diff --git a/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py b/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py
index c346674cf..1b4be3be6 100755
--- a/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py
+++ b/artiq/frontend/artiq_gui.py
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ def main():
     win = QtGui.QMainWindow()
     area = dockarea.DockArea()
     win.setCentralWidget(area)
+    status_bar = QtGui.QStatusBar()
+    status_bar.showMessage("Connected to {}".format(args.server))
+    win.setStatusBar(status_bar)
     win.resize(1400, 800)
     win.setWindowTitle("ARTIQ")
 
diff --git a/artiq/gui/explorer.py b/artiq/gui/explorer.py
index dcf7ee9ab..7edeed592 100644
--- a/artiq/gui/explorer.py
+++ b/artiq/gui/explorer.py
@@ -1,7 +1,41 @@
-from quamash import QtGui
+from quamash import QtGui, QtCore
 from pyqtgraph import dockarea
+from pyqtgraph import LayoutWidget
 
 
 class ExplorerDock(dockarea.Dock):
     def __init__(self):
         dockarea.Dock.__init__(self, "Explorer", size=(1100, 400))
+
+        splitter = QtGui.QSplitter(QtCore.Qt.Horizontal)
+        self.addWidget(splitter)
+
+        grid = LayoutWidget()
+        splitter.addWidget(grid)
+
+        el = QtGui.QListView()
+        grid.addWidget(el, 0, 0, colspan=4)
+
+        datetime = QtGui.QDateTimeEdit()
+        datetime.setDisplayFormat("MMM d yyyy hh:mm:ss")
+        datetime.setCalendarPopup(True)
+        datetime.setDate(QtCore.QDate.currentDate())
+        datetime_en = QtGui.QCheckBox("Set due date:")
+        grid.addWidget(datetime_en, 1, 0)
+        grid.addWidget(datetime, 1, 1, colspan=3)
+
+        pipeline = QtGui.QLineEdit()
+        pipeline.insert("main")
+        grid.addLabel("Pipeline:", 2, 0)
+        grid.addWidget(pipeline, 2, 1)
+
+        priority = QtGui.QSpinBox()
+        priority.setRange(-99, 99)
+        grid.addLabel("Priority:", 2, 2)
+        grid.addWidget(priority, 2, 3)
+
+        submit = QtGui.QPushButton("Submit")
+        grid.addWidget(submit, 3, 0, colspan=4)
+
+        placeholder = QtGui.QWidget()
+        splitter.addWidget(placeholder)