How to set up Tideswell for the first time

Setting up a workspace happens once, in a full-screen setup flow that opens as soon as you create the workspace. You answer six questions, Tideswell proposes a workspace, and you build it. See Getting started with Tideswell for whether this is the page you need.

Before you start

You need a signup code. Tideswell is invitation-only during private beta, and a workspace cannot be created without one. Get in touch and we will give you one.

You also need to be signed in. The Create your workspace screen appears once you have an account and no workspace yet.

How do you create the workspace?

On Create your workspace, fill in Company name, Company website if you want to, and Signup code. If you signed in with an email code, it also asks for Your name.

Tick that you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy, which open in a new tab if you want to read them first. Choose whether you want product updates by email, then press Create workspace.

Whoever creates the workspace becomes its owner. The owner is an admin automatically and always stays one. You can change the company name later in Settings › Org.

What are the six setup questions?

Setup opens straight away under Let's build and your company name. Only the owner sees it: people who join by invitation never do. On a wide screen, a live preview of your workspace fills in on the right as you answer.

1. How would you describe your company? Pick your industry from Select an industry.
2. Which platform do you sell on? Shopify, Another platform, or Not selling online yet.
3. How do you get product? Multi-brand retailer, DTC brand (finished goods), or DTC manufacturer. Tick We also sell to other businesses if you sell wholesale.
4. Where does your stock sit? Our own warehouse or shop, A third party ships for us, or Our suppliers ship direct.
5. How do you plan buying? In seasons, or Continuously, as stock runs low.
6. Where do you sell? Online only, Online and a physical shop, or Online and to other shops.

On the last three questions, most cards say what that answer adds, such as "Adds a receiving stage". Continue stays unavailable until the current question is answered, and Back returns to the one before.

Picking Shopify does not connect your store. Connect it once you are in, as How to connect your Shopify store shows.

What does "How do you get product?" decide?

It sets your operating model: how you get product, and whether you also sell wholesale. Together they decide which parts of Tideswell are switched on to begin with.

Once you pick a card, a line shows the count. Fairgreen Golf Co. designs its own clothing and has a factory make it, so it picks DTC brand, finished goods.

Its line reads "You'll start with 17 of 26 modules switched on. The rest are one click away in Settings."

Read that count as a starting point. Every module stays one switch away in How to switch parts of Tideswell on and off.

What is on the proposal screen?

After the sixth answer, Here is your workspace. shows what Tideswell would build. Nothing has been created yet, so change anything you like.

• Objects: the kinds of record Tideswell suggests your team keeps, such as a buying season or a location. Rename one, singular and plural, or strike it out with the cross. See What is an Object?.
• Stages: the steps each one moves through. These come exactly as shown.
• Wording: Tideswell's own words, renamed to yours. The cross on a row puts back Tideswell's default name.

Can a spreadsheet shape the proposal?

Yes. Drop a .csv or .xlsx file on Drop a .csv or .xlsx here, or press Choose a file, and the proposal redraws from your sheet's headings.

A row that came from your file says which sheet it came from, with a confidence tag and a Why? link. When Tideswell does not recognise a sheet, it asks whether your team keeps it up to date or whether it is a report out of another system.

Answer We keep it up to date to name it (for example, Buy sheets) and press Add, which puts it in the proposal as a new Object. It's a report or Dismiss leaves it out.

How do you build it?

Press Build my workspace. Tideswell shows Setting up your workspace., then Your workspace is ready. with a tick for each thing it created.

Press Open my workspace to go in. You land on Work › Inbox.

Setup builds the shape of the workspace, not your data. Bring your rows in from any Object's list when you are ready, as How to import records from a spreadsheet explains.

Can you change your mind afterwards?

Yes. Each part of setup has a home in Settings:

• Settings › Modules holds the modules, and the Operating model with Also sells wholesale.
• Settings › Objects holds the Objects setup created.
• Settings › Terminology holds the renamed words. See How to use your own words for Tideswell's records.
• Settings › Stages holds the stages for purchase orders. The stages of an Object live on its Statuses tab, covered in How to set up the stages a record moves through.

We recommend answering for the business you run today. A workspace that shows only the areas you use is easier to learn, and every module stays one switch away.

How do you run setup again?

Open Settings › Org and press Open setup on the Set up this workspace again card. It needs the Rename organization permission.

Setup opens on the proposal screen with your earlier answers kept, and returns you to Settings when you finish. It only ever adds: your saved views, your workflows and anything you have renamed are left alone.

If the workspace was already built from setup, its rows are locked and Undo stands in for Build my workspace. Undo first if you want to change what setup built, and read the list of anything it could not touch.

What next?

Connect your store, per How to connect your Shopify store. Most of the selling and buying screens fill in once it is connected.

After that, set up your departments and invite people, which is How to invite your team and set up departments.