User Dashboard

The user dashboard gives signed-in users a personal space to manage references, track their reading, and keep private notes - all from the front end of your site.

Set up the dashboard page

1. Create a new page.
2. Add the [abt_dashboard] shortcode.
3. Publish, and link to it from your menu.

Users must be logged in to use it. What each user can do depends on the permission settings (see Settings).

My references

The dashboard lists the user’s references and lets them add, edit, and remove entries without entering wp-admin. You can also surface just this list with [abt_my_references].

Reading status

Each user can mark any reference with a reading status:

• Unread
• Reading
• Completed

The status is stored per user, so each person keeps their own progress, and the library can be filtered by status.

Notes and favorites

• Favorites / stars - flag a reference to find it quickly later.
• Private notes - add annotations to a reference. Notes auto-save and are visible only to their author; other users and visitors never see them.

Front-end submission

If you enable front-end submission, users can add references from the dashboard or from a page with the [abt_submit_reference] shortcode.

1. The user fills in the reference (auto-cite works here too).
2. Depending on their role, the reference is published immediately or held for review.
3. Held submissions appear under References > Pending References for a moderator to approve or reject.

See Settings for who can submit, who publishes directly, and who moderates.