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🚪 Signing In and the Dashboard

The Studio is where Swift Axis stories, topics, pages and settings are written and managed, and the Dashboard is the first screen you see. This page will guide you through signing in, what the Studio's navigation holds, and what the Dashboard shows you each day.

Summary

The Studio is owner-only for now. You sign in with Pocket ID, and only the site owner can use it until multi-user support arrives.

Signing in​

  • Open the Studio from your site. It lives under /admin on the site's address.
  • Press "Sign in with Pocket ID". The page says "Welcome back." and "Sign in with Pocket ID to write, structure and publish stories."
  • Sign in with your Pocket ID account. You return to the Studio screen you were on.

If something is not right, the Studio tells you which situation you are in:

  • "Studio is owner-only for now." You are signed in, but only the site owner can use the Studio. Ask the site owner if you should have access, or sign out.
  • "You're signed in, but not an editor." Your Pocket ID account is not in the editors group. Ask the site owner to add it, then press "Try again".
  • "Please sign in again." Your session ended. Anything you were writing is kept as a local backup in this browser.
  • "You've signed out." You can sign in again whenever you are ready.

Readers sign in on the public site, not here. See Signing in and syncing.

Finding your way around​

The left-hand navigation has a "New story" button at the top and two groups of screens:

  • Editorial desk: "Dashboard", "Stories", "Planned stories", "Topics", "Story structure", "Briefs" and "Messages". A number beside "Messages" shows unread messages.
  • People & site: "Writers", "Readers", "Pages", "Tags", "Navigation", "Settings", "Export / Import" and "API & MCP".

"View site" at the bottom opens the public site in a new tab. The small button at the top of the navigation collapses it to an icon rail. "Pages", "Export / Import" and "API & MCP" are for owners.

The Dashboard​

The Dashboard greets you and says "Here is what needs you today." It is made of these parts:

  • Suggested next step: one thing the Studio thinks is worth doing next, with a button that takes you there.
  • Drafts to finish: your drafts with their word counts and when they were edited. "All stories" opens the full list.
  • Unread messages: the latest messages from the contact page, with an "Inbox" link.
  • Briefs: your latest Briefs, with a "Write a Brief" button.
  • Next site update: a countdown to the next rebuild, with a "Rebuild now" button. See Publishing and rebuilds.
  • Recent stories: your latest stories with their status, how many stories are live, and how many are planned.

Simply press any row to open that story or message. This ensures the Dashboard is a starting point rather than another list to maintain.

Best Practices​

  • Start from the suggested next step when you are not sure what to do.
  • Check "Next site update" after publishing to see when readers will see the change.