Splunk's Simplified XML is basically XML with JavaScript at the backend. Splunk lovingly refers to these JavaScripts as extensions when one is needed for a specific function. In simplified XML, they have some basic modules that someone can access in order to create a dashboard with ease by pointing and clicking, instead of having to know all the advanced XML to render a page.
Each module has a series of tokens that can pass data values down to an underlying search, or even be put in a link to a URL. These become very important in Splunk development in order to display the appropriate information and filter on the click of a button.
There are a few different module types.
Data input modules are things that add or filter data within a Splunk dashboard. The most common is the time range picker module, which adds the length of time a dashboard will search. There are others such as text input, radio button, check box, drop down, and multi-select to name a few. These are the basis...