I regularly get feedback about the Dashboard "index page" in Admin.
Saying how ugly it is, and how one look at it would make a potential Phoenix user choose a different software. Etc etc.
How it's really basic in what it does. Etc etc, such as;
I want something that looks modern out of the box, not 2012
These people not realising the Dash is modular I guess.
dash-old.png
What do you think ?
Should this page be prettier out of the box?
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I'm not a fan of those graphs...especially for new shopowners who don't have a lot of data to display at that point. I'd be inclined to move them to the reports menu and let shopowners install them if they wish. To me it's not a great look.
Perhaps have the monthly graph uninstalled `out of the box` ?
I think (I may be very wrong though!) it's likely a new shopowner would make a test checkout soon after installing?
So that "daily sales" graph would have at least one entry quite quickly?
--
I'll have a go at making it so, and prettifying the page a bit.
We hardly ever use this front page. Occasionally I look at the sales graph and the number of customers, but not very often. The one thing we do from this page is to update all the XML files as that's where the button is.
I would not even like to hazard a guess at what people would want on this page. Maybe something like a row of small boxes/cards across the top of the page with figures like daily sales, new customers, new reviews, and number of customers online, but what day would you use. To make the page of any benefit in the morning when opening the admin for the first time it would have to be for the day before, and when closing it for the last time on a day it would need to be the actual days information.
Looking at other carts demos I am not sure they know what to do with the page either as there seems to be nothing standard across them all.
Like @14Steve14 I never use the admin Home screen.
My shortcut takes me directly to "Orderlist" so I can view new and current approved orders and what they are for, and then I go to Recover Cart Sales to catch the ones that got away
Back in the day, we had iBar Dashboard Modules created by @Dan Cole which added a nice touch to the page.
Below is a reference screenshot from the modules:
Admin with iBar dashboard modules installed.jpg
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Sorry to say this, (but I will anyway cos I have no friends), All these graphs look very pretty, and Im sure that for boardroom presentations that they would get sage nods of approval.
BUT - What of substance do they actually tell you? apart from the fact that you have received some orders and reviews over the last selected period.
When I look at my store I want to see what has been ordered, by whom, and when at a glance, so I can get the items shipped / ordered for shipping.
Mort_Lemur wrote: ↑Sat Oct 24, 2026 3:28 pm
Sorry to say this, (but I will anyway cos I have no friends), All these graphs look very pretty, and Im sure that for boardroom presentations that they would get sage nods of approval.
BUT - What of substance do they actually tell you? apart from the fact that you have received some orders and reviews over the last selected period.
When I look at my store I want to see what has been ordered, by whom, and when at a glance, so I can get the items shipped / ordered for shipping.
Just my view.....
"No friends, just facts!"
You're totally right though—pretty graphs don't ship products. If an admin page doesn't actively help you manage fulfillment or customer service, it's just digital wallpaper.
It sounds like for active shopowners, a direct link to the Order List or quick actionable alerts will always beat a dashboard full of analytics.
