Main Menu¶

The main menu is the row of controls at the top of the app. It stays available while you browse the list or calendar, and some buttons change depending on the current view.

The annotated main menu below highlights the buttons used throughout this manual.

Annotated Lifebook main menu with callouts for timeline, calendar, add entry menu, sort, filters, settings, and search — Use this callout image as a quick map while reading the main menu sections.

Timeline Button¶

The timeline button switches to the timeline list view. It is highlighted while the timeline is already open.

Use it when you want to search, filter, sort entries, or browse by year.

Calendar Button¶

The calendar button switches to the calendar view. Opening the calendar closes the filter column because calendar browsing uses its own date controls.

Add Entry Button¶

The Add entry button opens the add entry overlay directly.

It is disabled when:

The add overlay is already open.
Lifebook is in trial mode and the entry limit has been reached.

Shortcut: Ctrl+N.

The arrow beside Add entry opens a split menu for choosing a specific creation or import action:

Write text entry
Add photo or video
Add audio
Create photo album
Import Files
Import Folder
Import Image Collections
Import Calendar

Sort Button¶

The sort button changes the order of entries in the timeline list.

Each click toggles the date order:

Newest first
Oldest first

The highlighted arrow shows the current order: up for ascending and down for descending.

The button is available only in list view and only when entries exist.

Filter Button¶

The filter button opens or closes the filter column. The button changes visually when a tag, type, year, or month filter is active.

Shortcut: Ctrl+T.

Media Playback Buttons¶

When audio or video is playing, compact playback controls can appear in the main menu:

Mute or unmute.
Play or pause the current media entry.

These controls follow the active media item, whether it started from the list or the overlay. They disappear when playback stops or the overlay is closed.

The search box is available in list view. It searches the visible entries and shows a result count.

It can search across all entry types or be limited by the category dropdown in the search box. Search highlights matching text in titles and text entries.

In calendar view, the search box is replaced by a Search timeline button that switches back to the timeline before searching.

Shortcut: Ctrl+F.

See Search and Filters.

Settings Button¶

The settings button opens Settings, where you can search settings, review app statistics, manage data, import calendars, adjust appearance, open help, and purchase the full app.

The arrow beside Add entry opens the combined creation and import menu.

Add entry and import menu open from the main menu — The menu combines the common creation actions with file, folder, photo album, and calendar import.

Import choices in this menu:

Import Files: import selected text documents, images, videos, or audio files.
Import Folder: scan one or more folders for supported files.
Import Image Collections: import folders as photo albums.
Import Calendar: import calendar files as text entries.

See Import and Export.

Status Bar¶

The status bar appears at the bottom when Lifebook is doing work such as importing, copying, deleting a large album, or exporting. It can show:

Current message
Progress bar
Cancel button for cancellable imports
Windows taskbar progress
Imported/skipped summary after imports

When a cancellable import is running, select Cancel to stop it.

Drag and Drop¶

You can drag files or folders onto the main Lifebook window when no overlay, settings dialog, welcome dialog, or import is blocking the window.

Dropped files are imported if they are supported entry files.
Dropped folders are scanned for supported files.
Unsupported files are ignored.