3 The work surface

Start page

After signing in you land on the start page. It is divided into four slots. The module buttons are at the top left; you can fill the other three slots with widgets (see below).

The module tiles are sorted alphabetically, in the selected backend language. Which ones you see depends on the rights of your user group.

The modules

For editors

Module	Task	Manual
draft Contents	Search, create and edit records of all content areas	Chapters 4 to 8
person Users	Manage users and user groups	Administrators
delete Trash	Records previously deleted by the signed-in user	Administrators
smart_toy AI assistant	Get support from AI	Add-on module

For website administrators

Module	Task	Manual
language Instances	Set up websites with their domains and languages	Administrators
flag Languages	Set up the languages of the websites	Administrators
translate Snippets	Maintain the text snippets of the website in all backend languages	Administrators
transition_dissolve Structure	Set up content areas and their input fields	Administrators
check Status	Define the editing states for records	Administrators
manufacturing Media converter	Set up the conversion of images, videos and audio files	Administrators

For programmers

Module	Task	Manual
extension Templates	Edit the templates of the website	Template programmers

For system administrators

Module	Task	Manual
schedule Scheduler	Scheduled tasks, e.g. database backups	Administrators
build Tools	Maintenance of database, data and server	Administrators
box Components	Install and update add-on modules	Administrators
receipt_long Log files	Review the system logs	Administrators
manage_history Audit log	Review changes to all records	Administrators

Sidebar

The sidebar can be reached from every page.

Symbol	Meaning
menu	Main menu – at the top “info Info” (version of camindo CMS) and “menu_book Manuals”, below them the same modules as on the start page; this lets you switch to another module from any page
Logo	back to the start page
hourglass	Background processes – see below
mail	Messages – the number on the symbol shows the unread messages
settings	personal settings
logout	Sign out

Manuals

In the main menu menu the entry “Manuals” opens these manuals directly in the backend – in the language of the user interface, as long as they exist in it; otherwise in English.

A manual opens as its own layer above the overview; the path bar then shows for example “Manuals › Manual for editors”. Clicking “Manuals” closes the manual and returns you to the overview.

Above the text you will find:

• a search field – it finds sections in which all the words you enter occur,
• the selection of the manual (editors, administrators, template programmers and the manuals of installed add-on components) – it also limits the search and the index,
• the index – all headings and the bold-italic terms, from A to Z, each with a link to the place,
• the print view print – as soon as a manual is selected.

At the end of each page, “Back” and “Next” lead to the previous and the next chapter of the same manual. Add-on components (such as the AI assistant) come with their own manuals; the overview of manuals lists them under “Manuals of add-on components”.

The “Print view” opens the manual as a whole on one long page in a new window: first its overview, then all chapters in the order of the table of contents. Links within the manual jump to the place in the document; links to other manuals remain plain text. “Print” opens the print dialog of the browser – there you can also save the manual as a PDF. On paper, each chapter starts on a new page.

Layers

Every page you open – whether a record list, a detail view or an input form – is placed as a new layer over the previous one. A breadcrumb trail above the page shows which layers are open. Clicking an entry in it closes all layers up to the one you want.

The browser's Back and Forward buttons work inside the backend, but they can lead to misunderstandings and may cause data loss (an open input form closes unintentionally). It is better not to use them at all.

Lists and context menus

In all lists of the backend, the following applies:

• Clicking a row opens the detail view.
• Right-clicking a row opens a context menu with the most common actions, such as edit “Edit”, content_copy “Copy” and delete “Delete”. Actions for which you lack the right do not appear.
• Clicking a column heading sorts by this column; a second click reverses the direction.
  A sort order that differs from the default sort order of the area is highlighted in yellow and named, for example “Title ascending”. Clicking the X at the far right resets the sort order.
• The menu more_vert at the top right of a list contains further functions – in the record list, for example, “Export”, “Import” and “Batch processing”.

Keyboard operation

The backend can be used entirely without a mouse and with a screen reader. The Tab key moves from element to element, Shift+Tab moves back; the selected element has a frame.

• Skip to content: The first press of the Tab key shows “Skip to content” at the top left and – on the second press – “Skip to path navigation”. Press Enter to skip the header bar with the main menu and the symbols.
• Main menu: The button menu opens it with the first entry selected. The Esc key closes it again; the same applies to the list of background processes.
• Lists: Every row can be reached with the Tab key. Enter opens the detail view, Shift+F10 or the context menu key opens the context menu. In the menu you choose with the arrow keys, Enter carries out the action and Esc closes the menu.
• Column headings also sort with the Enter key.
• Layers: When you open a new layer, the selection is on its heading. When you close it, the selection returns to where you opened the layer – for example to the row of the list.
• Forms: If saving reports an error, the selection is on the first field with an error; the error message belongs to the field and screen readers read it out with it.
• Notes on a field (the question mark next to the label) also appear when you reach them with the Tab key; Esc hides them.

Short messages such as “Saved” remain visible for a few seconds, error messages longer. While the mouse pointer or the selection is on a message, it stays visible. If your operating system has “reduce motion” switched on, the backend does without animations; you can also switch off the slide animation of lookup fields in your personal settings under “Animation”.

Background processes

Functions with a long run time – batch processing, import, export, deleting many records, the conversion of videos – run as a background process. For many of these functions you can choose yourself:

• In the foreground you wait until the task is finished and see the result right away. This is convenient for smaller tasks.
• In the background you keep working right away. The result – a log or a download link – arrives as an internal message in your inbox.

From a certain number of records onward, a task always runs in the background.

While a process is running, the hourglass hourglass spins. When the process has finished, a short message appears in the foreground.
Clicking the hourglass opens the list of your running processes with a progress display. There you can also abort a process. Failed processes remain in the list until you remove them.

Messages

The envelope symbol mail gives you access to the internal messages. You can use them to write to other users. They receive a message only in the backend, not at their email address. On request, camindo CMS can also send you a daily summary by email.

• “Inbox” and “Outbox” are on separate tabs.
• You can mark messages as read or unread and as important, reply to them and forward them.
• Message about a record: in the detail view of a record, the menu more_vert contains the entry “Message”. The message then contains a link to the record – practical for queries or corrections for colleagues.
• camindo CMS itself also sends you messages: the results of background processes, import logs and download links for exports.

Summarize messages by email

If you do not look into the backend every day, it is easy to miss a message. In your personal settings, select “Summarize messages by email” – “daily”. If new messages have arrived for you since the last summary, you receive an email to your stored address in the morning, containing

• the number of all unread messages, grouped by sender, and
• the new messages with date, sender and subject.

The email contains no message texts and no contents from records – these remain in the system. You can read the messages only after signing in to the backend; the email deliberately contains no link there. Without new messages, no email is sent. A prerequisite is an email address in your account.

Messages are deleted automatically after a fixed period – typically 60 days after sending, although your administrator can set a different period. Anything you need for longer does not belong in a message but in a record.

If you delete a message, it disappears only from your list; the recipient or sender keeps the version that was sent.

Personal settings

The gear settings opens your personal settings.

Setting	Effect
Backend language	Language of the user interface (as with sign-in)
Date and number format	Locale for date, time and number values
Time zone	Time zone in which you see and enter points in time
Preferred language version	For multilingual content, the input form opens this language first (see chapter 6)
Frontend editing	Shows edit links directly on the website (see chapter 9)
Dark mode	Switch for the dark color scheme of the user interface; switched off (default), the light one applies. The sign-in page uses the color scheme last used in this browser
Animation	“on” (default): when a lookup field opens the list of the linked area, it slides in from the side. “off”: the list appears immediately
Dashboard widgets	see below
Subscribe to reports	Reports that your administrator has released for your user group – after every run, the result arrives as a message in your inbox. This entry only appears if such reports exist
Summarize messages by email	“daily”: an email with the unread messages per sender and the new ones with their subject, only if new messages have arrived (see Summarize messages by email)
Two-factor sign-in	Shows how you sign in (email code, authenticator app or passkey); the button next to it sets up the app and passkeys (see chapter 2)

Start page widgets

The start page has four slots. The module tiles always occupy the top left slot; on the other three slots (“top right”, “bottom left”, “bottom right”) you can place widgets – small overviews provided by modules. Several widgets may share a slot; they then appear one below the other.

In the settings, select a widget and a slot and click “Add”. “Remove” takes it out again. Please note: both changes only take effect when you click “Save”. Only widgets of the modules to which you have access are offered.

For editors

Widget	Content
Unreviewed content of frontend users	Contributions and profile records of frontend users that still need to be reviewed (see chapter 10)
Trash	Number of entries in your trash; a click opens it

For administrators

Widget	Content
Log files	the most important messages of the system logs from the last few days (superusers only)

For superusers, important system messages are also shown below the module tiles, without the need for a widget.

For template programmers

Widget	Content
Template messages	List of templates with errors (parsing errors)

Add-on modules can bring further widgets.

AI assistant (add-on module)

If the add-on module AI assistant smart_toy is installed and your user group has access to the module, Ctrl+K opens the assistant in a side panel – from every page of the backend. On a Mac it is ⌘+K (Command key). A second Ctrl+K or ⌘+K in the input field closes the panel again. Only in a text editor that assigns the keys itself (for example for “Insert link”) does its function apply there.

Give the assistant an instruction or ask a question. Create line breaks with Shift+Enter. A plain Enter sends the message.
The assistant searches, reads, creates and changes records.
While it works, the chat shows every step as a short text reply in italics. The final answer is more detailed.

• Stop: next to the display “The assistant is working …”, “Stop” ends the work after the current step. If you send a new message, it continues.
• Confirm: before the assistant changes, deletes or moves something, or edits many records at once, it asks. The prompt shows the record and, for changes, before and after for each field, as well as the result of a test run. You can allow only this action or this and similar actions of the same kind until the end of the chat – or decline. Reading and creating run without a prompt.
• Show: ask the assistant to show you something – a record, a filtered list, an input form or another view you are allowed to open – and it opens it as a layer next to the chat. What it cannot do itself, it also opens and tells you step by step what to do.
• What you have open: with every message the assistant learns which layers you have open – for example the list of an area and a record above it – and for the top layer also your search criteria. So you can simply write “Help me with this article” or “Why don’t I find article X here?”. Labels and ids are passed on, no contents; search values in encrypted fields appear only as [encrypted]. What you have typed in an open input form but not saved yet is not visible to it.
• Questions about operation: “How do I change one word efficiently in 100 records?” – the assistant looks it up in the manuals and, on request, opens the matching page for you.
• Open input forms: the assistant does not change a record you currently have open in an input form; it asks you to save or close the form first.
• New chat: start a new chat with the symbol add_comment “New chat”.
• Previous chats: you find earlier chats with the symbol view_headline “Previous chats” and on the start page of the module in the tab “Previous chats”. Clicking a row continues the chat in the side panel; you delete it via the context menu (right mouse button). Depending on the settings, a deleted chat stays readable for superusers for a few days.
• Close the side panel: the X symbol at the far right closes the side panel.

Below the input field you see the model and the tokens used so far in the chat, broken down into input, input retrieved from the cache, and output.
If the assistant was interrupted in the middle of its work (for example because the browser was closed prematurely), the chat offers “Continue” or “Stop” the next time you open it.

warning The assistant is a language model of an external provider. Its answers can be wrong or incomplete – check the results, and confirm only what you understand. The assistant works with your user rights and has no access beyond them. If it changes content, the audit log shows your user name – but with the origin “llm” (for large language model). Your own activities carry the origin “backend”.