Developer Documentation
One of the goals when developing the admin dashboard and the widget system was to provide an extensible framework which developers could use to create their own widgets. The pages within this chapter of our documentation provide technical details and tutorials about the admin dashboard and its widget system.
Widgets
When talking about admin dashboard widgets, these fall into one of two categories:
Widget Types
Widget types are generic, reusable components that determine the functionality and appearance of a dashboard widget. They are defined in code (using an XML file and a PHP class implementing WidgetTypeInterface) and act as a sort of template for a particular type of dashboard content. Each widget type can have many widget instances.
- A list of available widget types
- The PHP implementation guide
- The legacy PHP implementation guide, for widgets that have not yet been migrated to the composition API
Widget Instances
Widget instances are a particular instantiation of a widget type, complete with specific configuration values chosen by the admin user during creation. They are stored in the database and are what the admin user sees rendered on their dashboard. Each widget instance relates to a single widget type and belongs to a single Dashboard View.
More information about widget instances can be found here.