🖥️ The Interface — A Guided Tour
Understand each part of the screen
The Screen Layout
Here's what you see when you open a data table:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ APP TITLE BAR USER INFO │
├──────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│ MENU │ [☰ Actions ▼] Table Title [View ▼] [Filter ▼]│
│ • Item │ Records: 42 │
│ • Item │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ ├─Sub │ │ ID │ NAME │ VALUE │ DATE │ STATUS │ │
│ └─Sub │ ├────┼─────────┼────────┼────────────┼────────┤ │
│ • Item │ │ 1 │ Data │ 100 │ 01/01/2026 │ Open │ │
│ │ │ 2 │ Data │ 200 │ 02/01/2026 │ Closed │ │
│ 🎨 Theme │ │ 3 │ Data │ 300 │ 03/01/2026 │ Open │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ │ 1 : 25 : 42 [<<] [<] [ 1 ] of 2 [>] [>>] 25▼│
└──────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Notice there are no Edit/Delete buttons on each row — instead, you click a row to select it, then act on it from the Actions menu (the ☰ button at the top-left of the table). This keeps the table clean and works the same way at every level of the application.
Part 1: The Left Menu
Navigation to different areas
MENU
├─ 📋 Section A
├─ 📦 Section B
│ ├─ Sub-item 1
│ ├─ Sub-item 2
│ └─ Sub-item 3
├─ 🗂️ Section C
└─ 📚 Docs
- Click any menu item to load that table into the main area (the page doesn't reload — content swaps in place).
- Sections expand and collapse like an accordion, and can nest several levels deep.
- Menu items may be filtered views of the same table (e.g. "Open Items" vs "All Items").
- A theme picker at the bottom of the sidebar changes the colour scheme.
Part 2: The Action Bar
Above every table you'll see one bar:
[☰ ▼] Table Title [👁 View profile ▼] [🔍 Quick filter ▼] Records: 42
☰ Actions Menu (the hamburger button) — this is the main control. Hover or click to open it:
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create New | Opens a blank form in a popup window |
| Filters | Opens the search & filter panel (see Part 5) |
| Reports | Print/report options for this table |
| Settings | Table display settings |
| Adhoc Query | Ask a free-form question of this table's data |
When you select a row, a "Selected Record" section appears at the bottom of the same menu:
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| View | Show the record read-only — choose Inline, Modal, or Slider |
| Edit | Opens the record's form in a popup window |
| Delete | Soft-deletes the record (asks for confirmation first) |
| Restore | Un-deletes a soft-deleted record (only shown for deleted rows) |
- Profile switcher (only on some tables)
- Switches between column layouts — e.g. a compact view vs a detailed view.
- Quick filter switcher (only on some tables)
- One-click preset filters — e.g. "All Records" vs "Overdue only".
- Records count (far right)
- How many records match the current filter.
Part 3: The Data Table
The main area shows your records:
┌──────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────────┬──────────┐
│ ID ▲ │ NAME │ VALUE │ DATE │ STATUS │
├──────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────────┼──────────┤
│ 1 │ Record1 │ 100 │ 01/01/2026 │ Open │
│ 2 │ Record2 │ 200 │ 02/01/2026 │ Closed │ ← click to select
│ 3 │ Record3 │ 300 │ 03/01/2026 │ Open │
└──────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────────┴──────────┘
- Click a row to select it
- The row highlights, related records load below it (see Part 7), and the "Selected Record" actions become available in the Actions menu.
- Click a column heading to sort
- Click again to reverse the order. An arrow shows the current sort. (Calculated columns can't be sorted.)
- Ctrl+Click a reference value to look it up
- If a cell shows a value that comes from another table (a code, a name, a linked record), hold Ctrl and click it to open the related record.
Part 4: Pagination
At the bottom of the table:
1 : 25 : 42 [<<] [<] [ 2 ] of 5 [>] [>>] Page size: 25 ▼
1 : 25 : 42reads as showing records 1 to 25 of 42.<</>>jump to the first / last page;</>step one page.- The page number is a box you can type in — enter a page number and press Enter to jump straight there.
- Page size selects how many records show per page.
Part 5: Search & Filters
There is no always-visible search box — searching lives in the Filters panel. Open it with ☰ Actions → Filters:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [✕] [✓ Apply] [↻ Reset] Filter Records │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Quick Search │
│ [Search across all fields...........] Page size ▼ │
│ ☑ Include soft-deleted records │
│ │
│ Advanced Field Filters │
│ [Name.......] [Status ▼] [Date from... to...] │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Quick Search
- One box that searches across all of the table's text fields at once.
- Advanced Field Filters
- Filter on specific fields — exact values, dropdown choices, date ranges.
- Include soft-deleted records
- Tick this to also see records that have been deleted (they can then be selected and restored).
Click the ✓ (tick) button to apply, ↻ to reset everything, ✕ to close the panel.
Part 6: Forms (When Adding/Editing)
Create New and Edit open the form in a popup window — the window closes itself automatically after you save, and the table refreshes:
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Create New Record │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Name * │
│ [_________________________] │
│ │
│ Date * │
│ [📅 Date Picker] │
│ │
│ Category │
│ [Select ▼] │
│ │
│ Related Record │
│ [🔍 Type to search...] │
│ │
│ [Save] [Cancel] │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
Field Types You'll See
- Text Field: Type text (name, description, etc.)
- Number Field: Type numbers
- Date Field: Click to pick a date
- Dropdown: Click to select from a list
- Checkbox: Click to mark as yes/no
- Lookup/Search: Type to search related records in another table
Red Asterisk (*): This field is required — you must fill it in.
Viewing without editing: use ☰ Actions → View and pick how you want it shown — Inline (below the table), Modal (centred dialog), or Slider (panel from the side).
Part 7: Hierarchical Navigation (Parent → Child)
When you select a row, its related records appear automatically below it, organised into tabs — one tab per related table:
Main table:
┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▶ Parent Row (selected/highlighted)│
└────────────────────────────────────┘
↓ appears automatically
┌─[ Items ]─[ History ]─[ Notes ]────┐ ← one tab per related table
│ [☰ ▼] Items Records: 3 │ ← child tables get their own
│ ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │ action bar — Create New,
│ │ Row 1 │ │ Filters, etc. all work here
│ │ Row 2 │ │
│ └────────────────────────────────┘ │
└────────────────────────────────────┘
How it works: 1. Click a row in the main table — its related tabs load below. 2. Click a tab to switch between related tables. 3. Click a row inside a child tab — its related records load below that, another level down. 4. Selecting a different parent row clears and reloads everything below it, so what you see always belongs to the selected row.
Common Interactions
✏️ To Edit a Record
- Click the row to select it (it highlights)
- Open ☰ Actions → Edit (in the "Selected Record" section)
- The form opens in a popup window with the current information
- Change what you need and click Save
- The popup closes itself and the table refreshes
🗑️ To Delete a Record
- Click the row to select it
- Open ☰ Actions → Delete
- A confirmation dialog appears — confirm to proceed
- The record is soft-deleted: hidden from view, but not destroyed — it can be restored later (tick Include soft-deleted records in Filters, select it, then ☰ Actions → Restore)
🔍 To Search
- Open ☰ Actions → Filters
- Type in the Quick Search box (searches all fields), or set specific Advanced Field Filters
- Click the ✓ Apply button — the table refreshes to matching records
- Click ↻ Reset to clear all filters and see everything again
➕ To Add a Record
- Open ☰ Actions → Create New (no row selection needed)
- A blank form opens in a popup window
- Fill in the required fields (marked with red *)
- Click Save — the popup closes and the new record appears
Tips & Tricks
- Select first, then act — Edit, Delete, and View all operate on the currently selected (highlighted) row.
- Sort by clicking column headings — often faster than filtering.
- Ctrl+Click a reference value to jump to the related record.
- Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+E edits the selected row, Ctrl+N creates a new record, Ctrl+Shift+S opens settings, Tab moves between form fields, Escape closes dialogs.
- Deleted doesn't mean gone — soft-deleted records can be shown again via Filters and restored from the Actions menu.
- Quick filters and profiles (when present next to the table title) are the fastest way to switch between common views.
Next: Create your first record → Your First Record