Overview

Halden & Rowe Architects runs on one system with two sides. The public website shows the firm, its services and its projects. Every project is a live 3D model of the site, seen from above, and every project opens as a full-screen presentation you can show to a client, a jury, an investor or a public hearing. The Studio is where the team works: project details, the site plans that become those 3D models, the website text and pictures, enquiries from the contact form, users and their rights, and the settings.

This manual is for everyone who signs in to the Studio: partners, designers and the person who looks after the website. The first chapters show how to sign in, what visitors see and how presentations work. The rest follow the Studio menu from top to bottom. Use the search box at the top left to find any word in the manual.

How the pieces fit together

The website and the Studio work on the same records. A design saved in the Studio, a project switched on, or a page saved in Pages shows on the website at once or within about 30 seconds.

Each project keeps its own files in the database with it: its cover and render pictures, the site photos under its designs and any imported CAD drawings. The Media library keeps its files in the website's images folder. The 3D models are drawn by your visitor's own browser from the saved site plan. Nothing is rendered on the server, and the website loads no outside fonts or scripts.

Who does what

Everyone has their own sign-in. Their role gives them a starting set of rights, and a manager can add or remove rights for one person in Users and Permissions. The system comes with three roles:

The person who creates a project leads it. Only the lead designer and managers can change a project and its design files. Other designers can open them to look, and they see the words View only.

What is in the Studio

The Studio menu has three groups and My account at the bottom. You only see the pages you have the right to open.

Getting Started

Everyone on the team works in the same Studio, at the address of your website followed by /Studio. You can also reach it from the small Studio link at the bottom right of every website page. What each person sees depends on their rights, so two people may see quite different menus.

1.1 Signing in

The sign-in box.

1. Type your User name. Capital letters don't matter here.
2. Type your Password. Capital letters do matter here.
3. Click Sign in. The Dashboard opens.

You stay signed in on that computer or phone for 8 hours, and the time starts again while you keep using the Studio. After 8 hours without using it, the Studio takes you back to the sign-in page. ← Back to the website under the box opens the Home page.

1.2 Choosing your own password

When a manager creates your sign-in, or sets a new password for you, you sign in once with the password they gave you. Instead of the dashboard, the box then asks you to Choose your own password.

Shown only on the first sign-in after a manager set your password.

1. Type a New password of at least 8 characters, different from the one you were given.
2. Type it again in New password again.
3. Click Save and sign in.

Messages you may see: Use at least 8 characters for the new password., The two new passwords are not the same. and Pick a password that is different from the one you were given. If you see Sign in again with the password you were given., reload the page and start again with the manager's password.

1.3 Signing out

Click Sign out at the top right. You go back to the sign-in page and that computer is no longer signed in. Sign out on a shared computer, for example the one in the meeting room you present from.

If you have a design open for editing with unsaved changes, the Studio first asks whether to save. See Leaving with unsaved changes.

1.4 Finding your way around

Every Studio page has the same frame. The numbers match the table below.

The same page with the menu open, and folded to icons with Collapse.

1.5 What you see depends on your rights

Each person has rights on each menu page. A manager sets them in Users. The rights use five letters:

Your rights shape the Studio in three ways:

• The menu. Only pages you may view are listed. A group with no page you may view is not shown.
• The buttons. Buttons for things you may not do are not shown or are greyed out. For example, without Add on Projects there is no New project button.
• Whose work you can change. Without the Edit any project right, you can change only the projects you lead and their designs. The others open read-only.

The same Studio menu for a manager, a designer and a website editor.

If you open a page you have no right to, for example from an old bookmark, the page says You don't have access to this page. Ask a manager if you need it. with a Back to the dashboard button. Every refused attempt is written to the activity log.

A website editor who opens Design from an old link.

1.6 Windows, questions and messages

• Windows. Many actions open a window over the page, for example a message or a form. Close it with the ✕ at the top right, by clicking the dimmed area outside it, or with Esc.
• Questions before an action. Actions that can't easily be undone ask first. A red button warns you that something is taken away, for example Delete project. The other button (Keep it, Stay here, Cancel or Not now) stops.
• Short messages. After you save, a short message appears at the bottom of the screen for a few seconds. Problems with what you typed show in red under the box concerned.
• Times. Recent times show as just now, 12 mins ago or 3 hours ago. Point at one to see the exact date and time.

1.7 Using the Studio on a phone or tablet

The Studio works on phones and tablets. On a narrow screen the left menu folds away:

1. Tap the menu button (two lines) at the top left. The menu slides in.
2. Tap a page.
3. To close the menu without choosing, tap ✕ or the dimmed page beside it.

On screens narrower than a laptop, your name is hidden from the top bar and View site becomes a small button with an arrow (↗); on a phone your picture is hidden too. Sign out is always there. Lists turn into cards you can scroll.

The dashboard on a phone, and the same page with the menu open.

1.8 Light and dark

The Studio opens in the theme set under Studio theme in Settings › Website: dark unless a manager changed it. Anyone can switch for themselves: click the moon button in the top bar for dark, or the sun button for light. Your browser remembers that choice on that computer, and it wins over the Studio theme from then on.

The dashboard in the dark Studio theme. The pictures in this manual show the light theme.

The public website opens in the theme chosen in Settings (dark by default, which suits 3D models on a big screen). Visitors can switch with the moon button in the website's top bar, and their browser remembers it.

The Public Website

The website has five pages in the top menu — Projects, About, Services and Contact, with the firm logo leading to Home — plus the full-screen presentation of each project. The moon button switches between dark and light. On a phone, the menu sits behind the button with two lines.

The text and pictures of Home, About, Services and Contact are edited in Pages. The projects come from Projects, the team on the About page from Users, and the address, phone, email, hours and social links from Settings.

2.1 Home

The top of the Home page with the live 3D model of a featured project.

The top of the Home page can show the live 3D model of the first featured project (in the order set in Projects). A small card at its corner names the project and leads to its presentation. Further down, Featured projects shows up to six projects marked Featured on the home page, each with its slowly turning model. If no project is featured, the first three projects on the website are shown instead.

The rest of the page is made of blocks you edit in Pages: numbers, services, a call to action and so on.

2.2 Projects

Every project on the website, each as a turning 3D model.

The Projects page lists every project that is switched on for the website, in the order set in the Studio. Each card shows the project's 3D model turning slowly, its stage (for example Completed or Competition), type, year, place and summary. Click a card to open its presentation.

• Type and Stage filter the cards. The small number on each chip says how many projects it has. All clears the filter.
• The search box finds projects by name, place or client.
• Show models as changes how every model on the page looks: Each project's own view (the audience chosen for each project in the Studio), or one of the four audiences for all of them at once: Competition, Investor, Permit or Public hearing. See Audiences.

When nothing matches, the page says No projects match these filters. with a Show all projects button.

2.3 About and Services

About tells the story of the studio. Its Team block lists everyone marked Show in the team on the About page in Users, with their photo, job title and short bio, in the order set there.

Services describes what the studio does. It ends with a section about presentations where visitors can try the four audiences on one of your project models and open a project full screen.

The team block on the About page comes from Users.

2.4 Contact and the enquiry form

The Contact page shows the studio address, phone and email, the opening hours with a line that says whether the studio is open right now (for example Open now, until 5:00 PM), a small map, and the project enquiry form.

Studio details on the left, the enquiry form on the right.

After Send enquiry, the visitor sees a thank-you note: Your note about a housing project in Elm Street, Wrenfield is with the studio. One of the partners will call or email you within two working days. The enquiry lands in Messages as New and shows on the dashboard.

Missing answers are marked in red under each field; a sent enquiry gets a thank-you note.

To stop floods of messages, one email address or one computer can send up to six enquiries in five minutes. After that the form says You have sent several messages in a short time. Please wait a few minutes, or call us at …

2.5 On a phone

Home and Projects on a phone. The filter chips scroll sideways.

Presentations

Every project opens as a full-screen presentation: a short deck of slides built around the live 3D model of the site. It is made for the moment you stand in front of a client, a jury, an investor or a room full of neighbors. It runs in any modern browser, on a laptop, a meeting-room screen or a phone, with nothing to install.

The presentation is built from what the team already keeps in the Studio: the project details, the design file marked for presenting, its camera shots and floor plans, the renders in the project's gallery, and the firm's contact details. Change any of these in the Studio and the presentation follows.

3.1 Opening a presentation

• On the website, click a project card on Projects or Home, or Open the presentation on the Home page's live model.
• In the Studio, click Open presentation on a project's page, or Preview presentation in Design. The Studio version opens in a new tab.
• To show a project that is not on the website yet, send a private preview link.

The address of a presentation is the website address followed by Present?p= and the project's web address, for example Present?p=harbor-point. A presentation remembers which slide is showing (for example #slide-4), so a link can open straight at that slide.

The cover: type and stage, title, summary, client, location, stage and year, over the live model.

3.2 The parts of the screen

3.3 The slides

The deck is put together for each project. Slides with nothing to show are left out.

The live model with its light and sun controls.

A shot slide: the shot's name, its description, and the light and time in smaller text below.

Site plan and floor plans. Tap a building or a room to read its details.

Floor plans from the model

On the live model, a shot or the site plan, click a building. A small card shows its name, floors, height and use. If its plans are shown in the presentation, click Floor plans: the plans open over the slide with the floor buttons and 2D plan or 3D. Close or Esc brings you back to the same slide; the arrow keys do not change slides while the plans are open.

The card for a building with plans, and its plans in 3D.

3.4 Audiences

The same model can be shown four ways, depending on who is in the room. Each project has a default audience, set in Projects under Presentation for. Anyone watching can switch with the buttons at the top; a short message confirms, for example Shown for investor.

Key figures shown for an investor.

Areas and heights use the units chosen in Settings: feet, square feet and acres, or meters, square meters and hectares.

3.5 Phases, utilities and underground

When a design uses the planning tools, a few extra controls appear at the top of the presentation. They are shown only when the design needs them:

Choosing the Permit audience switches Utilities and Zoning on; the other audiences switch them off. After that you can switch each one on or off by itself. The site plan follows the same choices.

The presentation at the Existing stage: only the building that stays and the shed to be removed (in red) are on the site. The phase list, Utilities, Zoning and Underground are at the top.

3.6 Keyboard, clicker and touch

A presentation clicker works out of the box, because clickers send the Page Down and Page Up keys.

After you click into the 3D model, the arrow keys move the model instead of the slides; Page Up and Page Down still change slides. On a phone or tablet, swipe left or right across the slide (not on the model) to move between slides.

3.7 Switching schemes

A project can have several design files, for example Scheme A · one tower and Scheme B · two towers. Website visitors see only the file marked for presenting (the starred one in Projects). Two kinds of viewer get a scheme list at the top of the presentation and can switch between all design files:

• someone who opened a private preview link;
• a signed-in Studio user who may view projects and opened the presentation with Preview presentation in Design (that link names the design file to start with). A hidden project opened by a signed-in Studio user also shows all files.

The file presented on the website is marked (Proposed) in the list. Switching keeps you on the same slide where possible and shows a message such as Showing Scheme B · two towers.

A private preview of a hidden project: the cover carries the words Private preview, and the scheme list sits at the top right.

3.8 Private preview links

A private preview link lets you show a presentation to a client before the project is on the website, or show them all schemes. You make it on the project's page in Projects under Private preview link (see Sharing a private preview). The link looks like Present?p=riverside-commons&k=HR593573: the part after k= is a code made for that project.

• Anyone with the link can open the presentation, even while the project is hidden, and switch between all design files.
• The cover shows Private preview for a hidden project. Studio users looking at a hidden project, or at a file that is not the presented one, see Studio preview.
• Hidden presentations tell search engines not to list them.
• New code makes a new link and stops the old one at once. Stop sharing stops the link without making a new one.

Someone who opens a hidden project without a working code sees This project is not available, with buttons to See all projects or Contact the studio. If a project is hidden or deleted while a presentation is open, the next scheme switch says This presentation is no longer available. and the page reloads.

3.9 Saving a picture

Click PNG at the top to save the slide you see as a picture. 3D slides are rendered 1,920 pixels wide in the current light and audience, with sharp edges, fine shadows and a photo finish (this takes a few seconds); site and floor plans are saved as drawn, in 2D or 3D as you see them. The file is named after the project, the slide and the audience, for example harbor-point-live-model-investor.png. A short message says Saved as PNG.

3.10 Tips for presenting

• Before the meeting, open the presentation on the screen you will use, pick the audience, and press F. 3D models take a few seconds to load the first time.
• Save camera shots in Design for the views you want to talk about. They become slides in that order, and the fly-through joins them up. Give each a short description, so the slide speaks for itself when a client looks at it later on their own.
• For a permit meeting choose Permit: the white model and the coverage, height and green figures are what a planning office looks for.
• Comparing options with a client? Send a private preview link and switch schemes live in the meeting.
• On a phone the deck works the same way; the audience buttons become a list.

A presentation on a phone.

Dashboard

The dashboard is the first page after you sign in. It greets you by name with the date, and shows what is happening in the studio right now. Everyone who can sign in can open it; what it shows depends on your rights.

A manager's dashboard while a designer has a design open.

4.1 The tiles at the top

4.2 Open now

Lists every design someone has open for editing: project and design file, who has it, when they opened it and when they last changed something. The heading reminds you of the rule, for example Locks close after 30 minutes without changes (the time comes from Settings). When nobody is editing, it says Nobody has a design open right now.

Managers (anyone with the Force unlock right on Design) see an Unlock button next to designs other people have open. The browser asks Unlock this design? Mia Castell can no longer save to it. Their unsaved changes stay in their window, where they can copy them. After unlocking: Unlocked. Their last saved version is kept, and their unsaved changes stay in their window. Use it only when someone left a design open and can't be reached; see A manager unlocks a design.

4.3 Recent saves

The eight most recently saved design versions, newest first: project and file, a label with the version number, who saved it last, when, and its note. The label says how that version began: Saved v4 (the first version of a file), Version up v5 (started with Version up) or Rollback v6 (an older version brought back). Because Save updates the current version, a file you keep saving moves to the top with the same number. All designs → opens Design.

4.4 New messages and recent activity

New messages shows the five newest unanswered enquiries with the sender, company, project type, time and the start of the message. Open Messages to answer them.

Recent activity (for people with the Activity log right) shows the last eight entries of the Activity log. Refused attempts are shown in red. Activity log → opens the full log.

4.5 Your areas

At the bottom, Your areas lists every page you can open, grouped like the menu, with one line on what each is for. It is a quick way to see what your rights allow.

A designer's dashboard: no messages or activity, and fewer areas.

Projects

Projects holds every project of the studio: its details, pictures, design files, and whether and how it shows on the website. Open it from Work › Projects.

5.1 The project list

The project list. The star marks projects featured on the Home page.

The line under the heading tells you what you may do: You can change any of them (managers), You can change the projects you lead and look at the others (designers) or You can look at them but not change them.

• Search finds projects by title, client, place or web address.
• Type, Status, Designer (Anyone, My projects or one person) and On the website (Shown or hidden, Shown, Hidden) narrow the list.
• Each row shows the cover, title, client and place, type, status, the designer who leads it ((you) for your own), the number of design files, the On website switch and when it was last updated. Hidden projects are dimmed.
• Flip the On website switch to show or hide a project at once. A message confirms, for example Riverside Commons is now on the website. The switch is greyed out on projects you can't change.
• Click a row to open the project. The list shows 25 projects per page.

5.2 Adding a project

1. Click New project (needs the Add right).
2. Type a Title and choose the Type.
3. Click Make project.

You lead the projects you create.

The project opens at once. You will lead the project. It stays hidden from the website until you show it. It starts with the status In design, the audience Competition, and comes last in the order. Its web address is made from the title.

5.3 Project details

A project's page: details, design files and pictures on the left, website settings and designer on the right.

The line under the title says who leads it, for example You lead this project. or Theo Rowe leads this project. You can look but not change it. If you can change it, change the fields and click Save at the top right. Unsaved changes are marked next to the button, and leaving the page asks Leave without saving?

If someone else saved the same project while you were working, you see Someone else changed this project while you were working on it. Reload the project to see their changes, then make yours again.

5.4 Website settings

5.5 Sharing a private preview

Website settings and the private preview link.

1. Under Private preview link, click Make a preview link.
2. Click Copy and send the link to your client. Open tries it yourself.

Anyone with this link can open the presentation and switch between all design files, even while the project is hidden. Website visitors only see the file marked for presenting.

New code replaces the link: Preview link ready. The old link no longer works. Stop sharing turns it off: The preview link no longer works. Only people who can change the project can make or stop links.

5.6 Design files

A design file holds one site plan and its 3D model. A project can have up to 20, for example to compare schemes. The starred file is the one the website presents.

Two schemes. The star marks the file presented on the website.

Each file shows its version, when and by whom it was last saved, and whether it is open right now: Free, In use by Mia Castell since 11:10 AM, or Left open by …, free to open.

A new design file can start empty or as a copy of another.

5.7 Pictures, kept with the project

The Pictures panel. Every picture here is kept with the project.

The project's pictures are stored with the project in the database, not in the Media library. That way a project carries its own cover and renders, and deleting the project deletes them too.

• Cover: click Choose picture (or Change picture) and tap one picture. It is shown on cards before the 3D model loads and on the presentation cover. Remove clears it.
• Project slide: the picture beside the project text on The project slide. Choose it the same way. With no picture chosen, the presentation uses a street-level render (see the tip below), or else the cover.
• Select from shot (under the cover and the project slide picture) renders one of the design's shots as a finished picture; see below.
• Render gallery: click Add pictures, tap one or more pictures and click Add. Each picture gets an optional caption; use the arrows to move it earlier or later and the bin to remove it. A gallery holds up to 24 pictures. The gallery becomes the Renders slide of the presentation.

The picture chooser: pictures from the Media library, or Upload from computer.

The chooser has two sources:

• From the Media library: search by name or tag, filter by tag, Show more. When you save the project, a copy of the chosen picture is stored with the project. Later changes in the Media library don't touch it.
• Upload from computer: picks a JPG, PNG or WebP picture on your computer and stores the original straight with the project: Picture stored with the project. Save the project to keep it. The largest picture is set in Settings › Design files (15 MB unless changed); a bigger one is refused, for example This picture is 22.4 MB. The limit is 15 MB (Settings, Design files). Pictures can be up to 20,000 pixels on each side.

Select from shot

Select from shot: the design's shots on the right, the chosen view on the left.

1. Click Select from shot under the cover or the project slide picture. The window opens with the presented design file; pick another file under Design file if the project has more than one.
2. Click a shot in the list. The view moves to it; you can drag to check it.
3. Choose Full HD or 4K and click Use this picture. The shot is rendered like Render picture in Design and stored with the project: Render stored with the project. Save the project to keep it.

A design file without shots says so; add shots in Design, 3D view, Shots tab. Cancel or Esc closes the window.

Click Save on the project to keep the changes. A picture you removed from the gallery, the cover or the project slide is deleted when you save, unless one of the project's designs still uses it. A picture uploaded or rendered but never saved is removed a day later, the next time the project is saved.

Fly-through

The Fly-through panel with a motion playing in the preview.

The Fly-through slide of the presentation plays one camera motion. Choose it here and click Save. The motions are made for you from the presented design file: its site, buildings, roads and saved shots.

▶ Preview plays a motion once in the small window: Playing Dronie reveal, about 14 seconds. If a motion does not suit the design, it says why, for example No clear gap between the buildings. The presentation plays another motion instead. (Shot tour first, else Orbit.) The motions follow the design, so they change when the buildings or shots change.

5.8 The lead designer

The person who made the project leads it. The designer can change this project. Other designers can only look at it. Managers (with the Edit any project right) see a Leads the project list and can hand the project to any active designer or manager. The box also shows when the project was created and last updated.

5.9 Deleting a project

At the bottom right, Delete project asks Delete Riverside Commons? The project and all its design files and their history are removed for good. Pictures stay in the media library. The pictures, site photos and drawings kept with the project are deleted with it; the Media library keeps its own files. Click Delete project to go ahead or Keep it. It can't be done while someone has one of its designs open. To take a project off the website without losing it, switch it to hidden instead.

Design

Design is where site plans are drawn. You draw on a flat plan seen from above, and the same drawing becomes the live 3D model beside it, the model on the website, the site plan in the presentation and the key figures. Save keeps your work in the current version; Version up keeps that version as it is in the history and starts the next one, so every milestone stays available.

Open it from Work › Design, or with Open in Design next to a design file on a project's page.

6.1 Opening a design

Work › Design first shows every project that has design files, with each file's version, who saved it last and when, and whether it is Free or in use right now. Projects you can't change carry View only for you; hidden projects say hidden from the website. Click a file's name to open it.

Pick a design file. It opens for editing when nobody else has it open.

On a phone the list keeps the file name, its state and the View button.

Each file has a button on the right: Edit when you can change it and it is free (or already open by you), otherwise View. On a phone the Version and Last saved columns are hidden.

Whether you can change the file depends on three things:

1. Your rights. You need the Edit right on Design.
2. The project. You must lead the project, or have the Edit any project right (managers).
3. Nobody else has it open. Only one person can change a design at a time.

If all three are true, the file opens for editing and the header says Editing. Otherwise it opens View only: you can look around, read the facts, play the shots and look at old versions, but not change anything.

6.2 One person at a time

When you open a design for editing, the Studio locks it to you. Everyone else who opens it sees it read-only, with a yellow bar: In use by Mia Castell since 11:10 AM — view only. Only one person can change a design at a time. This page checks again every 30 seconds. Their page checks every 30 seconds; Check again checks at once. When you close the design, their bar turns green, The design is free now, with an Open for editing button.

Nora opens the design Mia is editing. She sees it read-only; as a manager she also gets an Unlock button.

The lock ends by itself, so a design is never stuck:

How a lock starts and ends. The idle time is set in Settings (30 minutes unless changed).

While you edit, your window tells the server every 30 seconds that it is still open. That is how the Studio knows a window has really gone away: two minutes without that signal and the design is free again.

6.3 The editor

The editor in Split view: tools on the left, the plan, the 3D model and the side panel with its tabs. This design uses phases, utilities, zoning and site works.

Moving around: on the plan, drag empty space with the Select tool (or hold Space, or use the middle mouse button) to pan, and scroll or pinch to zoom. In 3D, drag to turn and scroll to zoom. The plan shows a north arrow, a scale bar and the coordinates under the pointer.

3D view with the Investor look: dusk, lights on, busy streets.

6.4 The drawing tools

The tools in the order they appear in the rail. Each one shows its name and its key letter. A small triangle means it opens a list of choices.

The rail on the left holds the tools. On a short window it switches to two columns of icons; point at an icon to see its name. Five of them are groups: Building, Industry, Utilities, Planning and Site works. Click a group to use its current choice and open its list; click a choice in the list to switch. With the keyboard, move to a group button and press Enter, Space or ↓ to open its list. The group remembers your last choice on that computer, and the hint bar names it, for example Electric line. Click points along the line…

The Building group open. The coloured square shows the use colour each type gets on the plan.

Keys for the groups. Pressing B, I, L, N or X picks the group with its current choice and opens its list. Press the same key again, or the arrow keys, to move through the list; Home and End jump to the first and last choice. Enter or Space picks the highlighted choice, Esc or Tab closes the list.

How you draw depends on the kind of item: areas (buildings, zoning areas, lots, fields, solar panels) take corners or a dragged rectangle; lines (roads, utility lines, fences, rail, pipe racks) take points along the line; single items (pylons, masts, tanks, turbines, street furniture, labels) are placed with one click; a dimension takes its two end points. The hint bar always explains the tool you picked.

The hint bar for the Building tool and the Trees tool.

While drawing, Delete or Backspace removes the last point. A line needs at least two points and an area at least three; otherwise you see A line needs at least two points.

If you drag points so that all the points of a line or dimension sit on the same spot, or an area becomes too small, the editor warns you at once: Both ends of this line are now on the same spot, so it would be left out when you save. Undo with Ctrl+Z or drag a point away. (for an area: This shape is now too small…). Undo, or drag a point away, to keep the item.

6.5 Items and their fields

With nothing selected, the Item tab lists everything in the design by kind (buildings with their floors, lines with their length, areas with their size, and a tag for any phase other than New). Click a name to select it, or click the item on the plan; setbacks are selected from the list. A selected item shows its fields; changes show at once in the plan and the 3D model. Every item ends with its Phase (see Phases).

A selected building with two levels below ground.

Under the fields: Duplicate (Ctrl+D) makes a copy a little to the side (with its floor plans), Rotate 90° turns it, and Delete removes it (Block A deleted. Undo with Ctrl+Z.). With a corner selected, Delete point removes that corner. Arrow keys move the item by one grid step, Shift+arrow by ten. Close deselects.

The fields of the newer kinds (towers, utility lines, zoning areas, lots, setbacks, site works, tanks, pipe racks, labels and dimensions) are described in the sections below. A design can hold up to 400 items, and one shape up to 2,000 points.

6.6 Building types

A building has a Type. Pick it from the Building group before drawing, or change it later in the Item tab. Choosing a type fills in that type's usual use, floors, floor height, roof, material and extras; the name, the shape and Sits at height stay. You can change any field afterwards.

A building with the type Mixed use (shops below).

Building fields added to the ones in 6.5:

• Levels below ground (0 to 6) and Basement height (2.4 to 6 m each). Basements are not seen above ground; they show in the underground view and count in Floor area below ground.
• Chimneys (0 to 3) and Chimney height above the roof (3 to 80 m): round stacks along the roof.
• Units in a row (0, or 2 to 20): splits a townhouse row into separate homes side by side along its longest side, with party walls and a different facade tint for each.
• Loading doors (0 to 30): roll-up doors at ground level on the longest side.
• Roof has a fifth choice, Sawtooth (factory): rows of teeth with the glazing facing north.

6.7 Industry and plant

The Industry group holds what a works, depot or logistics site needs.

6.8 Utilities and towers

The Utilities group (key L) draws service lines and the towers that carry them.

• Electric line, Water line, Gas line, Telecom line, Sewer line: click points along the line. Each type has its standard colour: electric red, gas yellow, water blue, telecom orange, sewer green, with its letter (E, G, W, T, S) repeated along the line on the plan.
• In the Item tab: Line (the type), Runs (Overhead on poles or Underground, only for electric and telecom lines; the others are always underground) and Depth for underground lines (0.3 to 6 m; water starts at 1.5 m, gas 1.0 m, sewer 2.5 m, electric 1.0 m, telecom 0.8 m). The figures show the length and, for overhead lines, the number of poles.
• Overhead lines get a pole at every corner and at least every 45 m (about 150 ft), with wires between them. Where a corner is within 6 m of a power pylon (for electric) or a telecom mast (for telecom), the wires hang from that tower instead.
• Power pylon, Telecom mast, Water tower: click to place. Item tab: Type, Height (10 to 120 m; a water tower 12 to 60 m; they start at 35, 40 and 30 m) and Turn.

An overhead electric line on pylons: 2,100 ft long with 16 poles.

The 3D model with Utilities on: pylons, poles and wires along the road, a water tower, and underground lines as coloured stripes on the ground.

On the plan, utility lines show while Utilities is on in the plan bar. In the 3D model, overhead lines always show with their poles and wires, and so do pylons, masts and water towers. Underground lines show as coloured stripes on the ground when you switch on Utilities above the model, and as pipes at their depth in the underground view.

6.9 Planning: zoning, lots, setbacks, labels, dimensions

The plan with two zoning areas, three numbered lots, a setback line, a label and a dimension. Click Key in the plan bar to show the colour key.

• Zoning area: draw an area. Item tab: Zoning (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Mixed use, Open space, Civic) and an optional Label such as R-2. It shows as a light tint under the buildings with a dashed edge.
• Lot: draw an area. Item tab: Lot number; without one, lots are numbered in order. The plan shows the number in a small circle and the lot's area.
• Setback: opens Add a setback: choose Measured from (Site boundary or a lot) and the Distance, then click Add setback. A dashed line follows the boundary or lot at that distance inside it, and moves when that shape changes. Select a setback from the list on the Item tab; its figures show the distance and the area inside. If you delete a lot, its setbacks stay and switch to the site boundary: Lot 2 deleted. Its setback now follows the site boundary. Undo with Ctrl+Z.
• Label: click where the text goes, then type the Text (up to 80 characters) in the Item tab, with a Text height (1 to 30 m) and Turn. Labels show on the plan and on the presentation's site plan. A label without text is left out when you save; if you clear the text, you see A label without text is left out when you save. Type some text or delete the label.
• Dimension: click the two ends of the distance you want to show. The plan draws a dimension line with the length in your units; Offset (−50 to 50 m) moves the line away from the points.

A residential zoning area labelled R-2.

Zoning areas, lots and setbacks show on the plan while Zoning is on in the plan bar. In 3D they appear as a faint tint and lines on the ground when Zoning is switched on above the model. Labels and dimensions are not shown in 3D.

6.10 Site works

The Site works group (key X) holds everything around and between the buildings.

Site works in 3D: a playground and a basketball court between the blocks, and roof solar panels on Block B.

6.11 Phases

Every item has a Phase at the bottom of its Item tab: New (the default), Existing, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 or To be removed. Neighbour buildings start as Existing. The item list shows each item's phase as a small tag.

The phase list in the plan bar changes what you see, on the plan and in 3D:

Phase colours, and the same site at the end of Phase 1.

Items to be removed don't count in the facts. In the presentation, a phase list lets you step through the same stages; see Phases, utilities and underground.

6.12 Underground view

Click Underground above the 3D model to see below the ground. The camera tilts down to a low angle and the ground turns mostly see-through, so you see the basements of buildings (from Levels below ground), underground utility lines as coloured pipes at their depth, and tanks marked Below ground. You can also drag the model to look from just below the ground. Click Underground again to switch it off; the camera goes back to the view you had before.

The underground view: the camera tilts low and the ground turns see-through, so the buried sewer line (green) and water line (blue) show below the streets.

6.13 The Site tab

Site area, boundary, orientation, site photo and life in the presentation.

• Site area and Boundary (corners and length around). Edit or redraw the boundary picks the Site boundary tool.
• North (degrees) turns the north arrow and the model. Latitude sets where the sun stands. Ground colour colours the ground of the model.
• Site photo: Import from file takes a JPG, PNG or WebP picture from your computer (up to the picture size in Settings), and From media library picks one from the Media library. Either way the photo goes under the plan, so you can trace roads and neighbours (Photo placed under the plan. Drag it into place.). Then Move on the plan, pick another with the same two buttons, or Remove it, and set its Width, Turn, Centre east, Centre north and Opacity. The photo is shown under the plan in the editor only. A copy of the photo is stored with the project, so the design keeps it even if the Media library changes.
• CAD drawing: Import from CAD (DXF) brings in a site plan drawn in AutoCAD or another CAD program. See Importing a CAD drawing.
• Life in the presentation: how many People and Cars move through the model (0 to 100%). The audiences add or remove life on top of this.

6.14 Importing a CAD drawing (DXF)

If the site plan already exists in AutoCAD or another CAD program, import it instead of drawing it again. The Studio reads DXF files. In AutoCAD, use Save As and pick DXF (the text form, also called ASCII). A .dwg file can't be read: save it as DXF first, and you will get a friendly reminder if you pick one by mistake (This is a DWG file. In your CAD program, use Save As and pick DXF (ASCII).).

1. Open the design for editing, go to the Site tab and click Import from CAD (DXF).
2. Pick the .dxf file. It must not be bigger than the limit in Settings › Design files (25 MB unless changed).
3. The Import from CAD (DXF) box opens with a preview and the drawing's layers.
4. For each layer, choose what it becomes: Ignore, Site boundary, Building, Road, Path, Parking, Green, Plaza, Water, Trees, Neighbour building or Truck yard, or one of the planning kinds: Lot, a Zoning type, Labels (text), a utility line or tower, a tank, silo, pipe rack or conveyor, a sports field, a fence or wall, Rail line, street furniture, Solar panels or Wind turbine. The Studio guesses from the layer names (for example A-BLDG becomes Building, C-ROAD-CL Road, C-PROP Site boundary, LOT or PARCEL Lot, E-POWR Electric line, ZONE Zoning); check the guesses. Text on a layer set to Labels (text) becomes labels. Coloured layers are imported, faint ones are ignored.
5. Check the Drawing units (Taken from the drawing, or pick metres, millimetres, centimetres, kilometres, feet, US survey feet, inches, yards or miles when the drawing doesn't say), and Turn the drawing if north is not up.
6. Under Shapes already in the design, choose Replace them or Add to them.
7. Set the Building floors, Road width and Path width for the new shapes. You can change each one afterwards on the Item tab.
8. Read the summary at the bottom, for example 44 shapes will be added and the site boundary replaced, 1 skipped (hatching)., then click Import 44 shapes.

The import box with the preview, the layers and what each one becomes, and the summary.

The drawing is moved so its centre sits at the centre of the site. The import is one Undo step, and nothing is saved until you click Save. A message confirms, for example 44 shapes imported. Save to keep them.

A design still holds up to 400 shapes, each with up to 2,000 points. If the drawing would go over, the box says so (The design is full.); choose Replace them or ignore some layers.

After the import, the Site tab shows Source drawing: Sample_Site.dxf (51 KB) with the units it was drawn in. The original file is kept with the design. Download gets it back, Import again opens the same drawing in the import box (for example to change a layer), and Import from CAD (DXF) picks a new file. People who can only look at the design see the drawing's name and Download.

The Site tab after an import.

The imported site plan in the plan and the 3D model, before saving.

6.15 Facts

Facts update as you draw.

The Facts tab works out the key figures from the drawing: site area, building footprint, site coverage, gross floor area, floor area ratio, green space and green share, parking spaces, tallest point, buildings and homes. When the design has them, more figures follow: floor area below ground, lots and average lot size, towers, the length of each kind of utility line, zoned area by type, sports fields and courts, solar panel area and power, wind turbines, tanks and silos, and street furniture. Items to be removed don't count. Below, a table lists each building with its floors, height and floor area; click a row to select that building. These are the same figures as the Key figures slide of the presentation. See How the facts are worked out.

6.16 Shots and the fly-through

Camera shots become presentation slides in this order. The first shot has a description.

1. Turn the 3D model to the view you want, and set the light and sun.
2. On the Shots tab, type a Name of the view, for example Arrival from the river.
3. Click Save this view as a shot. Shot saved: Arrival from the river.

Each shot shows its light and time. Go flies the model to it; the arrows change the order; × deletes it. You can rename a shot in its box. Under the buttons, the box Description for the presentation (optional) takes up to 300 characters, for example what the view shows or why it matters; it appears on that shot's slide in the presentation. Leave it empty for a slide with the name only. Play fly-through flies past every shot once (the presentation can play other motions too; choose one in Projects › Fly-through); Stop the fly-through stops it. A design can hold up to 20 shots. Shots are part of the design, so save afterwards.

Render picture

Render, at the end of the 3D bar.

Render makes a finished picture of the 3D view you see: drawn at twice the size and scaled down for sharp edges, with finer shadows and a photo finish (a little more contrast and colour, warm highlights, a soft vignette and light grain). Labels and the permit overlay are included when they are on. It takes a few seconds.

• Pick the size: Full HD (1,920 × 1,080) or 4K (3,840 × 2,160). A computer that cannot draw 4K makes Full HD instead and says so.
• Download PNG saves the picture on your computer, named after the design and the shot, for example scheme-a-arrival-on-mill-road-1920x1080.png.
• Add to project pictures adds it to the end of the project's render gallery, with the shot's name as the caption when the view is one of the shots: Added to the project pictures (4 of 24). It needs the design open for editing, and a gallery holds up to 24 pictures.

Go to a shot first (Go on the Shots tab) to render exactly that view.

6.17 Floor plans

Floor plans of Block A. The presentation shows them when a visitor opens the building's plans.

Select a building and click Floor plans. The editor opens over the workspace, titled with the building's name, floors, use and footprint.

Show in the presentation is ticked to start. While it is ticked, the building gets its own Plans slide after the site plan, and its card in the presentation has a Floor plans button. Untick it to keep plans that are not ready to yourself: visitors see no slide and no button, and the building's Floor plans button on the Item tab says hidden.

• Generate from floors and use makes a set of plans from the footprint, the number of floors and the use. If plans exist, it asks Replace the floor plans? first (Keep mine or Generate new plans).
• Floor buttons switch between floors; + Floor adds one (up to 12). Remove this floor deletes the current one.
• Tools: Select & move, Add room, Add door, Add window, Add opening. Rooms snap to whole feet; drag a room to move it and its corner square to resize. Doors and windows go on a wall: click close to it (Click closer to a wall to add it.).
• A selected room has a Name, a Type (Living room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, Office, Lobby, Shop, Classroom, Café, Plant room, Toilets, Lift, Building core and more), and Left, Top, Width, Depth in feet, with its area. A door or window has a Type, Width and position.
• Clear empties all floors, Fit to view zooms to the plan, Done closes the editor. A small Preview shows the plan as the presentation draws it.
• 2D plan and 3D switch the view. 3D raises the walls of the floor you picked, with doors as gaps, windows with glass and the rooms in their colours. Drag to turn, scroll to zoom, Shift+drag to move, Fit to see the whole floor. Click a room to change its fields. You draw in 2D; 3D is for checking.

The same floor in 3D.

Converting a drawing

If you have a floor plan as a picture, the editor can turn it into rooms, doors and windows for you. Under Convert a drawing on the right, click From file (JPG, PNG or WebP from your computer) or From media library.

• If the floor already has rooms, you are asked first: Replace the rooms on this floor? Other floors stay as they are. Undo with Ctrl+Z.
• Every space closed by walls becomes a room, named Room 1, Room 2 and so on. An L-shaped space becomes two rooms. Gaps in walls between rooms become doors (wide gaps become openings); gaps in outside walls with the window symbol become windows. Furniture, text and dimension lines are ignored.
• The plan is fitted to the building's footprint on the site plan. If the drawing has a different shape from the building, it is stretched to fit and a message says so; check the building's size on the site plan first for the best result.
• Spaces open to the outside, such as a porch, are not found; draw them by hand. If nothing can be recognised, for example in a photo, the floor is left as it was: No rooms could be found in this drawing.
• The picture is only read, not kept. Afterwards, name the rooms, set their types and fix anything the conversion missed.

It works best with clean drawings exported from a CAD or plan program, with thick black walls. Scans, phone photos and hand sketches give poor results.

A drawing converted into rooms, doors and windows, ready to be named.

Tracing a drawing

Each floor can have a drawing under its grid, for example a floor plan exported from your CAD program as a picture. Under Drawing on the right, click Import from file (JPG, PNG or WebP from your computer) or From media library.

• If the floor already has rooms or a drawing, you are asked first: Start this floor again? Importing clears the rooms, doors and windows on that floor; other floors stay as they are. Cancel keeps everything. Undo with Ctrl+Z.
• The first drawing on a floor is sized to the building's footprint. A new drawing on a floor that had one keeps the old drawing's scale and position, so a revised drawing lines up at once.
• Set scale: click one end of a length you know on the drawing, then the other end, and type its real length in feet. The drawing is resized to match.
• Move drawing: drag it on the grid. Opacity makes it lighter or darker. Remove drawing takes it off the floor.
• Trace the rooms, doors and windows over it with the usual tools. The 3D view uses the rooms you traced.
• Show the drawing in the presentation (off to start) shows it under the rooms on the 2D plan in the presentation.

A drawing under the grid of the ground floor, with the first rooms traced over it.

Drawings and site photos are stored with the project in the database. Plans are drawn on a 1 foot grid. Up to 60 rooms and 160 doors and windows per floor. Floors with no rooms and no drawing are left out when you save. Save the design to keep the plans.

6.18 Saving and versions

A design file has a version number, shown next to its name (v4). You always work on the current version. Next to the buttons the editor shows the state: Unsaved changes, Saving…, Saved at 3:05 PM, Autosaved at 3:07 PM or All changes saved.

A change not yet saved, with Version up, Save & close and Save.

Version up

1. Click Version up.
2. The box says, for example, Version 4 is saved and kept as it is in the history. You go on working on version 5. Type an optional Note for version 4, for example Client review set, taller tower. The note goes on the version that is kept.
3. Click Version up. Version 4 is kept. You are now on version 5.

Version up keeps version 4 and starts version 5.

Every save updates the website model, the presentation and the project's Updated time at once. If a save is refused, a box The design was not saved explains why (for example A design can hold up to 400 items. Remove some and save again.) and your changes stay in the window. If the server does not answer within 30 seconds: The server did not answer. Your changes are still here. Try again.

6.19 History and rollback

The versions of a design. The one you work on is marked Current.

The History tab explains: Save updates the current version. Version up keeps it as it is and starts the next one. Click a version to look at it. It lists the last 200 versions, newest first, each with its number, how it began (Created, Version up, Rolled back), who saved it last, when, the note and its size. The version you work on is marked Current; it always holds your last save.

Click a version to look at it. The plan, model, facts and shots show that version, and a bar at the bottom says Looking at v3 … Read only. Back to my design (or Esc) returns.

Looking at an older version, with the button to roll back.

To bring an older version back while you are editing, click Roll back to this version, then Roll back. The box explains, for example: Version 5 stays in the history as it was last saved, and version 3 comes back as version 6. Nothing is lost, and you can roll forward again. If you had unsaved changes, they are replaced, but Ctrl+Z brings them back. Afterwards: Version 3 is back as version 6. Version 5 stays in the history. The new version is marked Rolled back with the note Rolled back to v3.

Rolling back never deletes versions.

6.20 Idle: saved and closed for you

A design left open without changes blocks everyone else. So after the idle time set in Settings (30 minutes unless changed) with no activity, the Studio closes it for you.

1. Two minutes before, a yellow bar counts down: Closing in 1:34 — move to keep working. It adds Your changes are saved before it closes. or It closes so others can open it.
2. Any real work starts the time again. During the countdown, just moving the mouse or clicking Keep working is enough.
3. If nobody reacts, unsaved changes are saved into the current version, the design is closed, and a box says Saved and closed after 30 minutes without activity (or Closed after … when nothing had changed). Nothing is lost, and the design is free again for others. Reopen opens it again; All designs goes back to the list.

The countdown before an idle design is closed.

Closed after the idle time. Nothing is lost.

Real work means drawing, changing a field, clicking, panning or zooming the plan or the model, and pressing keys in the editor. Simply having the page open does not count, and neither do autosaves.

6.21 When someone else has it open

• You see the yellow bar In use by … — view only. You can look, read the facts and history, and play shots.
• Wait until they close it: the bar turns green, The design is free now; click Open for editing.
• Need it now? Ask them to save and leave. If they are away, the lock ends by itself after the idle time, or two minutes after their window closed.
• Want to work on an idea meanwhile? Ask the lead designer or a manager to make a copy with New design › A copy of on the project's page.

The Projects page and the design list show the same state: In use by Mia Castell since 11:10 AM.

A design file in use, seen on the project's page.

6.22 A manager unlocks a design

A manager (the Force unlock right) sees Unlock in the yellow bar of a design someone else has open, and on the dashboard under Open now.

Unlocking asks first.

Mia Castell has this design open. Unlocking ends their editing: their last save is kept in the design, and the Activity log notes that you unlocked it. Changes they have not saved stay in their window, where they can copy them. After Unlock, a short message confirms it and the manager's window opens the design for editing. The history and the version number don't change; the Activity log records design unlock with whose design it was.

The person who had it open sees, as soon as their window next talks to the server, a red bar Editing stopped with the reason, for example Nora Halden has opened this design, so your changes since the last save were not saved to it. and Your unsaved changes are still in this window.

Editing stopped. Unsaved work can still be kept as a copy.

• Copy my changes as a new design saves what is in the window as a new design file in the same project, named like Scheme A (copy): Your changes are saved as Scheme A (copy). Then Open “Scheme A (copy)”. This needs the Add right on Design.
• Open again reloads the design. With unsaved changes it asks Open again without your changes? first.

The same red bar appears in other cases too: Nothing changed for 30 minutes, so the design was closed for editing., This design is no longer open for you. It was opened in another window or closed., or You can no longer change this project's designs. (after the project was handed to someone else).

6.23 Leaving with unsaved changes

If you click a menu link, Sign out, or another link while there are unsaved changes, the Studio asks:

Leaving a design with unsaved changes.

Save and leave saves into the current version and goes on, Leave without saving drops the changes, Stay here stays. Either way of leaving closes the design so others can open it. Closing the browser tab with unsaved changes makes the browser itself ask whether to leave.

When you are done for now, the quickest way out is Save & close: it saves, frees the design for others and takes you back to the Design list.

6.24 View only for other reasons

A blue bar explains why you can't edit:

• Only the project's designer or a manager can change this design. — you are a designer, but not on this project.
• You can look at designs but not change them. — you have only the View right on Design.

A manager in the same situation also gets an Unlock button.

A designer opening a design that is in use on someone else's project.

6.25 Small screens

Editing needs a window at least 760 pixels wide. On a phone or a narrow window the design opens with Use a larger screen to edit — view only. The editor needs a window at least 760 pixels wide. You can look around, read the facts and the history here. Only Plan and 3D are offered; Split needs more room. Opening it on a phone never locks the design, so it doesn't block a colleague at their desk.

Looking at a design on a phone.

6.26 Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl.

Pages

Pages is where you change the text and pictures of the four website pages: Home, About, Services and Contact. Each page is a stack of blocks — a page top, text, cards, numbers and so on — that you edit right on a preview of the page. Open it from Website › Pages.

The Home page in the editor. Click any text to change it.

7.1 Changing text and pictures

1. Pick the page with the tabs Home, About, Services, Contact.
2. Click any text and type. Select words to make them bold or a link (a page name like Projects or Contact, or a full address starting with https://).
3. Click a picture box (Add a picture or video) to choose from the Media library, or upload a new photo right there.
4. Buttons have a label and a link: Main button and Second button.
5. Click Save page. Home saved. It is live on the website.

Unsaved changes are marked next to the buttons, and leaving asks Leave without saving? Open page opens the page on the website; with unsaved changes it reminds you Save first to see your changes on the website.

7.2 Moving, hiding and adding blocks

• Drag a block by its handle (the dots), or use the up and down arrows, to move it.
• Hide keeps a block but hides it on the website; Show brings it back.
• The bin removes a block: Remove this block? It disappears from the page when you save. Use Hide to keep it for later.
• Some blocks have items, for example cards or steps. A block can have up to 12 items.

At the bottom of each page, Add a block offers:

Blocks marked From your data — Featured projects on Home, Team on About, and Contact details and form on Contact — take their content from Projects, Users and Settings. They can't be removed, but you can move them, change their titles or hide them.

7.3 Versions

Versions lists the saved versions of the page: The last 20 saved versions are kept. Restoring one makes it live right away. Click Restore next to one: The page goes back to that version right away. The current version is kept in the list, so you can switch back.

Versions of the Home page.

People with only the View right on Pages see the pages read-only: You can look at the pages but not change them.

Media Library

The media library holds the studio's renders, photos, videos and PDF documents. Projects, galleries, staff portraits, design underlays and the website pages all pick their files from here. When a project or a design uses a library picture, it keeps its own copy with the project, so you can change or delete the library picture later without changing the project. Open it from Website › Media library.

Each item shows its name, kind, size, tags and where it is used.

8.1 Uploading

People with the Add right see three panels at the top. Click one to open it.

Tags help you find files later and steer the choosers: the cover and gallery chooser in Projects opens on renders, the photo list in Users puts people first, and the site photo list in Design puts aerial and site photos first.

8.2 Finding files

• The chips All, Photos, Videos, PDFs show how many there are of each.
• Search by name, tag or description; Tag picks one tag; Used shows In use or Not used yet.

8.3 Details, changing and deleting

Click a file to open it. You can change its Name, Tags and Description for screen readers, play a video or open a PDF, and see its type, size, who added it and when, and Used on: every project, gallery or page that uses it. With the Edit right you can replace the file or change a video's cover picture.

A render with the places it is used on.

Deleting needs the Delete right. A file that is still used can't be deleted: “…” is still in use. It is used on: …. Choose another picture in those places first, then delete it.

Messages

Messages holds the project enquiries sent with the form on the Contact page. Reply by email, then mark the message replied or done. Open it from Website › Messages.

Open messages, newest first, with the counts at the top right.

9.1 The list

The top right counts new, replied and done messages. Search finds name, email, company or words; Status shows Open (not done) (the default), New, Replied, Done or Everything; Project type narrows by kind. Each row shows the sender, project type, budget and start, the start of the message, when it arrived and its status.

9.2 Answering

A message with the sender's details, the answer buttons and the team note.

1. Click a message. It shows status, when it arrived, email, phone, company, project type, site, budget, start and the message.
2. Click Reply by email. Your email program opens with the subject Your enquiry to Halden & Rowe Architects and a friendly first line.
3. Back in the Studio, a new message asks Did you send the reply? Click Mark replied.
4. Write a Team note (Only the studio sees this note), for example Called back on Tuesday. Site visit booked for Friday., and click Save note.
5. When the enquiry is finished, click Mark done.

The status shows who handled it. With the Delete right, Delete removes a message and its note for good. People with only View can read messages but not change them.

Users and Permissions

Users holds everyone who can sign in to the Studio, their role, which areas they can open, and who shows on the About page. Open it from Studio › Users.

The user list. A new person shows New password at next sign-in until they choose their own.

10.1 The list

Each row shows the name and title, user name, role, how many projects they lead, status (Active or Inactive, and New password at next sign-in), last sign-in, and whether they are on the About page. Search finds name, user name or title; Role and Show (Active, Inactive, Everyone) narrow the list. Click a row to open the person.

10.2 Adding a user

1. Click Add user.
2. Under Who: Full name, Job title (shown under their name), User name (3 to 40 lowercase letters, numbers, dots, dashes or underscores), Role, Email and Phone.
3. Under Password: a starting password of at least 8 characters, twice. Give it to them in person. They must choose their own password the first time they sign in.
4. Under About page: tick Show in the team on the About page if they should appear there, set the Order in the team (0 to 999), pick a Photo from the media library (or No photo for initials), and write a Short bio. A bio is needed when they are shown.
5. Click Save. Added.

A new designer. They start with the designer's default rights.

Messages you may see: Someone already uses this user name. Pick another., Enter their name., This email address doesn't look right., Write a short bio for the About page, or untick Show in the team., and at the top Not saved. Check the fields marked in red.

10.3 A person's page

Details, sign-in and permissions of one person.

• Details: role, projects they lead, email, phone, About page and bio. Edit details opens the same form as Add user. Changing the role also resets their rights to that role's defaults.
• Their activity opens the activity log filtered to this person.
• Sign-in: user name, status, last sign-in, and on how many devices or browsers they are signed in now.
• Set a new password: They are signed out everywhere. Tell them the new password in person. They must choose their own password the next time they sign in.
• Sign out everywhere: ends all their sessions, for example after a lost laptop.
• Make inactive: they can't sign in and are not shown on the About page; they are signed out at once. Make active again undoes it.
• Delete … (Added by mistake?): only for someone who never did anything. Otherwise: They have records now, so they can't be deleted. Make them inactive instead.

10.4 Permissions

The Permissions box lists every Studio page by menu group (Work, Website, Studio), with a count like 3 of 3. Open a group and tick what the person can do on each page: View, Add, Edit, Delete and the page's extra right (Edit any project, Force unlock). View comes with any other tick. Then click Save permissions.

A designer's permissions with all groups open.

• Reset to Designer defaults (or the person's role) ticks the role's defaults. Save to keep them.
• Everyone who can sign in opens the dashboard, so Dashboard is always on.
• Managers always have every right: Managers can open every area and do everything.

A person who is not a manager but has rights on Users can help with accounts, with limits: they can only give rights they have themselves (the others are greyed out), they can't change managers or anyone who can manage users, and they can't change people who have rights they don't have.

10.5 Roles and default rights

The tab Roles and default rights lists the roles with how many people have each. Click a role to see and change its default permissions, then Save Designer defaults. Saving changes the defaults only. People who already have this role keep their own permissions until you reset them.

• Add role makes a new role with a name and an order in lists. A new role starts with no permissions. Tick its defaults after saving.
• Rename changes a role's name. Delete works only for a role nobody has. The manager role can't be deleted or changed.

10.6 Default rights of each role

These are the rights a new person gets with each of the three standard roles. A dash means no access.

X on Projects is Edit any project; X on Design is Force unlock. Without Edit any project, Edit on Projects and on Design applies only to the projects the person leads.

Settings

Firm details, the look of the website, opening hours, units, design locks and project file sizes. Each tab is saved on its own. There are four tabs; each tab is saved on its own with its own button, and a message confirms, for example Firm saved: 2 changes. (or Nothing changed.). Open it from Studio › Settings. Changes show on the website within about 30 seconds.

11.1 Firm

Click Save firm details.

11.2 Website

• Accent colour: buttons, links and the logo on the website and in the Studio. A lighter shade is made for the dark theme.
• Website theme: Dark (best for presenting models) or Light. Visitors can still switch with the moon button.
• Studio theme: Dark or Light. The theme the studio opens in. Each person can still switch with the moon button. A person's own choice in their browser comes first.
• Units: Imperial (ft, ft², acres) or Metric (m, m², hectares), for site facts on the website and in the design editor. Designs are always stored in meters, so switching never changes a design.
• Social links: the links shown in the website footer under Follow, in the order of the list. Each row has a Name (for example Instagram or Houzz), a Link that starts with https://, and Show. + Add link adds a row (up to 12); the arrows move a row up or down; × removes it. Untick Show to keep a link here without showing it on the website. A row with no name or a link that does not start with https:// is not saved, for example Row 2: use a full address that starts with https://; a completely empty row is ignored.

The footer with six links shown. With more than five links they sit in two columns; on a phone in one. With no links shown, the Follow column is left out.

Click Save website settings.

11.3 Opening hours

For each day, tick Open and set the opening and closing time. The Contact page shows the hours and whether the studio is open right now. The closing time must be after the opening time. Click Save opening hours.

11.4 Design files

Only one person can change a design at a time. When someone leaves a design open without changing anything, it is saved and closed for them after this many minutes, so others can work on it.

Close idle designs after: from 15 to 240 minutes (30 unless changed). A design whose window was closed is free again after 2 minutes.

Project files: Project pictures, site photos under designs and imported DXF drawings are kept in the database with their project.

• Largest project picture: from 1 to 50 MB for each picture (15 unless changed). Applies to Upload from computer in Projects.
• Largest DXF drawing: from 1 to 100 MB for each drawing (25 unless changed). Applies to Import from CAD (DXF) in Design.
• The line under them shows how much is kept, for example Stored now: 28 files, 1.7 MB.

Click Save design settings.

People with only the View right see the settings read-only.

Activity Log

Sign-ins, saves, locks and every important change, newest first: who did what, to what, and from where. Open it from Studio › Activity log.

Each row: when, who, the action, its target, OK or Failed, and the IP address.

• Who: everyone, Website (not signed in) (for example contact form messages), or one person.
• From and To: a date range.
• Action or target: a word to look for, for example signin, design save or Harbor.
• Failed only: only refused or failed attempts, such as wrong passwords or someone trying a page they have no right to.

The log shows 50 rows per page. Download list (CSV) saves the rows that match your filters as a spreadsheet file, up to 5,000 rows.

Typical actions you will see: signin, password change, project add, project shown, project hidden, project save, design add, design open, design save, design autosave, design version up, design close, design lock taken (someone opened a design another person had left idle or closed), design unlock, design rollback, page saved, upload photo, delete media, website message, add user, permissions, set password, change settings.

My Account

Click My account at the bottom of the menu, or your name in the top bar.

Your password, and a summary of what you can do.

13.1 Changing your password

1. Type your Current password.
2. Type a New password of at least 8 characters, and again in New password again.
3. Click Save new password. Your new password is saved.

Other places where you are signed in are signed out. If the current password is wrong: The current password is not right. After six wrong tries in five minutes, it is refused for a few minutes even when right.

13.2 What you can do

The right-hand box lists every area you can open with your rights in brackets, for example Projects (view, add, edit). Designers read You can change the projects you lead. Other projects open read-only. Managers read You are a manager: every area, plus users, rights and settings. You can edit any project and unlock a design someone else has open.

Going Live

This chapter is for the person who installs the website and the Studio on a server. It covers what you need, the database, the settings file, the folders, the first sign-in and the order in which to fill in the firm's details.

14.1 What you need

• A Windows server with IIS and the .NET 10 Hosting Bundle, or any host that runs .NET 10 web apps.
• Microsoft SQL Server (Express is enough for one studio) and SQL Server Management Studio to run the setup script.
• Room for the database to grow: project pictures and drawings are stored in it. SQL Server 2025 Express allows 50 GB per database (10 GB on SQL Server 2022 and older). Settings › Design files shows how much the project files take.
• A web address with HTTPS. Staff passwords and the enquiries of your clients travel over it, so never run the live site on plain HTTP.
• Browsers with WebGL for the 3D models: any current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Older devices see the renders instead.

14.2 Create the database

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio and connect to your server.
2. Open data/Architects_Init.sql (in the website's data folder) and run it. It creates the database Architects, its tables and indexes, and the starting rows: the Studio menus, the three roles (Manager, Designer, Website editor) with their default rights, and the starting settings (accent colour, dark website theme, imperial units, 30-minute design idle time, the New York time zone and opening hours Monday to Friday).
3. Create a SQL sign-in for the website with read and write rights on that database, or use one you already have.

14.3 The settings file

The file appConfig/application.cfg holds the few settings that belong to the server rather than to the firm. Open it in a text editor and change these lines (keep the others as they are):

app.app.runmode | 1
app.Settings.encryptkey | (a long random text of your own)
app.sqldb.source | (your SQL Server name)
app.sqldb.catalog | Architects
app.sqldb.id | (SQL sign-in)
app.sqldb.password | (its password)
user.admin.user | admin
user.admin.passhash | (see below)
user.folders.vault | vault
user.trust.proxy | 0

To make the password code for user.admin.passhash, run this in PowerShell, type the password and copy the 64-character result into the file:

$p = Read-Host "Password"; [BitConverter]::ToString([Security.Cryptography.SHA256]::Create().ComputeHash([Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes($p))).Replace("-","").ToLower()

14.4 Folders the website writes to

Give the website's account (on IIS, the application pool identity, for example IIS AppPool\Architects) Modify permission on these folders:

The web server configuration (web.config) already hides appConfig, codes, data, htmls, logs, temp and vault from visitors, and refuses .cfg, .sql, .json and .dll files.

14.5 The first sign-in

1. Open /Studio and sign in with the user name and password from the settings file.
2. That account becomes a Manager (title Studio manager) with every right. Open My account to check, and Users to give it your real name.
3. In Users, add each person who will use the Studio, with their role and a starting password. The first time they sign in, they choose their own password.
4. Make at least one more person a manager, so the studio never depends on one account.

14.6 Set up the studio, in this order

1. Settings: firm name, tagline, city, address, phone, email, time zone; accent colour, website theme, Studio theme, units, social links (name, link and whether to show each); opening hours; design idle time.
2. Users: every person, their role and rights; who shows on the About page with photo and bio.
3. Media library: renders, site and aerial photos (tag them aerial or site), portraits (tag people), videos and PDFs.
4. Projects and Design: each project with its details, cover and gallery; its design files with site plan, shots and floor plans; then switch it on for the website.
5. Pages: the text and pictures of Home, About, Services and Contact.
6. Test: open every page on a computer and a phone, open each presentation in each audience, and send yourself an enquiry from the Contact page.

14.7 Keeping it safe

• Back up the database every night, and the images/ folder with it. The database holds every project with its pictures, site photos, imported drawings and design versions, so its backup is also your design archive. The images/ folder holds the Media library, staff photos and the website's own artwork. Use Version up at milestones so they are kept as they were. A backup you have never restored is only a hope: try a restore on a spare machine once.
• Use HTTPS only.
• Studio sign-ins last up to 8 hours and renew while the person keeps working. Signing out ends the sign-in at once.
• After 6 wrong passwords within 5 minutes, that user name is paused for a few minutes.
• Setting a new password for someone, making them inactive, or Sign out everywhere ends all their sessions. Use it when a laptop or phone is lost, or when someone leaves (make them inactive rather than deleting them, so their history stays).
• Every change that matters, and every refused attempt, is written to the Activity log with who, when and from which address.
• Every Studio action is checked again on the server, whatever the browser shows. A person without a right can't do the action by any other way.
• Private preview links work like a password: send them only to the people who should see the project, and use New code or Stop sharing when a link has done its job.

Reference

Lists to look things up quickly: rights, statuses, lock timings, limits and how the facts are worked out.

15.1 Rights on each page

Rights are given per person and per page: V view, A add, E edit, D delete and X an extra right that each page names for itself. A page only offers the rights that make sense for it.

The default rights of each role are in Users and Permissions.

15.2 Statuses and labels

15.3 Lock and session timings

15.4 Limits

15.5 How the facts are worked out

Items marked To be removed don't count in any figure. The newer figures appear only when the design has something for them. Designs are stored in meters. Imperial shows square feet, and acres for site and green areas of half an acre or more; metric shows square meters, and hectares for areas of 1 hectare or more.

15.6 Addresses

Quick Answers

Short answers to the questions people ask most.

16.1 Signing in and rights

I forgot my password. Ask a manager to set a new one in Users. You choose your own at the next sign-in.

It says Too many attempts. Six wrong passwords in five minutes pause your user name. Wait a few minutes, then type carefully (capital letters count).

A page is missing from my menu. You don't have the View right on it. Ask a manager; My account shows what you have.

I can open a project but every field is grey. Someone else leads it. Only the lead designer and managers can change a project. A manager can hand it to you under Designer.

16.2 Design

The design says In use by … — view only. Someone else is editing it. Wait for the green The design is free now bar, ask them to leave, or ask a manager to unlock it. See When someone else has it open.

I went to lunch and my design was closed. After the idle time it is saved and closed for you, so nothing is lost. Click Reopen.

Editing stopped and I had unsaved work. Click Copy my changes as a new design before anything else. Your work becomes a new design file you can compare or copy from.

I saved something wrong. Use Ctrl+Z if the window is still open. Otherwise open History, click an earlier version and Roll back to this version. Nothing is lost; the rollback is a new version.

Why did Save not change the version number? Save updates the current version. Click Version up when you want to keep the current state as it is and go on with the next number, for example before a client meeting.

How do I leave a design so a colleague can work on it? Click Save & close. It saves, frees the design and goes back to the Design list.

I closed the browser while editing. The design is free again for others within two minutes. Your last save, or the last autosave (every 2 minutes), is in the current version.

Why can't I edit on my phone? The editor needs a window at least 760 pixels wide. On a phone you can look, read facts and history.

The 3D view is empty. The browser or computer can't draw 3D (The 3D view is not available in this browser.). Try a current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, and switch on hardware acceleration in the browser settings.

The facts look too high. Check Floors and Homes on each building, and whether parking areas have a number of spaces set. Raised buildings (Sits at height above ground) don't count in the footprint.

How do I show construction phases? Give each item a Phase at the bottom of its Item tab (Existing, Phase 1 to 3, New or To be removed). Then use the phase list in the plan bar: Phase colours colours them, and Existing to Complete steps through the stages. The presentation gets its own phase list. See Phases.

How do I draw a power line? Press L (Utilities) and pick Power pylon; click to place the pylons. Then pick Electric line and click along the pylons; double-click to finish. The wires hang from pylons within 6 m of a corner and from poles elsewhere. Switch on Utilities above the 3D model to see it.

Can I see basements? Yes. Set Levels below ground on the building, then click Underground above the 3D model. Underground pipes and buried tanks show there too.

Where is the colour key of the plan? It is off to start, so it doesn't cover the drawing. Click Key in the plan bar to show it; your browser remembers the choice.

Underground lines and zoning don't show in 3D. They are off in 3D to start. Switch on Utilities or Zoning above the model, or choose the Permit audience.

16.3 Website and presentations

A new project isn't on the website. New projects start hidden. Tick Show on the website (or flip the switch in the list) and check that it has a design file.

The website shows the wrong scheme. On the project's page, click Present this one next to the right design file.

How do I show a client a project before it is public? Make a private preview link on the project's page and send it. They can switch between all schemes.

The presentation has no floor plans slide. Draw floor plans for at least one building in Design and save.

How do I add text to a view in the presentation? In Design, on the Shots tab, type it in the shot's Description for the presentation box and save the design.

The presentation has no fly-through. It needs at least two camera shots on the Shots tab.

The clicker doesn't change slides. Click once on the slide area (not inside the 3D model) so the presentation has the keyboard, then use the clicker.

The Studio is dark, I prefer light. Click the sun button in the top bar; your browser remembers it. A manager can change the theme the Studio opens in for everyone under Studio theme in Settings › Website.

Numbers show in feet, we want meters. Change Units in Settings › Website. Designs don't change.

I changed a page but the website still shows the old text. Click Save page; the change is live at once. If you still see the old text, reload the page in the browser.

16.4 Media and messages

I can't delete a picture. It is still used somewhere. The message lists where; choose another picture there first.

My upload is refused. Pictures must be JPG, PNG or WebP up to 4000 pixels on each side; videos MP4 up to 25 MB; PDFs up to 20 MB.

Where do enquiries go? To Messages as New, and onto the dashboard. Nothing is emailed; check Messages daily.

Can I import AutoCAD drawings? Yes, as DXF. In AutoCAD use Save As and pick DXF; DWG files can't be read. Then in Design, on the Site tab, click Import from CAD (DXF). See Importing a CAD drawing. The file data/Sample_Site.dxf that comes with the website is a good one to try.

Where are project pictures stored? With the project, in the database: covers, render galleries, site photos and imported drawings. The Media library keeps its own files in the images folder. Choosing a library picture for a project stores a copy with the project when you save it.

My picture upload in Projects is refused. It is bigger than the limit in Settings › Design files (15 MB unless changed), or not a JPG, PNG or WebP picture.

Someone left the studio. Make them inactive in Users. Their projects stay; a manager hands them to another designer.