By dreed47 on

This module adds a new graphical control panel page. This should be considered alpha code as it's very much an experiment in finding ways to enhance the usability for site administrators. Currently, there are two ways that the control panel can be accessed. First, you can create a new page with the following php code.

print controlpanel_admin_controlpanel()

Or, if your using the current version of the CVS HEAD (soon to be 4.7) then you can apply a patch found at http://drupal.org/node/31326 This patch will allow you to define your own admin start page (currently it's the watchdog log view page). With the patch applied you can go to admin/settings and change the default admin page to 'admin/controlpanel'

Here's a screenshot http://mycivicsite.com/ControlPanel.png

Until I find another home for it the module can be downloaded at http://mycivicsite.com/controlpanel.tar.gz

All feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Comments

dreed47’s picture

dreed47 commented

Get it here http://mycivicsite.com/controlpanel-4.6.0.tar.gz

gravyface’s picture

gravyface commented

and very Mambo-like :)

Kudos!

Any improvements for workflow?

I've been toying with the idea of creating a sort of "meta-module" to allow people to create and contribute administrative workflows for common activities.
Essentially, module writers or power users could "script" a series of steps to complete a specific task, like setting up groups, roles and permissions for Simple Access or creating their site hierarchy using the various Taxonomy modules. Basically piecing together a custom wizard if you will. These custom wizards could be distributed with modules, etc.

dreed47’s picture

dreed47 commented

Interesting concept. Are you referring to the workflow module available on druapl.org? I like the concept of a task-based administraion UI and I think it aligns well with comments made by Kieran in post http://drupal.org/node/31326

Through research interviews into Drupal administration we need to discover what the goals and tasks of administrators are. Some early feedback is that site developers need modules to be evaluated on Drupal.org. They have also indicated they need better and consistent administration help ,with incontext list, which we have been adding. We have also heard administrators want a quick overview. Any change to provide a control panel like overview must have a dashboard like overview. You should assume that we will identify a list of 5-7 top goals for administrators.

Once those those 5-7 top goals are identified we need to ensure administrators can acommplish tasks to achieve those goals. Some of those tasks will completed by clicking through to icons or admin interface links. Sub-goals will be accomplished by providing effective navigation. We need to consider 4 types of navigation to be added to the control panel: Global navigation, local navigation, contextual navigation, and situational navigation. Some of this navigation can be accomplished through a theme or blocks. Some will need to be in the page and some need to be added in otherways, such as interaction techniques.

Keep all this in mind when creating a control panel solution. It also must respond to the fact that every site will have different permissions set and different modules. This is a complex problem and it's going to research and experimentation to get it right. But this is a big step in the right direction.

gravyface’s picture

gravyface commented

I'll have to dig into this further this evening. As for Kieran's post, I absolutely agree. I think that the administrative layer -- squarely-nested between end-user and developer -- needs some attention and I'd like to provide the technical framework to make "5-7 top goals for administrators" a reality.

dreed47’s picture

dreed47 commented

An updated version of this module can be found here http://mycivicsite.com/controlpanel-cvs.tar.gz

This version will work with Drupal 4.6 and the current CVS HEAD. It has the following changes.

- Adds a new menu item for accessing the Control Panel

- Allows the user to specify the menu path to use as the source for the Control Panel. ''admin' is the default

- Allows the user to specify if the want the Control Panel module to recursively build sub panels for the main Control Panel. In the CVS HEAD version these sub panels will be collapsable. (collapsable panels within panels)

- Allows the user to specify how many levels to recursively build sub panels.

dreed47’s picture

dreed47 commented

Minor module updates to allow panels to be themed.

For now get it here at http://mycivicsite.com/controlpanel-cvs.tar.gz

Also, new screenshot at http://mycivicsite.com/ControlPanel.png

dreed47’s picture

dreed47 commented

This module is now available in the module download section of drupal.org. See it at http://drupal.org/node/32400 Please download it from there instead of the links referenced in this post.

Also, the latest changes to this module allow the icons to be resized to suit your taste.