# The editor is not a dashboard (no synths)

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [30 October 2023 22:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480 "2023-10-30T22:24:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [30 October 2023 22:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/1 "2023-10-30T22:24:15Z")

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When I was young, a band called Queen came along.

On there early albums, they proudly said "No synths used"

This was later dropped (Also see Google and "Do No Evil" as well) 🙂

Is it time to drop "The editor is not a dashboard"?

I say this but I'm just after a small change 🙂

Currently, debug node status is limited to 32 chars

Which is enough in many cases

But us hard-core NRers often need more debugging chars than that

We are prepared for them to ruin the editor aesthetics but we need more!

So we write our own function debug nodes and set node.status ourselves to whatever length we need/want/crave.

Could we have an option in the debug node to remove the 32 char restriction please?

#ThinEndOfTheWedge ???

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**Author:** ![dceejay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/dceejay/32/38_2.png) [@dceejay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dceejay)\
**Post date:** [30 October 2023 22:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/2 "2023-10-30T22:44:57Z")

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> [@cymplecy](#):
>
> Is it time…

Not yet. You can use the jsonata capability of the debug node to reformat/ recode your debug messages to fit.  
Oh ok. How about 33 chars ?  
And yes vinyl is still better. 🙂

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**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [30 October 2023 22:46 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/3 "2023-10-30T22:46:44Z")

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Come on - it's 2023 now!

But what's the magic JSONata sauce to output a node.status \> 32 chars?

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**Author:** ![dceejay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/dceejay/32/38_2.png) [@dceejay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dceejay)\
**Post date:** [30 October 2023 22:52 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/4 "2023-10-30T22:52:18Z")

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The secret sauce is to use jsonata to trim/strip/filter your long debug messages down to less than 32 chars…

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**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [30 October 2023 23:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/5 "2023-10-30T23:26:48Z")

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> [@cymplecy](#):
>
> Is it time to drop "The editor is not a dashboard"?

Agree, surely the NR user should determine if they are more comfortable using the editor to monitor performance, or a dashboard.  
It's been raised previously by users, and dissed by the NR team.

I don't necessarily disagree with the 32 chars debug limit, there are other options available.  
Maybe an option to click & expand the debug from 32 chars default to the full msg??

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**Author:** ![dceejay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/dceejay/32/38_2.png) [@dceejay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dceejay)\
**Post date:** [31 October 2023 09:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/6 "2023-10-31T09:14:18Z")

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Just because ....

> <https://github.com/node-red/node-red/pull/4402>
>
> \<!--
> \## Before you hit that Submit button....
> 
> Please read our \[contribution …guidelines\](https://github.com/node-red/node-red/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
> before submitting a pull-request.
> 
> \## Types of changes
> 
> What types of changes does your code introduce?
> Put an \`x\` in the boxes that apply
> \--\>
> 
> \- \[\] Bugfix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
> \- \[x\] New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
> 
> \<!--
> If you want to raise a pull-request with a new feature, or a refactoring
> of existing code, it \*\*may well get rejected\*\* if it hasn't been discussed on
> the \[forum\](https://discourse.nodered.org) or
> \[slack team\](https://nodered.org/slack) first.
> 
> \--\>
> 
> \## Proposed changes
> 
> 
> As per title this simple PR lets the length of status messages under the debug node be settable by the user in setting.js rather than being fixed to 32 chars. Default remains 32 chars.
> 
> \## Checklist
> 
> 
> \- \[x\] I have read the \[contribution guidelines\](https://github.com/node-red/node-red/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
> \- \[x\] For non-bugfix PRs, I have discussed this change on the forum/slack team.
> \- \[x\] I have run \`npm run test\` to verify the unit tests pass
> \- \[\] I have added suitable unit tests to cover the new/changed functionality

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [31 October 2023 09:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/7 "2023-10-31T09:26:08Z")

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Thank you Santa 🙂

I'll finally be able to see what the sixth colour was 🙂  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/d/e/de263e6c5e7da02e4ae6450d8c46ea529a8830c4.png)

And what have cheerlights been?

![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/8/a/8a804f547081bf168b476e3ba679596a3cee4a9e.png)

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [31 October 2023 16:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/8 "2023-10-31T16:48:19Z")

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I love to see a can-do attitude! 😀

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [30 December 2023 16:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-editor-is-not-a-dashboard-no-synths/82480/9 "2023-12-30T16:48:25Z")

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