# A tour of the Admin panel

Getting started

Everything you configure in GrandNode starts in the Admin panel. This tour shows how to sign in, what the dashboard tells you, where each part of the menu leads, and how the Store owner and Vendor panels differ from it. Use it as a map for the rest of the documentation.

### Signing in

1. Open `/admin` on your store's address, for example `https://yourstore.com/admin`. If you are not signed in, you are sent to `/admin/login`.
2. Enter the **Email** and **Password** of the administrator created in the [installation wizard](https://grandnode.com/getting-started-installation-wizard). Tick **Remember me?** to stay signed in on this computer.
3. Press **Log in**. The dashboard opens.

![Admin panel sign-in page with Email and Password fields, Remember me and Forgot password](https://grandnode.com/Plugins/Theme.GrandNodeCom/Content/kb/getting-started/admin-login.webp)

The Admin panel sign-in page. Store managers use `/store/login`, vendors `/vendor/login`.

Forgot the password? Use **Forgot password?** — it sends a recovery link to the email address, so an email account must be configured first (see [Configuration](https://grandnode.com/docs-configuration)).

### The dashboard

![Admin dashboard with a welcome message, online visitors, active shopping carts, today's orders, a registered customers chart and the activity overview](https://grandnode.com/Plugins/Theme.GrandNodeCom/Content/kb/getting-started/admin-dashboard.webp)

The dashboard. The date range in the top right corner drives the charts.

From top to bottom:

- **Welcome message** — a text you can change with **Edit this message**; it is a landing page under **Content → Landing pages**.
- **Online visitors** (last 20 minutes), **Active shopping carts** (last 60 minutes) and **Today orders** (amount and count). Each tile links to its list.
- **Number of registered customers in time** and **Orders in time** — charts for the selected date range.
- **Activity Overview** — counters for what needs attention: **Order Pending**, **Abandoned carts**, **Low Stock Products**, **Today Registered Customers** and **Pending merchandise returns**.
- **Latest orders** — the newest orders with customer, payment status and total; **View more** opens the order list.
- **News from GrandNode** — announcements from grandnode.com.

### The side menu

The dark rail on the left holds the main sections. Clicking a section opens a panel with its pages; the close button (×) or a click outside hides it.

![Admin side menu with the Catalog section open, listing Products, Categories, Brands, Collections and more](https://grandnode.com/Plugins/Theme.GrandNodeCom/Content/kb/getting-started/admin-menu-flyout.webp)

Clicking **Catalog** opens its pages.

| Section | What you find there |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Dashboard, Statistics, Active carts and wishlists, Online customers |
| Catalog | Products, Categories, Brands, Collections, Product tags, Bulk edit products, Product reviews, Product attributes, Specification attributes |
| Sales | Orders, Shipments, Merchandise returns, Payment Transactions, Order's tags, Checkout Attributes, Order status |
| Customers | Customers, Customer groups, Customer tags, Vendors, Vendor reviews, Sales employees, Customer and Address attributes |
| Marketing | Discounts, Gift vouchers, Affiliates, Contact Attributes, Newsletter, Push notifications, Documents |
| Content | Landing pages, Message templates, Knowledgebase, News, Blog, Manage courses |
| Reports | Low stock report, Bestsellers, Products never purchased, Country report, Customer reports |
| Configuration | Stores, Permissions, Email Accounts, Languages, Currencies, Countries, SEO Names, Admin menu, Payment, Shipping, Measures, Tax, Layouts |
| Settings | General, Catalog, Customer, Sales, Media, Content, Vendor, Push notifications, Admin search, System settings |
| Plugins | External authentication, Widgets, Local plugins |
| System | System information, Message Queue, Message Contact form, Maintenance, Schedule tasks, Developer Tools |
| Help | Links to support services, documentation and the community |

The difference between **Configuration** and **Settings**: Configuration holds lists of things you create (stores, languages, currencies, payment and shipping methods), Settings holds switches and options that change behaviour.

### The top bar

- **Search in store...** — jump to products, orders, customers or admin pages by typing.
- **Dark mode** switch.
- **Notifications** (bell) — for example when a new GrandNode version is available.
- **Your account** — **My profile** and **Logout**.
- **Gear** — **Clear memory cache** and **Restart application**.
- **Info** — documentation, community and the installed GrandNode version.
- **Home** — opens the storefront.

### Plugins

**Plugins → Local plugins** lists every plugin grouped by type, with its version, system name and status. From here you install, uninstall and configure plugins, upload new ones as ZIP files and reload the list.

![Local plugins page listing Facebook and Google authentication plugins as Installed with Configure and Uninstall buttons](https://grandnode.com/Plugins/Theme.GrandNodeCom/Content/kb/getting-started/local-plugins.webp)

Payment, shipping and tax plugins are configured from their own pages under Configuration.

### Store owner and Vendor panels

The Store owner panel (`/store`) and the Vendor panel (`/vendor`) look the same but show fewer sections and only their own data. A store manager has no Plugins, System, Permissions or Stores; a vendor sees only Dashboard, Catalog, Sales, Customers (vendor reviews), Reports and Help. See [What is GrandNode](https://grandnode.com/getting-started-what-is-grandnode).

### Related

- [First steps for a new store](https://grandnode.com/getting-started-first-steps)
- [Configuration](https://grandnode.com/docs-configuration), [Catalog](https://grandnode.com/docs-catalog), [Sales](https://grandnode.com/docs-sales)

- [Web page](https://grandnode.com/getting-started-admin-tour)