My experience using Laravel Filament

After using Laravel for quite a few years in different environments, I got introduced to Laravel Filament by an old colleague of mine a while back. It grabbed my interest. So I decided to give it a try.

Before using Laravel Filament, I mostly built CRUDs custom, or built them with Laravel Backpack. A great tool within the Laravel Ecosystem as well.

What is Laravel Filament

Laravel Filament calls itself a "Content Management Framework". Which is a fancy way of saying, a tool to simplify building CRUDs.

Although it can be used outside of "admin panels". The real use is to create admin panels for your application with ease. At least, that's how I use it myself. And most people I met used it as. I even heard people to build entire custom CRM systems within Laravel Filament.

My experience using Laravel Filament

My experience with Laravel Filament has been quite eventful. I had to get used to how it is built and how to use it. Which took some time, since I am used to Laravel Backpack, which works quite differently.

But after using it for a bit, and learning about the capabilities Laravel Filament has. I started to enjoy it quite a bit.

Its standardized structure to create resources, which allows you to create a "form" and a "table". Which basically is your CRUD. The ability to add "actions" out-of-the-box or build custom. For example, an import action which is available out of the box.

I like the fact that there is a precise structure in place, which makes it easy to remember.

But I had to get used to the amount of arrow functions, because there are quite a lot. I sometimes find in bigger CRUDs that your formatting can get a bit out of control quite easily.

My favorite feature

Obviously I like the entire "package" to build an entire system. But my favorite feature are the stats widgets.

It is really easy to build charts within your Panel. All you need to do is provide your dataset, and define the type of graph. Laravel Filament handles the rest.

Although not Filament Specific, I like to combine it with the laravel-trend package, which makes formatting your data in the correct structure extremely easy.

In conclusion

I am really glad I gave Filament a try and would recommend any Laravel Developer to give it a try once. I am quite sure you will enjoy it.

If you have any questions or tips about Laravel Filament, contact me.