📖 What You'll Learn in This Tutorial:

✓ Navigating your OceanRemote dashboard
✓ Understanding device cards and status indicators
✓ Controlling relays and monitoring sensors
✓ Managing device settings and security
✓ Using the debug console for advanced monitoring

Dashboard Overview

After logging into OceanRemote, you'll see your main dashboard. This is your command center for all connected devices. The dashboard is designed to give you at-a-glance information about every device you own.

Top Navigation Bar

Dashboard - Your main device overview (you are here)
Clear Disturbance - Self-service tool to unblock your IP if you've been temporarily banned (explained in security tutorials)
Debug - Advanced monitoring console for technical users
How It Works - Tutorials and documentation
Profile - Manage your account settings
Analytics - (Admin only) Platform usage statistics
Admin - (Admin only) Django administration panel
Sign Out - End your session

💡 Dark Mode: Click the sun/moon icon in the top-right corner to switch between light and dark themes. Your preference is saved automatically.

Statistics Cards

At the top of your dashboard, you'll see four statistics cards:

MY DEVICES - Total number of devices registered to your account
ONLINE - Devices currently connected and responding
RELAYS ACTIVE - Total number of relays currently turned ON across all devices
TEMP ACTIVE - Number of devices reporting temperature data

Device Cards

Each device appears as a card containing all controls and information. Here's what each section means:

Device Header

Device Name - Customizable name you gave your device
Device ID - Unique identifier (e.g., ESP_AABBCCDDEEFF)
Board Type - ESP8266 D1 Mini, ESP32, Pico W, etc.
Security Badge - 🔐 Secure v2 (modern) or ⚠️ Legacy (needs upgrade)
Status Indicator - ● ONLINE (green), ◑ AWAY (yellow), ○ OFFLINE (red)

🔐 Security Badges Explained:

🔐 Secure v2 - Your device uses modern token-based authentication with MAC binding. This is the recommended standard.
⚠️ Legacy Token / Legacy v1 - Your device uses older firmware. Click "Upgrade to Secure v2" to improve security.

Device Details

WiFi - The SSID your device is connected to
IP - Local IP address of your device on your network
Last Seen - When your device last communicated with the server
Raw Temp - Uncalibrated temperature reading (if sensor connected)

Pin Mapping

This horizontal bar shows how your relays are mapped to physical pins:

R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 - Relay numbers
Custom Names - Names you assigned (e.g., "AC", "FAN")
GPIO Pins - The physical pins used (e.g., 16, 17, 18 for Pico W)
🔌 Sensor Pin - Shows which pin your sensor is connected to (if any)

🔌 Pin Reference by Board:

ESP8266 D1 Mini: Relays on D1-D5 (GPIO5, GPIO4, GPIO0, GPIO2, GPIO14)
ESP32: Relays on GPIO2, GPIO4, GPIO5, GPIO12, GPIO13
Raspberry Pi Pico W: Relays on pins 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Raspberry Pi 4/Zero 2W: Relays on GPIO17, GPIO27, GPIO22, GPIO23, GPIO24

Session Info

Shows your device's active session status:

✓ X hours - Time remaining before session expires (refreshes automatically)
No session - Device needs to reconnect

Relay Controls

Five buttons that let you control each relay individually:

ON (Green) - Relay is activated (circuit closed)
OFF (Red) - Relay is deactivated (circuit open)
Click to toggle - Instantly changes the relay state
Custom Names - Buttons show the names you assigned (e.g., "AC", "FAN")

💡 Relay Logic:

Positive Logic (🔺) - HIGH signal = ON, LOW signal = OFF
Negative Logic (🔻) - LOW signal = ON, HIGH signal = OFF

Choose the logic that matches your relay module. Most cheap relay modules use Negative Logic.

Calibrated Temperature Card

If your device has a temperature sensor, you'll see a dedicated temperature card:

Calibrated Temperature - Temperature reading with your offset applied
Calibration Offset (±°C) - Input field to adjust readings
How it works: Calibrated = Raw Reading + Offset
Example: If your sensor reads 22.5°C but actual is 23.0°C, set offset to +0.5

🌡️ Why Calibrate?

Temperature sensors (especially NTC thermistors) can have slight inaccuracies. Calibration lets you correct these without changing your firmware.

Device Actions

DETAILS - Opens detailed device configuration page (token management, security settings)
DELETE - Removes device from your account (cannot be undone)

Pending Devices Section

If you've generated firmware but haven't flashed it yet, devices appear here as "Pending". From this section you can:

CLAIM THIS DEVICE - Manually register a device that has already connected
DELETE - Remove pending configuration (firmware code will no longer work)

⚠️ Important:

Pending devices expire after 24 hours. If you don't claim them within this time, you'll need to generate new firmware.

Debug Console (Advanced Users)

The Debug page (accessible from the top navigation) provides real-time monitoring of your devices:

Live device status updates every 3 seconds
Detailed relay states and sensor readings
Session expiry information
Last seen timestamps

💡 Pro Tip: Use the Debug console to verify your device is polling correctly. If you see "ONLINE" but your relays aren't responding, check your WiFi signal strength.

What Each Status Color Means

🟢 ONLINE (Green) - Device has communicated within the last 10 seconds. Your device is active and ready to receive commands.
🟡 AWAY (Yellow) - Device hasn't communicated for 10-300 seconds. May be on standby or experiencing brief network issues.
🔴 OFFLINE (Red) - Device hasn't communicated for over 5 minutes. Check power, WiFi connection, or re-flash firmware.

Next Steps

Now that you understand the dashboard, you're ready to:

Tutorial 04: Install Arduino IDE to prepare for flashing
Tutorial 05-09: Set up board support for your specific hardware
Tutorial 10-15: Wire your relays and sensors correctly

🎯 Dashboard Summary:

The OceanRemote dashboard gives you complete control over your IoT devices. From here, you can monitor status, control relays, calibrate sensors, and manage security settings - all from one interface.

Tutorial 03: Understanding the Dashboard Interface