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Animation showing dashboard widgets updating in real time as MQTT topic values change on the broker

Why Use Dashboards?

Every site and team asks different questions. Instead of commissioning a one-off HMI for each role, you can assemble the exact screen each person needs—KPI wall, line overview, or machine detail—and keep it live from data flowing through your broker. Dashboards in the Coreflux HUB update as soon as the underlying values change, without a separate deploy step or refresh ritual.
Like a control room sketched on a whiteboard. You place a gauge, point it at the signal you care about, and it shows the live value from that moment on.

When to Use Dashboards

  • KPI walls — Large readouts and trends for supervisors and management
  • Line and area overviews — At-a-glance status for a process or zone
  • Machine detail — Gauges, symbols, and controls for a single asset
  • Operator stations — Forms, buttons, and setpoints where people work the process
  • Shift or mobile views — Simplified layouts for tablets and shared screens

Opening the Dashboard Manager

The Dashboard Manager is an app inside the Coreflux HUB. It lists your panels (each panel is one dashboard you can open, share, or refine). From here you add panels, refresh the list, and open a panel to see it live.
Coreflux HUB Dashboards app showing Panels section with count 1, plus and refresh controls, and a list row for KPI Operational Dashboard with Public label and Published badge

What You Can Display

Panels are built from a library of components. You drag them onto the canvas and tune labels, ranges, colors, and thresholds—no coding required.
CategoryExamples
ReadoutsGauges, large numbers with units, text lines, on/off/fault indicators, wall-sized KPI numerals
ChartsLine charts for trends, bar charts for comparisons, progress bars
Industrial symbolsPumps, valves, tanks with live fill, motors, instruments
ControlsButtons, toggles, sliders, text and number fields, forms that send values back when the operator confirms
MediaCameras, video, images, audio, custom mimic drawings
IdentificationBarcode and QR displays, scanner widgets
Maps and tablesGeo maps, live tables, lists, dropdowns fed from data
Layout and alertsSection labels and banners when a condition is true

How data updates on a Dashboard

Each component is tied to live data on your broker—typically a topic that already carries the signal from your machines, databases, or Routes. When that topic’s value changes, the widget updates. You do not configure polling or manual refresh for normal operation.
Coreflux HUB with the Dashboard Manager in the background and a floating panel window titled KPI Operational Dashboard showing a Status readout reading good, a Message Count line chart, and a Message Per Minute gauge reading 190

Viewing a Panel

You can experience the same panel in more than one layout depending on where you need it.
Open the panel as a floating window on top of the HUB. That keeps the rest of the HUB—routes, Data Viewer, configuration—one click away while you watch live values or try layout changes.
Coreflux HUB with the KPI Operational Dashboard expanded across the workspace, showing Status reading good, a Message Count trend line chart, and a Message Per Minute gauge reading 196

Managing Panels

Each row in the panel list shows the panel name, a visibility hint (for example Public), its publication state (for example Published), and when it was last updated. Clicking the row itself opens the panel; hovering reveals a row of quick actions on the right for sharing, inspecting, and deleting.
ActionHow to trigger itWhat it does
Open as a windowClick the panel rowOpens the panel as a floating window on top of the HUB so you can keep working while it stays live
Open as a linkClick the first icon on the right (external link)Opens the panel in a dedicated shareable view—useful for plant displays, wall screens, or sending a URL to a teammate
View sourceClick the second icon on the right (code)Shows the panel’s underlying definition so you can inspect or copy it
Delete dashboardClick the last icon on the right (trash)Removes the panel from the list after confirmation
Coreflux HUB Dashboards app showing the KPI Operational Dashboard row with Public and Published badges and three icons on the right for opening as a link, viewing source code, and deleting the dashboard

Sharing Panels on TVs and External Displays

You can put the same live panel on any screen that runs a browser—control-room wall TVs, lobby KPI boards, shop-floor tablets, or a monitor at a remote site—without installing a separate HMI app or giving everyone full access to the Coreflux HUB. The shareable panel URL opens a dedicated view of that dashboard so viewers see only the panel, not routes, configuration, or other HUB apps. From the Dashboard Manager, hover the panel row and click the external link icon (first action on the right). That opens the panel in a dedicated tab or window; copy the URL from the address bar and paste it into a browser on a TV stick, kiosk PC, tablet, or any display you want to keep on the loop.
Same live stream as inside the HUB. The shareable URL reflects broker data the same way as the floating window—widgets update when topics change, without manual refresh for normal operation.
Typical uses:
  • Control-room and plant walls — Full-screen dashboards that stay readable from a distance
  • Lobby and office KPI screens — Management views without exposing operator tools
  • Shop-floor tablets — Lightweight devices that only need one panel
  • Stakeholders and contractors — A single URL when someone needs read-only visibility, subject to the panel’s Visibility settings
Coreflux HUB Dashboard Manager highlighting the external link action on a panel row to open a shareable dashboard URL

Visibility and Lifecycle

Every panel carries two simple dimensions: who can open it, and whether it is ready for daily use.
DimensionOptionsMeaning
VisibilityPublic · Shared · PrivateWho is allowed to open the panel
StateDraft · Published · ArchivedDraft while you are still building; Published when operators should rely on it; Archived when you want to retire it without losing the work
Deleting a panel from the list removes that dashboard. Prefer Archived when you want to retire a panel but keep it out of day-to-day use.

Best Practices

Use names that tell you who it is for (for example “Line 3 — Shift Lead”) so the list stays scannable.
Ship a minimal panel with the three signals people ask for most, then add depth once it is in daily use.
Use pumps, valves, and tanks where operators already think in those terms; use charts where trends matter more than mimic layout.
Keep work-in-progress in Draft until labels, ranges, and safety-related controls are verified.

Next Steps

Data Viewer

Browse topics and payloads so you know what to bind each widget to.

AI Assistant

Ask the assistant to suggest layouts, bindings, or improvements to a panel.