Allow plugins to add config sections to the chrome ui

[trevan]

With the addition of the chromeNavControlsRegistry, plugins are able to add items to the nav bar at the top. It would be nice if the plugins could also register config dropdowns. I think it should be tied with the chromeNavControls so that you could register both a navbar and a config together.

[spalger]

I agree, with the design update the navbar is changing in such a way that we don't really have a chrome at the top of the page. I don't know if the chromeNavControlsRegistry will stick around for much longer.

You might be better off trying to write a sledgehammer for now.

[trevan]

@spalger, where are the "config" sections going in the new design? And I've seen some talk about the sledgehammer, do you have any more info?

[spalger]

The <config> directives will stay where they are in the overall UI, but I think they are going to need to be implemented per app, because the new design merges the chrome and app nav/task bars. Because of that the chrome might not have as much control over what goes where.

It's really up to @jbudz and @panda01 I think, they're working on the implementation.

As for the sledgehammer deal, checkout the updated description I popped into the pr #6122

[trevan]

Thanks for the clarification.

[trevan]

@spalger, here's my idea on how to implement this:

Create a new registry.
Objects in this registry would implement both a navbar control and a config control.
Modify the kbnChromeAppendNavControls to read from this registry as well.
Convert the timepicker code to go through this registry.

I don't think I'll convert the appSwitcher since that looks to be going away in the new design. Also, I'm combining both the navbar control and config control under the same object because I need to be able to share the ConfigTemplate between the two.

[spalger]

Yeah, that's the design I would like to implement as well, once the app switcher is converted and we figure out what we're going to do with the taskbar in the new layout.

[trevan]

Are you ok with me working on this or should I hold off until you've figured out the new layout?

[trevan]

@spalger, I created a pull request for this.

[cjcenizal]

@spalger Do you think this issue can/should be closed? Is it still applicable?

[spalger]

Yeah. This is possible using the ui/registry/navbar_extensions registry to add controls or templates from a plugin. See http://github.com/elastic/kibana/blob/deec2ebfe36ea2c88dc5f3d560ea79e40223c4f7/src/core_plugins/console/public/src/controllers/sense_top_nav_controller.js#L7-L32 for usage