The online Control Panel and the WebSite X5 Manager App

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The online Control Panel and the WebSite X5 Manager App

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WebSite X5 automatically sets up an online Control Panel for each website created with the Program. It is used by Site Administrators to display website hit (visits) statistics, to handle comments on posts in the Blog or comments for the Comments and Ratings Object and, if you are using the Professional edition, display dynamic content objects, display the users who have registered to access members' areas, handle orders in the e-commerce shopping cart and check stock availability levels.

In addition to the online Control Panel, the Professional edition also offers the WebSite X5 Manager app. This app is available, free of charge, for both iOS and Android and can be installed from the WebSite X5 Manager window. It offers the same features as the online control panel, while giving administrators the mobility to manage their websites from smartphones and tablets. The app can also be used to set up push notifications linked to events such as the arrival of new comments or orders, new user registrations or low stock levels.

Users in the Administrators group, created in the Access Management section of Step 1 - Website Settings | Advanced can access the Control Panel.

To access the Control Panel:

Connect to the http//www.mysite.com/admin URL, where http//www.mysite.com is the website's URL.
Enter your credentials to log in.

When you have logged in, the control panel opens with a menu and a Dashboard which provides a panorama of all the information available in the various sections.

The number of menu items and dashboard sections depends on the number of features used in the website. They may be: Statistics, Blog, Comments and votes, Members' Area, E-commerce, Dynamic Content Object, WebSite X5 Manager, Website Test.

When you are working with the Professional edition, you can use the commands in the Control Panel window to customize the appearance of the control panel, adding a logo and choosing a theme for it.

Click to expand/collapseReference: The commands in the Statistics Section

In this section you can display the website hit statistics. This information will only be available if you choose WebSite X5 Statistics, in the Statistics, SEO and Code | Statistics, as the statistics engine to monitor the number of visits to your website.

It is possible to define how often you want updated information and you can display data such as the number of visitors, the most frequently-visited pages, the browser language, etc.

Click to expand/collapseReference: Commands in the Blog Section

In this section you can work on the comments made by users on the posts of the Blog that is linked to the website, if "WebSite X5" has been chosen as the Comment management system.

At the start, there are two menus that show the list of categories and the list of posts that have been published for each one: this makes it easier to identify the posts to work on. The bar also shows the number of comments that have been made and the average vote (if this option has been selected).

The list of comments for the selected post follows. For each comment, you can see the author's name and e-mail, the date and time it was published, the vote given (if there is one), the text of the post and, finally, the commands for accepting or rejecting it (if it contrasts with the blog's policy).  A link to the author's website is added automatically to his name, if this information is available.

Click to expand/collapseReference: Commands in the Comments and Votes Section

In this section you can work on the messages left by visitors with the Comments and Ratings Object, if "WebSite X5" has been chosen as the Comment management system.

If more than one Comments and Ratings Object has been added, at the start of this section you will see a menu where you can choose which module to work on.

When you have selected the module, the number of messages that have been written is shown, and you will also see the average vote (if votes are possible): the message list follows. For each message, you can see the author's name and e-mail address, the date and time it was published, the vote given (if there is one), the text of the message and, finally, the commands for accepting or rejecting the message (if it contrasts with the guestbook policy). A link to the author's website is added automatically to his name, if this information is available.

Click to expand/collapseReference: Commands in the Access Management Section

This section shows a table with all the names of the users who have registered automatically to access the Locked Pages in the website's Members' Area.

Automatic user registration is only available in the Professional edition of WebSite X5.

The name, e-mail, IP address and registration date is given for each user. If the e-mail address needs to be validated, the status is indicated in the table with the command for manually validating the address. Finally, if registration is required for making purchases in the online store (using the Allow user registration option in Shopping Cart | Customer Details), a shopping cart icon is shown next to the names of those users who registered when making their first purchase.

There is also a command to remove each individual account. Users are removed from the table only after the list of registered users has been updated, when working with the program, and the updated website has been published online.

Click to expand/collapseReference: Commands in the E-commerce Section

In this section, if the Send data to a Database option has been selected as the Sending order (see Shopping Cart | Sending order), you will have a panel for handling orders coming from the Shopping Cart that is linked to the website.

You can only send orders to a database if you are working with the Professional edition of WebSite X5.

This Order Management Panel is organized in various sections:

Ready for Processing: this is a list of all the orders that have been received but not yet processed. For each order, you can see the order number, date and time of reception, name, address and e-mail of the person or company who has placed the order, the promo code (if there is one), selected shipping and payment methods and the total value of the order.

Click on the order number or icon to open the order and view the information that the customer has given.

The following commands are available for each order:

To move the selected order to the On Hold section.
To move the selected order to the Processed section.
To delete the selected order from the order database.
Processed: This displays a list of the orders that have been processed and are ready to send to the customers. You can still delete a selected order but, if necessary you can also use this command:
This moves the selected order back to the Ready for Processing section.
On Hold: This displays the list of all the orders that still need completion before they can be declared ready for processing, for example those orders awaiting payment. You can select these orders to delete them or move them to the Ready for Processing section.

Notes on how product availability is counted

If you view the Available quantity of products (in the Product Settings | Availability window), an article may be detracted from the current quantity when an order is received (and therefore shown in the Ready for Processing section of the online Control Panel or the WebSite X5 Manager app) or when the order has been processed (and, therefore, moved to the Processed section of the online Control Panel or the WebSite X5 Manager app). To specify the preferred accounting method, work on the Update available quantity on order dispatch option in the Shopping Cart | Options window.
If the Update available quantity on order dispatch option is not selected, when a new order arrives the ordered quantity is immediately detracted from the total available quantity. If you move the order from the Ready for Processing section to the On Hold section, the subtracted quantity is immediately restored to the total.
In all cases, if an order is deleted, the product quantity subtracted from the availability total is automatically restored.
Availability: This displays the list of products (organized by category) whose quantities have fallen below the minimum level indicated by the Warn if quantity falls below option in the Product Settings | Availability window. Each product is accompanied by a picture (if available), its name, the icon for the Approximate quantity and the number of the Available quantity (if specified).

To change the available quantity of a product, use the Quantity to add/remove option in the Product Settings | Availability window.

Charts: This displays a number of charts that help monitor the sales trend in the online shopping cart, distinguishing between physical and digital products (if the latter are included).

You can use a built-in search engine to look for orders in the On Hold, Ready for Processing and Processed sections.

Click to expand/collapseReference: Commands in the Dynamic Content Object Section

This section shows a list of all the Dynamic Content Objects in the website. If you click on an object, the page where it has been inserted opens and it can be edited.

Dynamic Content Objects are only available if you are working with the Professional edition of WebSite X5.

For further information, see How to work on the Dynamic Content Object

Click to expand/collapseReference: The WebSite X5 Manager App

In addition to the online Control Panel, websites created with the Professional edition of WebSite X5 can also be managed via the WebSite X5 Manager app, available free of charge for both iOS and Android.

In this section (present in the control panel but not in the app) you will find the commands necessary for installing the app:

App Store and Google Play buttons: these take you to the WebSite X5 Manager presentation screens in the respective stores.
QR Code: you can scan this QR code with your smartphone to access the app's page in the App Store or on Google Play and install the app.

These same commands for installing the app are also available in the Control Panel window of WebSite X5: you will also find the send push notification option in this window.

This section contains both the commands for installing the app and the QR code for adding the website to the list of sites that can be managed via the app.

Click to expand/collapseReference: Commands in the Website Test Section

In this section it is possible to display diagnostic information on the website and the Server it has been published on. The information is about:

PHP Version - the Server must support the PHP language for the e-mails of the Contact Form Object and Shopping Cart to work properly, as well as login and password access to Locked pages. If PHP is supported, the supported version is indicated.
Session support - As well as supporting PHP, the Server must also support sessions so that only authorized users with the correct access credentials can access Locked pages.
Folder  on Server - To be able to store and handle post comments in the Blog and Comments and Ratings Object, there must a folder on the Server with write-permission. The presence of this folder is checked, and then it is checked for write-permission.
MySQL support and database settings - When you compose a Contact Form Object, a Comments and Ratings Object or the Shopping Cart you can set the data reception method as "Send data to a Database": you will need to give some parameters to connect to the database you want to use on the Server. The Server is checked for MySQL support, and then the parameters you have specified are checked that they effectively give access to the database.

These checks are carried out automatically, and you can also check that the server correctly supports the scripts used for sending e-mails: select the script you want to use, enter the necessary parameters and carry out a trial send. If the e-mail is sent and received correctly, this means that the server supports the selected script and it is safe to use it.

 


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