1. Getting Started

Getting Started with NoteDex

Welcome to NoteDex — a card-based note-taking and knowledge organizer. This guide walks you through the core concepts and the home page so you can get up and running quickly.

Core Concepts

NoteDex is organized into three layers, from broadest to most specific:

Workspace → Stack → Card  

Workspace

A Workspace is your top-level organizational container — think of it as an area of your life or work. Examples: Home, App Development, Study & Learning, Health & Wellness.

• You can have multiple workspaces and switch between them using the workspace selector dropdown at the top-left of the screen.
• Everything you see — your stacks, your cards — belongs to the currently selected workspace.
• To create or edit workspaces, open the workspace dropdown and choose Add/Edit Workspaces.

Stack

A Stack is a collection of related cards — like a notebook, folder, or topic. Examples: Work Planning, Client Meeting Notes, Notes and Thoughts.

• Stacks appear as thumbnail tiles on the Home page.
• Click a Stack to open it and see all its cards.
• Inside each Stack you see thumbnail image preview of the cards inside.
• You can have as many Stacks as you need within a workspace.

Card

A Card is an individual note or document inside a stack. Cards are designed in an Index Card format (like a 3" by 5" card) with optional red-line separating the title from the body.  

Each card can contain:

• Rich text (formatted notes, bullet lists, headings)
• Images
• Drawings / handwritten ink content
• Table layouts
• Attachments

Cards have a front and back — useful for flashcard-style study or two-sided notes. When inside a stack, use the left/right arrows to flip through cards one at a time.

The amount of text is not limited on a card but the view remains fixed as a 3x5 style card.  This is what makes NoteDex different than other note apps, we try to remain true to looking like an index card.  It's actually a philosophical choice, where possible we encourage you to only hold a reasonable amount of information that fits on the card. There are few reasons for this including:

• You can reduce the font size on a card to fit a lot of text
• NoteDex is a visual app - if you are able to keep all the text /handwriting on the card then the thumbnail that is generated will show you all the text etc. and you'll be able to see it better. This helps when you are scrolling through the Cards view (also known as Card Thumbnail view).  
• You can also add files to cards or links so if you are writing a lot then write in a tool designed for that and use NoteDex as index cards for what we do best - short visual indexes to your content or notes.

The Home Page (Stacks View)

When you first open NoteDex, you land on the Home page — the Stacks view for your current workspace.

Top Bar

Stack Thumbnails

Each stack appears as a thumbnail tile with a cover image. Below each thumbnail is the stack name.

• Click the thumbnail to open the stack and view its cards.
• Hover over a stack to reveal the ... (more) menu for options like rename, delete, or move.
• You can rename a stack directly by clicking its name field below the thumbnail.
• You can customize the image of the stack. By default it take the image of the first card you create so you can 'see' what's inside the stack. But you can pick any image using the Stack menu.

Left Sidebar Navigation

The narrow icon bar on the left side gives you quick access to different views across your workspace.

At the bottom of the sidebar:

Inside a Stack (Cards View a.k.a. 'Thumbnail View')

When you click a stack, you enter the Cards View for that stack, where you see the image thumbnails for each card.

Top Bar (Cards View)

Below the top bar is a row of filters and view controls:

Left Panel — Groups

Cards within a stack can be organized into Groups (like sections or chapters).

• All Groups — shows every card in the stack
• Ungrouped — cards not assigned to a group
• Add Group — create a new group/section
• Edit Groups — rename or reorder groups

Inside a Card (Card Editor)

Click any card thumbnail to open it in the Card Editor.

Card Toolbar (top of card)

Text Formatting Bar

Standard rich-text controls: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Font family, Font size, Text color, Highlight color, Text alignment, Superscript, Subscript, Special characters, Undo / Redo, Clear formatting.

Navigating Cards

• The left ← and right → arrows on either side of the card let you move to the previous or next card in the stack.
• The status line at the bottom shows which card you are on (e.g., Front of Card 1 of 4) and the last-edited date.

Customizing the Home Page Background

You can change the background image of the Home page to any color or image you prefer:

1. Click the workspace dropdown at the top of the Home page
2. Select Add/Edit Workspaces

3. Click the icon on the right of the Home space - choose from the built-in image library, upload your own image, or pick a plain color.

   
   

Each workspace can have its own background, set when you create or edit it.

First Time in NoteDex

When you create a new account, NoteDex shows a Welcome pop-up with a brief guided introduction. Click through it to get a quick tour of the main features.

If you ever want to revisit the tutorial, click the Book icon in the left sidebar (View Tutorial).

Quick-Start Checklist

• Select or create a Workspace for your area of focus
• Create your first Stack using Add New Stack on the home page
• Click into your Stack and add your first Card using Add New Card
• Type your note, apply formatting, and Save the card
• Customize the Home page background in Settings if you want a different look
• Use the sidebar to explore Favorite Cards, Recent Cards, and Settings

For help with signing in and account setup, see Tutorial_LoginPage.md.

For subscription and billing, see Tutorial_AccountBilling.md.