Dashboard Overview
When you log in to Wired Church as an admin or staff member, the first thing you see is the Admin Dashboard. This is your command center — a real-time summary of your church's key metrics, shortcuts to common tasks, and a feed of recent activity across your organization.
This guide explains every section of the dashboard and the sidebar navigation that connects you to the rest of the platform.
The Top Header
The header bar runs across the top of every page in the admin area. It contains five elements:
Church Logo and Name — Your organization's short name and logo, displayed at the far left. If you belong to multiple organizations, clicking this opens the Org Switcher dropdown to move between them.
Global Search — A search bar in the center of the header. Type a member name, contribution batch number, event title, or any keyword to search across all modules. Results are grouped by type (Members, Contributions, Events, etc.) and link directly to the matching record.
Notification Bell — Shows a badge count of unread notifications. Click to expand the notifications panel, which includes:
- Ministry assignment confirmations pending
- New visitor follow-ups due
- Contribution batches awaiting approval
- System alerts (failed email sends, Stripe webhook errors)
Theme Toggle — Switch between dark mode (default) and light mode. Your preference is saved per user account and persists across sessions.
User Menu — Your avatar or initials in the far right. Click to access:
- My Profile — Edit your display name, avatar, and password
- My Preferences — Notification settings, default campus, language
- Switch to Portal — Jump to the Member Portal view (if your user is linked to a member record)
- Sign Out
The global search supports keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on Mac) from anywhere in the admin area to focus the search bar instantly.
Stat Cards
The top section of the dashboard displays four summary cards showing your church's key metrics at a glance.
Total Members
- Displays the count of members with an Active status in your organization.
- The trend indicator shows the percentage change compared to the same period last month.
- A green arrow means growth; a red arrow means decline.
- Click the card to jump to the full Members list.
This Week's Attendance
- Total attendance across all services for the current week (Sunday through Saturday).
- The trend compares against the previous week.
- If no attendance has been recorded for the current week yet, it shows "No data yet" with a prompt to record attendance.
- Click to go to the Attendance module.
Giving This Month
- Total contributions received in the current calendar month across all funds and payment methods.
- Trend compares to the same month last year (year-over-year), not the previous month, to account for seasonal giving patterns.
- Displayed in your organization's configured currency.
- Click to go to the Contributions module.
Upcoming Events
- Count of events scheduled in the next 7 days.
- No trend indicator — this is a simple count.
- Click to view the Events calendar.
Stat cards respect your permissions. If you don't have Read access to the Contributions module, the Giving card will show "No access" instead of a dollar amount. The same applies to Attendance and other modules.
Quick Actions
Below the stat cards, three prominent action buttons provide one-click access to the most common tasks.
Record Attendance
Opens the attendance check-in screen for today's date and default service type. From there you can:
- Select a different date or service type
- Search and check in members individually
- Use the rapid check-in mode for Sunday morning speed
New Contribution Batch
Creates a new contribution batch and opens the entry screen. The batch is pre-filled with:
- Today's date
- Your default campus
- The default service type
- Batch type set to "Manual"
You can change any of these before entering gifts.
Add Member
Opens the new member form with fields for name, contact information, address, family group, membership status, and campus. After saving, you're taken to the member's full profile page.
Quick actions are contextual. On a Sunday morning, "Record Attendance" is front and center. If there's already an open contribution batch, the button changes to "Continue Batch #[number]" instead of creating a new one.
Recent Activity Feed
The center of the dashboard shows a chronological feed of recent activity across your organization. Each entry shows what happened, who did it, and when.
Activity types include:
- Attendance recorded — Who recorded it, which service, how many present
- Contribution batch created/closed — Batch number, total amount, number of gifts
- Member added/updated — Member name, what changed
- Visitor logged — Visitor name, follow-up status
- Event created/updated — Event title, date
- Ministry assignment sent — Who was assigned, to which service and role
- Announcement published — Title, target audience
- Broadcast sent — Email or SMS, recipient count
The feed shows the most recent 20 items by default. Scroll down and click Load More to see older activity. You can also filter the feed by activity type using the dropdown above the list.
The activity feed only shows actions for modules you have Read access to. A bookkeeper who only has Contributions access will see contribution-related activity but not attendance or member updates.
Sidebar Navigation
The left sidebar is your primary navigation for the entire admin area. It organizes all modules into logical groups with icons, labels, and visual indicators.
Navigation Structure
The sidebar groups modules into these sections:
Dashboard
- Dashboard (home icon) — The main overview page you're reading about now
People
- Members — Full member database with search, filters, and profiles
- Visitors — First-time guest tracking and follow-up workflows
- Attendance — Service attendance recording and historical reports
Finance
- Contributions — Giving entry, batches, donor reports, and statements
- Finance — Fund accounting, journal entries, bank reconciliation, budgets
Ministry
- Ministry — Volunteer groups, service scheduling, and assignment management
- Groups — Small groups, Bible studies, and team management
- Events — Church events calendar, registration, and RSVP tracking
Communication
- Announcements — Scheduled church-wide announcements
- Broadcasts — Email and SMS messaging to members and groups
- Absentee — Absent member tracking and livestream access codes
Tools
- Signage — Digital signage playlist and slide management
- Website — Public website content management and page builder
- Reports — Cross-module analytics and custom report builder
System
- Admin — Organization settings, users, permissions, billing, audit log
Sidebar Behavior
- Collapse/Expand — Click the hamburger icon at the top of the sidebar to collapse it to icon-only mode. This gives you more screen space for data-heavy views like contribution entry or member lists. Click again to expand.
- Active Indicator — The current module is highlighted with a teal left border and a slightly lighter background.
- Badge Counts — Certain modules show notification badges:
- Visitors — Count of follow-ups due today
- Ministry — Count of unconfirmed assignments
- Announcements — Count of draft announcements awaiting publish
- Responsive — On smaller screens (tablets), the sidebar auto-collapses. On mobile, it becomes a slide-out drawer triggered by the hamburger icon in the header.
Learn the sidebar keyboard shortcut: press [ (left bracket) to collapse and ] (right bracket) to expand the sidebar from anywhere in the admin area.
Module-Specific Dashboards
Each module has its own dashboard view when you first navigate to it. These sub-dashboards show metrics and quick actions specific to that area:
- Members Dashboard — Total by status (active, inactive, visitor), recent additions, birthday and anniversary lists for the week
- Attendance Dashboard — Average attendance by service type, trend charts (weekly, monthly, yearly), highest and lowest weeks
- Contributions Dashboard — Giving totals by fund, year-over-year comparison, top givers, online vs. offline split
- Finance Dashboard — Account balances, recent journal entries, bank reconciliation status, budget vs. actual
- Ministry Dashboard — Upcoming services needing assignments, confirmation rates, volunteer availability gaps
- Events Dashboard — Upcoming events with registration counts, past event attendance rates
These dashboards give you a focused overview before you dive into the data. They replace the need to run common reports for quick status checks.
Customizing Your Dashboard
The main dashboard layout is consistent across all users, but a few elements adapt to your usage:
- Quick Actions — Adjust based on your most-used modules. If you never touch attendance but create contribution batches daily, the dashboard will surface contribution actions more prominently over time.
- Activity Feed Filters — Your last-used filter is remembered between sessions. If you always filter to "Contributions only," it will default to that view next time you log in.
- Stat Cards — Show or hide individual cards by clicking the gear icon in the upper right corner of the stat cards section.
Keyboard Shortcuts Reference
The admin area supports several keyboard shortcuts for power users:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+K / Cmd+K | Open global search |
| [ | Collapse sidebar |
| ] | Expand sidebar |
| G then D | Go to Dashboard |
| G then M | Go to Members |
| G then A | Go to Attendance |
| G then C | Go to Contributions |
| G then E | Go to Events |
| ? | Show all keyboard shortcuts |
Press ? from any page in the admin area to see the full keyboard shortcut reference. Shortcuts are sequential — press G, release, then press the second key.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is one of my stat cards showing "No access"? Your user account doesn't have Read permission for that module. Ask your Org Admin to update your permissions under Admin > Settings > Users.
Can I rearrange the sidebar modules? The sidebar order is fixed to maintain consistency across all users in your organization. This ensures everyone can find things in the same place when collaborating or during training.
Why don't I see the Admin section in the sidebar? The Admin section is only visible to Org Admins and staff members who have been granted Read access to the "admin" module.
Does the dashboard auto-refresh? The stat cards and activity feed refresh each time you navigate to the dashboard. There is no auto-polling to avoid unnecessary database load. Pull down on mobile or press F5 to refresh manually.
I see a badge count on a module but nothing seems new when I open it. Badge counts refresh every 60 seconds. If another staff member resolved the item (e.g., completed a visitor follow-up), the badge may clear on your next refresh.