Getting Started
Learn how to build custom tools in Layer to manage and connect your data efficiently. This guide covers essential steps for creating workflows, linking data, and generating automated reports.
Georgios Papadogeorgakis
Sep 24, 2024
Once you have a paid Layer license, you can have your own Layer project up and running in a few easy steps:
Create a Project
From your Project Dashboard, click Create a Project:
See more detailed steps on creating a project here, including how to create a project from scratch or from a template: https://layer.team/docs/create-a-project
Configure your Project
Next set up your project's Categories that you will be using. Then add the Fields to collect information. Categories organize your data into separate buckets. Fields are the properties that hold your data.
For example, in our FFE template, you can see that the different categories used are
Further details found here:
🧺 Add your Data
🔗 Connecting Data
You can connect and blend data in Layer by leveraging the “Related Element” feature to create relational links between Layer Categories.
Related Elements allow you to create Lookup fields which can then display data from a Related Element.
🪄 Creating with your Data
There are many ways you can create with your Layer Data. The most common ones are shown below:
Document View
Layer Document View allows you to create standardized document templates that render a PDF from elements stored in your Layer Categories.
You can create 2 types of Document View reports
→ Standard Document View shows 1 element per PDF page
→ Summary Document View creates tabular summaries of your categories records based on your filters.
→ Read more about Document Views
Shared Views
Tabular & Gallery views can be shared with anyone publicly by creating a “shared view”.
→ View Shared Views Feature Video 🎥
📦 Getting started from a Template
Technical Difficulty: Beginner
What you need: Some project data
Templates allow a user to stage a new Layer project without the need to preconfigure every setting from scratch. → Read template documentation
💡Workflow Guide: Your First Layer Project → Get Started
Layer subscriptions also include access to a set of curated Workflow Templates built by our team. You can find these in the Layer Template Gallery on our website, or under “Create Project from Scratch” in your Layer environment.
→ Learn how to get started from a Layer Template 🎥
📝 Getting Started from Spreadsheets
You can also start a project from an existing spreadsheet based workflow.
Technical Difficulty: Intermediate
What you need: the spreadsheets you are using today.
Review → Link to Documentation to get started.
