Retired Documentation: You are using the documentation for version 1.7.3 which was retired in 2013. Go here for the latest version documentation or check here for your available upgrades to the latest version.
Control Panel Home Page
The Control Panel Home Page is where you'll be directed upon logging into the Control Panel. This page shows a variety of statistics and has links to your most recent content.
The layout of the Home Page can be customized from within your My Account > Control Panel Homepage area. Note: Each user that has access to the Control Panel can specify their own Home Page layout. Any layout changes you make will affect your account only.
You may have this page inform you when new versions of ExpressionEngine are released. To enable this option, visit Admin > System Preferences > General Configuration and set New Version Auto Check to "yes". Then every time you log into the Control Panel it will perform the check.