Applies to version 1.0.xx

After installation, you gain access to your Administrator panel via the following address:

http://www.yoursite.com/administrator

Use the Login and password you nominated at installation time. If you accepted a very cryptic one from the Joomla! Installer, now's the time to go to:
site>users and change it to something you can remember but which is still secure (choose the "super administrator user")

Ok, now let's have a look around:

• Along the top are a number of pull-down menus
• On the top right is the number of waiting messages, the number of logged in users and a logout button.
• In the middle of the screen are a number of large buttons which make going to a function faster than the top pull-down menus
• On the right is another tabbed group of quicker access links.

If you are totally new to Joomla! now's the time to go through each menu option one-by-one so you start to get familiar where everything is. Here's a few comments about those menus and a few things you can do right now (Please see the "How to..." category for detailed explanations)

• Home takes you to the administrator front page, not your front end Joomla! site
• If you find that your administrator session is timing out too quickly for you (you have to login again), then go site>global configuration>server (tab), make "Admin Session Lifetime" a slightly longer time.
• In your travels, you could take this opportunity to unpublish any sample content.
  
• Apart from the last two points, I would suggest that you do not! delete anything, or change any settings at this time. On many screens you can just choose "cancel" after you've taken a look.