Dashboard options -- add content
Here are some UI ideas for the screens for adding content widgets to a Dashboard. The UI guidelines omit this step. There is a 'Widgets' tab on the original MB design, which suggests the 'separate page' concept.
I have these original files in OmniGraffle format, exportable if anyone wants them.
I am not suggesting anything other than the architecture for exposing gadgets. Colors and sizes should not be taken literally.
NetVibes and Yahoo use the Top Slider method. Google uses Separate Page.
We could, in theory, keep an extra rail for the Content well, and use a modified Rail Slider.
All of the pictures below (except the first) assume that you have clicked on the Add Content link).
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Blank dashboard | 252.02 KB |
| Modal popup | 157.84 KB |
| Separate page | 146.08 KB |
| Top Slider | 329.96 KB |
| Rail Slider | 247.09 KB |


Separate page and Top slider
Separate page and Top slider are okay with me. Both allow dragging the widget to a page tab to add, top allows dragging right into the page. Rail takes up content area and I think modals should be used sparingly.
Top slider is my first
Top slider is my first choice with Separate page as the backup (plus for non-javascript people). I've used a Top slider type UI on a few sites and people seemed to take to it well plus it doesn't look as weird as Rail Slider which either has to scrunch the page together or push it out it's vertical track.
Kyle Mathews
I should have noted this
I should have noted this earlier, the prototype, http://infrastructure.drupal.org/drupal.org-style-guide/prototype/dashbo..., specifies separate page. The widgets tab locked toward the right is the widget library.
In the contrib-ready version, the page tabs will probably be rendered via theme('links'), so putting the browser on top may be doable via theming or configuration.