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Take the time to survey the Dashboard – that is, the first page you see when logging into your back-office. Not only does it present you with a summary of everything you need to know about your shop at any given time, along with quick links to the main action page, but as a first-timer in PrestaShop, it also gives you tips about what you should have a look at.
The top bar
At the top of the back-office is a black bar containing a handful of links:
- (name of your shop). From any page, this takes you back to the Dashboard.
- Cart icon. A tooltip indicates the number of new orders, if any. Clicking it opens a panel presenting the new orders since you last clicked that icon. From there on, you can either display one of the new orders, or go to the list of orders.
- Person icon. A tooltip indicates the number of new customers, if any. Clicking it opens a panel presenting the last registered customers. From there on, you can either display one of the new customers, or go to the list of customers.
- Letter icon. A tooltip indicates the number of new messages, if any. Clicking it opens a panel presenting the last customer service message. From there on, you can either display one of the new messages, or go to the list of messages.
- Trophy icon. A tooltip indicates the number of new items, if any. Clicking it opens a panel presenting your progress as a merchant. From there on, you can reach the full page of badges and points, from the "Merchant Expertise" module.
- Quick Access. This is the quick links menu, presenting the most useful links, as set in the "Quick Access" page under the "Administration" menu.
- "Not connecter to PrestaShop Addons" link. Opens a modal window enabling you to connect your shop to the Addons marketplace, and thus get updates from the modules and themes you bought.
- "My Shop" link. Opens a new browser tab with your shop's front-end.
- (your name) link. A simple dropdown panel with a reminder of the administrative account with which you are currently logged-in.
- "My preferences" link. Takes you to your account's preferences page, where you can set some personal options (for instance, the back-office language or your password).
- "Log out" link. Logs you out of the current user account.
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The Dashboard is divided in 4 main areas: a horizontal bar, and three columns.
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By default, the Dashboard uses fake data so that you can better visualize what the various stats are for. When using PrestaShop for a real online store, you must disable this fake data so that your real data is used: click on "No" in the "Demo mode" block at the bottom right of the screen. |
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- Dashboard (Dashboard Trends module). This is the main block of information on the dashboard. With its various graphics, it really helps you see if your shop is headed in the right direction or not. Click on one of the graphic type to display it. Additionally, when comparing two time periods, it displays the evolution of each figure in percentages. Hover the graphic with your mouse to see the details.
Clicking on its configuration icon (top right) open a new page where you can set various expenses that your shop has (bank wire fee, average shipping fee, hosting expenses, etc.), in order to better indicate your trends. - Your Forecast (Dashboard Goals module). This block presents you with the goals you have for the coming months, and how your shop is doing as compared to them. Hover the graphic with your mouse to see the details.
Depending on your monthly results, you should update your forthcoming goals.
You can set your goals in the block's configuration form (top right of the block), and fill in your expectations month per month in terms of traffic, conversion rate, and average cart value. The "Sales" column will be updated according to the goals set in the other columns (for instance, for a 1000 visitors with a 2% conversion rate and a $10 average cart, you would get 1000*(2/100)*10 = $200). You can change the currency in the "Currencies" page under the "Localization" menu. - Products and sales (Dashboard Products module). This block presents you with a table of your latest orders and a ranking of your products: best sellers, most viewed and top searches (as searched in your shop's search form, not from search engines).
You can set the number of items to display in each by opening the block's configuration form
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This last column is an informational one: it gives you the latest news from PrestaShop.com, notifications about a new PrestaShop versionversions, and useful links.
It also features the "Demo mode" block, from which you can disable the fake data used by default on the Dashboard and use your own data (as gathered by PrestaShop's statistics system).