What is the Dashboard?
The dashboard is your 'home' screen (activity), where users can navigate through all the activities (features) in your app. This is what your end users will see the first time they launch your application and where they will go when they press the icon or logo in the action bar.
The dashboard will display "buttons" representing each activity that you have added to your application. The "buttons" are constructed using the name of each activity and the icon that you assigned to it. Both of these settings are configured on the individual activity's properties page.
Dashboard Settings
Set the overall look of your dashboard here. If you're using a background image, you may want to consider showing a tiled 'texture' graphic as it will look great on all devices - both phones and tablets.
Dashboard Type
Classic
The Classic dashboard type automatically lays out activity icons using optimal spacing. This is the classic look of a dashboard. See example image below:
List
The List dashboard type shows activities as a list with icons and text aligned to the left. See example image below:
Button Grid
The Button Grid dashboard type shows activities as a 2 column grid of buttons containing icons and text aligned to the left of each button. See example image below:
Gallery
The Gallery dashboard type shows activities as a 2 column grid of buttons containing images and a text overlay. This type is useful when you want to represent your activities with images instead of icons. See example image below:
Show Banner Ads on Dashboard
This setting controls whether or not banner ads will be shown at the bottom of the dashboard when Banner Ads are enabled. You can configure Banner Ads on the Monetization tab of your Andromo project.
Show Social Sharing Button
This setting controls whether or not a share icon will be shown on the dashboard. This option enables your users to share a link to your app in the chosen app store.
Background Image
Show a background image on the dashboard. Full size images will be cropped to fit when they're displayed. If you're looking for more of a textured background, you'll want to use a small image such as 256 x 256 and set the Background Image Tiling option to "Repeat" or "Mirror".
Background Image Tiling
This setting allows you to control how your background image will be displayed. Choose from the following options:
- Repeat - Create a texture or pattern by filling the background repeatedly with your image.
- Mirror - Create a texture or pattern by filling the background repeatedly with your image, but mirroring it.
- Not Titled - Choose this option if you're using a full size background image.
Dashboard Header
The header area is perfect for jazzing up your app's dashboard. This section usually contains a logo or other graphical element that appears either at the top of the screen or along the left-hand side.
Mode
This setting controls the visibility of the dashboard header. Choose from the following options:
- No header area - Don't show a dashboard header area.
- Show in portrait mode - Only show the header area when the dashboard is shown in portrait orientation.
- Show in landscape mode - Only show the header area when the dashboard is shown in landscape orientation.
- Show in both portrait and landscape modes - Show the header area when the dashboard is in both landscape and portrait orientations.
Background Visibility
This setting controls the visibility of the header area background. If an image is shown, it's the visible area behind the image. Choose from the following:
- Transparent - Make the header area background transparent.
- Translucent- Make the header area background translucent. This will make the chosen header Background Color translucent.
- Solid- Make the header area background solid. This will show the chosen header Background Color.
Background Color
The background color for the header area.
Portrait Mode Settings
The following settings are used when portrait mode is enabled:
Header Area Size
The height of the header area in portrait mode. Choose from the following sizes:
- Small - Makes the header area fill approximately 10% of the dashboard's height.
- Medium - Makes the header area fill approximately 25% of the dashboard's height.
- Large - Makes the header area fill approximately 40% of the dashboard's height.
- Fit to Image - Determines the height of the header area based on the size and aspect ratio of the header image (up to a maximum area).
Image Alignment
The alignment of the header image within the header area. Choose from the following options:
- Left - Aligns the header image to the left.
- Center - Centers the header image within the header area.
- Right - Aligns the header image to the right.
Landscape Mode Settings
The following settings are used when landscape mode is enabled:
Placement
Controls whether the header area appears on top, or on the left when landscape mode is enabled:
- Header on Top - Shows the header area at the top of the dashboard.
- Header on Left - Shows the header area on the left side of the dashboard.
Header Area Size
The height or width of the header area in landscape mode, based on the chosen Placement. Choose from the following sizes:
- Small - Makes the header area fill approximately 10% of the dashboard's height or width.
- Medium - Makes the header area fill approximately 20% of the dashboard's height or width.
- Large - Makes the header area fill approximately 30% of the dashboard's height or width.
- Fit to Image - Determines the height or width of the header area based on the size and aspect ratio of the header image (up to a maximum area).
Image Alignment
The alignment of the header image within the header area. Choose from the following options:
- Top (or Left) - Aligns the header image to the top when Placement is set to "Header on Left", or to the left whenPlacement is set to "Header on Top".
- Middle - Centers the header image within the header area.
- Bottom (or Right) - Aligns the header image to the bottom when Placement is set to "Header on Left", or to the right when Placement is set to "Header on Top".
Activity Area
The activity area is the section of the dashboard that your users will interact with to select among your app's various activities. We recommend that you try using the default setting before doing anything else. The defaults have been chosen to look good no matter which Dashboard Type you have selected above.
Customize the Activity Area / Override Defaults
Enabling this setting allows you to customize the following activity area settings:
Style
The style of the activity area. Choose from the following options:
- Full - Makes the activity area fill the width of the dashboard.
- Padded - Leaves some padding around the activity area to show some of the dashboard's background.
Alignment
The alignment of the activity area. Choose from the following options:
- Top - Aligns the activity area to the top of the dashboard (below the header area).
- Middle - Centers the activity area on the dashboard (below the header area).
- Bottom - Aligns the activity area to the bottom of the dashboard.
- Stretched - Stretches the activity area vertically to fill the dashboard's height.
Background Visibility
The visibility of the activity background area. Choose from the following options:
- Invisible - Makes the activity background area invisible. This will show the dashboard's background behind the activity icons.
- Translucent - Makes the activity background area translucent. This will show a translucent Background Color.
- Solid - Makes the activity background solid, showing the activity area's Background Color.
- Automatic - This option will automatically choose the best settings based on the current Dashboard Type.
Background Color
The activity area's background color.
Activity Items
This setting controls how to display your activity items on the dashboard. Choose from the following options:
- Show Icons and Text - Show both icons and text for the activity items.
- Show Icons Only - Only shows the icons for the activity items. No titles or subtitles are shown.
- Show Text Only - Only shows text for the activity items. Activity icons will not be shown.
Title Color
The color to use for the activity names on the dashboard.
Show Subtitle Text
Whether or not to show subtitle text for the activity items on the dashboard. When this option is enabled, each activity'sDescription text will be shown below it's activity name (subtitles may not be visible on all dashboard types).
Subtitle Color
The color to use for the subtitle text on the dashboard.