In this article, we explore the exciting new features and updates coming to the Home Assistant Dashboard in version 0.118. This rapid development pace continues to bring innovative tools and enhancements to Home Assistant, making it easier for you to manage your smart home setups.
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Home Assistant 0.118 Gets a Grid Card
One of the most anticipated features in Home Assistant 0.118 is the introduction of the Grid Card. This addition will significantly enhance the Dashboard's layout capabilities, combining the functionalities of the Vertical Stack and Horizontal Stack Cards. The Grid Card allows you to add any other card within it, automatically creating a new row of equal size as the one above it whenever you fill up a row.
To create a Vertical Stack, set the number of columns to one. For a Horizontal Stack, set the number of columns to equal the number of cards. This flexibility will help you create cleaner, more organized dashboards effortlessly.


The Power of Grid Systems in Web Design
Grid systems are foundational to modern web design, enabling developers to create responsive, flexible, and aesthetically pleasing layouts. Many websites use grid systems to ensure their content adjusts smoothly across different screen sizes and devices. Here's how grid systems enhance web design:
- Responsive Design: Grids help create layouts that automatically adjust to various screen sizes, from large desktop monitors to small mobile screens. This ensures that websites look good and function well on any device.
- Consistency and Alignment: Using a grid system provides a structured framework that ensures consistent spacing and alignment of elements, creating a harmonious and visually appealing design.
- Efficiency in Design: Grids simplify the design process by offering a repeatable and scalable system. This reduces the time and effort required to design each new page or section.
- User Experience: Well-organized content improves readability and navigation, enhancing the overall user experience. Visitors can find information quickly and easily, which is crucial for retaining their attention.
By incorporating a Grid Card in Home Assistant 0.118, you too can leverage these same principles to create well-structured, responsive dashboards. Whether you’re organizing sensors, cameras, or control buttons, the Grid Card will help maintain a clean and efficient layout, ensuring your Home Assistant interface is both functional and visually appealing.
Monitor Your Home Assistant Log with the Logbook Card
Another new feature in Home Assistant 0.118 is the Logbook Card. This card displays the contents of your Home Assistant log directly on the dashboard, allowing you to monitor specific entities. You can customize which entities to track, and the Logbook Card will only show changes related to those entities, making it a powerful tool for keeping an eye on important system activities.

Example Use Case for the Logbook Card
Imagine you want to keep a close watch on your home security system and ensure it is functioning correctly. By using the Logbook Card, you can select key entities related to your security setup, such as door sensors, motion detectors, and security cameras. Here’s how you might set it up:
- Select Entities to Track: Choose the door sensors for the front and back doors, the motion detectors in your living room and hallway, and your primary security camera.
- Customize the Logbook Card: Configure the Logbook Card to display only events related to these selected entities.
- Monitor Activity: The Logbook Card will now show real-time updates whenever one of the tracked entities detects activity. For example, if the front door opens, the log will display a timestamped entry indicating the door sensor was triggered.
This setup allows you to quickly see and respond to important security events without sifting through unrelated log entries. Whether you're at home or away, you can have peace of mind knowing that your security system's key activities are easily accessible and monitored from your Home Assistant dashboard.
Enhancements to the Calendar Card
While the Calendar Card isn't new, it receives significant improvements in Home Assistant 0.118. The list view now displays events from today through the next seven days, acting more like an agenda. Previously, it showed the entire week, including past appointments.
Additionally, the calendar panel in the Home Assistant menu now retains selected and unselected calendars when you refresh the page. This change is saved to the local browser storage, so it won't persist across different devices, but it offers a more convenient experience for managing your calendar within Home Assistant.
Expanded Quick Bar Functionality
The Quick Bar in Home Assistant 0.118 has been expanded to include more commands, enhancing navigation for users who prefer keyboard shortcuts. By pressing C on your keyboard, you can bring up a command list to quickly navigate to different parts of the Home Assistant dashboard, making the interface more user-friendly and efficient.

Header and Footer Editor
Home Assistant 0.118 introduces a new header and footer editor, allowing you to easily add headers and footers to your cards. You can choose between a graph, buttons, or an image. For example, you could add an image as the header of an Entities Card and a graph as the footer. This feature makes it possible to customize cards without needing to write any code.


Other Notable Changes
Version 0.118 also includes the option to display the last time an entity was updated on the dashboard and a new, more user-friendly date picker. These enhancements contribute to a smoother and more informative user experience.
For a detailed look at everything new in the Home Assistant 0.118 dashboard, check out Zack Barett's YouTube video.