Reorderable Columns Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• User Customization & Personalization: Enables per-user column ordering in Filament admin panels, improving UX for power users, analysts, or teams with diverse workflows.
• Build vs. Buy: Justifies buying this lightweight package (MIT license) over building a custom drag-and-drop solution, saving dev time and reducing technical debt.
• Roadmap Priorities: Aligns with initiatives to:
  • Reduce onboarding friction for non-technical users.
  • Support multi-role dashboards (e.g., admins vs. support teams).
  • Improve data discovery in complex tables (e.g., e-commerce product grids, CRM records).
• Use Cases:
  • Internal Tools: Customize admin panels for operations teams.
  • SaaS Products: Offer premium UX features (e.g., "Save My View") to differentiate.
  • Legacy Systems: Modernize outdated table layouts without full UI overhauls.

When to Consider This Package

Adopt if:

• Your Filament-based admin panel has tables with 5+ columns where users frequently reorder data.
• You need per-user persistence (database) or session-only layouts (e.g., for public-facing dashboards).
• Your team lacks bandwidth to build drag-and-drop from scratch but wants native Filament integration.
• You prioritize low-maintenance solutions with minimal CSS/JS overhead.

Look elsewhere if:

• You’re using non-Filament frameworks (e.g., Livewire, Inertia.js) or need broader table customization (e.g., column resizing, hiding).
• Your users don’t need persistence—consider a simpler client-side solution (e.g., localStorage).
• You require enterprise-grade features (e.g., team-wide column defaults, audit logs for layout changes).
• Your project has strict security policies against additional database tables (use session-only mode or evaluate alternatives).

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "This package lets users drag-and-drop to reorder columns in our admin tools—saving them time and reducing support tickets about ‘hard-to-read’ tables. For example, a support agent could drag ‘Status’ to the front of a ticket table, while a marketer might prioritize ‘Conversion Rate.’ It’s a 2-hour implementation that delivers a premium UX feature without hiring a frontend dev. ROI comes from happier users and faster onboarding."

For Engineering: "A lightweight, Filament-native solution for column reordering with two storage options (DB/session). No complex dependencies—just install, publish migrations, and integrate via a single table config. The demo shows it handles edge cases like new columns automatically. Tradeoff: minimal customization vs. zero dev effort. Alternatives would require building drag-and-drop from scratch or using a heavier library like SortableJS."