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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.

Layout toggle button in the ticket menu bar

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.

Ticket display layout preference dropdown

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