Plant Views - Browse Your Collection

🎯 What You'll Learn

• View modes - Grid, List, and Compact layouts
• Search functionality - Find plants quickly by name, species, location
• Filter options - Narrow down by health, location, care needs
• Sort controls - Organize by date, watering schedule, health status
• Card information - Understand what each plant card shows

⚡ Quick Start

Switch views and find plants in 2 minutes:

1. Change view - Click view selector (top-right): Grid 🔲, List 📋, or Compact ⚏
2. Search plants - Type in search bar: plant name, species, or location
3. Filter results - Click filter icon → Select "Needs Watering"
4. Sort list - Click sort dropdown → Choose "Next Watering (Soonest)"

Result: You can now browse, search, and organize your collection efficiently!

📚 Complete Guide

View Modes

Choose how to display your plant collection based on your needs and screen size.

Grid View (Default) 🔲

Best for: Visual browsing, photo-first users, medium collections

Layout:

• Cards arranged in responsive grid (2-4 columns depending on screen width)
• Large plant photo dominates the card
• Key information below photo
• Hover for quick actions (desktop)

What's Shown:

• Plant photo (or placeholder with health color)
• Plant name + nickname
• Species name
• Location
• Health status badge
• Growth sparkline (if data available)
• Reminder count badge
• Watering status indicator

Advantages:

• ✅ Easy to recognize plants visually
• ✅ Beautiful, engaging interface
• ✅ Quick health assessment (color coding)
• ✅ Shows growth trends at a glance

Considerations:

• ⚠️ Shows fewer plants per screen
• ⚠️ Requires scrolling for large collections
• ⚠️ Less detail per card

Best Practice: Use Grid view when you have good plant photos and want a visually pleasing overview.

List View 📋

Best for: Quick scanning, detailed information, large collections

Layout:

• Plants displayed in rows (table-like)
• Smaller thumbnail photo on left
• Information spread across row
• More details visible per plant

What's Shown:

• Thumbnail photo
• Plant name + nickname + species
• Location + pot size
• Last watered date + next watering
• Health status badge
• Reminder count
• Diary entry count
• Photo count
• Action buttons always visible

Advantages:

• ✅ More plants visible per screen
• ✅ Shows additional details
• ✅ Easy to compare plants side-by-side
• ✅ Action buttons always accessible

Considerations:

• ⚠️ Less visually striking
• ⚠️ Can feel information-dense
• ⚠️ Photos are smaller

Best Practice: Use List view when managing care tasks, comparing multiple plants, or working with 20+ plants.

Compact View ⚏

Best for: Very large collections (50+ plants), quick overview, mobile

Layout:

• Minimal card size
• Essential info only
• Fits 3-6 cards per row
• Optimized for scanning

What's Shown:

• Small plant photo/icon
• Plant name only (truncated if long)
• Health status color
• Watering status (overdue indicator)
• Reminder count (if any)

Advantages:

• ✅ Maximum plants per screen
• ✅ Fastest scanning
• ✅ Minimal scrolling
• ✅ Great for mobile

Considerations:

• ⚠️ Limited information
• ⚠️ Must click for details
• ⚠️ No quick actions visible

Best Practice: Use Compact view when you have 50+ plants and need to quickly identify which ones need attention.

Plant Card Information

Understanding what each card displays helps you assess plant health at a glance.

Header Section

Plant Photo:

• Your plant's primary image
• Fallback: Placeholder with health status color
  • 🟢 Green = Healthy
  • 🟡 Yellow = Needs Care
  • 🔴 Red = Sick
• Click photo → Opens full gallery

Plant Name:

• The custom name you've given (e.g., "Monty")
• Below: Nickname in quotes (e.g., "The Big One")
• Font size adjusts for long names

Content Section

Species (🌿):

• Scientific or common name (e.g., "Monstera Deliciosa")
• Links to species info if available
• Helps identify similar plants

Location (📍):

• Where the plant lives (e.g., "Living Room", "Balcony")
• Icon changes based on location type (indoor/outdoor)
• Click to filter all plants in same location

Health Status Badge:

• Visual indicator with color coding
• Healthy 🟢 - All good, no action needed
• Needs Care 🟡 - Attention required soon
• Fair 🟠 - Monitor closely
• Sick 🔴 - Immediate care needed

Footer Section

Growth Sparkline (📈):

• Mini line chart showing growth trend over time
• Appears if you have 2+ growth measurements
• Quick visual: ↗️ Growing, → Stable, ↘️ Investigate
• Click to open full growth chart

Reminder Badge (🔔):

• Shows count of active reminders (e.g., "3")
• Red dot if any overdue
• Click to view plant's reminder list

Watering Status (💧):

• Next scheduled watering date
• Color coding:
  • 🔴 Overdue (past due date)
  • 🟡 Today (water today)
  • 🟢 Soon (1-3 days)
  • ⚪ Later (4+ days)
• Shows days until watering (e.g., "3d")

Actions Menu (⋯)

Click three dots for additional options:

• View Details - Open full plant page
• Edit Plant - Modify information
• Water Now - Quick action
• Fertilize - Quick action
• Add Diary Entry - Quick note
• Take Photo - Add to gallery
• Delete Plant - Remove from collection

Search and Filter

Find specific plants quickly in large collections.

Search Plants 🔍

Search Bar Location: Top of dashboard, always visible

Search by:

• Plant Name - "Monty", "Big Leaf", "Living Room Monstera"
• Nickname - Search by your custom nicknames
• Species Name - "Monstera", "Pothos", "Ficus"
• Common Name - "Swiss Cheese Plant", "Devil's Ivy"
• Location - "Living Room", "Kitchen", "Balcony"

Search Tips:

• 💡 Partial matches work (type "mon" finds "Monstera", "Lemon", "Harmony")
• 💡 Case insensitive ("monstera" = "MONSTERA" = "Monstera")
• 💡 Searches across all visible fields
• 💡 Results update as you type (instant search)

Examples:

• Type "monstera" → All Monstera plants
• Type "living room" → All plants in living room
• Type "sick" → All plants with health issues
• Type "pothos" → All Pothos varieties

Keyboard Shortcut: Press Ctrl+K (Windows) or Cmd+K (Mac) to focus search bar.

Filter Options 🎯

Filter Button: Click filter icon (funnel) next to search bar

Filter Categories:

By Health Status:

• 🟢 Healthy
• 🟡 Needs Care
• 🟠 Fair
• 🔴 Sick
• Select multiple for OR logic

By Location:

• Shows all your locations
• Check one or more
• Example: "Living Room" + "Kitchen" = plants in either room

By Care Needs:

• Needs Watering - Overdue or due today
• Has Pending Reminders - Uncompleted tasks
• Recently Added - Added in last 7 days
• No Photos - Missing images
• Low Growth - No growth records

By Species (if 5+ species):

• Group plants by species type
• Useful for species-specific care
• Example: Water all Pothos together

By Tags (if you use tagging):

• Filter by custom tags
• Examples: "Beginner-friendly", "Pet-safe", "Propagations"

Active Filters: Shown as chips below search bar. Click ❌ to remove.

Clear All: Button to reset all filters at once.

Sorting Options 📊

Sort Dropdown: Top-right corner, next to view selector

Sort by:

Name (A-Z or Z-A):

• Alphabetical order
• Good for finding specific plant quickly
• Example: "Alocasia" before "Zebra Plant"

Date Added (Newest or Oldest first):

• Recently added plants first (celebrate new additions!)
• Oldest first (honor your plant veterans)
• Shows acquisition date

Next Watering (Soonest or Latest):

• Soonest First ⭐ Most useful for daily care!
• Overdue plants at top
• Plan your watering schedule
• Example: "Overdue", "Today", "Tomorrow", "In 3 days"

Last Watered (Most Recent or Oldest):

• Which plants you watered recently
• Find plants you might have forgotten
• Example: Oldest might reveal neglected plants

Health Status (Needs Attention First):

• Sick plants at top
• Prioritize care by urgency
• Good for triage

Last Updated (Most Recent):

• Recently modified plants
• Track what you've been working on
• Includes diary entries, measurements, photo uploads

Custom Order (if enabled):

• Drag and drop to set your own order
• Persists until you change it
• Good for personalized workflows

💡 Tips & Tricks

View Selection Strategy

Use Grid When:

• ✅ You have 1-20 plants
• ✅ Visual identification is priority
• ✅ You enjoy seeing photos
• ✅ You're browsing, not task-focused

Use List When:

• ✅ You have 20-100 plants
• ✅ You're doing care tasks
• ✅ You need to compare details
• ✅ You prefer information density

Use Compact When:

• ✅ You have 100+ plants
• ✅ You need quick overview
• ✅ You're on mobile
• ✅ You know your plants well (don't need photos)

Search Power Tips

• Combine Search + Filter: Type "monstera" → Filter "Needs Watering" = All Monsteras needing water
• Location Search: Search your location names for room-based care
• Health Search: Type "sick" or "healthy" to filter by status
• Multi-Word Search: "living room pothos" finds Pothos in living room

Filter Workflows

Daily Morning Routine:

1. Filter: "Needs Watering"
2. Sort: "Next Watering (Soonest)"
3. Work down the list → Mark as watered
4. Clear filter when done

Weekly Location Care:

1. Filter: Location = "Living Room"
2. Visual inspection of each plant
3. Use quick actions as needed
4. Repeat for each room

Monthly Health Check:

1. Filter: "Needs Care" + "Sick"
2. Sort: "Health Status (Needs Attention First)"
3. Investigate each plant
4. Update health status after treatment

Sort Combinations

For Daily Care:

• Sort: "Next Watering (Soonest)"
• Filter: None (see all)
• Result: Top priority care list

For New Plant Parent:

• Sort: "Date Added (Newest)"
• Filter: "Recently Added"
• Result: Focus on learning new plants

For Troubleshooting:

• Sort: "Health Status (Needs Attention)"
• Filter: "Needs Care" + "Sick"
• Result: Emergency triage list

❓ Common Questions

Q: Can I save my favorite view/filter combination?

A: Not yet, but it's coming! For now, your last-used view mode is remembered. We're planning "Saved Views" feature where you can save presets like "Morning Routine" (Needs Watering + Soonest First).

Q: Why don't I see growth sparklines on any cards?

A: Sparklines require at least 2 growth measurements over time. Once you record growth data (height, width, or leaf count) on 2+ occasions, the sparkline appears automatically.

Quick Fix: Go to a plant → Growth tab → Record current measurements → Record again in 1 week → Sparkline appears!

Q: Can I change what information shows on cards?

A: Card information is currently fixed per view mode. We're considering customization in a future update. You can vote for this feature: Settings > Feedback > "Customizable Card Layout".

Q: How do I see all plants after filtering?

A: Click "Clear All Filters" button (appears when filters active) or click the ❌ on each filter chip. Alternatively, click "Total Plants" statistic card to reset view.

Q: Does my view preference sync across devices?

A: Yes! Your view mode (Grid/List/Compact) syncs across all devices where you're logged in. Changes appear instantly when you switch devices.

🔗 Related Topics

Essential Reading

• Dashboard Overview - Understand the overall dashboard layout
• Quick Actions - Use actions available on plant cards

Next Steps

• Plant Details - Overview Tab - What you see when you click a plant card
• Organizing Plants - Use locations, tags, and collections effectively

Complementary Features

• Bulk Operations - Select multiple plants in any view mode
• Growth Tracking - Charts - Understand growth sparklines in detail

Last Updated: October 24, 2025
Document Version: 2.0 (Modular Structure)