Using the Essentials Setup Dashboard

Overview

The Essentials Setup Dashboard is a web application that streamlines the initial setup of a Bloomreach Content project. If you created your project using the archetype, the dashboard is automatically built and deployed locally. When your project is running, access the dashboard at:

http://localhost:8080/essentials

Use the dashboard only on your development environment. Do not use it on test, acceptance, or production servers.

If your Bloomreach Content project was not initialized with Essentials—such as projects upgraded from earlier versions—you can still use selected features of the setup application.

Plugin Types

The dashboard supports two types of plugins:

1. Bloomreach Content plugins: These add functionality to your project's CMS and/or site web application. You can install them through the setup dashboard or by manually adding dependencies to your project.
2. Dashboard plugins: These extend the Essentials dashboard itself with additional features.

A Bloomreach Content plugin may include a dashboard plugin, but dashboard plugins can also provide independent functionality within the dashboard.

Installing Plugins

When you install plugins using the Essentials dashboard, you must rebuild and restart your project to apply changes. The dashboard displays a notification in the upper right corner when a rebuild is required.

A rebuild is necessary because dashboard plugins may modify your project's web applications, requiring the affected WAR packages to be rebuilt and redeployed.

Info: You can group multiple changes before rebuilding and restarting your project.

First-Time Access

On your first visit to http://localhost:8080/essentials, the dashboard displays a Welcome page. Here, you must specify global project parameters. Dashboard plugins use these parameters to register new features and configure your project.

Select Get Started to open the plugin Library and begin adding features to your project.

Project Impact

When you use Essentials to configure your project, the dashboard applies changes in two ways:

1. Project files: Dashboard plugins may create or modify files in your project.
2. Local repository: Dashboard plugins may update your project's local JCR repository. To persist these changes when rebuilding a clean repository, they are automatically exported to your project’s repository-data modules using the auto export feature, which is enabled by default for new projects.

Use your version control system (VCS) to track new and modified files. This helps you monitor the impact of dashboard actions and troubleshoot unexpected behavior.

Commit changes regularly to simplify reverting unwanted modifications. Ensure all new files are added to version control.

Returning to the Dashboard

After completing your initial setup, you can return to the dashboard to install additional features or adjust plugin configurations.

If the dashboard does not provide a plugin for a required feature, refer to the Bloomreach Content documentation or the community forums for alternative implementation guidance. You can also create new dashboard plugins or follow tutorials for features not yet supported by the dashboard.