Problem/Justification
System Settings --> General --> GUI --> Settings --> Show Console Messages
this allows you to see console messages in the dashboard as follows.
It only shows 3 lines which is almost pointless as there might be missing context to a message.
Improvements
- The mesaage block needs to be bigger that 3 lines, 5 - 10 lines and the number of lines should be configurable.
- Making the “widget” dockable to the left and right of the screen
- or even in a free floting modal (i know you can click on it and get a modal but this gets in the way of things)
- make console messages a proper widget for the dashboard
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- make the height of the console messages expandable by dragging.
Impact
- Messages are easier to understand if there is more than 3 lines which is difficult to focus in on.
- The “floating” modal is useful so the admin can have the messages in view while performing related tasks
- the docking capability is just something I thought might be useful while I was brainstorming, however I am not glued to this idea.
- Making the console messages show in their own Dashboard widget seems a very logical option and the admin can choose to have them on or not. Some admins sit with the dashboard running in the background.
User Story
I can really give you a story here except that 3 line high is a bit pointless so this feature probably gets under used because when you find out that 3 lines is your lot, you just turn it off.
I did mention that when you click on the “widget” it brings up the modal, but this is not the same as making the on-screen console larger.