Help

The Help section (often a "?" icon or a "Help" link in the sidebar) opens documentation inside the admin. You don't have to leave the panel or search the web—you can read how to create a collection, what field types mean, how to connect your website, and so on.

• What's in Help: Topics match Birkly-Docs: Getting started, Content, AI (connections, MCP, approvals), Automation, Commerce, Marketplace, User plugin, ContentEditor blocks, Plugins, Media, Settings, and more. Each topic has a short in-admin snapshot and a Read full doc link to the published HTML guide on docs.birkly.com.
• Live docs: When your server can reach Birkly-Docs, Help loads the latest topic list from the public manifest. Read full doc opens the matching page in a new tab.
• Offline: If the manifest cannot be fetched, Help falls back to bundled snapshots under admin/docs/snapshots/ so basic guidance still works air-gapped.

Example: You're not sure how to add a "Featured image" to a blog post. You click Help, open the "Entries" or "Field types" topic, and follow the steps. You never leave the admin.

First-run (START_HERE.html)

Before your first admin login, open START_HERE.html from the extracted release zip (it sits next to admin/, api/, and core/ — not inside the zip file).

1. Extract the zip to a folder on your computer or upload it to your web host.
2. Open START_HERE.html in a browser. A folder check confirms you're in the right place (if you see a nested-folder warning, move up one level and try again).
3. Choose your install path: On your computer (local PHP server) or On a web server (FTP/cloud upload). Follow the steps shown for your path.
4. Click Start setup — this opens the admin onboarding wizard with your install path remembered (local or cloud).

Example: You download Birkly, extract to Documents/Birkly, double-click START_HERE.html, pick On your computer, run ./start-server.sh, then click Start setup. The wizard opens with local-specific hints.

Onboarding (wizard v2)

Onboarding is a setup wizard that appears when you reach the admin for the first time (or when no admin account exists yet). A progress bar at the top shows which step you're on. If you started from START_HERE, your install path (local or cloud) is already set and the wizard tailors copy accordingly.

Wizard steps

1. Create admin account (first user only) — Set email and password when no users exist yet.
2. Welcome — Brief intro; you can skip the entire wizard from here.
3. Install context — Confirms how you're running Birkly (local vs cloud) based on START_HERE or the ?install=local|cloud link.
4. Site info — Set your project name (appears in the admin and page titles) and optionally a short description or logo.
5. Use case + demo content — Pick what you're building (blog, business site, shop, docs, developer project). Optionally keep or remove starter demo content. Skippable.
6. Marketplace — A hint that official plugins install from Plugins → Marketplace (Commerce, Events, Automation, and more). Skippable.
7. Connect AI (optional) — A BYOAI mini-wizard: pick provider → enter API key → test → set role and approval defaults. Skip for now and Set up later are always visible; AI is never required. Skippable.
8. Complete — Summary and Go to Dashboard.

• Skipping any step: Each step has Skip or Skip for now. Skipping moves you to the next step without making changes.
• Resume: If you leave partway through, the wizard resumes at your last step on the next visit (until you finish or skip all remaining steps).
• After you finish (or skip all steps): The wizard is marked complete. Future logins go directly to the Dashboard — the wizard never reappears.
• Preconfigured installs: If someone completed onboarding before you logged in, you'll see the Dashboard from the start.

Dashboard setup checklist v2

After onboarding, the Dashboard shows a collapsible setup checklist with essential items only:

| Item | Shown when… | Done when… | |------|-------------|------------| | Create your first collection | Always (until done) | At least one collection exists. | | Add your first entry | Always (until done) | At least one entry exists in a collection. | | Install a marketplace plugin | No marketplace plugin installed yet | At least one plugin installed from Marketplace. | | Connect AI | You skipped the wizard AI step and have no AI connection yet | An AI provider is connected under Settings → AI & Integrations. |

The checklist does not include site settings, media upload, or template setup — those are optional extras. If you completed the AI step in the wizard, Connect AI never appears on the checklist. You can dismiss individual items (×) or hide the whole checklist.

Example: You install Birkly via START_HERE (local path), complete the wizard with project name "Acme Blog", pick the blog use case, skip Marketplace and Connect AI. The Dashboard checklist shows collection, entry, marketplace plugin, and Connect AI (because you skipped that wizard step). After you create a collection and entry and install Commerce from Marketplace, only Connect AI remains — or you can dismiss it and set up AI later from Settings.

For administrators

You can point the Help content to Birkly Docs (or a built copy) so the in-admin Help stays current. For organization-specific instructions ("always set up the Newsletter collection first"), add them to your internal wiki or a custom admin Help page.