A method comprising: obtaining information associated with a plurality of sections in an industrial process control and automation system, wherein the information includes, for each section of the plurality of sections, one or more of an operating status, an alarm status, and a location of each of the plurality of sections within the system; creating a dashboard with the obtained information by receiving a user input of dragging a first component from a list and dropping the first component into the dashboard, binding the shape of the first component and create a first icon, the binding includes extracting references for control system hardware and embedding the references into the first icon; receiving a user input of dragging a second component from a list and dropping the second component into the dashboard, the first and second component are sections of the plurality of sections or piece of equipment section in the industrial process control and automation system, wherein the second component can also be a sub-dashboard and the one component can be a sub-component of the other or they can be components on the same level of hierarchy; binding the shape of the second component and create a second icon; and linking the first component and the second component in a hierarchical format; displaying the dashboard created through the drag and drop process of the first component and the second component including the sections corresponding to the components in the hierarchical format, the hierarchical format indicated by different levels of indention between different dashboards, and for each of the sections displaying the corresponding created icon (304, 314-320) for the section, and displaying visual indicators for the alarm status of the section and the operating status of the section; and receiving an input to customize the hierarchical format of the dashboard based on at least one of a location of an equipment, the section, or the first component and the second component of the system, or a logical diagram of the system. obtaining information associated with a plurality of sections in an industrial process control and automation system, wherein the information includes, for each section of the plurality of sections, one or more of an operating status, an alarm status, and a location of each of the plurality of sections within the system; creating a dashboard with the obtained information by receiving a user input of dragging a first component from a list and dropping the first component into the dashboard, binding the shape of the first component and create a first icon, the binding includes extracting references for control system hardware and embedding the references into the first icon; receiving a user input of dragging a second component from a list and dropping the second component into the dashboard, the first and second component are sections of the plurality of sections or piece of equipment section in the industrial process control and automation system, wherein the second component can also be a sub-dashboard and the one component can be a sub-component of the other or they can be components on the same level of hierarchy; binding the shape of the second component and create a second icon; and linking the first component and the second component in a hierarchical format; receiving a user input of dragging a first component from a list and dropping the first component into the dashboard, binding the shape of the first component and create a first icon, the binding includes extracting references for control system hardware and embedding the references into the first icon; receiving a user input of dragging a second component from a list and dropping the second component into the dashboard, the first and second component are sections of the plurality of sections or piece of equipment section in the industrial process control and automation system, wherein the second component can also be a sub-dashboard and the one component can be a sub-component of the other or they can be components on the same level of hierarchy; binding the shape of the second component and create a second icon; and linking the first component and the second component in a hierarchical format; displaying the dashboard created through the drag and drop process of the first component and the second component including the sections corresponding to the components in the hierarchical format, the hierarchical format indicated by different levels of indention between different dashboards, and for each of the sections displaying the corresponding created icon (304, 314-320) for the section, and displaying visual indicators for the alarm status of the section and the operating status of the section; and displaying the corresponding created icon (304, 314-320) for the section, and displaying visual indicators for the alarm status of the section and the operating status of the section; and receiving an input to customize the hierarchical format of the dashboard based on at least one of a location of an equipment, the section, or the first component and the second component of the system, or a logical diagram of the system.