New Dashboard Design
You’ve probably gotten tired of hearing about it from us, but the day has finally come and the new dashboard is finally here. It’s now immediately available to everyone on WordPress.com.
Change is always tricky, but pretty much everyone who has already switched to the new design and layout (that we affectionately call Crazyhorse) prefers it after a day or two of using it.
Why is that? Well aesthetics are a matter of taste, and you might like or dislike the new look, but speed is not.
A big focus of this redesign was making everything faster. It loads faster. It’s faster for you to navigate. And nearly every possible task in WordPress now takes fewer clicks than it used to.
This means we can get out of your way and you can focus on what matters: your writing, your comments, your readers, your blog.
So take a few minutes to explore around, there are a ton of new features for you. Try rearranging your dashboard, or your write page. Click the arrows in the menu to expand modules and navigate faster. Go to your profile and turn on keyboard shortcuts for comment moderation. Poke and prod! 🙂
For those following along at home, this new dashboard is going to be available as the 2.7 release on WordPress.org sometime next week. But because we update things so frequently here on WordPress.com, version numbers don’t apply as much.
Support is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you have any problems, and as always completely free. (Give us a little extra time to reply though, we’ll probably get a lot of folks contacting us.)
Love, Matt and the tireless WP team
- December 5, 2008
- Administration, New Features, WordPress.com
WordPress.com News 
Great Job!! I like it. Usually I hate change, but this is great.
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I hadn’t been taking notice of the development of this and when I logged in today found the changes. Absolutely brilliant, Nice, clean and lots faster access to everything that’s needed and lots more information immediately viewable.
Has a very nice, clean and crisp feel about it and display very nice. It has a very Mac OSX type look and feel about it. Outstanding.
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Had a two minute look at it and already liked it way more than the previous interface.
Easy, intuitive and a lot faster, what’s not to like.
Thanks
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I dunno about faster. This is my first visit since the change and every page is taking forever to load. I’m also finding on this particular computer that the text on the right-hand side of the page is cut off. I didn’t see a need for change but I guess I’ll have to get used to it. We don’t seriously have to update blogs in that tiny box on the right, do we?
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Of course not! QuickPress is just for small, quick posts from your dashboard. All the old editors are still there.
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Thanks WordPress team, what I like the most of the new Dashboard, is that it uses real screen state more efficiently now, plus I love the new features, thanks again!
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My most longed-for Christmas wish is to have my old dashboard back. Although I’m sure this was a time consuming effort, I truly dislike it. To say it is not user friendly is an understatement.
Do we have a choice? Why tinker with something that worked as well as the previous dashboard?
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Sorry we can’t maintain both at once, the new dashboard is the way forward. It provides the base we need to grow and expand the service and features for the next 3-5 years.
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Big improvement. User friendly. Much more organized. Makes things so much easier.
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There are some good features of the new design and some things that are very awkward. Transportation to the site from the dash is lacking, etc.
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:[ i dont like this theme
i like the old one better. it was more simple and organized.
can i change it to the old theme somehow?
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Nope, you can’t. Sorry!
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I like it so much!! It’s easy to use!! I heart wordpress!
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Love it! Its much easier!
-Sharpdesk-
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I know I’m not the only one to say this, but… I like the redesign!
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Good Job. Congratulations!.. I like the new dashboard.
Venezuela Blogger
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I’ve been using the beta for a while now, and I think it’s great! Thanks for all you’ve done.
As for the rest of you, I know it takes a little getting used to, but it’s definitely worth it.
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I really like the new set-up. It is much easier to navigate than the old format. I was anticipating that there would be a substantial learning curve, but I think the adjustment should be quick.
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LOVE the new . . . EVERYTHING. The quick edit is GREAT. Managing tags and categories will be SO easy now! THANKS!
OTOH, are the category widgets stable yet?
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I’m not usually a big fan of changes, but I like the layout and look. It doesn’t run any faster for me, unfortunately. Still slo-o-ow.
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You might also want to try turning on Gears, under Tools.
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Cool! Thank you! I love it! But I’m little bit confising on finding the button “go to blog” 🙂
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I’m officially in love with wordpress right now. You guys make me even more happy I chose my blog home to be wordpress.
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This is absolutely beautiful! I love the screen options on each page! Very nice! I also love to pick and choose and move things around, this is sooo practical! My new dashboard is a beauty!
I only have 3 complaints: 1) why can’t we move the sections in the menu (put what we use most at the top, and those we don’t use at the bottom); 2) in the menu, in the “post” category, I think “add new” should be first (before “edit” because that’s what most people do most; 3) this is not new, but I was hoping it would change and it hasn’t: when we are looking at our links, I wish we could select several links and perform different actions on these selected links (like change their categories). Right now all I can do is delete the selected links.
But these are small things. Overall: I love it 🙂
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Thanks for the compliments. To answer your questions:
1) Yesterday you didn’t even have the ability to see menu sections, and now you want them to move around? 🙂 Maybe in a future version, but for the big design change, we felt it was important that the navigation be standard so that people needing help could get answers quickly instead of having to spell out their menu structure with each help request.
2) We had “Add New” first originally, but in user testing, it turned out that most people thought “Posts,” being plural, would take them to the list of posts. There is one-click access to the Add New Post screen in the shortcuts menu in the upper right.
3) By creating our batch edit feature for posts, we’ve gotten the architecture to be able to to this for links in a future release.
Glad that overall you love it!
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Looks good!
At first I thought that the page wasn’t loading correctly then I saw the changes and the blog post title.
Love it.
Specially the quick post slot!
Thanks for the great work.
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looks great! can’t wait to get this on the .org
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I’ve seen two other posts about ‘Where did the Visit Site button go?’ I’m also wondering this. But most of all I’m wondering where on the dashboard is my blog name to click on to go to my homepage? Am I blind? Or is it so obvious I’m not seeing it? Help! :’P
PS Other than that I love the new dashboard! Nice work! ;’)
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It’s in the top-left by the WordPress logo.
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Congrats Matt. It’s come a long way since the beginning!
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Hey MATT,
I’m new to wordpress and Congrats on the new Dashboard, it looks super and when I first joined wordpres I was thinking ‘what a boring Dashboard’. Now just a small quarry, I love Movies, Music and Books, how do I create a column or two on the main page, to do mini posts, dedicated to either movies or books or music (i.e. to write my comments on a particular movie etc etc.) without making ‘Pages’ one after another? Is it possible to customize the designs I use the way I want? It looks limited options to me.
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Thank you, i love wordpress
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I love it but guys, my Theme!! It’s screwed – Looking forward to hearing from Support asap!
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OOh, what a surprise! I really like the look and the conveniences. Thank you for all your efforts!
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Yet to Explore… but appears to me Xtra Ordinary:-) Thanks….
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This great, this new dashboard easy to understanding. thank you.
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Woawesome ! Nice works kids ! ;o)
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How do you make an existing post Stick to the top in the new version? Not seeing the formerly obvious check box.
Also, while the technology looks cool in terms of moving things around – the left nav makes the pages so cramped, particularly the most important page to us, writing/editing posts. How can I configure my page so I can maximize width that basically eliminates the left nav and moves any other box down below?
Thanks in advance
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For sticky post: Click on Visibility in the publish area of a post. You’ll then see options to stick a post to the front page, password protect, or make the post private.
There are a number of options for customizing and de-cluttering your dashboard. You can click on Screen Options in the upper right and uncheck the fields you don’t want to display. You can collapse menus on the left to make room when you don’t need them. You can also drag and drop modules within the dashboard so the stuff you care about most is at the top. Special hint: If you put everything in one column, modules will stretch across both columns.
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Matt, this is great! Thanks to you and your WP team for creating this new WordPress Dashboard Design so we can focus on what is important.
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After two minutes of use, I like it very much.
It’s intuitive and easy to use.
Everything is there and within reach. Fewer clicks are needed.
I love that my drafts are visible.
The blog stats load much more quickly.
Everything seems to load more quickly.
Excellent job!
I can’t wait for the next two minutes.
Now I guess I gotta learn how to write!
Mike
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It rocks!
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Very Nice… !
Thank You… !
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Where can I find the blog name to get to the front of my blog?
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First impression – don’t like it at all. Find it very busy and the emphasis is NOT on the the things I look for. I reserve final judgment until I’ve used it for a few days but certainly the first impression was not positive at all. I found the old format very easy to use. This seems a bit frenetic.
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Okay I’ll let you guys off now it’s fixed – my bad. Yeah, double thumbs up. this is awesome.
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It’z great!!!
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I was lost when I first tried it, I could not find the “save” button, got a little frustrated, but after looking for a few minutes – found it. I think it will be easy to get used to.
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good work! it will take some getting used to, but for now seems to be well thought out & designed.
feels smooth & efficient! (even if some things are hard to find right now- but that will come w/time)
( i would recommend making the forum link a one click deal)
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So, if I had a self-hosted blog using the WordPress software, I could simply choose to never download the new versions, right? I guess if I switched now it’s too late to download version 2.6 isn’t it?
I’ve never been one to switch to something new just because it was new. I have a friend who buys a new iPod everytime they come out with a new iPod. I find my 2nd Gen Nano still works great; I have no idea what version they’re even up to. I’ll find out when my old one stops functioning completely. I’ve had the same Hotmail address since I signed up in 1996. In 12 years I’ve never even changed the password. IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT.
They’re a reason people buy new computers and replace Vista with XP. XP may be an older version, but it is infinately better than the new crap Microsoft has forced on the American consumer. Before desiging the new interface, did you try asking people if they liked the old one? I remember when the old designed you just trashed was new, and you told us how great that one was Matt.
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It was great – for its time. However we know for a fact that things are much faster in this new interface, and it gives us a solid foundation to provide new features for many years to come. (So we won’t need to redesign again for a while.)
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VERY nice. I like it. Thank you, Matt.
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I’m not cracking on WordPress, just some people’s obcession to constantly redesign things. I love my blog; with only about 150 posts I’ve had over 18,000 page views in the last 6 months. I not going to bail on WordPress just because the dashboard keeps changing, but it is annoying. I would have happily used the 2.6 version dashboard for the next 30 years.
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So far I like it. Especially the STATS! Those are very important for me in tracking….they seem more thorough now.
I have two questions…..what is QuickPress? And, how do I change the font size in my post? Like, I want some letters larger than others…..
Thanks!
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No doubt. Much faster, more convenient, and organized. Definitely worth all the hype and waiting 😉
Buttt could you possibly go for a category addition to QuickPress? please?
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Congratulations, the best of all is the speed
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Really need the “Visit Site” button. I know, click the blog name… Problem is, my blog doesn’t have a name / title; it’s known by its domain, and my user name (which are the same). Please bring back the “Visit Site” button…or at least make the gray area in the top-left corner where the title would appear just default to “Visit Site” when there’s no title. Otherwise, it looks great. Thanks very much.
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We’ve changed the link to use your URL as the link text if you don’t set a blog title.
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shiny. looks cool. thanks for the hard work
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Good point re: ‘Tricky’ and new things getting used too…
AWESOME!!
Thank you!
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Yeaahhhhh….it’s so good!
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I LOVE IT!!
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well done. A much needed improvement over 2.6.
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Love it! Love it! Love it! Much easier to navigate, better organized… everything that’s been said already and more!
Thanks!
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I like this new dashboard, but I didn’t yet know to VISIT to my posts.
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U rock !
Keep the good work
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Took a while to orientate myself….
I like the addition of the recent drafts widget in the dashboard… saves quite a few clicks compared to the old layout.
The loading time has definitely improved.
Many Thanks to WP team.
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I love it! Those are the first words that came to mind. Much easier to use
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cool! very nice design. but i still need to find my way around and get used to it. nice work =)
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so powerfull..so easier to organize.. Great Jobs!!
Its dashboard for WP 7.0?
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Great! Awesome! Thank you, tireless wordpress people.
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More attractive than before..
I like it.. 🙂
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I give it a thumbs-up already. I’ve been using the beta-3 release on another blog (self-hosted), and I’ve liked the way all your tools are available at any moment, instead of plunging through several menu levels. Well done to the team who redesigned the dashboard, and labored so hard on the paradigm to come up with a winner!
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Looks great! I love it already. Hopefully I won’t find anything to change my mind. 😉
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wow! i like it! 😉
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Looks nice. I like how you can blog right off your dashboard if you want. You guys still need to put out an app for us blackberry users. Not everyone has an iphone. Come on! Please?!!
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Terrific work guys– The recent updates, from blavatars to this new dashboard design, continue to make wordpress.com an innovative and exciting project to be a part of.
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Wow. So this is what love at first sight feels like! 🙂
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Akismet page can’t be opened, the message “Cannot load akismet-admin.” appeared. Seems to be only me though from the comments here. Is it broken?
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Not sure where you started from to get that page. Could you contact support about it?
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Looks very lovely!
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Here’s my trouble matt: everytime I open the write new post page, the frame boxes on the right get in the way of some writing space, how to bug it off?? I don’t want to move it to the bottom everytime. It’s really annoying.
Thank you Matt and tireless wp team, great works!
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Could you contact support about that please?
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nice work, the only thing missing is a compass.
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Unable to find ‘visit site’ button, not any where to be seen, annoyed.
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Click on the title of your blog in the top left by the W logo.
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Just click the blog link on the top left corner.
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The new Dashboard design isn’t bad, but I’d prefer the update that we’ve been told could happen soon to support AdSense. Come on, WordPress, it’s not that hard.
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hey, its very nice to see new Dashboard. Its very organized, easy to catch stuff etc.
Great work by WordPress Team……
Thanks
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hey guys, great job and it looks very nice.. thanks a tonne…
Love,
Su
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Better than the old one. Much better. Thank You!
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Christmas came early. Yay! Love the new present.
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just woke up, staggered over to my pc turned on the adsl thingy, was trying to figure out what on earth readomatic is all about, that was on my browser – opera – fabulous opera – get my emails on it too –
I refreshed the page – and fell off my chair when the new format stared back at me!
it looks wickiiiid koowall!
so nice and simple looking – but dynamite under the surface
oh dear…..more time needed to try things out
well done WP…….again!
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The new dashboard is pretty and much easier to use, thanks! ヽ(‘ ∇‘ )ノ
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I absoluely love it. Great job guys.
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I admit that the older one was easier to use, and I was more comfortable with it, but I guess I’ll get use to the new one. Good job. 😉
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Nick, Matt, et al ~
Good heavens! My fussing re: a forum link taken as a suggestion and implemented. I’m in WP heaven. And, I’ve discovered the change, and it’s great.
Just a note, here. I’m one of the doofi that’s been running around who had NO IDEA this was coming until everything changed tonight. I mean – NO idea. What can I say? I’m busy.
But, after discovering how to find my stats, and how to drag and drop or minimize things to suit, it’s coming together nicely. Batch editing and the ability to sort out drafts from posts looks good.
My point: even for a totally unprepared user, this thing sorts itself out pretty quickly. In a day or two, I suspect I’ll not remember the old version.
Thanks!
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Thank You, looks very good. Better than the old one.
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Nice…thanks WP.
Sure its going to take a couple of posts to get used to it, but i loved it !!
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Oh no. Not again!
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Thanks WordPress. I like the new layout so far – it is so much easier to navigate around.
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Perfect ! Matt you done a good Job……… Indonesian Blogger loves U ..
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woww.. great design.. i will explore it…
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WOW! What else can I say, I love the new look of my dashboard. Everything is simply organized!
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Erm, I can’t find my home page
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Try clicking your blog title in the top left.
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