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Navigation - Freeze bar at the top of the page to save scrolling
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262 votesHi team, we appreciate all the feedback this idea has received over time. With our reimagined navigation this is something our product teams considered closely, however there is a bit of work involved to achieve what's being asked and we want to be open it's not in the roadmap right now. However, we're keeping a pulse on the feedback here and will be sure to share if there's any progress. Thanks
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Andrew G
supported this idea
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788 votes
Hi team, we have some updates to share. Before we dive into the details, we want to be clear that while we’re committed to monitoring, learning, and refining the Homepage, we don’t intend to return to the previous Dashboard style or its column-based widget layout.
A few months back, we rolled out several enhancements to the "Edit homepage" capability to give you better control over your layout, including:
- Widgets that remain stationary until they are dropped into a new placement
- A "shadow" preview showing exactly where a widget will be placed during drag-and-drop
- Refined animations for a much smoother visual experience
- Improved on-page guidance regarding how to save multiple layouts across different screen sizes
In addition to the existing size options for Chart of Accounts and Cash In and Out, our team is currently building smaller widget sizes for Invoices Owed to You, Bills to Pay, Chart of Account, Cash…
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
@Kelly - you don't need to "return to the previous Dashboard style or its column-based widget layout". You can fix the majority of users' issues by implementing a maximum number of columns option, allowing users to prevent the dashboard switching from 3 to 4 columns when changing screens.
I'm sorry but a simple IF logic statement to check if your calculated column count is greater than a set user preference, and then forcing the result to that user preference if the outcome is true, is really really easy and something you could factor into your improvements without needing to change the design/architecture of the product.
This is clearly a lack of will/desire, and further demonstrates how out of touch product management is with a large portion of the user base.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
For people following my CSS hacks, I've made some tweaks/updates and general improvements... usual disclaimers apply, but feel free to use what you want - if you're using these already, you know what to do.
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
/* Widget border */
.dashboard-template-beta-widget--contents article { border: 1px solid #c0c0c0; }/* Account watchlist compact mode */
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytablerow td { font-size: 12px !important; padding: 4px 16px 4px 0 !important; }/* Restore VAT submissions separator */
.mtd-vat-dashboard-widget-wt-widget-template--body hr { visibility: visible !important; }/* To fix the number of columns, choose one of the following (not both): */
/* Fix columns to 3 columns regardless of screen size */
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important; max-width: 1360px !important; }/* OR */
/* Fix columns to 2 columns regardless of screen size */
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr) !important; max-width: 900px !important; }/* Stretching the Account Watchlist to full height to remove the scrollbar. YOU'LL NEED TO MODIFY THIS! Right-click on your widget and "inspect" source, then count the position of your Account Watchlist widget (widgets are a list of <div> inside a <tr>). The number of rows you need will depend on how many accounts you are watching. */
/* Full height account watchlist - change "8" to actual widget position/index, and "6" to required row count */
.dashboard-template-beta-grid > .dashboard-template-beta-widget:nth-child(8) { grid-area: span 6 / span 1 !important; height: auto !important }
.dashboard-template-beta-widget--contents { height: auto !important }
.accounts-watchlist-widget-AccountsWatchlistWidgetContent { height: auto !important; }}
Important: If you're fixing the number of columns, and/or stretching the account watchlist your widgets need to be in the same position on all dashboard resolutions/sizes (2, 3 and 4 columns). You can still edit dashboard with these hacks in place, ensuring you can get the right set-up.
Hope that's helpful for people. I know some people are using these hacks to make the new dashboard more usable.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
For those interested in a investor's point of view, given some of the sentiment in this thread, Morningstar has published a somewhat interesting analysis.
https://www.morningstar.com.au/stocks/asx-listed-software-provider-joins-global-sell-off
The bit the resonates (for me) with the sentiment expressed in this thread is this...
"Xero’s nearly tripled its total expenditure on product design and development. However, we see little evidence of returns on these investments. Xero today operates mostly in the same markets as it did a decade ago. Therefore, we believe investments in country-specific adaptations of its products do little to explain the 10-fold increase in total expenditure on product design and development over the period. We also don’t see compelling evidence of returns on investment into new features and functionalities. New Zealand, Xero’s most mature market, should reflect increased average revenue per user, or ARPU, if new features and functionalities were valued by customers. Instead, the New Zealand market has only seen low-single-digit growth in ARPU over the past decade, leading us to believe Xero’s small and midsize enterprise, or SME, customers value simplicity, not features and functionalities."
Of course you could read this several ways, but combined with their radio silence in this forum, from my point-of-view I've lost all confidence in their ability in regards to (a) product management, (b) technical/IT implementation, and (c) community management.
The new dashboard should be their biggest hot potato, but instead we see it left to fester and go cold having being dropped on the floor.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
@Kelly Munro -
Any chance of a status update on this issue? There's been no feedback from Xero since November, and it would be good to know (a) what's being worked on to address the issues, and (b) a time frame for the release of improvements.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
It depends what browser you're using. You need to be able to apply custom CSS to specific sites.
If you're using Firefox, it has inbuilt capabilities if you enable the option through the "dangerous" advanced settings. (Go to "about:config", and enable "toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets".) However there's also a "Custom CSS" plugin in the Firefox extensions store. Other browsers also have add-ons and approaches, so just Google search for "<browser> Custom CSS" - for example, the Edge add-on seems to be called "Custom Style Script".
Then you can apply our CSS fixes to Xero, the snippet below adds a border around each widget to make them more readable, and fixes the blue title bar to the top of the window.
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
/* Fix navigation bar */
#shell-nav { position: fixed !important; width: 100% !important; z-index: 1000 !important; }
#shell-app-root { margin-top: 64px !important; }/* Widget border */
.dashboard-template-beta-widget--contents article { border: 1px solid #c0c0c0; }
}We've also been playing around with some other options, I'll add these here for reference, but note that they're not ideal and slightly problematic, so use these at your peril. Realistically, these solutions need be fixed on Xero's side.
/* Fix columns to 3 columns regardless of screen size */
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important; }
.dashboard-template-beta-widget { width: auto !important; height: auto !important; }/* Full height account watchlist */
.dashboard-template-beta-widget--contents { }
.accounts-watchlist-widget-AccountsWatchlistWidgetContent { height: auto !important; }/* Account watchlist compact mode */
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytablecell { font-size: 12px !important; padding: 4px 16px 4px 0 !important; }
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytable > colgroup > col:nth-child(1) { width: 1% !important; }
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytable > colgroup > col:nth-child(2) { width: auto !important; }
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytable > colgroup > col:nth-child(3) { width: 1% !important; }
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytable > colgroup > col:nth-child(4) { width: 1% !important; }If I have time, I'll look to improve these other workarounds - the fix to 3 columns is somewhat redundant given it remembers saved layouts on each of the 2, 3 and 4 column views.
NB: Keep in mind these workarounds could stop working at any point if Xero changes the way the dashboard works/behaves, and modifies the identifiers of their layout.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
So I've played around with the new homepage quite a bit - firstly, it's not a "quick" transition - it records the widget positions for each screen size, so you need to set that up for every screen, every user, etc. This wasn't obvious (or it didn't work) at the beginning.
So a general feedback point here - the dashboard customisation is counter-intuitive compared to other SaaS products out there - this is compounded when there's so little help/information and/or user guide on how to migrate/adapt to the new homepage. Shame that our existing layouts on the old homepage didn't transfer over automatically without a lot of effort on our part.
Secondly there are a number of capabilities missing, which means we end up having different widget placement for each screen and we need to learn/remember which screen has which widgets where. This is not efficient, and potentially error prone (considering the invoices/bills widgets look identical on first glance, title aside).
The following outstanding issues still need to be resolved to aid usability:
1a. Being able to have columns of different lengths - i.e. place widgets in columns, and not in rows. When on wide 3- or 4-column layouts, I am restricted from placing more widgets in the first column and consequently end up with a layout with widgets in column 4 that make no sense.
and/or
1b. provide the ability for filler/spacing widgets to be added, if row-based position must be kept, allowing us to add filler widgets into the 3rd and 4th columns, ensuring that we have a consistent layout in column 1 even when that column naturally has more widgets than any other column combined.
General feedback point here - Xero seems to completely miss the point that as accountants we work in columns - assets, creditors, debtors, etc. - and that's how we'd like to view things on the dashboard. It's impossible to maintain this if you have a lot of bank account widgets.
There are also some usability/efficiency issues that exist, all of which need to be resolved:
2a. Being able to make the Chart of Accounts watchlist widget full height, so it displays ALL accounts being watched without the need to scroll the list within widget itself. This would need some "intelligence" so that it works alongside other widget sizes, and doesn't mess up our column-based positions. As it stands it's easy to miss accounts with balances (which should be zero) and are not immediately visible.
2b. Draft and Needing Approval Bills/Invoices are now indicated "below the fold" on all our screens due to the size of the widget; this is caused by these bits of critical information being moved below the graph, rather than staying above the graph as-in the previous version.
2c. Bank account balance graphs are missing and still need to be restored - we used this to better/easily/efficiently identity bank accounts needing attention, and that has now gone from the dashboard. It means it's yet another click (and less efficiency) compared to what we had before.
2d. A small usability improvement would be for us to set an outline or background shading for each widget according to our needs- specifically, given the stupid nature of the dashboard widget positioning, being able to have creditors in one colour, debtors in another, etc. would improve usability no end.
There's also some other niggles we've fixed ourselves by applying our own CSS: adding a border to the widgets to improve readability, and fixing the top (blue) menu bar so it's always visible on screen. But I'm less worried about these, now we have our own workaround using client-side browser add-ons.
Finally, we're getting increasingly concerned over the radio silence from Xero. No real migration strategy is communicated, a lot of spin/pr/marketing/sales guff on how wonderful this new homepage actually is (which generally shows a lack of understanding of their customer base), a migration window of a few months, and no published roadmap with real detail (yes there's the spin/pr/marketing/sales roadmap, but that doesn't give us dates and migration windows, etc.). Compared to other SaaS providers, it does give us reason to question whether Xero is a platform we want to remain using for the long term. (This is further compounded by comments, backed up by others I've spoken to, where I now know a lot of these issues have been highlighted in feedback sessions with Xero prior to general rollout.)
I do hope ALL of these remaining issues are addressed soon.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
There's quite a lot of feedback on this point now, to the point it's worth delaying any mandatory switch to the new homepage.
What needs to happen:
1. Delay any mandatory switch over to the new homepage while fixes and improvements are made.
2. Allow users to specify the number of columns: 2, 3 or 4 to their preference. Optionally have a "dynamic" option for people that do want to use this feature.
3. Fix the widget scrambling when moving between 2, 3 or 4 columns, and when customising/arranging widgets. For example, if we put all bank accounts in the left-most column, they should stay in the left-most column when arranging other widgets or switching from 3 to 4 column layout.
For the technical minded (or Xero developers): most of the layout fixes are fairly simple CSS adjustments. For those people that use browser-level add-ons and customisations, you can override the Xero site CSS to give you some better control (e.g. to fix the number of columns). Unfortunately, this isn't a solution we can give to our clients/users of Xero, and isn't really useful for people who don't know the technical implementation of this stuff. (If you are interested, you can check my other comments on a related post for the detail.)
Andrew G
supported this idea
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185 votes
Hi everyone, we appreciate and want to thank everyone for feedback on the responsiveness of the new Homepage. This has been shared back with our product teams as they continue to develop this experience.
At this stage, there are no plans to fix the number of columns when using the Homepage. However, our team will continue to monitor usage on this closely.
One recent change we’ve introduced is that the Homepage layout can be saved at each screen size.
For example, if you set up and save the Homepage layout for your laptop and then move to a larger monitor you’ll see this adapt. However, if you ‘edit’ the Homepage and save the layout separately from your monitor Xero will remember the layout for each screen size. You should only need to do this once for each screen you use.
We’re looking at enhancing the edit layout experience soon to…
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
@Elliot - Yes, Xero made some changes to their code on their side. My updated version of the CSS for you is copied below.
In simple terms - replace ".dashboard-template-beta-grid" with ".dashboard-template-grid" - this will fix my hack to pick up based on their recent changes.
For reference, the full CSS I'm applying to the Xero site is copied below, which includes all the changes needed to take account of their recent updates. I still need to do some more work on fixing (in place) the blue menu bar - once I've some time to get to that I'll post another update.
Remember to choose either 2 or 3 columns from the CSS based on your preference - if you copy/paste, it'll be 3 columns, but hopefully there's enough here for you to understand how to get it working.
A.
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
/* Fix navigation bar */
/*
#shell-nav { position: fixed !important; width: 100% !important; z-index: 1000 !important; }
#shell-app-root { margin-top: 64px !important; }
*/
/* Move homepage content header (and edit button) into page header */
.dashboard-template-zone-header {
width: 380px !important;
margin: -50px auto 50px auto !important;
}
/* Widget border */
.dashboard-template-widget--contents article {
border: 1px solid #c0c0c0;
}/* Account watchlist compact mode */
.accounts-watchlist-widget-readonlytablerow td {
font-size: 12px !important;
padding: 4px 16px 4px 0 !important;
}
/* Full height account watchlist - change "11" to actual widget position/index, and "6" to required row count */
.dashboard-template-grid > .dashboard-template-widget:nth-child(11) {
grid-area: span 6 / span 1 !important;
height: auto !important
}
.accounts-watchlist-widget-AccountsWatchlistWidgetContent {
height: auto !important;
}/* Restore VAT submissions separator */
.mtd-vat-dashboard-widget-wt-widget-template--body hr {
visibility: visible !important;
margin-left: 24px !important;
margin-right: 24px !important;
}/* Fix columns to 3 columns regardless of screen size */
.dashboard-template-grid {
grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important;
max-width: 1360px !important;
}/* Fix columns to 2 columns regardless of screen size */
/*
.dashboard-template-grid {
grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr) !important;
max-width: 900px !important;
}
*/}
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
I just posted this in another thread, if you're comfortable installing a CSS addon/plugin to apply your own custom CSS to the Xero site, you can use this hack to fix the number of columns.
Choose either 2 or 3 columns based on your need (delete the lines you do not require):
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
/* EITHER: Fix columns to 3 columns regardless of screen size */
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important; max-width: 1360px !important; }/* OR Fix columns to 2 columns regardless of screen size */
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr) !important; max-width: 900px !important; }
}This will ensure that your fix-column dashboard remains centred in the screen, with the fixed column count.
NB: For anyone using my previous hack to fix the number of columns, I've updated/improved the coding here to work better. Keep in mind you'll need to ensure that every screen resolution (2, 3, and 4 columns) has the correct layout saved as Xero now remembers the saved layout based on screen size.
This does not unfortunately change the ordering left-to-right, which means it does not fix/allow us to have some columns longer in length than other columns (meaning you still cannot have all 50 bank accounts in the first column only).
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Thanks for the update.
I can only reiterate Elliot's remarks below. On the face of it, this sounds to miss the mark, and won't address the concerns we have with the widgets getting scrambled when customising the dashboard, nor when resizing the browser on any given display (e.g. when pinning to the left-side of the screen and reducing browser width by half).
If this update remembers the layout on a per "mode" basis (i.e. 2, 3 and 4 columns, rather than actual browser/screen width) then that's something, but still doesn't help people who only want/need a 2 column layout no matter the browser/screen width.
Overall this feels like the design is being pushed by a technical development team rather than end user scenario and usability analysts.
As an aside, you say you're going to monitor this - how do you propose to do that? You have no visibility if people are using the CSS hacks I shared earlier to fix the number of columns on the dashboard. Are you monitoring screen size, AND browser window size - both or just one? For example, if I'm using my normal browser size then pin to the left-side of the screen, will you see the change in # of columns behaviour in your monitoring when I'm using the same screen?
Edit - I tried saving a layout, and can confirm it remembers per-mode (i.e. 2, 3 or 4 columns) not by screen or browser window size. The problem that still remains is that there are no "blank" or "filler" widgets for the unwanted 3rd and/or 4th column, meaning that this is still problematic when we're trying to maintain consistency of widget placement for our own performance/efficiency when using multiple monitor/screen/browser widths. In effect we have to remember a different layout for every screen/monitor width we use, rather than having a consistent layout tailored to our needs.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Agree with this - I've posted a comment on a similar issue/topic, but the problem comes from the fact it's ordering horizontally left-to-right.
What needs to happen is that when a widget is placed in a column it stays in that column. That widgets in that column move up/down based on where a new widget is being inserted or removed - but widgets should never move sideways between columns.
The whole horizontal ordering issue is not intuitive, and it also breaks when the number of columns change (e.g. from 3 to 4), widgets in the left-most column can suddenly move into the right-hand column.
Technically, this is because they've implemented the design using a grid layout that wraps/flows as a single unit. What should happen is that each column flows as a single unit in their own right, and the columns then flowed side-by-side so the widgets always remain in the column in which they are placed. The technical solution is just bad implementation design and needs to be fixed so the dashboard and customisation of the dashboard is usable, and for the solution implementation to take appropriate account of human/computer interaction and psychology.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
In case it's helpful - if you're able to use a browser add-on to apply specific CSS to a given site, you can fix the number of columns by having your browser apply the following CSS to the Xero homepage.
Appreciate this is quite technical, and not for everyone, but if you're doing this already for other sites, it may be useful to know. Change "3" to the number of columns you want, and adjust width to your preference also.
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important; }
.dashboard-template-beta-widget { width: auto !important }
}Of course, this is not really the solution - only a temporary fix - we need Xero to provide the functionality we're all asking for (and I've since found out, this issue was highlighted during the beta feedback sessions but ignored).
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
There are so many usability issues with the new homepage, and to hear that these have been highlighted well in advance of it going "live" out of beta is sad to hear.
That said, it does sound like you have "solved" some problems with browser adds-ons and workaround, so if it's helpful to you, and you can use an add-on to apply specific CSS to the Xero site, you may find these tweaks useful. This will fix your columns to 3 - but change that number to whatever you need.
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important; }
.dashboard-template-beta-widget { width: auto !important }
}An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
A little update for those that are technically minded (including Xero developers)... you can fix the columns to your preferred layout/size by injecting the following CSS into the Xero site:
@-moz-document domain(go.xero.com) {
.dashboard-template-beta-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) !important; }
.dashboard-template-beta-widget { width: auto !important }
}This won't be for everyone, you need to know how to enable custom/bespoke CSS on a per-site basis ... but it's a useful workaround for people that can get it to work in the short-term.
Maybe also useful for Xero developers.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Totally agree, we need to be able to fix the number of columns AND as somebody else has noted here have the widgets organise themselves within the columns and not rearrange horizontally (scrambling, moving widgets from column 1 to column 4) when switching from a 3 column to 4 column layout.
The new homepage is very problematic for people that use multiple monitor resolutions, different browser sizes (not always maximised for example), and work efficiently with widgets being in the same location (e.g. having all bank accounts always in the left-most column).
Massive oversight by the design team on the new homepage layout behavior.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
When I resize my browser - or when I switch to a different resolution monitor - the number of columns now resizes. It can switch from 3 to 4 columns.
This screws up the layout. I organise by column - having all bank accounts under the left-most column, and when it resizes from 3 to 4 - the widgets are rearranged horizontally meaning all the bank account widgets get moved around - the second widget in the first column now appears in the fourth column.
I should not need to be a on a fixed-size browser or screen resolution to keep the same layout.
The fact that widgets align horizontally is also in issue when configuring the layout - moving widgets is not intuitive when widgets keep moving to maintain a horizontal layout when information is presented in columns. When presenting information in columns, moving the widgets and customization actions should be by column also.
Two things need to change:
1. Allow us to specify the number of columns we need. For those that prefer the old dashboard, being able to fix to 2 columns would be a win, and for those of us that use our browser windows "restored" (i.e. not maximized constantly) and do resize browser windows depending what we're doing, not having the number of shown columns change is essential.
2. When supporting the configuration of the layout, having placed widgets remain in their columns and do not re-align all widgets horizontally. When supporting a column layout, have widgets rearrange within their existing columns.
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23 votes
Hi team, we appreciate the feedback we've received around the need to manually refresh widgets on the homepage for organisations with higher volumes of data.
Our product teams have been paying close attention and monitoring usage and we have recently released an update that will improve the experience for these larger organisations - Reducing the automatic update from 24 hours to 1 hour. Meaning your data is more recent and up to date, and saving you from having to manually refresh as often. 🙂
To reconfirm the rationale and how this works - To help the homepage load efficiently, some widgets in these organisations show data from the last 1 hour by default.
- These widgets are designed to automatically update with the latest figures from the last 1 hour when you log in.
- If you need to see the most up-to-date numbers in-between the 1-hourly automatic updates, simply click the…
Andrew G
supported this idea
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29 votes
Hi team, we wanted to share an update as this will be possible within the new Xero Homepage!
You'll find with the new Chart of accounts watchlist widget you'll be able to reorder by any column in the watchlist 😊
You can currently try out the new Homepage in the demo company. I'll be back to confirm when this is live to all users. Thanks!
Andrew G
supported this idea
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313 votes
Hi team, as you may have seen from our Designer Jen's message this idea is in discovery with the team now doing some testing on early concepts.
We'd love to have your input as part of this and if you'd like to take part we invite you to fill in this quick survey. 📝
While we may not be able to invite everyone into these sessions our team will be in touch over the next few weeks.
I'll be sure to share any further updates on tyhis with you all here. Thanks!
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
As other have noted, it would also be more useful if ALL other widgets worked with the Tasks widget correctly.
VAT actions are also missing, along with draft invoices/bills to approve, not to mention other things I've noticed that I can't remember right now (it was something I missed scanning the new layout and also wasn't flagged in the task widget).
Having accounts with payable amounts (e.g. wages payable, etc.) would also benefit from being flagged if the system knows that payments are being handled manually (i.e. there's no bill pending - which should report as a task anyway - or wages payments wasn't handled via open banking, etc.).
Overall it feels like the Tasks widget could have been a game changer, and yet it seems to report ~25% of the actions that need to be taken.
Perhaps having some form of task priority would help. For example, overdue bills over 30 days are a high priority, overdue bills under 30 days are normal priority, and draft bills are low priority - and we can adjust the view of this widget to display, for example, in date or priority order.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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7 votes
Hi team, thank you for sharing back with us on the new homepage here.
Right now we are working on developing some of the widgets to allow more control of the view and information you see. As an example we are developing the Invoices owed to you and Bill to pay widgets to provide the ability to resize and change the information that is shown.
We will keep you updated on the release of these here.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
The biggest issue with the new design is that when compared to the old dashboard, the new design applies a greater cognitive load to do the same task.
This is not a "learning" or "training" issue as Xero like to keep reiterating to us, but due to a design driven by technical choices rather than a focus on accessibility and/or end-user efficiency.
By far the biggest change/issue comes from the new dashboard preventing us from processing information in simple columns of data with little white-space. Instead it forces widgets into a horizontal layout of all the same height, resulting in some widgets (e.g. chart of accounts) which require scrolling internally within the widget to see all information, and other widgets having an excess of white-space requiring greater scrolling of the page itself.
90% of the issues being raised by people can be solved by switching to a column-first vertical layout with variable height widgets (per the old dashboard), rather than adopting a grid layout with fixed-height rows and widgets that must be a factor of that row height.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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55 votes
Appreciate the extra details shared by everyone here.
We'll continue to get a track of the interest in a specific widget for accessing reports from the Homepage and share if there are any developments planned around this.
Right now, just to highlight what is possible - You can favourite a report from the Reports centre including a custom report you've set up to make this accessible from the Reporting drop down menu in the navigation.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
What's even worse - when you have the profit and loss widget enabled and displayed, clicking the title takes you to Xero's default P&L report - not our version of the modified report.
The problem with Xero's default report (and one reason why I do not trust any of the comparison data presented by the widget re. previous year figures) is that the default report treats Corporation Tax as an Administrative Cost in the report - and as a result there's no accurate pre-tax profit value.
The P&L widget should be comparing like for like - in other words, periods in this financial year when compared to previous year should both be inclusive (or exclusive) of corporation tax - we should compare apples to apples, and oranges to oranges, not mix-and-match to the whim of Xero's default reporting. Given that it links to a broken P&L report, why should I trust what it tells me?
Andrew G
supported this idea
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530 votes
Hi team, while the status of this idea remains unchanged from our last post we did want to provide an update in the channel here.
As shared previously there's the possibility of exploring third-party apps like Google's High Contrast, which allows you to change the colour on your screen so it's easier to read.
Our Xero Accounting app is a bit of a different kettle of fish and for iOS users there is a dark mode available from the 'Appearance' option that you can navigate to from the 3 dot menu in the top right of the app screen.
Though we fully understand and appreciate needs for wanting dark mode, the ability to develop this requires resource from across all areas of product to implement in the web version. Providing dark mode is not on our current roadmap.
If there are any further changes to share we will provide further…
Andrew G
supported this idea
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An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
It's not important or critical for me personally, hence I've not voted, but I certainly +1 this suggestion... in this day an age, and given how easy switching CSS/styles are based on user preferences, there is absolutely no reason to not provide this in this day and age.
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486 votes
Hi everyone, we know being able to have more control over widgets on your Homepage will improve our users experience and want to share a quick progress update on where things are at:
Currently the Cash In & Out and Chart of Accounts Watchlist widgets have toggle options for smaller and larger size options.
Right now, our product team is actively working on expanding and improving size optionality (rather than just the ‘larger’ ‘smaller’ selections) to more widgets - This will include the Invoices Owed to You, Bills to Pay, Chart of Account, Cash in and Out and Recent Invoice payments widgets. The approach we’re taking will give you additional size selections for these widgets, and more customisation of what’s shown within the widgets.
Understanding from feedback, that our customers are looking for even more flexibility beyond these size options, our team is continuing to explore further enhancements that'll be…
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Hi Kelly, not sure if this is to what David refers, but your statement is only correct when there are transactions to reconcile.
When everything is reconciled the CTA button reverts to a "View account transactions" button.
That said, even if you just remove that CTA button, the actual problem will not be rectified as the issue that each widget is fixed height as a factor of the grid's row height will continue to pose issues in the widgets being larger (i.e. taller) than they need to be.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Thanks for the update Kelly, but I'd also like to reiterate what others have noted. The proposed solution to follow the existing widget capabilities of smaller/large sizes does not meet the requirement people are requesting.
Specifically, most people are asking to make some widgets smaller, and/or have a "compact" view with less white space, smaller fonts, etc. (that should naturally flow from having a smaller sized widget), and/or (as in my case) having widgets like Chart of Accounts full height (i.e. taller/longer, not wider, spanning multiple rows in the grid) so that all accounts are shown.
I'm unsure whether the product team at Xero are being deliberately opaque, or whether efficiency and usability of UI is just something Xero product management doesn't understand - but overall, the handling of the new homepage design, technical implementation, and roll-out is not giving Xero a good look.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Hi Kelly, just to follow-up on a comment I've seen made several times in your responses. Specifically this:
"[...] changes to the 'Cash in and out' and 'Chart of accounts' widgets so when customising your view you'll now have the options to 'Make larger' or 'Make smaller'."
This option doesn't really address the main feedback point - at least from my perspective. These options simply "stretch" the widget from 1 to 2 columns, and back again.
With the chart of accounts widget, they do not change the height, and consequently do not get rid of the scrollbar, and still prevent us from seeing the full list easily.
In respect to those widgets with graphs, they simply stretch the graph. If 6 months data is shown in 1 column view, then 6 months is still shown in 2 column view - it would be much better if the additional real estate was also used to increase the actual data shown (e.g. 6 months when the widget is 1 column width, 12 months when the widget is 2 columns wide).
I do appreciate the feedback and updates, but it really does sound in many cases that the product team are really missing the crux of our feedback points, and do not seem to be addressing the underlying usability problems.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Having played around a little more, I'd also suggest that some of the widgets need a "compact" setting - especially the account watch list - to reduce the amount of spacing between each of the rows.
Using both "compact" and being able to resize the height to enable all watched accounts to be shown in a list without the scrollbar would be far better to detect discrepancies quickly.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Make the Chart of Accounts widget resizable in height.
It now has a scrollbar within the widget. I preferred the old widget that shows all the accounts in a list without the scrollbar. Alternatively, provide an option for it to be dynamic in height based on the number of accounts being shown.
I now have to scroll the widget view itself to see important accounts, rather than all accounts being visible immediately. There's a good chance I might miss something important.
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13 votes
Hey team, thanks so much for sharing this idea and the detailed examples – this is really helpful. We’ve move it into the gaining support stage so it can be considered alongside other potential navigation improvements. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to vote and comment to support this idea ✨
Andrew G
supported this idea
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5 votes
Thanks for the feedback here, team. We don't have any plans for enabling the ability to return to a default / initial state of the homepage, for now we'll keep a watchful eye on the support in this idea, here.
However we have a somewhat related idea that our product teams do intend on exploring further around providing template or view options to help users with basic layouts that you may be interested in joining too.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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3 votes
Thanks so much for taking the time to share how the moving graphs on the homepage feel for you – I’m really sorry they’re causing frustration and distraction.
We introduced the animations to help bring key information (like money in and out, or what’s owed and due) to life and make it easier to see changes at a glance when the page first loads, rather than having everything appear as a static block of numbers. The bars “rising” from the baseline are there to show the most up-to-date figures and make comparisons a bit clearer, not to get in the way of your work.
That said, we completely understand that movement on screen doesn’t work well for everyone, and it’s important you can focus on your tasks without visual noise. At the moment there isn’t a way to turn these homepage graphs off, or to disable the animation just for…
Andrew G
supported this idea
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32 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Not only is it incorrect, for some reason when you click on the various links in the widget it takes you to their broken report - even though the P&L report has been fixed/updated by us, and this is now what's linked by default from the various menus - the widgets don't take account of this.
Seriously, this is such an obvious defect and filters through everything, it makes pretty much all of the new analytics widgets pointless.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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15 votes
Appreciate you raising this with us here, Fred.
This is something we're monitoring feedback of and would be good to hear from others on your idea here that'd also appreciate this option further up the widget.
As another simple way of creating an invoice there's the keyboard shortcut '/i' that'll open Search with an option to create 'New invoice'.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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33 votes
Hiya team, appreciate all the input you've each shared with us on the needs in keeping some information private, and less visible to others that may be working close by.
Understanding the needs here, I'd like to share this is a piece of work our team have picked up and in the initial stages of working through.
I'll be sure to keep you updated as this work progresses, here.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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3 votes
Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We understand that having consistent information across mobile and desktop is important, especially when you’re checking balances or making quick decisions on the go.
The suggestion here is to align the bank balance view in the mobile app with the web version, so users can see the same balance details and have a clearer view of their reconciliation position.
We’ve moved this to Gaining Support so we can continue tracking interest and gather more feedback on how this impacts your mobile workflows.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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20 votes
Really good to get this sort of detail about aspects of the homepage that you feel could be condensed or removed to help with your experience of the homepage. We're continuing to get an understanding of community interest around this and hear any further detail of where within the page you feel space is unnecessary. Thanks
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Agree 100%.
I've recommended in other posts that they need to provide an option for the accounts watchlist to show ALL accounts and to remove the scrollbar. (Ideally, this would be through a combination of a "compact" mode to remove excessive spacing, together with additional vertical* resize capabilities.) Unfortunately, current feedback for both of these options is not being progressed - indeed they don't seem to appreciate the inefficiency the new UI has introduced to people's internal processes and workflows.
I only hope this is fixed for everyone quickly.
* The technical issue they've created for themselves is that they've adopted a grid layout, which means that vertically resizing widgets is now more problematic/difficult than it was before (although not impossible) - especially when the content of that widget can be dynamic as with the account watchlist.
An error occurred while saving the comment Andrew G
commented
Agree 100%.
I generally wouldn't mind because you can use the browser zoom to increase/decrease the font size. However this no longer works with Xero because:
a) the number of columns on the homepage changes as you zoom in/out, switching between 2, 3 and 4 columns.
b) the rest of Xero is also impacted by this zoom factor - so you make the homepage look good at a reasonable font size (by zooming out), but then the older pages elsewhere in Xero have such a tiny font they're unreadable.
It's fundamentally bad design to have some pages use large fonts, some pages use small fonts, and for there to be no consistency in the product overall. Makes usability so much worse.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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4 votes
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this. I really appreciate how clearly you’ve explained the impact the new homepage is having for you, especially around feeling overstimulated and losing the clear flow the previous list-style layout gave you.
I can absolutely see why having a list view would make the experience feel more manageable, particularly when you’re working across so many accounts. Your feedback is thoughtful and specific, and it helps show how important flexibility and accessibility are in this space.
We’re moving this feedback into gaining support internally so it can help build visibility around the need for a list-style option and a less overwhelming homepage experience.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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2 votes
Thanks for your feedback on this and sharing how this would be useful to your flows, Lisa. We're taking feedback about this widget on board and considering what additional items would be most useful to customers. I'll be sure to share any updates if there is progress for adding billable expenses to this view.
Andrew G
supported this idea
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I've been working on adding it into my custom CSS for the site - and I have to agree - there's a bunch of stuff which is quick/easy/simple to implement, but they are choosing not to - and furthermore, also choosing to not implement user preferences that would allow us to decide whether we wanted it fixed or not.
I've debugged their React code, and their CSS to make the site work for me, and I have to say, the choices to not implement a specific feature we're asking for here (and also with the fixed/maximum no. of columns on the new dashboard) is just down to desire - the code would be simple to implement (I've looked) and would add a huge amount of value.
Sadly, the days of Xero are numbered for me - I've already stopped recommending them due to my lack of faith in their product management, and am currently investigating alternatives. It doesn't help that I'm going to be slapped with a 20% increase in their monthly cost come September... and for what... everything they're focussed on, isn't helping me.
But I'm sure their CEO on a multi-million dollar salary cares little, they're probably more focussed on the tanking share price. Right now I feel like we're being treated as a cash cow - charge more, deliver less.