Introduction to Atlassian Gadgets and Dashboards

This page introduces you to Atlassian gadgets and the new dashboards that support gadgets.

On this page:

Overview

Where Does a Gadget's Information Come From?

Gadgets can supply information from a number of places. When you choose a gadget, check where its information is coming from. A gadget's information will come from one or more of the following sources:

• The application where your dashboard is running, such as JIRA or iGoogle.
• Another installation of the same application. For example, you may use a gadget to collect information from two or more JIRA servers.
• Any location on the web. For example, the Google Map Search gadget gets information from Google Maps.

Some gadgets allow you to edit the source of the information so that, when the gadget is running on your own dashboard, the gadget displays information from a specific server. See our guide to editing a gadget's settings.

Atlassian Gadgets and OpenSocial

Atlassian gadgets are based on the OpenSocial gadget specification, which is in turn based on Google gadgets technology. The aim of OpenSocial is to define a common interface for social applications across multiple websites.

In principle, an Atlassian gadget will run on any website that supports OpenSocial gadgets. This means that you can add an Atlassian gadget to:

• Your iGoogle or Gmail page.
• Your JIRA dashboard (JIRA 4.0 and later).
• A Confluence wiki page (Confluence 3.1 and later).
• Other websites that support OpenSocial gadgets.

Making Gadgets Work for You

What do the new Atlassian gadgets and dashboards do for you?

1. Bring in content from all over, Atlassian and non-Atlassian applications, and display it on your (JIRA) dashboard:
   • From multiple Atlassian applications e.g. from JIRA, Confluence, Bamboo etc all into one dashboard.
   • From different instances of each application.
   • From external sources that are not Atlassian applications.
     
     
2. Make it easier to integrate other applications with JIRA (and vice versa).
   
   
3. More modern UI for dashboards:
   • Better tabs so you can flip between them more quickly.
   • Drag-and-drop to re-arrange portlets.
   • Ajax for quick reaction e.g. when delete a portlet you don't have to re-load the entire page to see the effect.
   • Re-configure layout to multiple columns — also happens dynamically.
     
     
4. Adopt open standards:
   • Base it on the Google Gadgets spec. Already in use by Google, LinkedIn, Salesforce to both consume and expose gadgets.
   • We want to be able to consume data from other apps in JIRA
   • We want also to expose JIRA data to other portals e.g. iGoogle. So you should be able to display JIRA data in iGoogle and other portals.
     
     
5. Re-focus the purpose of the dashboard:
   • Make it about teams, projects and tasks, not about tools. So you don't have to go to your Bamboo dashboard(s), your JIRA dashboard(s) etc. Instead, you can pull it all into one spot. So you go to the dashboard that represents your project, or a particular task that you're focused on, and it gives you all the info you need for that particular task/project, all in one place.

RELATED TOPICS

Gadgets and Dashboards Documentation

• Introduction to Atlassian Gadgets and Dashboards
• All Atlassian Gadgets
• Gadgets and Dashboards User Guide
• Gadgets and Dashboards Administration Guide
• Gadgets and Dashboards Version Matrix
• Gadgets and Dashboards FAQ
• Atlassian Gadgets Release Notes
• Gadgets and Dashboards Resources