST
    • 378 posts
    March 4, 2018 12:24 PM EST

    This request makes sense - while in there I would love to see a deeper more graphic representation of over site health and stats be available as well. Take the site stats area and really make it robust so site owners can see the pulse of their community at a glance and track trends easily. Even have this with draggable widgets so you can create your own unique dashboard. I use AgileCRM and they do a decent job of this but I am sure there are better examples out there

    • 629 posts
    June 28, 2018 3:45 AM EDT

    I agree.