Thanks! Still 2 more episodes to come, if you can believe it. The next one will be really cool, I figured out a better way to handle the code for the lights. Makes life way easier when adding new stuff! That'll be in the basement video. After that is outdoor, security, and info - plus a few other odds n ends that I couldn't live without. Thanks for watching!!
It's not done yet! Part 4 is already recorded and I'm working on editing it, that will cover the Second floor. I had originally planned two more parts - basement, and then the other main page tabs. We'll see if I'm able to pull it off. I think I can! Thanks for watching!
A lot of the stuff that is being done in YAML in these videos can be done via the UI as well. Some of the colour settings may need YAML, but most of the basic functionality can be done in the UI. I don't mind playing with YAML, but to see how much can be done without YAML, I did make a test dashboard, based around these tutuorials, using just the UI. Some of it is not possible, but you can still get a very functional and informative dashboard without touching the YAML files.
Agreed. Mushroom cards can absolutely be done UI-only, but as you pointed out, *some* of the stuff is code-only. If I have to go to code, I may as well just do it all in code is kind of my thought. And for some stuff, like the environment card or battery card or the piles of mushroom chips for temperature or motion or the like, it's really just the exact same thing, over and over and over and over again, but changing the sensor - so it's actually faster to do in code than it is clicking hundreds of times anyway. Write it once, copy/paste 5 times, then just edit the device or sensor and call it done.
Jeff, like the series for ideas and to see another approach. All the YAML is just scary. Everyone's home, automation, and UI design/experiences are going to be different. So, it's hard to do a series that will continuously draw views. But please finish it. Hoping the HA folks will make 2024 the year of the UI/Dashboard and work on consistent view strategies, tile drap and drop, and make the whole new user dashboard experience a lot better. There have been little pieces of improvement for the last year or so. Just need to get a major push going. Experiences users don't need or want it, but it is critical to new users and to expand the HA base against the new upstarts - Homey, etc.
I'm working on it! Hopefully I'm able to get it all done in December still to keep with the theme, but either way, it'll get finished. As for the rest of the thoughts... I really, REALLY want to agree with you - and at some level, I do agree. In a pie-in-the-sky sort of way, anyhow. I mean, yeah - it would be AWESOME if it was all just drag-n-drop, and everything was super easy. The reality of it is that as an open source project, anyone is free to write anything they want that can be used, installed, or otherwise interface with the system. Those people that write the code, are, of course, developers/programmers/coders/whatever you want to call them. Those types of people have no issues with YAML or any other type of code, for that matter, so 9 times out of 10 they aren't going to bother with making it easy to implement or drag-n-drop or anything else. Sure, a lot of the CORE stuff, the built-in cards, that could be made to operate in such a manner, but all the cool stuff you get from HACS? I just don't see that happening. Everyone who develops anything for HACS does so for free, on their own time, and their own dime. Their goal will be to get it working well enough to be error-free, and documented, and call it done. I think because of that, all the *really* cool stuff will always fall towards the more difficult end of the spectrum in terms of implementation, since it seems like most of the *really* cool stuff comes from HACS, while HA itself has turned into more of a "framework" for leveraging these various bolt-ons. I really do agree that it can certainly be daunting for new, non-technical users who have never looked at any of this type of stuff before, and have never delved into it. And maybe this series has gotten a bit ahead of itself, and I need to do a video or three focusing on what YAML is, how it works, how to write it, and help people to understand better and not be afraid of it. Anything that helps meet my goal of making Home Assistant and smart home tech more accessible to the average person is definitely something I want to do with this channel. Thank you so much for your thought-provoking feedback, as well as your words of encouragement, and thank you for your continued support! :)
Given your dashboards are basically just one Vertical Stack card, with other cards nested inside, and you seem to use Chips instead of Badges, have you considered changing the tab view from standard to a Panel view? This still works similar, except it will make the card take up the entire screen rather than a card in the middle. Just a thought :)
I haven't actually thought of that before, no.. This is like... v2.5 of my dashboard, I guess? 1.x was the standard buttons and switches and default built in nonsense, 2.0 was "mushroom chips are cool!" and then this one is mushroom chips, but with a bit more thought into workflow and subtle notification/information display. I'll have to look into panel view - if not for all my dashboards, definitely at least for pc and tablet. The single vertical stack works GREAT for mobile devices, which is honestly probably 85-90% of my use. The wall-mounted tablet in the kitchen is really more of a novelty than anything else. Guests can use it, and it's usually in the QR code for my guest wifi. My wife uses it in the morning to make sure her vehicle started using her remote start, but that's about it. My usage is almost exclusively on my phone, and my editing & automation & coding and stuff is on pc. I also use pc to control the lighting in my office since it's right there and convenient, but that's about it. How does panel view work on mobile devices? Any noticeable change from what I'm currently doing? Thank you so much for the info, and thanks for watching!!
Great work have enjoyed watching and learning. There is also something new to pick up and use.
Thanks! Still 2 more episodes to come, if you can believe it. The next one will be really cool, I figured out a better way to handle the code for the lights. Makes life way easier when adding new stuff! That'll be in the basement video. After that is outdoor, security, and info - plus a few other odds n ends that I couldn't live without.
Thanks for watching!!
The series does have great information but it is just hard to make yaml coding fun for most , IMO, thanks for completing the series. Merry Christmas!
It's not done yet! Part 4 is already recorded and I'm working on editing it, that will cover the Second floor. I had originally planned two more parts - basement, and then the other main page tabs. We'll see if I'm able to pull it off. I think I can! Thanks for watching!
A lot of the stuff that is being done in YAML in these videos can be done via the UI as well. Some of the colour settings may need YAML, but most of the basic functionality can be done in the UI. I don't mind playing with YAML, but to see how much can be done without YAML, I did make a test dashboard, based around these tutuorials, using just the UI. Some of it is not possible, but you can still get a very functional and informative dashboard without touching the YAML files.
Agreed. Mushroom cards can absolutely be done UI-only, but as you pointed out, *some* of the stuff is code-only. If I have to go to code, I may as well just do it all in code is kind of my thought. And for some stuff, like the environment card or battery card or the piles of mushroom chips for temperature or motion or the like, it's really just the exact same thing, over and over and over and over again, but changing the sensor - so it's actually faster to do in code than it is clicking hundreds of times anyway. Write it once, copy/paste 5 times, then just edit the device or sensor and call it done.
HA! Nice shirt! Thanks for the video! Merry Christmas!
Thanks!! Merry Christmas, and thanks for watching!
Jeff, like the series for ideas and to see another approach. All the YAML is just scary. Everyone's home, automation, and UI design/experiences are going to be different. So, it's hard to do a series that will continuously draw views. But please finish it.
Hoping the HA folks will make 2024 the year of the UI/Dashboard and work on consistent view strategies, tile drap and drop, and make the whole new user dashboard experience a lot better. There have been little pieces of improvement for the last year or so. Just need to get a major push going. Experiences users don't need or want it, but it is critical to new users and to expand the HA base against the new upstarts - Homey, etc.
I'm working on it! Hopefully I'm able to get it all done in December still to keep with the theme, but either way, it'll get finished.
As for the rest of the thoughts... I really, REALLY want to agree with you - and at some level, I do agree. In a pie-in-the-sky sort of way, anyhow. I mean, yeah - it would be AWESOME if it was all just drag-n-drop, and everything was super easy. The reality of it is that as an open source project, anyone is free to write anything they want that can be used, installed, or otherwise interface with the system. Those people that write the code, are, of course, developers/programmers/coders/whatever you want to call them. Those types of people have no issues with YAML or any other type of code, for that matter, so 9 times out of 10 they aren't going to bother with making it easy to implement or drag-n-drop or anything else. Sure, a lot of the CORE stuff, the built-in cards, that could be made to operate in such a manner, but all the cool stuff you get from HACS? I just don't see that happening. Everyone who develops anything for HACS does so for free, on their own time, and their own dime. Their goal will be to get it working well enough to be error-free, and documented, and call it done.
I think because of that, all the *really* cool stuff will always fall towards the more difficult end of the spectrum in terms of implementation, since it seems like most of the *really* cool stuff comes from HACS, while HA itself has turned into more of a "framework" for leveraging these various bolt-ons.
I really do agree that it can certainly be daunting for new, non-technical users who have never looked at any of this type of stuff before, and have never delved into it. And maybe this series has gotten a bit ahead of itself, and I need to do a video or three focusing on what YAML is, how it works, how to write it, and help people to understand better and not be afraid of it.
Anything that helps meet my goal of making Home Assistant and smart home tech more accessible to the average person is definitely something I want to do with this channel.
Thank you so much for your thought-provoking feedback, as well as your words of encouragement, and thank you for your continued support! :)
Given your dashboards are basically just one Vertical Stack card, with other cards nested inside, and you seem to use Chips instead of Badges, have you considered changing the tab view from standard to a Panel view? This still works similar, except it will make the card take up the entire screen rather than a card in the middle. Just a thought :)
I haven't actually thought of that before, no.. This is like... v2.5 of my dashboard, I guess? 1.x was the standard buttons and switches and default built in nonsense, 2.0 was "mushroom chips are cool!" and then this one is mushroom chips, but with a bit more thought into workflow and subtle notification/information display. I'll have to look into panel view - if not for all my dashboards, definitely at least for pc and tablet. The single vertical stack works GREAT for mobile devices, which is honestly probably 85-90% of my use. The wall-mounted tablet in the kitchen is really more of a novelty than anything else. Guests can use it, and it's usually in the QR code for my guest wifi. My wife uses it in the morning to make sure her vehicle started using her remote start, but that's about it. My usage is almost exclusively on my phone, and my editing & automation & coding and stuff is on pc. I also use pc to control the lighting in my office since it's right there and convenient, but that's about it.
How does panel view work on mobile devices? Any noticeable change from what I'm currently doing?
Thank you so much for the info, and thanks for watching!!
😊