RT::Extension::SideBySideView

Switchable ticket display layouts for Request Tracker 6.

Users can choose between two named page layouts — both via their personal preferences and via a one-click toggle button directly in the ticket menu bar. Both layouts are also available in the RT admin interface under Admin → Page Layouts, where they can be assigned to queues like any built-in layout.

---

What it does

RT 6 renders ticket detail pages using a configurable PageLayout system. This extension registers two alternative layouts and lets each user switch between them independently:

• Default View — the familiar two-column metadata panel above a full-width Description + History section.
• Side-by-Side View — a narrow metadata column (≈25 % width) placed permanently beside a wide History column (≈75 % width), so you can read the thread and check ticket details at the same time without scrolling back and forth.

Users who have not set a preference continue to see RT's built-in default layout unchanged — the extension is fully opt-in.

---

Screenshots

Layout toggle in the ticket menu bar

A layout-split icon button is added to the ticket menu bar next to the Bookmark (🔖) and Timer (🕐) buttons. One click switches the layout and reloads the ticket.

User Preferences

The chosen layout is also available as a persistent per-user setting under Preferences → Ticket display → Ticket display layout. Changes made via the toggle button are immediately reflected here, and vice versa.

---

Layouts in detail

Default View

Two equal columns for metadata, full-width sections below.

Left column	Right column
Basics, Times, Custom Fields, People, Attachments, Requestors	Reminders, Articles, Dates, Linked Queues, Assets, Links

Below (full width): Description · History

Side-by-Side View

Narrow metadata column next to a wide transaction history.

Metadata (col-md-3)	History (col-md-9)
Basics, People, Dates, Times, Attachments, Custom Fields, Links, Requestors, Articles, Assets	Full transaction history (all types)

---

How it works

Layout registration

At startup the extension registers both layouts in two places:

• PageLayouts — RT's config key for named layout definitions (RT::Ticket → Display → LayoutName). This makes them appear in Admin → Page Layouts alongside the built-in layouts and allows administrators to assign them to queues via the normal admin interface.
• PageLayoutMapping — indirectly, because once a layout name is in PageLayouts, an admin can add a queue assignment there just like any other layout.

Per-user preference override

Because the PageLayout queue mapping is global, the extension also wraps HTML::Mason::Commands::GetPageLayout via RT's standard overlay mechanism (lib/RT/Interface/Web_Overlay.pm). On every ticket display request the wrapper checks the current user's TicketViewLayout preference and, when set, returns the matching layout directly — taking priority over any queue-level assignment for that user.

The preference is registered as an Overridable RT config option with a Select widget so it appears automatically in Preferences → Ticket display without any additional template changes.

Toggle button

The toggle button is injected into the ticket menu bar via the Elements/Tabs/Privileged callback, using the same raw_html / sort_order pattern that RT core uses for Bookmark and Timer. Clicking it sends a GET request to SideBySideView/SetLayout.html, which writes the new value into the user's preferences and redirects back to the ticket.

File	Role
lib/RT/Extension/SideBySideView.pm	Registers the TicketViewLayout preference meta, defines both layout data structures, registers them in PageLayouts, and adds the layout-split SVG icon to RT's icon set.
lib/RT/Interface/Web_Overlay.pm	Loaded by RT's overlay mechanism at startup. Wraps GetPageLayout to honour the per-user layout preference for ticket display pages.
html/Ticket/Elements/SideBySideViewToggle	Renders the icon link in the menu bar. Reads the current preference and links to the opposite layout.
html/Callbacks/SideBySideView/Elements/Tabs/Privileged	Adds the toggle element to the ticket page menu at sort_order => 97 (before Bookmark at 98, Timer at 99).
html/SideBySideView/SetLayout.html	GET endpoint: saves the chosen layout to user preferences and redirects back to the ticket.

---

Requirements

• Request Tracker 6.0.0 or later (< 7.0.0)
• Perl 5.10.1 or later

---

Installation

perl Makefile.PL
make
sudo make install

Add the plugin to /opt/rt6/etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm (or a file in RT_SiteConfig.d/):

Plugin('RT::Extension::SideBySideView');

Clear the Mason cache and restart the web server:

sudo systemctl stop apache2
sudo rm -rf /opt/rt6/var/mason_data/obj/*
sudo systemctl start apache2

---

Upgrading from v2.x (RT 4 / RT 5)

The old extension injected a CSS/JavaScript side-by-side layout via a BeforeShowSummary Mason callback that no longer exists in RT 6.

Remove the old plugin directory before installing the new version:

sudo rm -rf /opt/rt6/local/plugins/RT-Extension-SideBySideView/

Then follow the installation steps above. Previously saved SideBySideView boolean preferences are ignored; users select their layout from the Preferences page once after upgrading.

---

Author

Torsten Brumm <technik@picturepunxx.de>

Licence

GPL version 2