---
title: "Dashboard Widget"
description: "A dedicated dashboard widget that displays all version information in an at-a-glance format on your WordPress Dashboard."
url: "https://docs.versioninfoplugin.com/display-locations-dashboard-widget/"
---
A dedicated dashboard widget that displays all version information in an at-a-glance format on your WordPress Dashboard.

# Dashboard Widget

The Dashboard Widget adds a dedicated "Version Info" meta box to the main WordPress Dashboard screen, giving you an organized view of your site's technical stack every time you log in.

### What It Displays

In its baseline (free) form the widget shows the following information in a clean, structured layout:

*   **WordPress** version (with update link if available)
*   **PHP** version
*   **MySQL** version
*   **Web Server** software

With a PRO license active, the widget also gains an **Environment** row and a **Database Size** row by default.

### Live System Resources (PRO) *(2.0.2+)*

PRO licenses unlock a second toggle in **Settings > Version Info > General** called **"Show Live System Resources in Dashboard Widget"**. The child row appears dynamically once the parent dashboard-widget toggle is enabled. With both options checked, the dashboard widget surfaces the full collected dataset (25+ rows in semantic groups):

![Version Info dashboard widget with live system resources, CPU and memory sparklines, server location, uptime, and 25+ rows of WordPress and server diagnostics](../images/dashboard-widget-live-system-resources.png)

The full PRO dashboard widget — live CPU/memory bars with inline-SVG sparklines, auto-detected server location, uptime, database stats, and every other 2.0.2 row in semantic groups.

*   **Identity:** Environment (with detection source), Server Location, Server OS, Hostname, Server IP, Server Port, Document Root, Uptime
*   **Live resources:** CPU Load (percent bar + inline-SVG sparkline + 1/5/15-minute load averages + core count), Memory Usage (system memory bar + sparkline + used / total), PHP Memory, PHP Peak Memory, Disk Usage (percent bar + used / total of `ABSPATH`)
*   **Database:** Database Size (total + table count + data/index split), DB Max Connections, DB Max Packet Size
*   **PHP runtime:** PHP Limits (memory\_limit, max\_execution\_time, upload\_max\_filesize, post\_max\_size, max\_input\_vars), PHP Modules (every loaded extension with version, collapsible)
*   **WordPress status:** WordPress Core update availability, Plugins (active / total / updates), Active Theme + version, Themes (installed / updates), Cron (next-event / overdue summary)
*   **Diagnostics:** Health Advisor critical/warning/good counts, Last Version Change
*   **Misc config:** HTTPS, WP\_DEBUG + debug.log size, Object Cache backend, WP and PHP Timezones

The CPU and Memory bars (plus their sparklines) redraw in place on every WordPress Heartbeat tick (15-second cadence on the Dashboard screen). Each sparkline keeps a rolling 30-sample history in browser memory — that's roughly 7.5 minutes of recent direction-of-travel at the dashboard cadence. The sparkline stroke uses the same green / orange / red thresholds (70% / 90%) as the bar so a row turning red is reinforced visually in two places.

Aggregate values that don't change second-to-second (disk, plugin counts, cron, PHP limits, server location, uptime, OS, hostname, IP, etc.) are gathered behind a 5-minute transient — filterable via the `version_info_widget_extras_ttl` filter — so the widget stays snappy regardless of installation size. Server Location specifically uses its own 30-day transient (`vi_server_location`) on top, because location doesn't drift.

### Enabling / Disabling

The Dashboard Widget is **disabled by default**. To enable it:

1.  Navigate to **Settings > Version Info > General**.
2.  Check **Show Version Info as Dashboard Widget**.
3.  (Optional, PRO) Check **Show Live System Resources in Dashboard Widget** to enable the full live HUD described above.
4.  Click **Save Changes**.

If the widget doesn't appear after enabling it, check the **Screen Options** tab at the top of the Dashboard page. Ensure the "Version Info" checkbox is checked. WordPress allows users to hide any dashboard widget via Screen Options.

### Customizing Widget Content

Developers can modify the items displayed in the dashboard widget using the `version_info_dashboard_widget_items` filter:

`add_filter( 'version_info_dashboard_widget_items', 'customize_widget_items' );  function customize_widget_items( array $items ): array {     // Add a custom item to the dashboard widget     $items['hostname'] = [         'label' => 'Hostname',         'value' => gethostname(),     ];     return $items; }`

[hooks-and-filters.md](/advanced-configuration-hooks-and-filters/)