# Navigation

## What is this?

Navigation organizes TestLabIQ into five areas by workflow: **Today**,
**Plan**, **Lab**, **Quality** and **Master data**. By default it is a
sidebar on the left; under "My settings" → "Appearance" you can switch to
navigation in the header (see `einstellungen`). Both views show the same areas and entries.

The sidebar consists of a narrow icon rail with one symbol per area and a
panel next to it listing the pages of the selected area. Clicking an area
symbol shows its pages in the panel; clicking the same symbol again, or the
button at the very bottom, collapses or expands the panel. The area of the
page you are on is marked with a coloured bar in the icon rail. The browser
remembers whether the panel is collapsed.

On smartphones a tab bar at the bottom offers **Today** (dashboard),
**Scan** (open a test object via QR code), **Tasks** (your own task list)
and **More** — "More" opens all areas as a list, like the menu symbol (☰)
at the top left.

Which entries are visible depends on your role — an entry only appears if
you hold the permission it requires.

## How to use it

The five areas and their pages:

- **Today** — what is happening now: Dashboard (see `dashboard`), Control
  room (live status of all test stations, see `leitstand`), Calendar.
- **Plan** — Projects, Test overview, Milestones, Capacity forecast,
  Maintenance.
- **Lab** — Test stations, Equipment, Staff.
- **Quality** — Nonconformances, Reports, Analytics, Audit log.
- **Master data** — Templates (test cases), Test objects, Customers,
  Documents, Users.

Settings and Help live in the user menu at the top right. The command
palette (⌘K / Ctrl+K) contains every page for quick navigation plus quick
actions to create projects, test cases, test objects, test stations and
equipment.

## Common problems

- **"A menu entry is missing."** Usually the permission is missing — e.g.
  viewers (VIEWER) don't see projects without `projects:read`. An area with
  no visible pages is hidden entirely. An administrator can change roles
  under Master data → Users.
- **"Where are Maintenance / the capacity forecast?"** Under "Plan"; both
  require `stations:read`.
- **"Where do I find customers and users?"** Under "Master data".
- **"The sidebar only shows icons."** The panel is collapsed — click an area
  symbol or the button at the bottom of the icon rail.
- **"I prefer the navigation at the top."** Switch it under "My settings" →
  "Appearance" (see `einstellungen`).

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Source: https://www.testlabiq.com/en/help/navigation