# CDE quick start guide

Community Dashboard Editor (CDE) helps you easily create and add CTools dashboards. The CDE tool is a graphical dashboard editor which provides access to the dashboard components in Community Dashboard Framework (CDF). This tool uses a grid for the layout which allows you to create your own dashboards without needing a lot of JavaScript or HTML expertise. Before beginning, be sure you have [activated the CDE plugin](https://docs.pentaho.com/pba-ctools/activate-cde).

For instructions on creating and adding CTools dashboards, see the following topics:

* [Plan your dashboard](https://docs.pentaho.com/pba-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide/plan-your-dashboard)
* [Open CDE](https://docs.pentaho.com/pba-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide/open-cde-ctools-cde-quick-start)
* [Create your first CDE dashboard](https://docs.pentaho.com/pba-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide/create-your-first-cde-dashboard)