How the App Talks to You
A cheat sheet for the symbols, toasts, badges, dialogs and undo behaviours that repeat across Wattle Clinic.
Learn these few patterns once and the whole app makes sense, because the same behaviours repeat everywhere. Keep this handy for your first week - you don't need to memorise it.
Symbols that mean the same thing everywhere
| You see | It means |
|---|---|
| ⋯ three dots | More actions - a small menu of extras for that row or card |
| ▸ arrow on a menu line | That line opens a second, smaller menu beside it. Rest on it (or click) and the choices appear - Change status ▸ is the one you'll meet most |
| ✏️ pencil | Edit this |
| ＋ plus | Add or create new |
| 🔔 bell (top-right) | Notifications. A red dot means unread |
| ? in a circle | A help tip. Hover to read it. It never does anything except explain |
| ⌕ Search & Command | Find anything. Or press ⌘K / Ctrl+K |
| ▢ panel icon (top-left) | Show or hide the sidebar |
| avatar (top-right) | Your account menu, light/dark mode, and Log out |
Not sure what an icon does? Rest your mouse on it for a second and a tooltip tells you. Easiest way to learn them.
Grey button vs missing button
A grey button isn't broken - it's telling you a step is still missing. Fill in what's needed and it wakes up by itself. Save stays grey until required boxes are filled; Finalise until an invoice has a line on it; Record payment until there's something owing.
Don't click harder - look for the empty field nearby.
A button that's missing entirely is different. That usually means your account doesn't have permission for the action. So does being quietly redirected to the Dashboard when you open a page you're not allowed. Neither is your mistake.
Toasts
A small message slides into the bottom-right when you save, send or change something, then fades.
- Green tick - saved. Nothing to do.
- Red mark - something went wrong. Read it; it usually says what to try.
If you missed what it said, your work is still saved - a success toast only appears after the save succeeds.
Almost nothing is permanent
Three flavours of undo, easiest first:
- The 5-second undo. Some actions show a toast with an Undo button. Click it straight away. Missed it? You can usually still reverse it the slower way.
- Reverse it later. Void marks an invoice or payment cancelled but keeps it in the records. Unfinalise turns a locked invoice or estimate back into an editable draft, keeping its number - as long as no payment is attached (unallocate the payment first, or raise a credit note). Delete draft removes a not-yet-finalised invoice outright, because nothing official has happened - and it takes the charges on it with it, which is why it asks first and says how many.
- Truly permanent - rare, and the app always stops and asks first, usually with red text.
Rule of thumb: if a button is red or makes you confirm, read before clicking. Everything else is forgiving.
Dialogs vs sheets
Both cover the screen on purpose, and both close with Esc, the ✕, or a click outside.
- A dialog pops up in the middle. Short jobs - "Are you sure?", a quick form.
- A sheet slides in from the side. Longer forms with several pages, like booking an appointment where you might add a new patient and client along the way.
Your work behind them is still there when you close.
Badge colours
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Good, done, positive - paid, active, success |
| Yellow / amber | Live work that still wants you - a draft, a part-paid invoice, an invoice you haven't sent yet |
| Red | Warning, error, or overdue |
| Grey | Finished with - void, merged, archived, inactive, expired |
You don't need to memorise these. The badge has words on it too.
The one worth knowing: grey means "put away", not "not started yet". A Draft invoice is amber. Since every visit's charges now land on a draft invoice of their own, drafts are the most common thing you'll see, and they're live work rather than something finished with.
When a list is empty
Not broken. Wattle shows a friendly empty state - a short message and often a button - instead of a blank screen. Read the message; it usually tells you exactly how to add the first item.
Things that surprise people
- On phones and tablets the sidebar slides in over the page. Tap the menu icon top-left to open, tap outside to tuck away.
- Breadcrumbs hide on small screens. Use the back arrow and the big page title.
- The bell is for reading notifications, not configuring them. To change which ones you get, go through your avatar → Account.
- An "auth-config" message on the login screen is a setup issue on the clinic's side, not your account. Contact whoever set up your clinic rather than making a new account.
Related
Navigating the app · Buttons & symbols · Glossary · Troubleshooting