How to maximise products view, use menu collapse

This guide walks through how to make the most of the Xada dashboard layout when you’re working with large tables (like Products, Categories, Suppliers), even if you’ve never used Xada before.

Understanding the Xada Dashboard Layout

Navigation sidebar (left-hand side)

This is the main menu with sections like Suppliers, Products, Categories, Imports, Exports, Rules, etc. It’s always available and can be collapsed to give you more space.

Top bar (navbar)

Shows your user info and shortcuts. It stays fixed at the top while you work.

Page content area

This is where you’ll see pages like Products, Categories, Exports, and so on. Most of these pages use data tables so you can sort, filter, and manage records.

Footer

Sits at the bottom of the page and doesn’t usually affect how much horizontal space you have.

When you’re working on wide tables (for example, the Products page), collapsing the left menu gives you more horizontal room so you can see more columns without scrolling.

Where to find the collapse control

Look at the left sidebar where you see the main navigation.
At the top of the sidebar there is a collapse/expand control (often shown as an icon or toggle).
When you click it, the sidebar collapses down to a narrow strip of icons.

What happens when you collapse the menu

The main content area shifts from having a wide left padding to a much smaller one.
This gives your table more usable width, which is especially helpful on smaller screens or when you have many columns.

How to use it in practice

Navigate to a page such as Products or Categories.
Collapse the sidebar so that you can:
See more columns at once.
Reduce horizontal scrolling.
If you need to switch sections, expand the menu again, choose a new section, and collapse it once more if needed.

Using Table Controls to Focus on the Columns You Care About

Most lists in Xada (Products, Categories, Suppliers, Exports, etc.) share the same interface patterns to help you manage what you see:

Hide/show columns

At the top-right of many tables you’ll see a columns control (often labelled or represented by an icon like a grid or sliders).
Clicking this opens a list of available columns with toggles or checkboxes.
Turn off columns you don’t need right now (for example, if you’re only interested in SKU and Category, you might hide internal IDs or timestamps).
This simplifies the view and works especially well once you’ve collapsed the sidebar to gain more width.

Control how many rows you see at once

Near the same area you’ll usually see a rows per page or rows control.
Choose a smaller number of rows if you want less vertical scrolling and more readable rows.
Choose a larger number of rows if you’re scanning through many items and prefer fewer page changes.

Scrolling and drag to scroll

Tables support horizontal scrolling when there are more columns than will fit on screen.
On desktop, you can:
Scroll using the horizontal scroll bar, or
Click and drag inside the table content area (where supported) to “grab” and move sideways.
Combined with the collapsed menu and hidden columns, you should only rarely need to scroll sideways.

Filtering, Searching and Sorting for a Cleaner View

Once you’ve maximised space, the next step is to reduce noise:

Global search / keyword filter

Many tables have a search box or top‑level filter.
Use it to quickly narrow down to a specific product, category name, or supplier.

Column‑specific filters

Click the filter icon in a column header (for example, Category, Supplier, Status).
Choose the filter type (equals, contains, etc.) and apply your criteria.
This lets you focus just on the slice of data you need (e.g. only active products in a certain category).

Sorting

Click on a column header (such as Name, Created At, or SKU) to sort ascending/descending.
Sorting combined with a collapsed menu and tailored columns makes the overview much easier to scan.

Practical Example: Maximising the Products Page

Open the Products page

In the left menu, click Products → Products (or similar, depending on your setup).

Collapse the navigation menu

Use the collapse control at the top of the left sidebar so your products table can use the full screen width.

Hide unneeded columns

Use the column control to turn off any fields you don’t need (for example, disable advanced technical columns while you focus on Name, SKU, Category, and Active status).

Adjust rows per page

If you’re reviewing lots of products, increase rows per page.
If you’re doing detailed checks on a small set, reduce rows per page for readability.

Apply filters and sorting

Filter by category or supplier to narrow the list.
Sort by Created At or Updated to review the newest changes first.

Tips for New Xada Users

Start with one section at a time

Focus on getting comfortable with the dashboard and table controls in one area (e.g. Products) before moving to others.

Use collapse + columns together

Collapsing the menu alone helps, but the real efficiency boost comes from also hiding columns and using filters so every visible pixel is relevant.

Remember you can always expand again

If you feel “lost”, expand the navigation again, the structure is designed so you can quickly jump between sections without losing your place.