This add-on is operated by AdminBox
A secure admin dashboard for managing your Heroku app that works out of the box
AdminBox
Last updated January 07, 2017
This is a draft article - the text and URL may change in the future. This article is unlisted. Only those with the link can access it.
The AdminBox add-on is currently in beta.
Table of Contents
AdminBox is the admin dashboard you wish you had time to build! Admin dashboards are an essential part of any serious application. They give you a window into your data, let you see how various metrics are performing, and manage your users and their purchases.
However it’s always a time-suck getting them set up. There are decent open source solutions, but they still require a good deal of code and configuration. And then, you’d have to build things like charts, alerting, Google login and integrations with services like Stripe yourself.
That’s why AdminBox exists. It’s a powerful and secure admin dashboard that works out of the proverbial box. With no code, you can get your dashboard up and running in just a few minutes. And if you need more advanced functionality, open source SDKs make integration with your app painless.
Using AdminBox for you admin dashboard saves you time and effort, and allows you to focus on building out user-facing features rather than spending time making an admin dashboard that only you and your employees will see.
Provisioning the add-on
AdminBox can be attached to a Heroku application via the CLI:
A list of all plans available can be found here.
$ heroku addons:create adminbox
-----> Adding adminbox to sharp-mountain-4005... done, v18 (free)
You can also add it to your app
Configuring AdminBox
Once AdminBox has been added to your Heroku app, you’ll need to complete the setup in your new admin dashboard. You can open the dashboard by running the following:
$ heroku addons:open adminbox
This will log you into AdminBox using Heroku’s SSO, and bring you to the setup wizard for you project.
Step 1: Project Settings
The first step is to name your project and choose a subdomain for it. You’ll be able to access your at yourproject.adminbox.co
, and you can set up a custom domain like admin.yourproject.com
later.
Step 2: Database URL
Next, you’ll need to provide your database url so that AdminBox can connect to your database.
We take security seriously. After receiving your Database URL over a secure SSL connection, we encrypt it before storing it along with its own initialization vector (IV). This way there’s no single key to decrypt the value. Additionally, AdminBox doesn’t store any records from your database — all info is simply passed through to your browser.
You can use the following command to get the config variable from Heroku and copy it to your clipboard:
$ heroku config:get DATABASE_URL | pbcopy
Step 3: Select Active Tables
Once your database connection is established, you can decide which tables you’d like to make visible in AdminBox. You can always change this later.
Setup Complete
With the setup complete, you’ll be redirected to your new AdminBox project where you can get started analyzing your tables, creating charts, and setting up integrations!
Dashboard
For more information on the features available within the AdminBox dashboard please see the docs at docs.adminbox.co.
The AdminBox dashboard allows you to analyze your database tables, create charts from them, and integrate with the services you use.
The dashboard can be accessed via the CLI:
$ heroku addons:open adminbox
Opening adminbox for sharp-mountain-4005
or by visiting the Heroku Dashboard and selecting AdminBox from the Add-ons menu.
Migrating between plans
Use the heroku addons:upgrade
command to migrate to a new plan.
$ heroku addons:upgrade adminbox:startup
-----> Upgrading adminbox:newplan to sharp-mountain-4005... done, v18 ($49/mo)
Your plan has been updated to: adminbox:startup
Removing the add-on
AdminBox can be removed via the CLI.
This will destroy all associated data and cannot be undone!
$ heroku addons:destroy adminbox
-----> Removing adminbox from sharp-mountain-4005... done, v20 (free)
Support
All AdminBox support and runtime issues should be submitted via one of the Heroku Support channels. Any non-support related issues or product feedback is welcome at hey@adminbox.co or on twitter @admin_box.