RE: Admin Area
In my apps the admin area is created by:
1. All Admin area modules are restricted to admin users
2. All Admin area modules use a the same theme
3. Admin area modules have links to allow navigation
When you log in as admin you are taken to the admin landing area,
typically /admin/index.
From the /admin/index there are links to other admin modules. The
modules also link back.
To gain visual continuity Admin modules share the same or similar render
scripts which differ from the user land modules.
The admin module is fairly sparse. It has controllers for system info,
logs phpinfo etc. but no CRUDs/VADEs
To sum up, the admin area is a group of restricted modules that are
linked together and share a common visual theme.
cheers,
pat