Inside the workspace

Make room
for the work.

A first draft. A few references. A decision worth keeping. See how those pieces become a project you can come back to.

Follow Atlas, a sample product project, through the real Virlow interface. All screenshots use sample content.

01 / Write & collect

Start with a note.
Not a system.

For Atlas, that note is a spec: what a feature should do, the reasoning behind it and the questions still open. Use headings and lists to give the writing shape. Keep related notes open in tabs as the idea develops.

Keep the supporting files close.

Store documents and images as file items alongside your notes. Upload or download them in the workspace, and use the Files view when you need the reference rather than the write-up.

Atlas project with folders, a note list and the Folder schemas and property types spec open in Virlow.
The Atlas sample project: folders on the left, related notes in the middle, room to write on the right. Properties shown are a preview, disabled by default.

02 / Properties preview

Give the note
a next step.

Properties are a preview, disabled by default.

With properties enabled, record an owner, a stage and a due date above the writing. Here, the Atlas spec is In review, with an effort estimate and a link to its reference.

Property definitions live on the folder; values live on each note. That gives related specs the same fields without rewriting the setup each time.

Text, dates, numbers, links, checkboxes and tags: use the fields that fit the work, and leave the rest out.

Atlas spec properties showing Owner, Stage set to In review, Due, Effort, Spec link, Shipped checkbox and Tags.
Properties shown are a preview, disabled by default. The writing stays a note.

03 / Connect ideas

Keep the reasoning
within reach.

A spec rarely stands alone. Link it to the onboarding walkthrough or the note about offline sync instead of copying their contents into another document.

Outgoing links lead to those references. Backlinks show the notes that point here, so you can return to the weekly review that mentioned the spec and recover the discussion around it.

Folders give notes a home. Links let an idea belong in more than one conversation.

Atlas spec context showing three incoming note links, including Weekly review, and two outgoing links to Offline sync and Onboarding walkthrough.
Incoming and outgoing links, shown by the app's own context panel.

04 / Find your way back

Pick up where
you left off.

Come back to Atlas through its Research and Specs folders. Star a note you revisit often, or use tags to give it another way to be found.

Search matches note titles, contents and tags within the selected folder or view. Open All when you want to look beyond the current folder. Archive finished notes to move them out of the active view without throwing them away.

The goal is not a perfect filing system. It is finding the right context when the work starts again.

Detail of Virlow's Search notes field, All, Starred, Archived and Files views, plus the Atlas project folders and note list.
A closer look at navigation in the same Atlas workspace. Cropped from the full screenshot above.

Your project comes next

Bring a thought.
Give it somewhere to go.