Legacy Knowledge Base
Published Sep. 10, 2025

How to Add a Custom Element as a Control Panel or Site Administration Widget

Written By

Jose L. Bango

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Issue

  • Is it possible to add a Custom Element, created via a Client Extension, as a widget in the Control Panel or Site Administration menu?

Environment

  • Liferay DXP 2025.Q1

Resolution

Yes, it is possible to add custom elements to the Control Panel and Site Administration menus. Instead of using the portletCategoryName property in the client-extension.yaml file, use the panelCategoryKey property.

Below are examples of how to add a custom element to different administrative areas.

Adding to Control Panel

To add the application to the Control Panel under Applications > Custom Applications, use the following configuration:

instanceable: false
name: My Custom App
panelAppOrder: 10
panelCategoryKey: applications_menu.applications.custom.apps
image (2).png

Adding to Site Administration

To add the application to Site Administration under the Content section, use the following configuration:

instanceable: false
name: My Custom App
panelAppOrder: 10
panelCategoryKey: site_administration.content
image (3).png

The available keys for placement can be found in the Liferay DXP source code. See PanelCategoryKeys.java and PortletCategoryKeys.java

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