Custom Dashboard Help Widget

Custom Dashboard Help Widget - Readme File

Contributors: Jo Landers
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Tags: dashboard, widget, widget, user help, customize, admin
Requires at least: 3.0
Tested up to: 3.3.1
Stable tag: trunk
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Add a custom widget to the dashboard to display announcements, help or other information users will see at login.

Description [Top of Page]

Do you want to add site announcements, contributor guidelines or help to the WordPress dashboard?

This plugin adds a widget with custom text to the dashboard. Great for Admin-only announcements or making a short README text block for your site contributors. You can display basic help or include links to more detailed information. The premium version provides several more dashboard options.

Important! If you're upgrading from Version 1.0, make sure you follow the correct installation procedure.

Suggested Use

• Display general site announcements
• Add guidelines for content, category usage, or image sizes that fit the theme
• Tell contributors when they should use pages, posts, or custom write panels

Features

• Includes the same WYSIWYG editor your posts do, so you can format your widget content more easily.
• Lightweight - For most users, only the display and help functions (less than 100 lines of code) are loaded. Management functions are only loaded if the user can manage the plugin.

Premium Version

• Keep the widget visible, open, and in the top left corner of the dashboard, regardless of user settings.
• Apply custom colors to the widget title bar to make it stand out.
• Restrict access to this plugin's settings to site administrators, even if other roles can manage plugins.
• Selectively disable any or all default WordPress dashboard widgets.

Installation [Top of Page]

Important! If you have Version 1.0 installed, use one of the alternate installation methods.

1. Download custom-dashboard-help.zip and unzip the file.
2. Upload the custom-dashboard-help folder to your plugins directory.
3. Go to the plugin management page of your site and activate the new plugin.
4. Use the "Settings" link to add the widget title and content and set any other options.
5. Save your options, then go to the dashboard to see how the widget looks. If your custom content includes links, test the links.

Upgrading from Version 1.0: Method One

1. Open the original custom-dashboard-help.php file through the plugin editor. Copy and paste it to a text file and save it.
2. Follow the Installation instructions steps 1-3 above.
3. Copy and paste the old title from your saved text file into the plugin title field. Switch the editor from Visual to HTML and do the same thing with the old content. Set any other options.
4. Save your options, then go to the dashboard to see how the widget looks. If your custom content includes links, test the links.

Upgrading from Version 1.0: Method Two

1. Download custom-dashboard-help.zip and unzip the file.
2. Go to your plugins directory and rename the existing custom-dashboard-help folder to something else.
3. Upload the new custom-dashboard-help folder to your plugins directory.
4. Move the old custom-dashboard-help.php file from the renamed folder into custom-dashboard-help, then delete the old folder.
5. Go to the plugin management page of your site. You will see two custom-dashboard-help plugins. Activate the new version of the plugin and go the the settings page.
6. You should see your old content on the screen. If you want to keep it, click the 'Copy from Version 1' button, then set any other options.
7. Use the 'Save This and Delete the Old Version' option to save your options and delete the old plugin file, then go to the dashboard to see how the widget looks. If your custom content includes links, test the links.

Screenshots [Top of Page] (please enable javascript to view screenshots)

1. A widget on the dashboard using basic options. Users can reposition the widget.
2. The basic options screen.
3. A widget on the dashboard using the premium version of the plugin. User help is added.
4. The premium version options screen.

Frequently Asked Questions [Top of Page]

My users don't go to the dashboard when they login. I redirect them to another page. Can I change the widget to display announcements there?

No. The widget is added using wp_dashboard_setup which only applies to the dashboard.

Changelog [Top of Page]

v2.3 (1/22/12)

• Tested under WordPress 3.3.1

v2.2 (12/5/11)

• Rewrote as a class, extending shared admin and options classes.
• If Markdown Converter Plus is in the plugins directory (whether or not it is active), the readme file uses it to format and display the file.
• Created a premium version with additional options to restrict access, style the widget, override user settings to make the widget always visible in the upper left of the dashboard, and selectively disable other dashboard widgets.

v2.1 (11/13/11)

• Improved function to retrieve content from Version 1.0 of the plugin.

v2.0 (9/23/11)

• No longer just an 'example' demonstrating how to add a widget to the dashboard.
• Added function to retrieve content from Version 1.
• Added on-screen content editing through an options page. Content is now saved to the options table in the WordPress database.

v1.0 (5/7/10)

• Initial release. Really just an example of how to use existing WP functions to add a widget to the dashboard.

Upgrade Notice [Top of Page]

V. 1.0 required you to edit custom-dashboard.php. Later versions add an options page. Upgrading may overwrite your content, so read the installation instructions first.