# Administration dashboard and preferences

The authenticated panel is the primary way to manage RustProxy. Pages cover **Overview**, **Vhosts**, **Web Server**, **Certificates**, **Docker vhosts**, **Streams**, **Traffic**, **Cache**, **Logs**, **Settings** and **Documentation**. Availability of individual cards depends on enabled features and the account's display preferences.

## Overview cards and layouts

The Overview contains live counters, charts and optional backend, cache, PHP, Docker and Stream cards. Under **Settings → Appearance → Dashboard layout** or the Overview editor, configure visibility, order, card width, density and the number of history samples. A hidden card stops consuming its optional browser-side visualization work but does not turn off its underlying proxy feature.

**Dashboard Presets** supports up to **16 named layouts per administrator**. Save, load, rename, overwrite and delete presets; a factory layout can be restored. Presets preserve the dashboard arrangement, not the live traffic values. Interface theme, scale and other display settings are also account-scoped and do not alter proxy routing or rewrite shared configuration.

## Editing configuration safely

1. Open the relevant workspace and inspect existing state before editing.
2. Change a logically related group of settings and review the editor's effective-preview/status where available.
3. Save against the expected current configuration revision. A stale edit should be reloaded instead of silently overwriting a newer change.
4. Confirm whether the saved setting is active immediately or requires a process restart (notably listener binds and administration HTTPS).
5. Check the live page and request logs after sending test traffic.

Unfinished editors may be minimized into a draft dock; this is a UI convenience and **not** a durable change or backup until saved.

## History and restore

**Configuration history** stores retained validated snapshots. Restoring a snapshot creates a new configuration revision. It does not restore every filesystem file, external certificate, Secret Store key or accumulated cache/log history. For disaster recovery, use a full encrypted backup; see [Backup](BACKUP.md).

## Interpreting charts

- Live views are process/sampling-based and can show no-data when an integration has not reported yet.
- Per-backend protocol badges can distinguish configured HTTP mode from the protocol actually observed in connection traffic.
- Response-header timing excludes the full streamed body duration. HTTP server/client percentages refer to the specified layer.
- A data sampling gap, a reset after restart and a true zero are not always equivalent.

See [Monitoring](MONITORING.md) for metric details and [Configuration](CONFIGURATION.md) for persistent service settings.