# Log in and find CBX

> Where the admin area lives, how to sign in, and what the CBX menu contains.

Source: CBX documentation, version 3.x (released). Canonical page: https://docs.configbox.at/docs/admin-guide/getting-started/log-in-and-find-cbx. Last updated 2026-08-01.

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> **Audience:** store admins · **Scope:** getting into the CBX admin area · **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-21

**What this does** — Gets you into the back office where all store management happens, and shows
you the menu you'll use for everything else in this guide.

## Before you start

- You need an admin account for your website with access to CBX. If you don't have one, ask
  whoever set up your site.

## Steps

1. Open your site's **administrator area** in a browser. On a Joomla-hosted store that is your
   site's address followed by `/administrator`; on a WordPress-hosted store it is `/wp-admin`.

   ![The administrator login screen](./img/admin-login.jpeg)

2. Enter your **username** and **password** and sign in.
3. Open the CBX area. On Joomla: **Components → CBX** — see
   [Run CBX on a Joomla site](https://docs.configbox.at/docs/admin-guide/getting-started/platform/cbx-on-joomla) for everything Joomla-specific. On
   WordPress: **CBX** in the left admin menu — see
   [Run CBX on a WordPress site](https://docs.configbox.at/docs/admin-guide/getting-started/platform/cbx-on-wordpress) for everything
   WordPress-specific. On Magento 2: **Configbox → Administration** in the admin sidebar — see
   [CBX on Magento 2](https://docs.configbox.at/docs/admin-guide/getting-started/platform/cbx-on-magento2) for everything Magento-specific. The CBX
   screens themselves are identical on every host.
4. You land on the **Dashboard**, with the CBX menu on the left:

   ![The CBX dashboard with the menu on the left](./img/dashboard.jpeg)

## What happens next

Every article in this guide starts from this menu — when a step says "go to **Products**" or
"open **Settings**", it means this CBX menu, not your site's general admin menus.

## Good to know

- **Menu groups expand.** Entries with a **+** (Products, Countries, Shipping) expand to
  sub-entries; the **Products** entry is both a link (the product tree) and a group.
- **Two ways to edit.** Besides the back office, managers who are logged in on the **storefront**
  see edit buttons when hovering over products, questions and answers — the same edit forms open
  in place. Great for tweaking while seeing what the customer sees.
- If your admin session expires, CBX brings you back to the login screen — nothing you had
  already **saved** is lost.