Proposal of templates for the administration section

[tkrieck]

Hello everyone,

I’d like to present a proposal for the Cristal administration section, anticipating upcoming user creation features. This initial proposal outlines administrative features and their user interface.

Access and Layout

The admin section will be accessible via the cog icon in the top sidebar, replacing the backend selection functionality, which will be relocated within the admin area.

Upon entering the admin section, users will encounter a distinct layout from regular Cristal pages. This serves to maintain focus on administrative tasks and subtly distinguish these pages as special. Key differences include:

• A sidebar exclusive to admin pages.
• The removal of the “Create Page” button from the breadcrumb.
• The absence of the info bar prevalent on regular content pages.

Same image, without markings

Home Page: News for Administrators

The proposed home page for the admin section is a “News for Administrators” section, mirroring the feature proposed for XS by @amilica. This serves as a centralized hub for updates relevant to administrators.

Alternative: If a news section isn’t deemed suitable, the first accessible admin page (e.g., “Users”) will open by default, eliminating the need for a dedicated “Administration Home.”

Navigation

Due to the potentially extensive nature of admin pages, a “Back to Wiki” button will be placed at the top of the sidebar, providing the sole means for admins to return to regular content. This button will replace the logo, user avatar, and other options.

Search Functionality

To enhance navigation within the admin section, a dedicated search feature will be implemented in the sidebar. This will be a simplified search, likely powered by JavaScript, to filter pages by name as users type. The search input will be automatically focused when entering the admin section.

Note: This search is distinct from the regular page search and serves as a quick filter for admin pages only.

Feedback

Now I would like to know from you. Please let me know your opinions and feelings on the current proposal, and more specifically on the following aspects:

1. Layout Distinction: Do you agree with using a different layout for admin and regular pages?
2. Search Feature: Is an exclusive filter/search feature for admin pages beneficial?
3. Home Page: Should we include a “News for Administrators” home page or prioritize displaying the first accessible admin page?

Thank you all for your time and consideration.

[surli]

Hi, thanks for working on this!

@tkrieck

Layout Distinction: Do you agree with using a different layout for admin and regular pages?

+1

@tkrieck

Search Feature: Is an exclusive filter/search feature for admin pages beneficial?

I’m mixed on this one: I do think the search feature is useful in admin but IMO filtering only on page name is probably not enough. The administration pages might contain a lot of different things and it’s probably useful if it could do a search in those. e.g. for “captcha” you have a dedicated admin page, but you can also enable it in the Registration admin page, which might be a bit “hidden” for new admins.

Now I’m not sure it would be easy to implement a real search only for admin, I’m only answering from a pure UX point of view here.

@tkrieck

Home Page: Should we include a “News for Administrators” home page or prioritize displaying the first accessible admin page?

I think I would implement a dashboard for the admin home page: by default the dashboard would incluse the news for administrator, and maybe some kind of security widget. But we’d allow admins to edit that dashboard to put different things and/or reorder them.