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Add a website to a saved view

Add a website item to place an onboard device page, web dashboard, or other embeddable site beside BoatKit instruments. Each display loads the page directly in a restricted embedded browser frame.

Before you start​

You need:

  • Administrator access to edit the saved view.
  • An HTTP or HTTPS page that every intended display can reach directly.
  • A site that permits other pages to embed it.

BoatKit does not proxy the page through the vessel or BoatKit Cloud. A page available only on the boat's local network therefore will not appear on a remote display that cannot reach that network.

Keep secrets out of the URL

BoatKit stores the URL as durable saved-view configuration, and portable backups include it. Do not include passwords, API keys, access tokens, or other secrets in the address.

BoatKit also refuses URLs containing embedded username and password credentials.

Add the website​

  1. Open the saved view and enter edit mode.
  2. Select Add view item, then select Website.
  3. Open the item's Website settings.
  4. Enter the address in Website URL.
  5. If you want controls for moving between pages, enable Show navigation toolbar.
  6. If the page should reload periodically, set Auto refresh to 1, 3, 5, 10, or 30 minutes, or 1 hour. It is Off by default.
  7. Position and resize the website item as needed.
  8. Select Save view.

BoatKit accepts only HTTP and HTTPS addresses. If you omit the scheme, BoatKit adds https://. For example, example.com/dashboard becomes an HTTPS address.

Use the navigation toolbar​

When Show navigation toolbar is enabled, a compact toolbar appears in the bottom-left corner of the website item. It provides:

  • Back
  • Forward
  • A combined Stop/Refresh control, which stops the current load or refreshes the site when it is not loading

Back and Forward follow full-page navigation that BoatKit can observe within the embedded frame. Navigation performed entirely inside an app-style website may not create observable history entries, so those controls may remain unavailable.

Refresh returns to the starting URL saved with the view, rather than refreshing whichever page is currently open.

Auto refresh uses the same behavior: after the selected interval, the item returns to its saved starting URL. The next interval begins after that page finishes loading.

Confirm it is working​

Open the saved view on every onboard or remote display where you intend to use it. The site should render inside the website item and remain usable there.

If you enabled the toolbar, confirm that its controls appear in the bottom-left corner. Follow a normal full-page link to check Back and Forward behavior, then use Refresh to return to the saved starting URL.

Browser security and site behavior​

The embedded frame may run the site's scripts, submit forms, start downloads, show presentations, and open links in pop-up windows or tabs. It cannot replace the top-level BoatKit page.

The browser and the target site still enforce their own security policies:

  • A site can refuse embedding through its frame-ancestors or X-Frame-Options security policy.
  • When BoatKit Viewer is loaded over HTTPS, the browser may block an embedded HTTP page as mixed active content. Use an HTTPS version of the target when available.

BoatKit cannot override either restriction.

Offline behavior​

BoatKit does not cache website items for offline use. Without an internet connection, an item continues to work only when its target remains directly reachable from that display—for example, when both are still connected to the same onboard network.

Troubleshoot a blank or refused page​

  1. Copy the exact saved URL and open it directly in a browser on the same display. If it does not open there, restore that display's network access to the target first.
  2. Check whether BoatKit Viewer is using HTTPS while the target uses HTTP. If so, use an HTTPS address for the target when available.
  3. If the page opens directly but not inside the view, confirm that the site's frame-ancestors or X-Frame-Options policy permits embedding.
  4. Repeat the direct-access check on every intended display. A URL that works aboard may still be unreachable from a remote display because BoatKit does not proxy it through BoatKit Cloud.