Chapter 18 — Admin UI Patterns

Present dashboards and polished form chrome while keeping native controls and accessible names from Chapter 12.

New concepts

Card elevation systems, metric cards, dashboard shells, ops strips, form layouts, soft field chrome, validation presentation, floating labels, dropzone file fields, star ratings, and wizard chrome.

Read the Admin UI gauge

What changes after Clip-path and Forms?

Chapter 12 established accessible form structure. Variables and layout chapters gave tokens and grids. This chapter applies those tools to admin-style surfaces without introducing JavaScript or third-party widgets.

Interactive validation, file lists, and multi-step navigation continue in JavaScript Phase 7.

Lessons

  1. 1. Elevation cards
  2. 2. Metric cards
  3. 3. Dashboard shell
  4. 4. Form layouts
  5. 5. Field chrome
  6. 6. Validation states
  7. 7. Floating labels
  8. 8. Dropzone file field
  9. 9. Star rating
  10. 10. Wizard chrome

Checkpoint

Build a small admin page with a sidebar or topbar shell, an ops strip, at least two metric cards (including one trend pill), and a short form that uses soft field chrome plus either a floating label, input validation feedback text, or a dropzone file field. Keep every control labelled and keyboard reachable.