{"id":307,"date":"2026-04-14T21:50:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/?p=307"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:50:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:50:03","slug":"how-i-built-my-personal-dashboard-and-how-to-tweak-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/how-i-built-my-personal-dashboard-and-how-to-tweak-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Built My Personal Dashboard (and How to Tweak It)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After giving away the dashboard template on the Free Apps<\/a><\/strong> page, someone asked how it actually works. Instead of giving you a dry manual, I thought I\u2019d just let you look over my shoulder while I walk you through how I use it and how I make changes to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Layout: My Daily Workflow<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I open this file, I treat it as my “mission control.” The top section is all about speed. I\u2019ve organized my most-visited sites into columns\u2014Tools, Websites, AI, etc. Instead of typing pagespeed.web.dev<\/code> or digging through a messy bookmark bar, I just click once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below that, I added a Password Generator. I found myself constantly needing secure, random strings for new accounts or Email accounts, so having it built directly into my home screen saved me from having to search for a “random password generator” website every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How I Handle the Code<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you open the file in a code editor<\/a>, it might look like a lot of text, but it\u2019s actually quite intuitive. Here is how I approach editing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The “Hands-Off” Zone<\/strong> There are parts of the code I generally leave alone. The <style><\/code> section at the top controls the dark theme and the layout. While you can change the colors, I usually leave the CSS as is to ensure the grid stays aligned and the buttons look crisp. Similarly, I don’t touch the <script><\/code> section at the bottom\u2014that\u2019s the “engine” that makes the date update and the password generator actually function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Adding My Own Links<\/strong> When I want to add a new site, I look for the <ul><\/code> (unordered list) section. I simply find the category I want and add a new list item. It looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<li><a href=\"https:\/\/yourlink.com\">Your Site Name<\/a><\/li><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I want to start a new category entirely, I just copy one of the div class=\"link-list-column\"<\/code> blocks and paste it right next to the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Adjusting the Password Generator<\/strong>\u00a0I occasionally find that 36 characters is too long for some sites, so I change the\u00a0value=\"36\"<\/code>\u00a0with the up\/down buttons. If I want my default starting length to be shorter, I just change that number to 16 or 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Actual screenshot of the dashboard app<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My Final Verdict<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be honest: when I first started, it was just a small project to stop typing the same URLs over and over. But as I spent an hour or two tailoring it\u2014adding every single link I use for my business and my hobbies\u2014it quickly became my favorite app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is something incredibly satisfying about having a single, lightweight file that belongs to you, runs offline, and puts your entire digital workspace exactly where you want it. Give it a try<\/a>, tweak it until it feels right, and see how much faster your morning routine becomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After giving away the dashboard template on the Free Apps page, someone asked how it actually works. Instead of giving you a dry manual, I thought I\u2019d just let you look over my shoulder while I walk you through how I use it and how I make changes to it. The Layout: My Daily Workflow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guides"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":308,"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beginnerprojects.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}