> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://helpdesk.smaply.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://helpdesk.smaply.app/glossary.md).
# Glossary
Quick definitions of the Smaply terms that come up most often, including every card and lane type and the main features, with the commonly confused pairs spelled out at the end.
#### Accounts, workspaces, and people
**Account** - Your organisation's home in Smaply. It holds your workspaces, the people you invite, your integrations, and your billing. One Account can contain several workspaces.
**User account** - Your personal login and profile. The same login can belong to more than one Account (for example your own company's and a client's), and you switch between them from the account dropdown at the top-left.
**Workspace** - A space inside an Account where the work lives, with its own journey maps, personas, portfolio items, metrics, and research. Use separate workspaces to keep teams, clients, or projects apart. How many you get depends on your plan.
**Persona** - A customer archetype, built from cards, that you can assign to journey map cards, plot on an emotion chart, and filter a map by.
#### Journey map building blocks
**Journey map** - Smaply's core canvas for mapping an experience over time. It is a flexible grid of lanes (rows) and columns (steps) that holds many kinds of cards: text, stages, emotions, personas, images, metrics, embeds, portfolio items, and links to other maps. Teams use journey maps for everything from customer journeys and service blueprints to onboarding flows and current-state vs future-state analysis.
**Hierarchy map** - The same kind of canvas as a journey map, used to organise a set of related journey maps into a navigable map of maps. You add existing journey maps as nodes and connect them in any direction. Use a journey map for a single experience, and a hierarchy map to see how many journeys fit together. Available on the Repository plan and above.
**Lane** - A horizontal row on a journey map. Its type sets the card you add by default (see Lane types).
**Column** - A vertical slot on a journey map, running left to right to show how the experience unfolds over time. Columns are usually grouped under stages.
**Step** - A single moment or touchpoint in the journey, shown as a column. There is no separate step card; you label steps with text or stage cards.
**Stage** - A high-level phase that groups several steps together, shown as a chevron-shaped stage card across the top of a map.
**Card** - The unit of content you place on a map, at the crossing of a lane and a column. Any card type can go in any lane (see Card types).
#### Card types
**Text card** - Narrative content such as notes, descriptions, or quotes. The default card in text lanes; click in and type, with rich formatting.
**Stage card** - A chevron-shaped header that marks a high-level phase and spans the steps it covers.
**Image card** - A picture on the map. Upload a file (JPG, PNG, GIF, or SVG) or search the built-in Unsplash and Giphy libraries.
**Icon card** - A set of icons for channels, touchpoints, or checklists, chosen from an icon template such as Channels, Checklist, or Social.
**Slider card** - A single-handle slider with a title and two end labels, for showing a position on a scale such as confidence or maturity.
**Embed card** - Live external content embedded by pasting a URL (Figma, Miro, YouTube, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Power BI, and more). Shows as interactive rich media or a simple link.
**Metric card** - Shows a metric on the map as a chart or a number.
**Planning card** - Shows a work item from a connected planning tool (Jira, Asana, Linear, and others) with its live details.
**Portfolio item card** - Shows a portfolio item (pain point, opportunity, solution, or custom type) on the map.
**Linked journey map card** - Links to another journey map, with a preview and a way to jump to it. It is also the building block of hierarchy maps.
#### Lane types
A lane's type sets the card you add by default, but any card type can still go in any lane. Two lane types are exceptions and hold no cards of their own: emotion chart and divider.
**Text lane** - The default lane, for narrative content. Defaults to text cards.
**Stage lane** - Holds the stage cards that mark your phases.
**Grid lane** - A table-like lane split into rows and columns, good for channels, matrices, or process tables. Cells take any card type.
**Emotion chart lane** - Plots an emotional journey as a line on a sentiment scale (a 5-point scale by default), one line per persona. Holds no cards.
**Divider lane** - A full-width separator with an optional label, used to break a map into sections. Holds no cards.
**Image, icon, embed, metric, planning, and linked journey lanes** - Each defaults to its matching card type.
**Portfolio lanes** - Default to a portfolio item type: pain point, opportunity, solution, or a custom type your account has added.
#### Portfolio, metrics, and planning data
**Portfolio item** - A pain point, opportunity, solution, or custom type that lives at the workspace level, independent of any map. It carries its own details (description, scores, priority, status, assignee, tags, evidence, and links to other items) and can appear on many journey maps at once.
**Metric** - A number or data series in Smaply, either typed in by hand, uploaded as a CSV, or pulled from a connected tool such as Google Analytics or Power BI. A metric exists once and can be shown on any map.
**Planning item** - A work item (a ticket, task, or issue) from a connected planning tool such as Jira, Asana, or Linear. Planning items are not stored in Smaply; they stay in the source tool, and Smaply shows their live details.
#### Features and tools
**Portfolio** - The workspace area for capturing pain points, opportunities, solutions, and custom types, and prioritising them across journeys with chart, table, and board views.
**Metrics** - Quantitative data brought onto journey maps as charts or numbers, from manual entry, a CSV, or a connected tool.
**Research Hub** - A space for turning research into insights: upload transcripts to an investigation, let AI pull out quotes and sentiment, then promote findings to portfolio items.
**Integrations** - Connections to external tools: metrics sources (such as Google Analytics and Power BI), planning tools (such as Jira and Asana), and embed sources.
**Smaply AI** - Smaply's AI features, including drafting a journey map from a short prompt and analysing research in the Research Hub. An admin can turn these on or off for the account.
**Account Library** - A shared layer that makes an item available as a single synced reference across every workspace, instead of copying it. Framework plan and above; it activates once you have a second workspace.
**Templates** - Saved journey map structures you start new maps from, including Smaply's own templates and ones your team saves.
**Tags** - Account-level labels, grouped into categories, that you can apply to maps, cards, personas, portfolio items, and metrics, then filter by.
**Custom portfolio item types** - Portfolio types your admin defines beyond the three built-ins (pain point, opportunity, solution), each with its own scores and statuses.
**Icon templates** - Reusable sets of icons your admin sets up for icon cards to draw from.
**Emotion chart** - A view of sentiment across the journey, drawn as one line per persona on an emotion chart lane.
**Version history** - Automatically saved snapshots of a journey map that you can view and restore, with a restore opening a non-destructive working copy. Governance plan.
**Archive** - Where archived journey maps, personas, and templates go instead of being deleted, so you can restore them later.
**Paste content** - Pasting tables and text from Excel, Google, Miro, or Mural, or images, straight onto a map as cards. Also called enhanced paste.
**Bulk edit** - Selecting several cards, or several maps in a list, to tag, assign, move, or delete them in one action.
**Import** - Bringing an existing map into Smaply by uploading a screenshot or image that AI rebuilds into an editable journey map.
**Notifications** - In-app alerts (the bell icon) for things like @mentions, shared maps, access grants, and comment activity.
#### Filtering and sharing
**Filter** - A way to narrow what you see on a journey map by lanes, personas, tags, or portfolio items. A filter changes the view on screen; it does not change the map.
**Saved view** - A filter you have named and saved so you, or your team, can reapply it in one click. The view stores the filter, not a separate copy of the map.
**HTML share link** - A read-only link to a journey map or persona that opens in a browser without a Smaply account. It is for viewing, not collaborating, and can be password-protected.
***
#### Commonly confused
Account vs user account
Your **user account** is you: one personal login and profile. An **Account** is an organisation's space that holds workspaces, people, integrations, and billing. One user account can belong to several Accounts, and you switch between them from the account dropdown at the top-left.
Journey map vs hierarchy map
Both are the same kind of editable map. A **journey map** captures one experience. A **hierarchy map** sits in the Hierarchies space and links many journey maps together into an overview. Rule of thumb: map a single journey on a journey map, and reach for a hierarchy map when you need to see how lots of journeys relate.
Items vs cards (portfolio, metric, planning)
In Smaply, the data and the way it is shown on a map are separate. A portfolio item, a metric, and a planning item each hold the data; the matching card (portfolio item card, metric card, planning card) is a view of that item placed on a journey map. The data or item can appear on many cards on many maps, and editing the data / item updates every card.
Filter vs saved view
A **filter** narrows what you see on a map right now. A **saved view** is a filter you have named and kept, so you can reapply the same filter later or share it with your team. The view stores the filter, not a separate copy of the map.
Share a link vs give someone access
An **HTML share link** lets people view a journey map or persona in a browser without a Smaply account. It is read-only (no editing), and you can password-protect it. **Giving access** means inviting someone to the map, workspace, or Account with a role, so they can view, comment, or edit inside Smaply. Use a link for quick read-only viewing, and invite people when they need to work in the map.
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