Working with the panel

Finding a section and quick jump

Above the menu on the left there is a “Find a section” field, and in the header there is “Quick jump”: press Ctrl + K, start typing a word from the name of a section, setting or action, and pick the one you need with the arrow keys. Everything you are allowed to use is collected on one page, with a description of each section, in Main → All sections.

Panel look

The “Panel look” button in the header sets how the panel looks for you personally; your choice is remembered and does not change the site for others:

• Appearance: “Like the site”, “Light”, “Dark” or “Like the system”;
• Density: regular or compact — more rows fit on the screen;
• Width: limited (easy to read) or full screen;
• Lightweight mode: no shadows or animations, faster on weak devices;
• Text field grows with its content: you do not have to scroll inside the field for a long entry; “Text field height” is the height it starts with.

Change log

System → Diagnostics → Change log remembers who changed what: when, who, which action, on what, and what it was and what it became. You can filter the entries by person and by action. Passwords, keys and other secrets are not shown in the log — “[hidden]” stands in their place. Actions the system performed itself (on schedule, during an update) are marked “system”.

Address blocklist

System → Diagnostics → Blocklist shuts the site to anyone who is guessing passwords or sending advertising. Enter a whole address (203.0.113.7) or its beginning with a dot at the end (203.0.113.) — that blocks the whole subnet. There are no wildcards on purpose: they make it easy to block too much. Choose a period (an hour, a day, a week, a month or forever) and a reason: the person who is blocked will see it, so write it so that they understand whom to contact. Most often you need to stop today's guessing, not to banish half a city forever, so the default period is short. You cannot block your own address: there would be nobody to lift the ban. Next to the row you can see how many times the blocked address was turned away; the “Lift” button opens the site at once.

File integrity

System → Diagnostics → File integrity compares the core, modules, themes and settings with a trusted snapshot (SHA-256 checksums) and shows changed, new and missing files. Visitor uploads and the engine's working folders are not checked. Create the snapshot once after installation and after every update you are sure is correct: the button asks for confirmation, because “trusting the current state” is your decision. Next to it is a check of the code for crude signs of foreign execution: it fixes nothing and touches nothing, it only shows where to look; a finding is a reason to open the file, not a verdict.

Cache

System → Diagnostics → Cache holds the ready-made pages of the site. The “Clear the cache” button resets them if you have corrected something and visitors still see the old version. Here you can also see where the ready-made pages are stored: by default as files on this server; if an external cache is connected and does not respond, the site keeps working through files.

A question and answer instead of a captcha

If you do not want to connect an external “I am not a robot” service, you can set your own questions with answers in Settings → Security: the visitor sees a question in the registration form and answers it instead of a picture. Write questions that any live person answers but a bot does not (“How many legs does a dog have?”).