Progress? and interface design

[bear]

I'm curious, does anyone actually like the admin dashboard interface in v7 of WHMCS (using Blend, to allow for the collapsing sidebar)?

Do you find it easier or harder to locate information at a glance when it's a moving target like it is?

 

I'll explain, though I'm sure you know what I'm on about.

In prior versions, the dashboard widgets stayed put. I could hide, move and so on, and on logging in knew exactly where things were. Quick glance at a specific part of my screen, instantly get the info I need and get on with my day.

Latest version 7, not so much. Can't remove any without disabling them (oh, it seems you can't disable any), and if I minimize one, they all bloody shift! Ticket count on the left, minimize some other box and it's now in the middle or on the right. What genius thought this was a good idea? Constantly shifting interface designs are anything but useful, and frankly it's incredibly offputting.

 

Then there's the additional "enter your password to continue" thing that keeps showing up while I'm editing. Really? Can that be disabled at least temporarily?

[brian!]

I'm curious, does anyone actually like the admin dashboard interface in v7 of WHMCS (using Blend, to allow for the collapsing sidebar)?

you know a few weeks ago, I was thinking how remarkably unchanged the admin side has been over the four years i've been using WHMCS (always used Blend never v4) - there was a css menu tweak in v6 and these new widgets in v7.1, but beyond that very little has fundamentally changed with the layout.

 

Do you find it easier or harder to locate information at a glance when it's a moving target like it is?

I ended up using a lot of my old v6 widgets in there so I knew what was going on...

 

I'll explain, though I'm sure you know what I'm on about.

In prior versions, the dashboard widgets stayed put. I could hide, move and so on, and on logging in knew exactly where things were. Quick glance at a specific part of my screen, instantly get the info I need and get on with my day.

Latest version 7, not so much. Can't remove any without disabling them (oh, it seems you can't disable any), and if I minimize one, they all bloody shift! Ticket count on the left, minimize some other box and it's now in the middle or on the right.

as they're all permission based, to disable a widget, you'd need to either remove that permission from the admin role, or modify the widget PHP code to give it an invalid permission... though of course, running the WHMCS updater would probably overwrite those changes during a future update... welcome to WHMCS v7!

 

What genius thought this was a good idea? Constantly shifting interface designs are anything but useful, and frankly it's incredibly offputting.

probably the same polymath who thought it would be a tremendous idea to add a menu system to v6 where you needed to use PHP to add/remove/modify a menu child...

or came up with TLD categorisation... but then didn't provide any simple method to change the categories... we got the usual wishy-washy response of 'oh we might add it at some future point'... two years later and?

or added the WHMCS logo to admin messages - the reason for which has never once been shared in these forums...

 

the big problem is that they do things half-cocked (that's a phrase from a Bond film, so hopefully not against the rules lol)... but if you're going to do something, do it properly and follow through!

 

so if you have a menu system that requires PHP changes, delay the launch a week and build a menu manager - it's been done by 3rd party developers, so why couldn't WHMCS do it??

why remove the domain pricing table from v7 for no apparent reason... and then feel the need to add it back in v7.2 ?

if you have widgets that are flying around like bees in a hive, delay the launch and give up the options to properly control them... again, it's been done by the developer of the Lara admin theme, so why not WHMCS themselves?

 

yes, we get the usual, 'a future version will be able to do this' and I guess that v7.2 will probably have the feature - but that's 4 months after the launch of v7.1.

 

I could go on but you get the point... the general attitude always seems to be.. "this'll do for now - launch it and we'll (probably) fix it over time..." *sighs*

 

I did wonder, in some sort of twisted irony, whether WHMCS would launch the v7.2 beta on April Fools Day... but not to be.

 

Then there's the additional "enter your password to continue" thing that keeps showing up while I'm editing. Really? Can that be disabled at least temporarily?

yeah, they spend their time giving us things like this, but happily leave decent feature request suggestions to wither on the vine...

 

Joe Clarke has previously posted an action hook that will partially disable this silly feature...

 

https://forum.whmcs.com/showthread.php?123954-HOWTO-Disable-or-remove-quot-You-are-entering-an-administrative-area-of-WHMCS-and-must-confirm-quot&p=505142#post505142

 

I say partially because it works absolutely fine for accessing 'general settings', but can cause a loop if you try to access 'automation settings', 'payment gateways', 'openID' etc directly... if that occurs, then just click on general settings and then on the link you originally wanted to use... I must remember to contact Joe about that slight potential bug.

 

and with regards to collapsing the sidebar, I posted a hook in the thread below - but you probably know that already as you posted in the thread too.

 

https://forum.whmcs.com/showthread.php?124650-How-to-keep-sidebar-in-admin-area-minimised-by-default&p=500186#post500186

[bear]

as they're all permission based, to disable a widget, you'd need to either remove that permission from the admin role

I don't see any of the default "widgets" listed in the back end (widget section is totally empty in the interface, unless I add one), and I'd assume removing permissions would remove my ability to manage that everywhere? Don't really want that as much as having a bit of control over what I want to see on the dashboard. Not a lot to ask, and previously they were listed as widgets and you could uncheck them to have them not show.

 

added the WHMCS logo to admin messages - the reason for which has never once been shared in these forums...

IIRC, the question was actively ignored.

 

if you have a menu system that requires PHP changes, delay the launch a week and build a menu manager

if you have widgets that are flying around like bees in a hive, delay the launch and give up the options to properly control them.

Yes, please.

All this reminds me of some other products that did things just to do things, like Namecheap. Previous interface was dated, but mostly ran very well. Easy to find things you needed, the important stuff was right in your face, right where you expected to find it and so on. They also went with the puffy oversized interface (do I need the giant, garish, brightly colored boxes around the "alert bar" items in WHMCS, when the previous reddish band and text did the trick?), and hiding/obscuring things. Leave that for phone layouts, and let the people who "get things done" actually get things done and move on.

 

Thanks for the reminder about the menu collapse, I'd forgotten about that one. Works perfectly.

I honestly don't see the need to have additional "enter your password" crap in here. If someone is in the admin interface and is accessing settings with my login, they have that. Is the point to annoy them a bit?

[bear]

Oh, hooray?

Just tried to disable one of these to see if it would cause the widget to vanish. "Network issues". Unchecked, save, was asked for password (again). Entered, and got "You do not have the required permission to perform the selected operation!". I'm now totally locked out of my own install, though the password was right.

Have to say I'm not the least bit impressed or in fact happy just now.

Please, WHMCS, if you're reading, drop that idiotic bit from the interface?

 

[EDIT]

Turns out it wiped out *all* my admin permissions as the full administrator. Had to hit the database and alter the "tbladminperms" table, adding the full admin ID (1) to the admin group permissions settings ID (65). I was then able to view and put them all back.

Awesome.

Edited April 2, 2017 by bear

[brian!]

I don't see any of the default "widgets" listed in the back end (widget section is totally empty in the interface, unless I add one), and I'd assume removing permissions would remove my ability to manage that everywhere? Don't really want that as much as having a bit of control over what I want to see on the dashboard. Not a lot to ask, and previously they were listed as widgets and you could uncheck them to have them not show.

yep, that's a fair summary.

 

I have to assume no one thought of those consequences at WHMCS when they designed v7... either that, or it occurred to them, and they just didn't care.

 

if we take System Activity as an example, to disable it you effectively have two options...

 

1. looking at the code in the template, I see...

 

    protected $requiredPermission = 'View Activity Log';

so you can either invalidate it by tweaking it to..

 

    protected $requiredPermission = 'View Activity Log2';

though as I say, I suspect the auto updater would replace the file during an update.

 

2. the other way would be to disable the "View Activity Log" rule in the settings...

 

 

but as you suggest, that would prevent you from viewing the activity log too.

 

IIRC, the question was actively ignored.

yep - they had plenty of chances to answer.... but the silence was deafening.

 

with regards to the Network Status widget - it doesn't have any permissions specified in the code, therefore I assume all admin users will see it.

 

if you wanted to hide it, then you could just add an invalid permission setting to it...

 

    protected $requiredPermission = 'Hello World';

what a load of nonsense just to disable a widget.