# How Restoration Scope works Last updated: 2026-10-27 > The parts every Restoration Scope app shares, and the guide for each job: records, linked records, the map, phones, roles, and what changes between apps. Restoration Scope keeps a project's records and its map in one place. This page explains the parts every app shares, so the other guides make sense, and points you to the guide for each job. ## Find the guide for your job - [Sign in](https://restorationscope.com/docs/sign-in) - [Find a record](https://restorationscope.com/docs/search) - [Add or change a record](https://restorationscope.com/docs/add-and-edit-records) - [Fill in a form](https://restorationscope.com/docs/fill-in-a-form) - [Filter a list and save it as a view](https://restorationscope.com/docs/list-views) - [Draw a boundary](https://restorationscope.com/docs/draw-shapes) - [Work without signal](https://restorationscope.com/docs/offline-field-app) - [Make sure your changes synced](https://restorationscope.com/docs/sync-center) - [Download your data](https://restorationscope.com/docs/download-your-data) - [Share with a funder](https://restorationscope.com/docs/share-with-funder) - [Give someone access](https://restorationscope.com/docs/add-users) - [Fix something that isn't working](https://restorationscope.com/docs/troubleshooting) ## Your app Each organization gets its own app, at its own address. If your account can open more than one, click your app's logo, then **See all Projects** to switch. ![The logo menu: See all Projects, Settings, Usage Manual, Invite QR, Language, Install App, Force refresh, then your name, email and role above Sign out](https://restorationscope.com/docs/figures/en/logo-menu.png) ## Record types and records An app keeps its information in lists, one for each record type, for example **Trees** and **Sites**. Each item in a list is a record: one tree, one site. A list can show as a table or in other layouts, such as cards. You can search, filter and sort it, and save the result as a view. See [List layouts](https://restorationscope.com/docs/list-layouts). ## Record pages Click a record to open its page. It shows the record's fields, for example its **Status**, and its place on the map when it has one. Many record pages split their content into tabs, for example an overview and the records that belong to it. See [Open a record](https://restorationscope.com/docs/open-a-record). ## Linked records Records can be linked to each other. Some live inside another record: for example, each tree belongs to one site, and the site's page lists its trees. A record lives inside at most one other record. Other links connect two records without one holding the other. ## The map and the data panel Most pages show the map next to a data panel. The panel holds the list or the record you opened. The map shows records that have a place, such as a point or a boundary, in layers you can turn on and off. - On a computer, the panel usually sits beside the map. - On a phone, the panel usually slides up over the map. - Some pages show only the map, or only the panel. When a table and its connected record layer are on the same page, they share the table's filter. On a computer, apps with comments enabled let you leave [comments on the map](https://restorationscope.com/docs/comments). See [Use the map](https://restorationscope.com/docs/use-the-map), [Map layers](https://restorationscope.com/docs/map-layers) and [Map legend](https://restorationscope.com/docs/map-legend). ## Computer and phone Your account and your app are the same on a computer and on a phone. On a phone you can use the browser or the **RS Field** app: see [Install the app on your phone](https://restorationscope.com/docs/install-app). Some work is easier or only possible on a computer, for example adding sources to the map's layers. Working with no connection is the other way round: it works only on a phone, in apps where it's turned on. ## Roles Each person has a role in each app. To see yours, click your app's logo: your role shows under your email. - **Viewer**: sees the app's information and can comment. - **Editor**: also adds, edits and deletes records. - **Admin**: also adds people, sets their roles and manages the app's settings. An app can narrow this for some pages or record types. Admins give people their role: see [Add users and set their roles](https://restorationscope.com/docs/add-users). ## What changes from app to app Each app is set up for its organization. What you see depends on: - its record types and their fields; - its pages, and what each page shows; - its map layers and basemaps; - which features are on, for example working offline, installing on the home screen, importing, comments, and the languages you can choose. Not every app has everything in these guides: if you don't see something a guide describes, ask us. To change the app's language or sign out, see [Change the language, sign out or delete your account](https://restorationscope.com/docs/language-and-account).