Help & User Guide

Getting Started

1. Open the home page and choose Start your garden record.
2. Begin with the essentials: add your first item when prompted.
3. Create your account when you are ready to save the draft and keep building your record later.
4. Open the dashboard after sign-in to access properties, items, the map, exports, and account tools.
5. Add a property first, then create Garden Areas, items, photos, and timeline entries.

Free accounts can keep one active property, so it helps to choose your main garden location first before adding detail.

Navigation Overview

• Dashboard: your main workspace. It shows your map preview, recent events, shortcuts, and account information.
• Properties: where you define each garden location you want to record.
• Items: where you add and manage plants, trees, features, and other garden records.
• Map: where you see geocoded properties and items on a map.
• Help: this guide.
• Quick Add: a faster mobile-friendly shortcut for adding a new item.

Start Your Garden Record

If you are not signed in yet, the app lets you begin with a lightweight guided start.

1. Choose Start your garden record from the home page.
2. Upload a photo, then choose an item type and add your first item name.
3. Review the preview workspace so you can see how the app is organized.
4. Create or sign in to an account to keep your work and continue later.

This approach is designed so you can start fast on mobile and fill in the detail later when you have time.

Dashboard

Use the dashboard as your daily starting point.

• My Map: opens a preview of your map. If you have a geocoded property, the preview centers on it. If not, the app tries your current location first, then falls back to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.
• Your Garden Workspace: provides shortcuts to Properties, Garden Areas, Items, Quick Add, Map, and Export.
• Recent Events: shows what changed most recently so you can track activity at a glance.
• Manage Account: shows your account details and lets you delete your account if needed.
• Administration: appears only for admin users.

Properties

A property is the place your garden records belong to. Most users start with one property and build everything else from there. For example, a front garden and back garden can each be a separate property if you are managing more than one location later on.

1. Go to Properties from the dashboard.
2. Create your property with a name, address or notes, and optional map coordinates.
3. If available, geocode or adjust the property location so the map preview is more accurate.
4. Use this property as the parent location for Garden Areas and items.

• Free accounts support one active property, so choose the main location you want to record first.
• New properties are created as active by default.
• If you edit a property with coordinates, you can refine the location on the map.

Garden Areas

Garden Areas let you divide a property into named zones such as borders, beds, patio sections, or greenhouse areas. For example, you might create areas called Front Border, Veg Bed 1, or Greenhouse Shelf.

1. Open the property and choose Garden Areas.
2. Add a name that helps you remember where items are located.
3. Optionally add a description and sort order.
4. Use the Garden Area when creating an item so your records stay organized.

Garden Areas are optional, but they make searching and browsing much easier once your garden record grows.

Garden Items

Garden items are the core records in the app. Use them for plants, trees, vegetables, structures, containers, ponds, and other features. A simple first item might be Tomato plant, while a more complete record could include species, variety, photos, and timeline notes.

1. Open Items and choose Quick Add for a fast entry, or use the full item form for more detail.
2. Pick the property, Garden Area, type, and common name.
3. Add optional details such as species, variety, custom name, description, notes, status, and location.
4. Save the item and then add more details later if needed.

• Quick Add: designed for mobile capture. If you only have one property, it is selected automatically.
• The type dropdown now shows a small emoji next to each type name to make scanning easier.
• This emoji styling also appears in the full Create Item form, the Edit Item form, and the onboarding item picker.
• If you have no properties yet, Quick Add will direct you to create one first.
• On supported devices, Quick Add can use your current location as the item location.
• The full item form is better when you want to enter taxonomy, notes, and more complete history.

Map

The map helps you see where your records are located and makes it easier to check whether an item is in the right place.

1. Open Map from the dashboard or an item page.
2. Use the satellite view to find your property and items.
3. Select a marker to jump back to the related record.
4. If the location is not right, update the property or item coordinates and return to the map.

• If coordinates exist, the app fits the map to those markers automatically.
• If there are no saved coordinates, the app tries your device location first and then uses Chatsworth House in Derbyshire as a fallback.
• Location is optional, so you can still use the app even if you do not want to share it.

Photos & Timeline

Photos and timeline entries help you build a visual history of each item. Together they answer questions like when you planted something, how it looked earlier in the season, or whether it has changed over time.

1. Open an item and choose Upload Photo to add an image.
2. Add a caption if you want the photo to be easier to search later.
3. Use the timeline to record events such as planting, pruning, moving, replacement, flowering, or removal.
4. Review the item timeline to understand how the garden changed over time.

• Photo uploads validate file type and size before saving.
• The app generates derivative image sizes automatically.
• Some timeline events are created automatically when items are created or photos are uploaded.

Export

Export lets you keep a portable copy of your garden record and protects you from being locked in.

1. Open Export from the dashboard.
2. Request a new export job.
3. Wait for the export to complete, then download the ZIP/XML package.

The export includes your garden data and is meant to help you keep control of your records.

Account & Admin

Your account page and dashboard help you manage access and see whether your account is free or pro.

• Your dashboard shows your account type and status.
• You can delete your account from the dashboard if you no longer want to use the app.
• Admin users can open the admin dashboard to review users, Garden Item Types, Admin Events, audit logs, and export jobs.

Free Tier

My Digital Garden follows a Free Now, Always Free promise for the free tier. The free plan is meant to stay useful, not be a teaser.

• Free accounts support one active property.
• You can still use the core record-keeping features without paying.
• The app is intended to let you keep building your record over time and upgrade your detail later, not lock your data away.
• If you only need one garden location, the free tier is designed to be enough for everyday use.

Audit & Activity

The app records low-level audit entries for internal tracking and also surfaces recent activity on the dashboard.

Admin users can review higher-level Admin Events separately on the admin dashboard.

Troubleshooting

• Cannot add an item: confirm you have created a property first.
• Quick Add shows no property: if you only have one property, it should be selected automatically; otherwise choose one from the list.
• Quick Add keeps sending you back to properties: free accounts can only have one active property, so make sure your first property is created and active.
• Location is not available: allow browser location permissions on your device and try again.
• Photo upload fails: check that the file is an image and is not too large.
• Camera capture does not open: try using the file picker instead, or test on a supported mobile browser.
• Map does not show your expected location: make sure the property or item has coordinates, or use Quick Add location capture if your browser supports it.
• Signed in but page looks stale: refresh the page or sign in again.
• Home or help text looks out of date: check that you are on the latest deployed build and refresh the browser cache.
• Development changes not appearing: refresh the page or use hot reload if available.