[Branding] implement to reduce validation logic

[kavilla]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Origin: https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch-Dashboards/issues/2045

Describe the solution you'd like

To be added, once https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch-Dashboards/issues/2045. Once the parent issue is completed then we can break discuss the solution

Requirements

• Propose and break down implementation details.

[abbyhu2000]

Here are some initial design spike result for the first two possible implementation, and still researching on the third one(branding plugin):

1. Extend rendering service: https://github.com/abbyhu2000/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/5 The con of this solution is straightforward with low risk and have minimal impact. However, if we expand or add more branding logics later on, this solution might not be the best because rendering service can get too crowded with all the branding logics while the main purpose for rendering service should be rendering metadata.

2. Create a new branding service: https://github.com/abbyhu2000/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/4 For this solution, a new service has been added to the core system. From the current codebase, it seems like the core system only contains the most essential services to the application, so I am not sure if it is the best solution to add a branding service in the core just to handle custom branding.

@kavilla @joshuarrrr @ashwin-pc

[abbyhu2000]

3. Draft PR for branding plugin (still work in progress): https://github.com/abbyhu2000/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/6 In the draft PR, created a branding plugin that read the branding configs from the opensearch_dashboards.yml file. Currently the logos and applications we wish to customize are distributed in core/server, core/public and other plugins.

We can create service(for example, like a branding assignment service that handles all the validation logic and duplicated logic for darkmode etc.) in the public/ folder so it can be exposed and other plugins and the core can call the service when they need custom branding. It is a viable solution since i found previous examples of plugins that communicate with core/server, core/public and other plugins. The con of this approach is that it will take significant more time to build a plugin and it seems like the current relatively simple custom branding functionality does not need a separate plugin to support it. But in the future, if we want to make more branding and theming configuration, then it would be nice to have a separate plugin dedicated for this purpose.

[ashwin-pc]

Since our goal here is to reduce logic, I still think that my suggestion here would simplify branding significantly.

[abbyhu2000]

4. Use i18n external plugin for custom title configuration: https://github.com/abbyhu2000/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/7

Users can install the external plugin and when they upload the json translation files, they can customize the application title at the same time. We can have a doc to document or mark all the application title ids so it is easy for users to change. Currently, not all references of application title is registered with i18n. I added a couple more ids for example, such as the overview title, side menu title and the home page title and test them out with two locales. There are more title references throughout the application.

We currently only checking if title is less than 36 characters for title validation, need to think of a different way of title validation if using the i18n framework.

[abbyhu2000]

5. Use asset folder to store default branding logos and user can directly replace those default images if they choose to.

Our current implementation already stores all the default opensearch logos' and marks' svg images in an asset folder (src/core/server/core_app/assets/default_branding). We can move this folder to a root level folder and user can have a second option to configure branding on top of using the yml file.

[joshuarrrr]

Our current implementation already stores all the default opensearch logos' and marks' svg images in an asset folder (src/core/server/core_app/assets/default_branding). We can move this folder to a root level folder and user can have a second option to configure branding on top of using the yml file.

Rather than moving them,we might consider copying them to a root level folder instead. That would allow the user to have a safe space to make changes or overwrite the files, with the option to restore or reset if necessary.

[ashwin-pc]

@joshuarrrr Oooh, I like this more

[abbyhu2000]

After our discussion, we decided to use solution 1 (extend rendering service) to reduce the duplicated branding logics for now. In the future, we will shift the branding configuration to solution 4 & 5 using asset folder and i18n plugin with the consideration of community feedback. More details to follow.