Admin Console — Staff Guide

For store staff who manage products, orders, customers, and settings.

For staff

Store URLs

Set in the API .env by your administrator. Sign in at the Admin console URL only.

Application Variable Local development
Storefront (online store) STOREFRONT_URL https://bnf-asia.com
Admin console ADMIN_URL https://dashboard.bnf-asia.com

Log in: Open the Admin console URL and sign in with your staff email and password.

1 Getting started

Sign in

  1. Open the Admin console URL in a web browser.
  2. Enter your staff email and password.
  3. Click Sign in — you land on the Dashboard.
Admin console sign-in page
Sign in — Enter your staff credentials to open the admin console.

If you forget your password, contact a Super Admin to reset your account. Super Admins invite additional staff under Account → Users → Invite staff. See Admin user onboarding for the full plan.

Your staff account

Path: Sidebar → Account — view your email, role, and permission count; change your password here.

Staff account profile and change password
Account — Profile and change password (use your own account page, not Users).

Roles and access

Super Admin

Full access — settings, payment keys, users, audit logs, and all catalog/order tools.

Store Manager

Catalog, orders, storefront CMS, reviews, abandoned carts — not customers, vouchers, settings, or user management.

If a menu item is missing or you see "Unauthorized", ask a Super Admin to check your role under Users or Roles.

1a Admin user onboarding plan

Use this plan whenever someone new needs Admin Console access — from the first Super Admin at launch to day-to-day staff invites.

Path Who runs it When
A — First Super Admin Technical administrator Once, during initial store setup
B — Invite staff Existing Super Admin Each new team member after launch

Path A — First Super Admin (initial setup)

The platform administrator creates the first account during deployment — not from the admin UI.

  1. Confirm STOREFRONT_URL and ADMIN_URL in the API .env match deployed apps.
  2. Create the first Super Admin via the API seed process (see project README).
  3. Send the store owner the Admin console URL, storefront URL, sign-in email, and temporary password (secure channel only).
  4. Owner signs in, changes password under Account, then completes Settings → Overview.
  5. Owner invites additional staff via Path B as the team grows.

Never commit admin credentials or .env files to source control.

Path B — Invite a new staff member

Before inviting: choose role (default Store Manager unless they need settings or user management), confirm work email, generate a unique temporary password (min. 6 characters).

  1. Open Account → Users and click Invite staff.
  2. Enter email and temporary password.
  3. Select Super Admin or Store Manager — see Roles for permissions.
  4. Click Create account.
  5. Share Admin console URL, email, and temporary password securely (password manager or in-person — not plain email if policy forbids).
  6. Optionally confirm STAFF_CREATED in Settings → Audit logs.
Staff users list and invite
Users — Invite staff, assign roles, deactivate accounts.

New user — first login checklist

  1. Sign in at the Admin console URL with the temporary password.
  2. Account → change password (current = temporary password).
  3. Confirm your role and permissions on the Account page.
  4. Bookmark the Admin console URL; use Chrome, Edge, or Safari.
  5. Complete role training in section 13.
  6. Sign out on shared computers when finished.

Choosing a role

If the person needs to… Assign
Process orders, manage catalog, edit homepage, moderate reviews Store Manager
Configure payments, shipping, email, vouchers, invite staff, view customers or audit logs Super Admin

Limit Super Admin to owners and operations leads. Start with Store Manager when unsure — promote later via Users → Change role.

Offboarding

  1. Users → row menu → Deactivate account when someone leaves or access is revoked.
  2. To reset access: Change role and optionally set a new password, or Activate account if previously deactivated.

Do not delete staff accounts — deactivation preserves audit history.

3 Dashboard (/)

Admin dashboard with KPIs, quick actions, and platform health
Dashboard — Daily KPIs, alerts, quick actions, and platform health at a glance.

Operations row

  • Orders today
  • Pending fulfillment (paid, not yet shipped)
  • Follow-up queue (unpaid orders and quotes)
  • Stale quotes (support-assisted orders past the alert threshold)

Needs attention

Quick links when something requires action: pending reviews, payment exceptions, awaiting fulfillment, quotes awaiting review, stale quotes, low stock products, abandoned carts.

Platform health

Checks whether shipping rates, payment gateways, email delivery, and pickup locations are configured. Amber or red items usually need a Super Admin under Settings.

Analytics

  • Pick a date range with the range picker (defaults to last 30 days)
  • Revenue and average order value
  • Revenue chart
  • Top products
  • Low stock — uses the threshold from Settings → General (Checkout tab)
  • Abandoned carts count

Send recovery emails

Sends abandoned-cart messages to eligible carts (after the configured delay). Confirm the abandoned_cart email template under Settings → Email templates. Optional recovery discount code is set under Settings → General (Checkout tab).

Analytics page

Path: Sidebar → Analytics — full sales report with CSV export, top products, cart recovery, and low stock links (separate from the Dashboard summary charts).

Analytics page with revenue chart and top products
Analytics — Revenue by day, top products, cart recovery, and low stock for the selected period.

4 Orders

Order queues

Order list /orders
Fulfillment /orders/queue
Follow-up Unpaid & quotes
Support inbox Chat & quotes

Order list (/orders)

Admin orders list with search and filters
Orders — Search, filter, export CSV, or create a manual order.
  • Search by order number or customer email
  • Filter payment and shipping status, date range
  • Export CSV
  • Create order — manual order for phone/email sales
  • Open a row for full detail

Fulfillment queue (/orders/queue)

Fulfillment queue showing paid orders ready to ship
Fulfillment queue — Paid orders ready to pack. Use quick actions to mark Processing or Shipped.

Follow-up queue (/orders/follow-up)

Follow-up queue for unpaid orders and quotes
Follow-up queue — Unpaid orders and support-assisted quotes needing attention.

Support inbox (/support/inbox)

Support inbox with customer chat
Support inbox — Reply to customers on support-assisted orders and update quotes.

Create order (/orders/new)

Create manual order form
Create order — Manual order entry for phone or email sales.

Order detail

Order detail with fulfillment and tracking
Order detail — Payment and shipping status, tracking, refunds, and customer requests.

Order detail — actions

Pending →
Processing →
Shipped →
Delivered
or Cancelled

Fulfillment steps

  1. Set Payment status — Unpaid / Paid / Failed / Refunded
  2. Set Shipping status — Pending → Processing → Shipped → Delivered (or Cancelled)
  3. Enter Tracking number, Carrier, Estimated delivery
  4. Save changes — Customer may get email updates; shipped email sends when status is Shipped with tracking

Customer requests

When a shopper requests cancel or return, it appears here with status PENDING. Use Approve or Reject (optional staff note on reject). Approving cancel sets the order cancelled; approving return flags refund for processing.

Quote editor (support-assisted)

Adjust shipping/installation fees and send updated totals in chat.

Internal notes

Staff-only notes — customers do not see these.

Refunds

Set amount, reason, and status (Requested / Processed / Rejected).

Download invoice PDF

Exports the same PDF the customer receives by email.

Payment reminder

For unpaid orders — sends a reminder email with account link.

5 Catalog

Products (/products)

Admin product catalog list
Products — Search, filter by category or stock, add or edit items.
  • Search, filter by category, stock level, and variant type (low stock uses platform threshold)
  • Add, edit, delete products
  • Batch tools on the toolbar — bulk update selected products or run CSV import/export

CSV import / export

Use the Import and Export menus on the products page:

Action Use when
Import new products Bulk-create products from a CSV
Import product updates Change price, stock, badges, or other fields for existing SKUs
Import new variants Add variant rows to products that already exist
Import variant updates Bulk-update variant price or stock (required for products with variants)
Export products Download the current list for editing offline
Export variants Download all variant rows for stock or price updates

After import, review the summary for created, skipped, and failed rows.

New / edit product

Create: Click Add product → fill Basic info, Pricing & inventory, descriptions, badges, images, variants, installation → Create product.

Edit: Open the product → change fields → Save product.

Product edit form with images and variants
Edit product — Pricing, images, variants, badges, and installation options.

Delete: Row menu (⋮) → Delete → confirm.

  • Name, slug, SKU, descriptions, price, compare-at price, weight, stock
  • Category (including top-level room categories such as Bedroom or Living Room)
  • Badges (Featured, New, On sale, Best seller)
  • Images — upload multiple; first image is the catalog thumbnail
  • Variants — name, SKU, price, stock, options (e.g. Finish: Walnut)
  • Installation flag and fee where applicable

Categories (/categories)

Category tree in admin
Categories — Nested catalog tree for filters and shop-by-category cards.

Organize the catalog, storefront filters, and homepage Shop by category cards.

  1. Create: Add category → name, parent (optional), description, cover image, sort order → Create category.
  2. Edit: Row menu → Edit → Save changes.
  3. Delete: Row menu → Delete → confirm (reassign products first if needed).

Collections (/collections)

Collections list in admin
Collections — Manual or automated product groups for the storefront.
  1. Create: Add collection → name, slug, type (Manual or Automated), products or rules, cover image → Create collection.
  2. Edit: Open collection → update products/rules → Save changes.
  3. Delete: Row menu → Delete → confirm.

Bundles (/bundles)

Product bundles in admin
Bundles — Multi-product offers with a bundle discount.
  1. Create: Add bundle → name, discount %, add products and quantities → Create bundle.
  2. Edit: Open bundle → change items or discount → Save changes.
  3. Delete: Row menu → Delete → confirm.

6 Storefront content

Homepage (/storefront/homepage)

Homepage CMS editor in admin console
Homepage editor — Edit hero, collection blocks, product rows, promo banners, shop-by-category cards, and section scheduling.

Edit all home page sections from one CMS screen. Changes appear on the live home page after refresh (may cache ~1 minute).

Section What it controls
Hero banner Main headline, image, and call-to-action
Collection blocks Featured collection tiles with images and links
Category icons Horizontal scroll of category shortcuts
Service highlights Trust badges (shipping, warranty, etc.)
Product rows Curated grids (on sale, new arrivals, featured, collection, category, bundles)
Promo banners Mid-page promotional image banners
Sale countdown Timed sale banner with end date
Shop by category Large category cards on the home page

Section visibility & scheduling

Under Visibility, toggle each section on or off and set optional show from / hide after dates. Status badges show Live, Hidden, Scheduled, or Ended.

Site settings (/storefront/settings)

Storefront site settings
Site settings — Logo, navigation, footer, analytics IDs, and SEO defaults.

Content pages (/storefront/pages)

Content pages editor
Content pages — About, Help, Returns, Warranty, and custom pages.

Reviews (/reviews)

Review moderation queue
Reviews — Approve or remove customer-submitted product reviews.

7 Marketing

Vouchers (/promotions)

Voucher and promo code list
Vouchers — Create percent or fixed PHP discount codes for checkout.
  1. Create: Add voucher → code, discount type (percent or fixed PHP), dates, limits → Create voucher.
  2. Edit: Open voucher → Save changes.
  3. Delete: Row menu → Delete → confirm.

Customers enter codes at checkout.

Abandoned carts (/abandoned-carts)

Abandoned carts list
Abandoned carts — Carts saved with customer email; send recovery from Dashboard or Analytics.

8 Customers (/customers)

Registered customers list
Customers — Registered shoppers, order counts, and join dates (Super Admin).

Read-only list of registered shoppers. Profile edits happen on the storefront account page.

9 Users & roles (Super Admin)

See Admin user onboarding for the full invite workflow, first-login checklist, and offboarding steps.

Users (/users)

  1. Click Invite staff.
  2. Enter email and temporary password (min. 6 characters).
  3. Select role — Super Admin or Store Manager.
  4. Click Create account and share credentials securely.

Use the row menu to Change role, set a new password, or Deactivate accounts that should no longer sign in.

Roles (/roles)

Staff roles and permissions
Roles — Permission groups for Super Admin and Store Manager.

View permission groups. Custom roles may be available depending on your deployment.

10 Settings

Open Settings in the sidebar.

Overview (/settings)

Settings overview health checklist
Settings overview — Platform health checklist before go-live.

General (/settings/general)

General settings page with store identity and checkout options
Settings → General — Store & tax and Checkout tabs.

Store & tax

  • Store name, support email, phone, business address (used on invoices and emails)
  • PHP per USD rate
  • Free shipping toggle and minimum order amount
  • VAT rate and enable/disable
  • Prices include VAT — controls "incl. VAT" messaging on checkout
  • Storefront URL

Checkout

Setting Effect
Order notes at checkout Show/hide delivery instructions field
Guest checkout Allow checkout without account
COD / GCash / Maya toggles Enable payment methods for Philippines
BNPL Show installment option (manual follow-up)
Support-assisted checkout Logged-in PH customers can place quote-based orders
Abandoned cart recovery Track carts and allow recovery emails
Abandoned cart delay (hours) Wait before a cart is eligible for recovery
Recovery discount code Auto-appended to recovery email links
Low stock threshold Dashboard and product "low stock" filters
Stale quote alert (days) Flags old support quotes in follow-up queue

Shipping & pickup (/settings/shipping)

Shipping rates and pickup locations
Shipping & pickup — Delivery rates by zone and showroom pickup locations.

Add and edit rates:

  • Label (customer sees this at checkout)
  • Region: PH or International
  • Zone (NCR, Luzon, etc.) and weight range when needed
  • Delivery time — e.g. "5–7 business days"
  • Fee in PHP
  • Sort order — lower numbers listed first
  • Active toggle

Pickup locations — manage showroom pickup addresses used at checkout.

Payment gateways (/settings/payments)

Payment gateway settings
Payment gateways — Enable PayMongo (GCash/Maya) and Stripe for cards.

Tabs: Store & tax, Checkout, PayMongo, Stripe.

  • PayMongo — enable GCash / Maya for Philippines; confirm provider shows Connected
  • Stripe — enable international card payments; confirm provider shows Connected

Use live keys in production. A test-mode banner appears when test keys are active — contact your administrator to switch to live keys.

Email templates (/settings/email-templates)

Email template editor
Email templates — Order confirmation, shipped, abandoned cart, and payment reminder.

Edit subject and body for:

Template When sent
order_confirmation After order placed — PDF invoice attached when SMTP works
order_shipped Order marked shipped with tracking
abandoned_cart Cart recovery — use {{recoveryUrl}}, {{discountCode}}
payment_reminder Manual reminder from order detail

Placeholders use {{name}} syntax.

Test email — enter your email and click Send test email at the top of the templates page. If delivery fails, contact your administrator.

Logs

Payment logs
Payment logs — PayMongo/Stripe webhook and payment history.
Audit logs
Audit logs — Record of staff actions on orders and settings.
Page Purpose
Payment logs PayMongo/Stripe webhook history; filter by order
Audit logs Staff actions (order updates, settings changes, etc.)

11 Daily workflows

New COD order

  1. Orders → open order → confirm address and items
  2. Processing when preparing
  3. Shipped + tracking + carrier → save (customer gets shipped email if SMTP on)
  4. Delivered on arrival; set Paid if COD

Paid online order

  1. Check Fulfillment queue
  2. Fulfill as above — payment should already be Paid

Support-assisted quote

  1. Customer places order with Support-assisted payment
  2. Support inbox or order detail → chat
  3. Adjust quote fees → customer accepts → mark paid when ready

Cancel / return request

  1. Customer submits from account
  2. Order detail → Customer requests → Approve or Reject
  3. Process refund on order if needed

New product launch

  1. Products → Add → basic info (or Import → Import new products for bulk CSV)
  2. Edit → images, variants (or Import new variants for bulk)
  3. Optional: Collection, Homepage feature, Promotion

Sale / campaign

  1. Promotions — create code
  2. Homepage — update promo bar
  3. Optional: abandoned cart recovery discount code

Recover abandoned carts

  1. Confirm SMTP + template
  2. Set delay and optional discount in Settings → General
  3. Dashboard → Send recovery emails

12 Troubleshooting

Problem What to check
Cannot sign in Check credentials; ask Super Admin to verify account is active
Customer can't complete checkout Guest checkout off? Out of stock? Payment method disabled for their country?
No confirmation email Super Admin: Email templates → Send test email
Payment paid but order still Unpaid Check Payment logs; contact administrator if webhook failed
GCash/Maya not shown PayMongo enabled in Payment gateways and GCash/Maya toggles on in General
Low stock alerts wrong Low stock threshold in Settings → General → Checkout
Manager can't open Settings Role restriction — contact Super Admin
Images won't upload Contact your administrator
Test banner won't go away Super Admin: switch payment gateways to live keys

13 Training checklist

Start with the Admin user onboarding plan, then complete the items below by role.

All staff

  • Sign in, use global search, read Dashboard alerts
  • Find orders, update shipping status and tracking
  • Create a product with images; approve a review

Catalog team

  • Create, edit, delete categories, collections, and bundles
  • Manage variants; import and export products via CSV

Fulfillment team

  • Fulfillment queue; COD paid on delivery; manual orders
  • Cancel/return requests; invoice PDF download

Super Admin

  • Invite staff; shipping rates and pickup locations
  • Payment gateways; email templates; audit logs

14 Quick reference

Shipping flow

Pending → Processing → Shipped → Delivered
  • Philippines payments (typical): GCash, Maya, COD, BNPL (optional), Support-assisted (optional)
  • International payments (typical): Stripe card
  • Customer invoice: Generated as PDF on order confirmation email and available from account + admin order detail