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Getting Started

library(bs4Dashkit)

Overview

bs4Dashkit extends {bs4Dash} by standardizing branding, sidebar behavior, navbar utilities, and theme customization. Every feature is optional — you can adopt as little or as much as you need.

The package is organised around four areas:

  1. Brand and sidebar — dash_titles() + use_bs4Dashkit_core()
  2. Theming — use_dash_theme() and named presets
  3. Navbar — dash_nav_title(), refresh / help buttons, and user menu
  4. Footer — dash_footer() with flexible logo and text positioning

Minimal example

The smallest possible bs4Dashkit app requires exactly two calls beyond normal bs4Dash boilerplate:

library(shiny)
library(bs4Dash)
library(bs4Dashkit)

# 1. Build the brand object
ttl <- dash_titles("My Dashboard", icon = icon("cloud"))

ui <- bs4DashPage(
  title   = ttl$app_name,           # browser tab title
  header  = bs4DashNavbar(title = ttl$brand),
  sidebar = bs4DashSidebar(),
  body    = bs4DashBody(
    use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl)        # 2. always the first call in body and called once
  )
)

server <- function(input, output, session) {}
shinyApp(ui, server)

dash_titles() accepts a single string and sensible defaults handle everything else. When no icon is supplied, the sidebar brand defaults to text-only modes. use_bs4Dashkit_core() loads the CSS dependencies, activates the sidebar brand mode, and applies the default theme.

If you prefer, you can also pass a simple shiny::icon() tag:

ttl <- dash_titles(
  brand_text = "My Dashboard",
  icon = icon("cloud")
)

dash_titles() — the brand object

dash_titles() is the single entry point for all brand-related configuration. It returns a named list with three slots:

Slot Where it goes
ttl$app_name bs4DashPage(title = ...)
ttl$brand bs4DashNavbar(title = ...); the sidebar brand mirrors this automatically in a standard bs4DashPage()
ttl$deps inside bs4DashBody(...) (handled automatically by use_bs4Dashkit_core()) 
ttl <- dash_titles(
  brand_text     = "OLTCR Dashboards",
  icon           = icon("project-diagram"),
  weight         = 700,
  effect         = "shimmer",          # "none" | "glow" | "shimmer" | "emboss"
  glow_color     = "#2f6f8f",
  size           = "20px",
  collapsed      = "icon-text",
  expanded       = "icon-text",
  collapsed_text = "OLT",              # shown when sidebar is collapsed
  expanded_text  = "OLTCR Dashboards",
  brand_divider  = TRUE
)

brand_text is the primary label for the app. It is always used for the navbar brand and is also the default expanded sidebar label. Use expanded_text only when the expanded sidebar should say something different, and use collapsed_text when the collapsed sidebar needs a shorter label. In practice, about 3 characters works best in the narrow collapsed sidebar.

If you want a fully textless icon brand, set brand_text = NULL and keep both sidebar states at "icon-only":

ttl <- dash_titles(
  brand_text = NULL,
  app_name   = "Icon Lab",
  icon       = icon("cloud"),
  collapsed  = "icon-only",
  expanded   = "icon-only"
)

Alternatively, use an image instead of a Font Awesome icon:

ttl <- dash_titles(
  brand_text = "My App",
  icon_img   = "logo.png",        # overrides `icon`
  icon_shape = "rounded"              # "circle" | "rounded" | "square"
)

NB: Place logo.png in your app’s www/ directory.

use_bs4Dashkit_core() — the core entry point

Always place this as the first element inside bs4DashBody(). It:

body = bs4DashBody(
  use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl, preset = "professional"),
  # ... rest of your content
)

Available presets:

use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl, preset = "professional")  # cool blue-grey (default)
use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl, preset = "modern")        # brighter accent colours
use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl, preset = "dark-lite")     # dark surfaces and lighter text
bs4dashkit_theme_presets()                         # list built-in presets

For a runnable template app, use:

app <- bs4dashkit_example_app()

For a fuller interactive playground that exercises sidebar states, hover behavior, presets, navbar controls, and footer styling together, use:

app <- bs4dashkit_demo_app()

You can also launch the packaged example directory directly:

shiny::runApp(system.file("examples", "real-shiny-app", package = "bs4Dashkit"))

That packaged example contains the full app code directly in inst/examples/real-shiny-app/app.R, so it can be read, modified, and run as a standalone reference app.

There is also a heavier shipped example that exercises the navbar title alignment controls, sidebar text sizing and weights, icon-only branding, and theme presets together:

shiny::runApp(system.file("examples", "test-all", package = "bs4Dashkit"))

Global options

Set package-level defaults once (e.g. in your global.R) so every app in a project inherits them:

options(
  bs4Dashkit.sidebar.collapsed = "icon-only",
  bs4Dashkit.sidebar.expanded  = "icon-text",
  bs4Dashkit.brand_divider     = TRUE,
  bs4Dashkit.accent            = "#2f6f8f",
  bs4Dashkit.theme_preset      = "professional"
)

If preset = NULL, use_bs4Dashkit_core() uses the package option bs4Dashkit.theme_preset (if set). If accent = NULL, it uses bs4Dashkit.accent.

use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl, preset = NULL) # uses option if set
use_bs4Dashkit_core(ttl, accent = NULL) # uses option if set

dash_titles() reads these options when the corresponding arguments are NULL, so you can omit them from individual calls.

Troubleshooting

What next?

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.