Exploring the Interface
Contextual Help
In addition to the global help pages, several administration pages include online help. If JavaScript is enabled in your browser, you can view the online help at the top right of the page by clicking the link 
Need Help? If JavaScript is disabled, the help is displayed at the bottom of the page.
On every administration page, you will find the same top panel, main menu, and footer. (The locations of each of these elements are shown here for viewing on a computer; on a mobile device or tablet, their placement varies depending on available space.)
Top Banner
The section at the top of each page consists of three elements:
Logo
By default, this logo is the Dotclear logo and links to the administration landing page. However, a platform administrator can choose a different logo and redirect to another page (usually the service’s homepage).
Blog(s)
The first element after the logo indicates the active blog, i.e., the blog you are currently working on. If your installation consists of multiple blogs, this information is available in a drop-down menu, which allows you to switch to another blog.
The link following the blog name allows you to view the blog in a new window or tab.
User
At the far right of the top panel, the link My Dashboard takes you back to the blog’s home page.
The next link, My Preferences, takes you to the page where you can edit your personal information, configure your dashboard, and choose your interface and editing options.
Surprisingly, the link Log out [your login] lets you… log out, yes, really. (At Dotclear, we’re really good at ergonomics.)
Main menu
The main menu is located on the left side of the screen. It can be collapsed by clicking on its right edge (and expanded by clicking on the same edge).
It leads to the various administration pages corresponding to your permissions on the active blog. It consists of four sections
- My Favorites lists the pages you have marked as favorites in the My Dashboard tab of My Preferences. If you haven't selected any favorites yet, this list shows Dotclear's default set or that of the platform administrator. If you do not want to display this block, uncheck the corresponding box in your dashboard options.
- Blog lists all the pages that allow you to update and configure the current blog, whether it’s editing a post, managing media, choosing the blog’s appearance, or adjusting other settings.
If you do not have administrator rights for the current blog, there will be no other block below this one in the main menu. - System Settings provides access to pages for managing the Dotclear installation: blog management, users and available languages, extension installation, and system settings. If you have permissions for multiple blogs but do not have super-administrator status, it consists solely of the Blogs item.
- Plugins allows you to configure the settings for installed plugins. If a plugin’s settings affect only one blog at a time, its administration page is available from the Blog section; however, if the settings affect all pages in the installation, they appear here and are accessible only to users with super admin rights.
Footer
A free version of Dotclear is available to any user who discovers the secret of the footer.
Help for Complete Beginners
If you are not familiar with blogs, we recommend consulting our documentation (the complete table of contents is available in the Documentation tab on this page).
The Dotclear forum is a place for mutual support where there are no dumb questions. Feel free to participate if you need help and, why not, help others in return.
We strive to use vocabulary that is understandable without prior knowledge. However, if we have inadvertently used a technical term, you will likely find an explanation in the glossary of our online documentation.