On signing up to Makersite and logging in, the first page you see will be the Makersite Dashboard. The Dashboard is the central hub of the Makersite platform and is the starting point for all your work with Makersite. Whether it's to create a new product or process, import a bill of materials, analyze your results, or produce reports, it all starts here!
In this article we will show you an overview of the Dashboard layout and functionality, and how to get started with the Makersite apps. Links to more detailed tutorials and advanced functionality will be referenced where appropriate throughout this article.
1. The Home Button
This button is available on all Makersite pages, clicking this will take you to the Makersite Dashboard from anywhere on the platform.
2. The Search
The Search Bar allows you to search for anything in Makersite, including Product Models, Product Groups, Materials etc.
More information on search functionality can be found in the Search Bar Functionality article on the Makersite FAQ pages.
3. Analyze
Selecting Analyze from the Dashboard will open a page showing a grid of all of your Products in Makersite.
4. Compose
The Compose button opens the page where you can start to create datasets within Makersite, including Product Groups, Products, Processes, Substances, Companies, Company Sites, and more.
5. Discuss
Selecting Discuss from the Dashboard will open a page where you can communicate with your team on Makersite, and also search or ask the Makersite community a question, this could be anything regarding the use or functionality of Makersite itself, or questions relating to materials or suppliers on Makersite.
6. Refresh/Reload Button
This button is used to refresh the Makersite platform. If you make changes to your model or anything in Makersite, the page you are currently on may need refreshing/reloading to update the changes. It will not reset your session or return you to the Dashboard, it will only refresh the page or app you are currently using.
7. Change Teams Button
Clicking on this button will show a drop-down list of all of the available teams that have been created in your Makersite profile.
8. Help button
Clicking on the Help button will show a drop-down where you can access Makersite Support, Tutorials, and the FAQ pages.
Selecting Support will open a pop-up where you can send a message directly to the support team at Makersite.
Selecting Tutorials gives you access to interactive, step by step, on page instructions which will guide you through various functions of Makersite.
Selecting FAQ, will take you to the Makersite FAQ pages, in a new browser tab. Here you can search for more in depth articles and tutorials for Makersite's basic and more advanced functionality.
9. Profile Menu
This drop-down menu contains a number of options to help you manage your Makersite account and data.
My Profile: Information regarding your profile, including activity & login logs.
My Drive: This takes you to the folder structure to access data such as BOM Imports, Reports, and other imported data. For more information on the functionality of My Drive, please see the My Drive article on the Makersite FAQ pages.
Data Explorer: This takes you to the folder structure to access data such as Process, Regulation data, and other imported data. For more information on the functionality of Data Explorer, please see the Data Explorer article on the Makersite FAQ pages.
To-Do: This is the home page for adding and managing any To-Do items and lists in Makersite.
Jobs: This page shows a list of background tasks and actions that have been carried out within your Makersite profile, this can be used to check that data has completed deleting etc. For more information on the functionality of the Jobs list, please see the Different Statuses in Jobs article on the Makersite FAQ pages.
Trash: This page shows a list of items that have been deleted in Makersite, this could include imported files, materials or components, and links within Product Models in Makersite. The ability to restore any of these items if required is located on this page.
Account: This will open a pop-up menu containing various settings for the Makersite platform, including setting what sections are shown on the Dashboard, change your password, manage connected apps, newsletter settings, and delete account.
Logout: This will log you out of your current Makersite session.
10. Makersite apps
The section shows the main apps in Makersite, you can click on 'Additional Makersite Tools' to show the full list. This is where to start when importing data or building models in Makersite.
11. Favorite apps
This is a configurable app list, clicking on 'Configure favorite apps' will allow you to select which apps are shown here for quick access to your most used apps.
12. Favorite products
The favorite products will show the most recently accessed products for quick access. This will start to populate as soon as you start using Products in Makersite. You can also click on 'Configure favorite products' to manually add or remove products from the list.
13. Product Performance
This will show the Product Groups you have built in Makersite, clicking on a Product will take you directly to the Product Datasheet page.
14. Discussion
Any discussions you are part of or have started will show up here.
15. News Feed
The news feed shows any activity related to your Makersite team(s), such as new members that have been added.
16. Experts
This section shows a list of users within the Makersite community who have made contributions to the platform. Clicking on the names will take you to the users profile page where you can see the users contributions and also ask questions.
17. To-Do
This will show a list of any To-Do items you have added to your Makersite profile.