So Mozilla is going all-in on Phabricator and Differential as a code review tool. I have mixed feelings on this, not least because it’s support for patch series is more manual than I’d like. But since this is the choice Mozilla has made I might as well start to get used to it. One of the first things you see when you log into Phabricator is a default view full of information.

It’s a little overwhelming for my tastes. The Recent Activity section in particular is more than I need, it seems to list anything anyone has done with Phabricator recently. Sorry Ted, but I don’t care about that review comment you posted. Likewise the Active Reviews section seems very full when it is barely listing any reviews.

But here’s the good news. Phabricator lets you create your own dashboards to use as your default view. It’s a bit tricky to figure out so here is a quick crash course.

Click on Dashboards on the left menu. Click on Create Dashboard in the top right, make your choices then hit Continue. I recommend starting with an empty Dashboard so you can just add what you want to it. Everything on the next screen can be modified later but you probably want to make your dashboard only visible to you. Once created click “Install Dashboard” at the top right and it will be added to the menu on the left and be the default screen when you load Phabricator.

Now you have to add searches to your dashboard. Go to Differential’s advanced search. Fill out the form to search for what you want. A quick example. Set “Reviewers” to “Current Viewer”, “Statuses” to “Needs Review”, then click Search. You should see any revisions waiting on you to review them. Tinker with the search settings and search all you like. Once you’re happy click “Use Results” and “Add to Dashboard”. Give your search a name and select your dashboard. Now your dashboard will display your search whenever loaded. Add as many searches as you like!

Here is my very simple dashboard that lists anything I have to review, revisions I am currently working on and an archive of closed work:

Like it? I made it public and you can see it and install it to use yourself if you like!