# Find your way around

> The four screens you will use most, the workspace, a table's grid, a record's page and Fields, with every part numbered and named.

Source: https://www.speclatch.com/guide/start/find-your-way-around
Plan: Every plan.
Last verified: 2026-11-11

SpecLatch has four screens you will use most: the workspace with its dashboard, a table's grid, a record's page, and Fields, where tables are built. Each picture below numbers what you can do there, so when an article says *open the view menu*, you know where to look. Hover or tap a number to find its line in the list, and the other way round.

## The workspace and the dashboard

The sidebar is the same on every page. What it lists depends on your role and your plan, so a teammate may see fewer rows than you.

![The dashboard with the sidebar on the left: Workspace and Data model groups, then View portal, Help & guide and Settings at the bottom; cards for records needing review, drafts, expiring documents and recent activity.](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/start/find-your-way-around-1.png)

*The dashboard, with the sidebar every page shares.*

1. **Workspace**: The pages you use every day: **Dashboard**, **Tables**, **Needs review**, **Inquiries**, **Documents** and **Activity**.
2. **Data model**: Where tables, units and formulas are built: **Fields**, **Functions** and **Reference tables**. See [Tables & fields](/guide/tables).
3. **View portal**: Opens your public catalog in a new tab, as customers see it. See [the portal](/guide/portal-api/turn-on-and-choose-what-shows).
4. **Help & guide**: Opens the guide's article for the page you are on, in a side panel.
5. **Settings**: Members, billing, branding, the portal, templates, translations, AI assists and API keys, as your role allows. See [What each role can see and do](/guide/confidentiality-review/roles).
6. **Page heading**: Every page opens with its name and one line on what it is for.
7. **Learn more**: Opens this page's article in the help panel.
8. **Notifications**: Review outcomes, mentions in comments, finished imports, documents about to expire and new inquiries.
9. **Dashboard cards**: What needs you now: records waiting for review, drafts missing a required value, documents about to expire and recent activity.

## A table's grid

Open a table from **Tables**. Each row is a record and each column a field, and records that are still a Draft can be edited right in their cells.

![The grid of a pump table: the table name and its menu, Export and New record at the top right, a toolbar with search, the view menu, Filter, Sort, Group, Columns and Find in view, then rows with checkboxes, statuses and a summary row.](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/start/find-your-way-around-2.png)

*The grid of a pump table, one record per row.*

1. **Table name**: Click to switch to another table, or press Ctrl K.
2. **Table options**: The table's settings and its trash.
3. **Search**: Finds records by name or by any spec value.
4. **View menu**: Saved views, and *Preview as* to see the grid at a lower visibility. See [Save a view for your team](/guide/records/save-a-view).
5. **Filter, Sort, Group, Columns**: Narrow, order and arrange the rows and columns.
6. **Find in view**: Highlights matches among the rows shown, or press Ctrl F.
7. **Export**: A catalog PDF, every spec sheet, and the PDF language. See [Print a catalog](/guide/documents/catalog-and-branding).
8. **New record**: A blank record, one from a preset, or a spreadsheet import. See [Import a spreadsheet](/guide/import-export/import-a-spreadsheet).
9. **Row checkbox**: Tick rows to bring up the bulk bar: set a field, tag, review or move to the trash.
10. **Open the record**: Hover a row and click the expand icon beside its name to open the record's page.
11. **Visibility dot**: Each field's tier: green for Public, amber for Internal, red for Confidential. See [Set a field's tier](/guide/confidentiality-review/set-a-field-tier).
12. **Status**: Each record's status. Reviewers can approve or reject a record right here. See [Send a record for review, approve, publish](/guide/confidentiality-review/review-and-publish).
13. **Summary row**: A count, sum, average, lowest or highest value for any column.

## A record's page

Everything about one product sits on one page: its specs, documents, files, curves and the conversation about it.

![A published pump's page: the name, model number, status and completeness at the top, tags, Return to draft and Spec sheet buttons, the Specifications card on the left, and Documents, Files & images, Curves and Comments cards on the right.](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/start/find-your-way-around-3.png)

*The page of one published pump.*

1. **Previous and next**: Step through the table's records without going back to the grid.
2. **Name and status**: The record's name, model number and status.
3. **Completeness**: How many of its fields are filled in and pass their rules.
4. **Tags**: Labels that sort records into groups for filters and catalogs.
5. **Review action**: **Submit for review** or **Return to draft**, depending on the status.
6. **Spec sheet**: Generate the record's PDF, or open the last one. See [Generate a spec sheet PDF](/guide/documents/generate-a-spec-sheet).
7. **Specifications**: Every field, in its groups. Values change only while the record is a Draft.
8. **Field tier**: The dot after a field's name is its visibility tier.
9. **Documents**: Generated sheets, and library documents linked to this record or its table.
10. **Files & images**: Photos, drawings and other files; the first image is the record's picture. See [Attach files and photos](/guide/records/attach-files-and-photos).
11. **Curves**: The record's performance curves; **View curves** opens the chart. See [Performance curves](/guide/units-formulas/performance-curves).
12. **Comments**: Discuss the record and mention teammates. *History*, below it, lists every change.

## Fields

Fields is where a table and its fields are built. It shows to the Admin role, and to Engineering members with Confidential visibility.

![The Fields page for a pump table: the list of tables on the left with a box to add one, the table's name, description, primary image and documents, then the Add field button and the list of fields with their key, group, type, unit and visibility.](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/start/find-your-way-around-4.png)

*Fields for a pump table: the table's settings, then its fields.*

1. **Tables**: Every table, with its record count. Click one to work on it.
2. **New table**: Type a name and click the plus to create a table. See [Create a table and its fields](/guide/tables/create-a-table).
3. **Name and description**: The table's name, and the line shown under it in the grid.
4. **Primary image**: Which Files field gives each record its picture.
5. **Documents**: The spec sheet and catalog templates this table uses, and which one is the default. See [Design a template](/guide/documents/design-a-template).
6. **Add field**: Opens the gallery of field types. See [Field types](/guide/tables/field-types).
7. **A field**: Its name, key, group, type and unit. Click a row to edit the field.
8. **Visibility**: Who can see the field's values.

Next, build your first table: [Create a table and its fields](/guide/tables/create-a-table).