HandyCafe Docs
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Dashboard

The HandyCafe Server dashboard is the central hub for managing your internet cafe or gaming center. After logging in, you land on the MainPage, which acts as a router that loads every other page in the system. All navigation, monitoring, and management tasks begin here.

Layout Overview

The dashboard is divided into four areas:

  1. Top Panel. A horizontal header bar across the top of the window. It displays the HandyCafe brand name and the title of the currently active page.
  2. Sidebar Toolbar. A vertical navigation bar on the left side. Each item is an icon button that switches to a different page. The active page is visually highlighted.
  3. Content Area. The main workspace to the right of the sidebar. This area renders the currently selected page (Admin Panel, Members, Reports, and so on).
  4. Status Bar. An optional footer bar at the bottom of the window. You can show or hide it from the View settings.

Sidebar Navigation

The sidebar toolbar provides quick access to every page in the system. Each entry shows an icon and, on hover, the page name. The following pages are available:

Page Icon Description
Computers (Admin Panel) Monitor Monitor and manage all client PCs
Consoles Gamepad Manage gaming console sessions
Licenses Certificate View and manage software licenses
Members Accounts Create and manage member accounts
Requests Account Question Review pending login and OAuth requests
Orders Cart Manage food, drink, and product orders
Expenses Cash Minus Record and track business expenses
Logs Document Browse system and audit logs
Reports Chart Line View cash register and shift reports
Statistics Chart Box Analyze revenue, session, and member statistics
Settings Cog Configure all system settings

The Settings page is accessed through a separate gear icon at the bottom of the sidebar, distinct from the main navigation items.

Open Order Badge

The Orders navigation item displays a badge showing the count of currently open (unfulfilled) orders. This count updates in real time whenever orders are created or closed so cashiers can immediately see if there is outstanding work.

Role-Based Page Access

Not every user sees the same sidebar. Page visibility depends on the logged-in cashier's role and permissions:

  • Admin accounts (created during the First Setup Wizard) have unrestricted access to all pages.
  • Cashier accounts are assigned a role with specific permission flags. If a cashier's role does not grant access to a particular page, that page is hidden from their sidebar.
  • When a cashier logs in, the system checks their role permissions and automatically redirects them to the first accessible page if they are currently on a restricted page.

For more information about roles and permissions, see Cashier Roles and Permissions.

Auto-Update Checking

On startup, the dashboard checks for available software updates. If a newer version of HandyCafe Server is available, a persistent notification appears in the top-right corner of the screen. The notification displays the new version number and offers the option to download and install the update.

This check runs silently. If no update is available or the update endpoint is unreachable, no notification is shown.

License Heartbeat

After the dashboard loads, a license heartbeat process starts in the background. This process periodically validates your HandyCafe license with the licensing server. If the license expires or encounters an issue, a Beta License Overlay may appear over the dashboard, restricting the application to read-only mode until the license is resolved.

See Licensing for details on license management.

Status Bar

The status bar is a thin horizontal bar at the bottom of the dashboard. It displays contextual information about the current state of the application. Its visibility is controlled by a setting:

  • To show or hide the status bar: Go to Settings and toggle the Status Bar option in the View section.

When hidden, the content area expands to fill the full height of the window.

Bootstrap Sequence

When the dashboard loads after a successful login, several initialization steps happen automatically:

  1. System settings are loaded from the database.
  2. Saved sessions are restored (if any were running before a restart).
  3. The server socket starts listening for client connections.
  4. A network ping request is sent to discover connected clients.
  5. The cashier's role permissions are loaded and restricted pages are hidden.
  6. The beta license status is checked.
  7. The license heartbeat timer begins.
  8. Open order count is initialized for the toolbar badge.
  9. An auto-update check runs in the background.

All of these steps are non-blocking. If any individual step fails, the dashboard continues to function. The failure is logged to the console but does not prevent you from using the system.

System Font

The dashboard respects the system font setting configured in Settings > General. All text throughout the interface uses the selected font family.

Next Steps