This documentation was written by an AI. While I'm slowly replacing all the information with a more solid and 'human' version, please feel free to reach out for any questions, feedback or bugs to dev@secondmarch.xyz

Docs

How Plaza works

The manual — every part of the app, what it's for, and the ideas underneath. The sidebar is the map.

Plaza points at a folder you already have and turns it into a visual database, a planning board and a moodboard — without importing, moving or copying anything. Close Plaza and your folder is exactly as it was, plus one hidden .plaza/ folder holding everything the app knows.

Three ideas carry the whole app

Your files are the database. A row exists because a file exists. Tags, statuses, ratings and dates are attached to files by stable identity — not by path — so metadata survives renames and moves. And the naming convention you already use (Robot_Binding_ANIM_RB_v014.c4d) is parsed into live columns: Smart attributes.

Everything lives in the folder. There is no account, no server and no sync service. Every piece of shared metadata is a small file inside .plaza/, written so that ordinary cloud sync — the Dropbox or Drive you already pay for — carries it between machines and teammates without conflicts. Projects & sync explains the shape.

Nothing happens to your files behind your back. Plaza never writes into your files, never reorganizes your folders, and never downloads an online-only cloud file just because you scrolled past it (Cloud files). File operations — move, rename, trash — happen when you do them, and deletes go to the Recycle Bin on Windows or a recoverable trash on macOS.

The three modes

One project, three readings of it, switched from the top bar (Ctrl/⌘ 1 2 3):

• Files — the visual database: every file a row (or a tile), attributes as columns, real thumbnails for the formats other apps give up on.
• Planning — tasks glued to real files: a dashboard, a Kanban, week and month calendars, and a to-do list that is literally a markdown file.
• Board — the infinite moodboard: references, notes, links and project files on one canvas, with drawing tools.

Where to start

• Open Plaza, click New project, and point it at a real job's folder — Plaza works over what's already there, so a messy real folder demos better than a tidy empty one.
• Give the grid a minute of scrolling; then open Smart attributes and teach Plaza your naming pattern.
• Press Ctrl/⌘ K and type a shot name.