I’ve been wanting to share a SWQL-based starting point for custom visuals for a while. The aim was something that could work reliably in both classic and modern dashboards, and that the community could pick up, experiment with and build on.
Neon Tide is the closest I’ve got to that so far. It’s a little visual experiment with flowing neon waves, shifting light and drifting particles, delivered through a SELECT-only SWQL query. It can be used in both a Modern Dashboard Table widget and a classic Custom Table widget.
We’ve taken SolarWinds dashboards to some pretty unexpected places 😂 The waves are just another example, but this time I’m sharing a SWQL starting point so you can give it your own spin. I’d love to see where the THWACK community takes it next.
The widget provides the space, SWQL returns the content, and HTML/SVG lets us design what appears inside it. You can can choose the layout, colours, shapes and animation within what the widget’s HTML formatter supports.
What’s going on under the hood?
A SELECT-only SWQL query returns one row and one HTML column. That HTML contains an SVG image, and the browser handles the movement using SVG’s built-in animation features, known as SMIL.
Fancy giving it a go?
We've tested this SWQL version in SolarWinds 2026.4, 2026.2.3 and 2025.4.3
- Add a Table widget to a Modern Dashboard, or a Custom Table widget to a Classic view.
- Use its SWQL data source and paste the entire contents of the attached Neon-Tide-Modern-Table.swql file.
- Set the returned HTML column to the HTML formatter.
- Give the widget a decent amount of width and height, then save.
What would you build?
I’d always promised myself that if I could get a little SWQL playground working, I’d share it with the community. Well, here it is 😄
We've taken SolarWinds dashboards to some pretty crazy places 🤖🥚
Treat it as a blank canvas, experiment, make it your own and share what you create
And if you fancy joining me for more experiments, feel free to follow along here
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