Admin Dashboard Overview

The Total CMS Admin Dashboard is your central hub for managing all content, users, and system settings. This guide will help you navigate and utilize the dashboard effectively.

(This primarily serves as an outline for future docs…)

Dashboard Layout

The admin interface is organized into several main sections:

Located on the left side, the navigation menu provides quick access to:

Dashboard - Overview and quick stats
Collections - Manage your content types
Schemas - Define and edit data structures
Documentation - This help system
Tools - Utilities like import/export, job queue
Settings - System configuration

The sidebar has room for a dozen icons before it gets crowded, and extensions can add more. Under Settings → Dashboard → More Menu, check any sidebar items you rarely use. They leave the sidebar and move into a More (⋮) menu at its bottom, where they stay one click away rather than disappearing. Items added by extensions are listed there too. Nothing is locked: if you never use Automations or Site Builder, tuck them away; they are still reachable from More and from Quick Navigation.

2. Main Content Area

The central area displays the current page content, forms, and data tables.

3. Top Bar

Contains:

Search functionality
User profile menu
Quick actions
System notifications

Key Features

Collection Management

Collections are the heart of Total CMS. From the dashboard, you can:

View All Collections - See all available content types at a glance
Quick Actions - Add new content, view collection, or edit schema

Example collections include:

Blog posts
Image galleries
File repositories
Custom business objects

Data Tables

Most collection views use interactive data tables that support:

Sorting - Click column headers to sort
Filtering - Search within collections
Pagination - Navigate large datasets
Bulk Actions - Select multiple items for operations
Quick Edit - Inline editing for simple changes (see below)

Editing in the Table

Simple values can be changed without opening the object. Hover a cell and a pencil appears at its right edge; click it and the cell becomes that one field, with a check mark to save and a cross to cancel beside it. Enter saves from a single-line input, Escape cancels, and the cell shows the new value as soon as the save lands. While a cell is open, no other cell offers a pencil. Nothing else on the page reloads, and the value is saved exactly as the object form would save it: a toggle stays a boolean, a list stays a list, rich text stays HTML.

The pencil appears on text, textarea, number, range, price, toggle, checkbox, select, radio, multiselect, checklist, date, datetime, time, url, email, phone, color, list and styled text fields. Identity fields (id, slugs), passwords and secrets, readonly fields such as the created and updated timestamps, and composites (images, galleries, files, depots, decks, cards, code) do not offer it: open the object to edit those. A field the current user’s access group cannot change is refused the same way it is on the object form.

Two things decide whether a user gets the pencil at all. Settings → Dashboard → Inline Editing is the site-wide master switch: turn it off and the pencil disappears from every collection table for everyone, super admins included, and an inline save is refused even if something asks for one directly. With it on, the Inline Editing permission on the user’s access group decides who may use it, and the user must still have update rights on that collection. Groups saved before the permission existed keep inline editing, so nothing changes until you turn something off.

Form Builder

The form system automatically generates input forms based on your schemas:

Smart Field Types - Appropriate inputs for each data type
Validation - Real-time and server-side validation
File Uploads - Drag-and-drop media uploads
Rich Text Editing - WYSIWYG editor for content
Relationships - Link content between collections

Activity Feed

The dashboard homepage shows recent activity:

Recently modified objects
User login activity
System events
Job queue status

Common Tasks

Creating Content

Navigate to the desired collection
Click “Add New” button
Fill in the form fields
Save or Save & Continue

Editing Content

Find the content in the collection view
Click the edit icon or row
Modify the fields
Save changes

Bulk Operations

Select items using checkboxes
Choose action from dropdown
Confirm the operation

Media Management

Go to Media section
Upload files via drag-and-drop
Organize into folders
Use in content via media picker

Dashboard Widgets

The main dashboard page can display various widgets:

Total objects across collections
Storage usage
User count
Recent activity metrics

Frequently used collections
Recent drafts
Pending approvals

License status
Job queue health
Cache status
System updates

Customization

User Preferences

Access your preferences from the user menu:

Dashboard layout
Default collection view
Items per page
Date/time format
Language settings

Collection Views

Customize how collections display:

Choose visible columns
Set default sorting
Configure filters
Save view presets

Performance Tips

Use Filters - Filter large collections before sorting
Pagination - Adjust items per page for performance
Bulk Actions - Process multiple items at once
Keyboard Shortcuts - Learn shortcuts for common actions

Getting Help

Tooltips - Hover over icons for explanations
Field Help - Click (?) icons for field descriptions
Documentation - Access full docs from the menu
Support - Contact support from the help menu

Security Notes

Sessions expire after inactivity
All actions are logged
Sensitive operations require confirmation
Regular backups are recommended

Remember: The dashboard is designed to be intuitive. Don’t hesitate to explore and experiment - most actions can be undone or have confirmation prompts for safety.