As concert rigs and theater productions grow, a live dashboard can quickly become overwhelmed with dozens of faders, color wheels, and trigger pads. Searching for the right control in a crowded, unorganized grid during a dark live performance leads to costly mistakes.
The Group Container Widget (group) brings hierarchical structure and spatial organization to your Live Dashboard. It packages related widgets into clean, titled, collapsible panels, keeping high-density control surfaces tidy and intuitive.
🗂️ Architectural Features & Workspace Hygiene
1. Descriptive Custom Headers
Assign meaningful names and visual identity to each zone:
- By Physical Rig Location: Front Stage Washes, Back Truss Beams, Side Fill Profiles, Audience Blinders.
- By Operational Function: Main Song Cues, Atmospheric & Worklights, Live Audio Reactive FX.
2. Collapsible Accordion Panels
Every group container includes a collapse toggle in its header:
- Focus on Active Performance Zones: During the main concert set, collapse auxiliary groups (such as house worklights, intermission scenes, and haze controls) to keep the screen uncluttered.
- Instant Expansion: A single click re-opens the container whenever utility adjustments are needed.
- Screen Real Estate Optimization: Essential for lighting operators running shows on compact laptop screens or auxiliary remote tablets.
3. Nesting Diverse Control Widgets
A Group Container can host any combination of child widgets:
- Place a Device Control Widget for moving heads alongside a Function Widget containing their position presets.
- Pair a Node Graph Widget with a Keyframe Animation Widget for unified dynamic effects control.
🎪 Recommended Production Layouts
| Stage Hierarchy | Recommended Nested Widgets | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1: Master Playback | Function Widget (Global Cues), BPM / Tap block | Central show flow, blackout, and verse/chorus transitions. |
| Zone 2: Primary Fixture Control | Device Controls (Beams & Washes in Tag Mode) | Live color picking, Pan/Tilt positioning, and dimmer trims. |
| Zone 3: Special FX & Atmosphere | Node Graph Macros, Smoke/Haze faders, Strobe jump pads | Sound-reactive bursts, blinder flashes, and fog levels. |
| Zone 4: Utility & House Lights | Collapsible simple button grid (Worklights, Walk-In look) | Pre-show and post-show venue management. |
🛠️ Configuration & Grid Management
- Add Group: Click Add Widget in dashboard edit mode and select Group.
- Set Title: Enter a descriptive group label in widget properties.
- Move & Nest: Use a card's Move to Group action to choose its group or return it to the root.
- Resize: Drag the container's resize handle; child widgets automatically reflow inside the grid.
Read more in the Live Dashboard Guide and the Function Widget Manual.
Add widgets inside a group
Use the group's widget-creation action to add Functions and other supported widget types, using the same choices as the main dashboard. Device Control inside a group can target a fixture tag. Nested placement is a dashboard layout choice; the widget retains its own function or device target. In Edit mode, hover over a gap and click the insertion line or + to open the searchable Add Widget menu at that position. You can insert before the first child, between children or after the last child, including in nested groups and wrapped Row or Column layouts. The indicator and menu do not change the group's spacing; children reflow only after a widget is created. See Insert a widget at a specific position.
Cancelling the menu or target picker adds nothing. If the target group or its child order changes while choosing, the pending insertion is cancelled. On touch screens or in an empty group, use the existing Add Widget action to append a child.
Reorder widgets inside a group
In Edit mode, drag the grip to the left of a child widget's movement arrows. The insertion line follows the group's Row or Column direction, including wrapped layouts. Release to apply the new order; Escape or releasing outside that group cancels it. Dragging a group's own grip reorders the entire group within its parent list.
Dragging does not transfer cards between groups. Use Move to Group for that. On touch-capable devices, grips require the experimental flag described in Dashboard customization. Save the project to keep the new order.