Training Guide

Learn at your own pace with hands-on exercises

Welcome to Your Training

How This Training Works

This self-paced guide has 5 learning modules that build on each other. Each module includes:

  • Clear explanations of concepts
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • Hands-on practice exercises
  • A checklist to track your progress

Total time: About 2-3 hours (do it all at once or spread across multiple sessions)

🌟 You've Got This! There's no wrong way to learn. Take your time, experiment freely, and remember — you can't break anything! Your practice projects are safe spaces to try things out.
1

Getting Started: Your First Project

Create an account, make a project, and add your first item

20-30 min

What You'll Learn

👤
Create Account

Set up your login

📁
Create Project

Start a new workspace

➕
Add Entity

Create your first item

✏️
Edit Properties

Update item details

Step-by-Step

  1. Register for an account — Click "Launch Application" on the home page, then click "Register" and fill in your details.
  2. Create a practice project — Click "New Project", choose "General Purpose" template, name it "My Practice Project", and set it to Private.
  3. Look around — Notice the empty canvas in the middle, the sidebar on the left with buttons, and the search box at top.
  4. Add your first entity — Double-click anywhere on the canvas. Select "Person" from the dropdown, type your name, and click Save.
  5. Edit your entity — Click on the item you just created. The properties panel opens on the right. Add a description and click Save.

Practice Exercise

Add 3 more people to your project — they can be family members, friends, or fictional characters. For each one:

  • Give them a name
  • Add at least one piece of information (birthday, job, hobby, etc.)

Module 1 Checklist

  • Created my account
  • Created a practice project
  • Added my first entity
  • Edited an entity's properties
  • Added 3 more entities
💡 Tip Don't worry about making mistakes! This is a practice project. You can delete anything by clicking it and pressing the Delete key.
2

Making Connections

Link items together with relationships

20-30 min

What You'll Learn

🔗
Create Relationships

Connect two items

↔️
Shift+Drag

Quick connection method

🏷️
Relationship Types

Choose the right label

🗑️
Delete Items

Remove what you don't need

The Quick Way to Connect: Shift + Drag

  1. Hold the Shift key on your keyboard
  2. Click on one person (the "from")
  3. While holding, drag to another person (the "to")
  4. Release — a form appears
  5. Select a relationship type like "knows" or "is friend of"
  6. Click Save

You should now see an arrow connecting the two people!

Practice Exercise: Mini Family Tree

Using your 4 people from Module 1, create relationships between them:

  • Connect at least 3 pairs of people
  • Try different relationship types (parent, sibling, friend, etc.)
  • Delete one relationship (click on the line, press Delete) and recreate it

Module 2 Checklist

  • Created a relationship using Shift+Drag
  • Created at least 3 relationships total
  • Used different relationship types
  • Deleted and recreated a relationship
📝 Remember Relationships have a direction! "John → is parent of → Mary" is different from "Mary → is parent of → John". The arrow shows which way it goes.
3

Getting Around & Finding Things

Navigate the canvas and search your project

15-20 min

What You'll Learn

🔍
Zoom

Get closer or see more

✋
Pan

Move the view around

🎯
Fit to View

See everything at once

🔎
Search

Find specific items

Navigation Tricks

Action How To Do It
Zoom in/out Scroll your mouse wheel
Move the view Click and drag on empty space
See everything Click "Fit to View" button
Select multiple items Hold Ctrl/Cmd and click each

Using Search

  1. Click in the search box at the top of the canvas
  2. Type what you're looking for — a name, or any word in any field
  3. Watch the canvas — matching items highlight in yellow, others fade
  4. Press Escape or click X to clear and see everything again

Practice Exercise: Navigation Challenge

  1. Zoom in until you can only see one person
  2. Pan around to find another person
  3. Click "Fit to View" to see everyone
  4. Use search to find a specific person by name
  5. Clear the search

Module 3 Checklist

  • Zoomed in and out using scroll wheel
  • Panned the view by dragging
  • Used "Fit to View" to see everything
  • Searched for an item and found it
  • Cleared the search
4

Saving & Sharing

Keep your work safe and share with others

20-25 min

What You'll Learn

💾
Auto-Save

Understand automatic saving

☁️
Sync to Server

Backup your work

📤
Export

Download your data

👥
Share

Let others see your work

How Saving Works

💡 Great News! Your work saves automatically every 2 seconds to your browser. You don't have to do anything!

But you should still "Sync to Server" when:

  • You want to access your work from another computer
  • You want others to see your changes
  • You want an extra backup on the server
  • You're done working for the day

Exporting Your Work

Click "Export/Print" in the sidebar to download your work as:

  • Spreadsheet — open in Excel, share as a document
  • Image (SVG/PNG) — use in presentations or print

Practice Exercise

  1. Make a small change to any entity
  2. Click "Sync to Server" and watch the sync indicator
  3. Click "Export/Print" and export as an image (PNG)
  4. Open the downloaded image to see your diagram!

Module 4 Checklist

  • Understand that work auto-saves locally
  • Synced my project to the server
  • Exported my project as an image
  • Know when to use Sync
5

Power User Skills

Right-click menus, cloning, and keyboard shortcuts

15-20 min

What You'll Learn

🖱️
Right-Click Menu

Quick access to actions

📋
Clone

Copy similar items

⌨️
Shortcuts

Work faster

🎨
Custom Colors

Make items stand out

Right-Click is Your Friend

Right-click on any item to see a menu with quick actions:

  • Edit — open properties panel
  • Clone — make a copy (great for similar items!)
  • Delete — remove the item
  • Connect From Here / To Here — start or end a relationship

Keyboard Shortcuts to Remember

Shortcut What It Does
Delete Remove selected item
Escape Cancel/close
Shift + Drag Create a relationship

Practice Exercise: Become a Power User

  1. Clone an entity: Right-click a person → Clone → Edit the copy's name
  2. Change a color: Click an entity → In properties, find the color field → Pick a color → Save
  3. Delete using keyboard: Click to select an item → Press Delete
  4. Create a relationship via right-click: Right-click entity → "Connect From Here" → Click another entity

Module 5 Checklist

  • Used the right-click menu
  • Cloned an entity
  • Changed an entity's color
  • Deleted using keyboard shortcut
  • Created relationship via right-click

Congratulations! 🎉

You've completed all the training modules! Now put your skills together with a final project.

🏆 Final Project: Create Something Real

Create a project about something meaningful to you. Ideas:

  • Your actual family tree
  • Your home inventory (start with one room)
  • A trip you're planning or took
  • Your team at work
  • Characters in your favorite book/show

Your project should include:

  • At least 10 entities
  • At least 10 relationships
  • At least 2 different entity types
  • At least 1 entity with a custom color
  • Synced to server
🌟 You Did It! You now know everything you need to use Web of Facts effectively. Remember, the best way to learn more is to keep using it. Don't be afraid to explore and try new things!

What's Next?