Author Dashboard and Analytics

The Author Dashboard gives members a frontend interface to manage settings, view posting limits, track analytics, and manage scheduled posts—all without accessing wp-admin.

What You’ll Learn

• Dashboard tabs and features
• Viewing post analytics
• Managing notification preferences
• Understanding limit usage

Enable Author Dashboard

1. Go to Member Blog → Features & Modules
2. Toggle Author Dashboard to On
3. Click Save Changes

Dashboard Tabs

Tab	Contents
Overview	Quick stats: total posts, views, credits, limits
Limits	Current posting limits and usage
Notifications	Manage email and on-site notification preferences
Analytics	Post performance charts and data
Scheduled	Manage scheduled posts (if scheduling enabled)

Overview Tab

At-a-glance summary of the member’s activity:

Stat	Description
Total Posts	All-time published posts
Total Views	Combined views across all posts
Post Credits	Current credit balance (if enabled)
Posts This Month	Current period usage

Limits Tab

Shows the member’s current restriction status and usage:

Posts This Hour:    0 of 2
Posts Today:        1 of 5
Posts This Week:    3 of 10
Posts This Month:   8 of 30

Progress bars show usage percentage with color coding:

• Green: Under 50%
• Yellow: 50-80%
• Red: Over 80%

If the user is exempt from limits, they see: “You are exempt from posting limits.”

Notifications Tab

Members control their notification preferences:

Notification	Default
Post approved	On
Post rejected	On
Co-author invitations	On
Scheduled post published	On

Changes save immediately via AJAX—no page reload needed.

Analytics Tab

Detailed post performance data and visualizations.

Enable Analytics

Configure in Member Blog → Author Dashboard:

Setting	Default	Description
Enable Analytics	Off	Master toggle
Track Daily Views	Yes	Record daily view counts
Track Traffic Source	Yes	Log referrer information
Show Charts	Yes	Display Chart.js visualizations
Data Retention	0	Days to keep data (0 = unlimited)

Analytics Metrics

Metric	Description
Total Views	All-time views across all posts
Views Per Post	Individual post performance
Traffic Sources	Where readers come from
Top Posts	Highest performing content
Export Data	Download analytics as CSV

Charts

Interactive visualizations using Chart.js:

• Line Chart: Views over time (daily trends)
• Bar Chart: Top posts comparison
• Pie Chart: Traffic source breakdown

Date Range Filter

Filter analytics by time period:

• Last 7 days
• Last 30 days
• Last 90 days
• This year
• Custom date range

Post Performance Table

Detailed breakdown per post:

Column	Data
Title	Post title (linked)
Views	Total views
This Week	Views in past 7 days
Top Source	Primary traffic source
Published	Publication date

Sortable by any column for easy analysis.

Export Analytics

1. Set desired date range
2. Click Export CSV
3. File downloads with post titles, view counts, and traffic sources

Scheduled Tab

If Post Scheduling is enabled, this tab shows:

• List of scheduled posts
• Scheduled date/time
• Time until publication
• Actions: Edit, Reschedule, Cancel, Publish Now

Shortcodes

Full Dashboard

[bp-member-blog-author-settings]

Displays the complete author dashboard with all tabs.

Analytics Only

[bp-member-blog-analytics user_id="current" show_charts="yes" show_table="yes"]

Displays just the analytics section.

Dashboard Placement

Option 1: BuddyPress Profile Tab

Automatically appears in member profiles when enabled.

Option 2: Dedicated Page

1. Create new page “Author Dashboard”
2. Add [bp-member-blog-author-settings]
3. Publish
4. Link in member menu

Option 3: Widget

Use shortcode in a widget for sidebar placement.

Performance Considerations

Analytics tracking adds some overhead:

Factor	Impact
View tracking	Small DB write per page view
Traffic source	Additional referrer lookup
Chart rendering	Client-side JavaScript

Recommendations:

• Enable only needed tracking features
• Set data retention to limit database size
• Consider caching for high-traffic sites
• Use object caching if available

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Charts not loading	Check JavaScript console for errors
Views not tracking	Verify analytics module is enabled
Export empty	Check date range has data
Dashboard not showing	Verify shortcode is correct
Wrong timezone	Check Settings → General → Timezone