Customizing Page Layouts (Pro)

Note: Customizable Page Layouts are a DefectDojo Pro feature. Layout customization is available by default. An administrator can restrict it so that everyone sees a standard layout: see When customization is restricted.

Six view pages in DefectDojo Pro are built from widgets arranged on a grid, and you can rearrange them to suit how you work:

• Organization
• Asset
• Engagement
• Test
• Finding
• Risk Acceptance

Every panel, table, chart, and tab strip on those pages is a widget. You can move it, resize it, retitle it, configure it, remove it, or add one that is not currently shown.

What a layout is#

A layout is a saved arrangement of widgets for one page type. A layout you build for the Asset page applies to every Asset you open, not to one particular Asset.

Layouts come from three places:

• Shipped With DefectDojo: a built-in layout for each of the six pages. This is what you see before you change anything.
• Your Layouts: layouts you have created.
• Shared Templates: layouts someone has published for everyone on the instance.

The Page Layout menu#

Every one of the six pages has a Page Layout button in its toolbar. Opening it lists the layouts available for that page, with the current one marked, and offers:

• Edit Layout: enter edit mode on the layout you are viewing.
• New Layout: create a layout from scratch or from an existing one.
• Manage Layouts: open the full management dialog.

Layouts in the list carry a marker showing where they came from: shipped with DefectDojo, a shared template, or your default.

Making your first change#

The shipped layouts are read only, so the first time you customize a page DefectDojo offers to make you a copy to work in. A Create Your Own Layout prompt appears, you give the layout a name, and Create and Edit puts you straight into edit mode on your new copy. The shipped layout is left untouched, so you can always go back to it.

Editing a layout#

In edit mode:

• Move a widget by dragging it.
• Resize a widget by dragging its edge. The grid has twelve columns, and widgets snap to them.
• Configure Widget opens the widget’s own settings. What is on offer depends on the widget: which columns a table shows, which fields a panel lists, what a chart plots, and so on. You can also retitle a widget here.
• Remove Widget takes it off the layout. You can add it back later.
• Add Widget opens the catalog of widgets available for that page.

Your changes are saved as you go. There is no separate save step. Done leaves edit mode, and anything you changed is already stored.

Creating a layout from scratch#

New Layout asks for a Layout Name and a Start From choice, so you can begin from the shipped layout, from one of your own, or from a shared template. Starting from an existing layout copies it, and the original is unaffected.

Managing layouts#

Manage Layouts lists every layout for the page under the three headings above, and offers:

Sharing a layout and setting the instance-wide default require the Page Layout Share permission, which Maintainer and Owner hold by default. If you do not have it, the sharing controls are not shown. Publishing a shared template applies to the whole instance, not to a single Organization.

Which layout you see#

When you open one of the six pages, DefectDojo picks the first of these that applies:

1. The layout you last chose for that page.
2. Your personal default, if you have set one.
3. The instance-wide shared default, if an administrator has set one.
4. The layout shipped with DefectDojo.

Widgets with nothing to show#

A widget is left out of the page when it has nothing to display, for example a tab for a feature that is turned off, or a table for a record that has no rows. The remaining widgets close the gap, so you do not get holes in the page.

This affects only what is drawn. Your layout is unchanged, and the widget reappears when there is something in it.

In edit mode those widgets are shown as labelled placeholders that say why they are not appearing, so you can still position them.

When customization is restricted#

An administrator can turn on Restrict Layout Customization in Settings > UI Defaults > Layout Defaults. With it on:

• Only superusers can create or change layouts.
• Everyone else sees the layout designated as the default, or the shipped layout when none has been designated.
• The Page Layout menu no longer offers the editing and management actions.

Layouts you saved before the switch was turned on are kept. If it is turned back off, they are available again exactly as they were.

For the administrator’s side of this, see The Sidebar Menu.

The widget catalog#

Which widgets a page offers depends on the page, and Add Widget shows what is available with a short description of each. Widgets come in four shapes:

• Panels present the record’s own fields as a list of labelled values.
• Tables list related records, such as the Engagements on an Asset or the Findings on a Test. These behave like the product’s other data tables, so you can pick columns and sort them.
• Feeds present a running history in date order, such as notes on a record.
• Charts plot the record’s data, such as severity breakdowns and counts over time.

Some widgets appear only when the feature behind them is available to you. For example, the Automation History widget on the Asset and Finding pages shows what the rules engine did to that record and why, so it is offered only when Rules Engine 2.0 is turned on and you hold Rule View.