Developer Chris Monnat has created dashEE to create an environment of innovation

ExpressionEngine is hailed the web over as the most versatile, admin- and user-friendly content management system on the market today. Yes, there are dozens, even hundreds of other CMS programs out there, many have their own fans, and EE has some detractors, but the truth is that developers all across the country choose EE for their content-rich clients more often than not, and the EE community continues to add extensions, modules and add-ons that extend its reach and simplify its operation.

At Unleaded Software we have built hundreds of websites and when the needs for CMS are great we highly recommend EE to our clients. We have found that EE offers the widest range of functions, the best user community on the planet, is the easiest to install and integrate with other programs, and is by far the simplest CMS program to explain to – and to train to – our non-IT clients and web users.

That’s not to say EE is perfect. EE itself and community developers and users are continually tinkering with it, designing new functionality, new add-ons, and new modules to make the EE experience even better for website administrators and users alike.

One of the best of these new ideas we’ve seen is dashEE. This wonderful new EE modification is an alternative to the EE Control Panel, which most users call the “dashboard.” The Control Panel, of course, is the portal on EE through which users manage their site. It is the access point for all of the software’s functionality.

The problem for many developers out there is that the Control Panel provided for in EE, while improved in upgraded versions, is very difficult to modify through the use of code. dashEE aims to solve that problem, as it is fully customizable and will present each user the EE dashboard they need – one that presents the access pojnts and the tools they need for their tasks without the clutter of unwanted access panels, or widgets.

The dashEE module comes with 8 default widgets but users also have the ability to develop their own widgets tailored to their needs. In addition to developing custom stand-along widgets, dashEE can also incorporate widgets into existing custom EE modules, instantly making the modules more usable by introducing new functionality right on the EE CP dashboard.

Created by developer Chris Monnat, dashEE is an open-source tool designed to give EE developers more control (http://www.christophermonnat.com/code/dashee/).

“The idea behind dashEE is to create a completely customizable EE dashboard where users can choose the kind of information they want to see and developers can add custom functionality through the development of widgets,” says Monnat. “dashEE allows developers to create custom widgets that can be installed by themselves or that can be packaged with your custom modules. Once uploaded to the server they are available for users to add to their dashboards and drag-n-drop in any order/configuration they wish.”
Our developers here at Unleaded Software have been waiting for someone like Monnat to create a customizable EE control panel. We have done work in this area on behalf of specific client needs from time to time, but with the installation of dashEE we have more options in the customization, can do it quicker, and in every case make an EE control panel for our clients that eases the operation of their CMS.

For more information how ExpressionEngine and the new dashEE custom control panel can be a big benefit to any website, contact Unleaded Software at 855-UNLEADED (865-3233). Whether the plan is a new website with a need for a high degree of CMS functionality, or an upgrade from an existing CMS platform to the wonder5s of ExpressionEngine, Unleaded Software has a team of developers with vast experience in delivering solutions to clients.