Introducing the new Dashboard

Many of you may have already noticed the new Dashboard, a page which provides you with an overview of information relevant to you. The aim is to keep all the information you need in one place through a simple interface. Here's an example of what mine looks like:

The Dashboard is divided into 4 panels:

Your profile panel provides you with your submitted website information, including your 125x125 pixel banner ad, site title, category and description. If your profile is within the moderation queue, this will also be displayed in this panel. Remember, if you don't have a profile displayed in this panel, there's no way you can be selected at the next spin. At this time, the 125x125 pixel banner ads and descriptions are optional, so it won't take long at all to create your profile.

As the Publicity Wheel works very differently to other services, it is important to provide everyone with an understanding of where we are and what we're doing at any given time. The Status panel shows you how long we've all been promoting the current winners, and when we'll be spinning the wheel again. We've been spinning the wheel every week, but in the future we may adjust this period, so you'll know well in advance.

Publicity Points are at the core of Publicity Wheel's service, and are used to select the winners each spin. Information provided to you within this panel include your total number of points, points earned in the last week, and a link to your point history (including a date and timestamp for every point earned). You're also provided with the embed code for your site to start earning points.

In addition to your Publicity Points, the Statistics panel provides you with additional information about the performance of the Ad banner you placed on your own site. Elements include the number of clicks from your site (which in turn contribute to your Publicity Points) and the number of Ad views from your site (useful to determine how many times your visitors view the page the Ad is on). Remember that (for the moment) figures are only shown since the last spin, so you're likely to see smaller numbers soon after each spin. When featured, you'll also be shown the number of visitors the Publicity Wheel community has sent to your site. Expect this number to grow quickly!

As always, comments or feedback will be greatly appreciated.