Open the Farm Plan app and enter your username and password on the login screen. Farm accounts are set up by the admin (Nick) and include: Nick, Katie, Adam, Emily, and the shared Waddon account.
Once signed in, your name is saved in the browser so you stay logged in. To sign out, use the Sign out button found in the Users panel (⚙️) on the Map or Diary page.
If you've forgotten your password, ask Nick to reset it from the Users panel.
On the login screen, there is a 📖 How to Use Guide link at the top — you can open the guide before signing in.
On Diary, Tasks, News, Contacts, Help/Support, and the Guide pages, tap the ☰ Pages ▾ button in the top-right corner to open a dropdown menu. This gives you quick access to every page in the app from wherever you are.
On the Farm Map, the top navigation bar has direct buttons for the most-used pages: Diary, Tasks, Contacts, News, and Help.
On mobile, the bottom navigation bar shows the most-used tools for that page. On the map, this gives quick access to Add, Layers, Diary, and Backup. On other pages, it links to Map, Diary, and Help.
Everything else on the map — Alerts, Messages, Users, Export, Field History — is tucked behind the ⋯ More button in the top-right corner of the map page.
The map opens in View Only mode by default. In this mode, markers cannot be moved, added, or deleted — so it's safe to use on a phone in the field without worrying about accidentally changing something.
To make changes, tap the 🔒 View Only button in the top-right corner of the map. It switches to ✏️ Edit Mode and an amber banner appears at the top of the map as a reminder that editing is active.
Tap the button again (or tap the amber banner) to lock it back to View Only.
Tap the 📍 button in the bottom-right corner of the map to show your current location. The map flies to your position and displays a blue pulsing dot with a circle showing the accuracy of your GPS signal.
This is especially useful when you're out in the fields and want to confirm which field you're standing in, or find a specific water point or marker relative to where you are.
In the side panel (desktop) or bottom drawer (mobile), find the Add Sheep or Add Cows section. Enter a group/herd name and count, then tap Add Sheep or Add Cows.
The marker is placed at the current map centre — pan the map to the right field first, then add the animal. A grazing guide will appear automatically showing approximate hectarage needed and rotation advice.
Tap a marker on the map to see its popup. From there you can add a Note or Delete it.
In the side panel (desktop) or bottom drawer (mobile), scroll down to find the Add Other Livestock section. Select the animal type from the dropdown:
Enter a group name and the number of animals, then tap Add Livestock. The marker is placed at the current map centre — pan to the right field first. Other livestock markers appear in purple to distinguish them from sheep (red) and cows (brown).
In the Add Crop section, enter a crop name and select a type:
Tap Add Crop to place the marker at the map centre. The crop count in the summary tiles updates automatically.
Use the Add Water section to mark water infrastructure. Select the type:
Enter a name (optional) and tap Add Water. Useful for tracking the water system across the farm.
Use the Add Application section to log spraying or fertilising activity. Enter a product name and tap Add Application.
The application count appears in the summary tiles. Tap the marker popup to add notes or delete the record.
Tap any green field polygon on the map to open its Field History sheet. At the top of the sheet, tap the field name to rename it. Type a new name and confirm. Field names are saved to the cloud and visible to all users immediately.
Open 🗂️ Permanent Layers from the menu. Select a layer type and optionally give it a name, then tap Draw to start drawing on the map.
Available layer types:
For polygons: click to add points, double-click to finish. For lines: click to add points, double-click to finish. Layers are saved permanently to the cloud.
Open 📋 Land Use & Scheme Report from the menu. This lists all mapped field parcels with their areas and any CS/SFI scheme assignments drawn as permanent layers.
Useful for cross-checking scheme boundaries and verifying field coverage at a glance.
Tap any field polygon on the map and choose 📜 Field History (or tap the history button in the popup). This opens a log specific to that field.
Add records using the buttons at the top:
Each record includes a date, notes, and optional photos. Records are stored permanently per field in the cloud.
Use 💾 Save to capture the current map state — all markers, counts, and positions — as a dated snapshot. You can save multiple snapshots over time.
To load a previous snapshot, open the saves list and tap L next to any save. To delete it, tap the delete button. To export as a PDF, tap the PDF button.
Any marker on the map — water points, stop cocks, pipe nodes, livestock markers, crops — can have a photo attached to it. This is particularly useful for recording the exact location of underground stopcocks, documenting the condition of troughs, or flagging problem areas.
To add a photo, tap a marker to open its popup, then tap 📷 Photo. (Edit Mode must be on.) Select a photo from your camera roll or take one directly with the camera.
The photo is resized automatically and stored securely alongside the marker. A thumbnail appears in the popup — tap it to view full size.
To swap a photo, tap 📷 Replace in the marker popup and choose a new image.
Open the ⋯ More menu from the top-right of the map page to find the export options:
CSV files open directly in Excel or Numbers. PDF files can be printed or shared.
Open 🔔 Farm Alerts from the map menu. Type a reminder message (e.g. "Move sheep from Long Meadow") and set a due date — the time is optional.
Choose a priority:
Past-due alerts appear highlighted in red. Tap the ✓ button to dismiss an alert once done.
When composing or editing a diary entry, tick ⏰ Set an Alert for this entry. This reveals date and time fields — set when you want to be reminded about this entry.
As with map alerts, you can choose Normal or High Priority. High priority sends a push notification and email.
Tap the ✏️ compose button (bottom-right on mobile, or the compose area on desktop). Fill in:
Tap Post Entry to save. The entry appears at the top of the feed immediately.
Tap the 📌 pin button on any entry to pin it. Pinned entries always appear at the top of the diary feed, regardless of when they were written — useful for ongoing notes or instructions you want everyone to see.
Tap again to unpin.
Each diary entry has two action buttons:
Use the 🔍 Search box at the top of the diary to search by keyword across entry titles, body text, and author names — results update as you type.
Use the tag filter dropdown next to the search box to show only entries with a specific tag (e.g. show only Vet entries).
Both can be used together — e.g. search "John" within the Livestock tag.
When composing or editing, tap 📷 Add photo to select photos from your device. Up to 3 photos per entry. Photos are uploaded securely to Firebase Storage and displayed inline in the feed.
Tap any photo thumbnail to open it full size in a lightbox. Press Escape or tap outside to close.
To remove a photo while editing, tap the × on the thumbnail.
Tap ⬇ Export JSON backup at the top of the diary feed. This downloads a dated JSON file (e.g. waddon-diary-2026-04-30.json) containing all entries — useful for archiving or external analysis.
Open the 📋 Tasks page from the navigation. Tap ➕ Add Task to create a new to-do item. Fill in:
Tasks appear in a prioritised list. Past-due tasks are highlighted. Tap the ✓ button to mark a task complete — it moves to the completed list. Tap 🗑 to delete a task.
Use the filter tabs at the top of the Tasks page to switch between Pending, Completed, and All views. Within each view, use the priority and assignee filters to narrow down the list.
Tasks are sorted by priority and due date automatically — urgent, overdue items appear at the top.
Open the 📞 Contacts page from any page's ☰ Pages ▾ dropdown, or from the 📞 Contacts button on the map topbar.
Contacts are grouped into categories:
Use the filter tabs to view contacts by category. Tap a phone number or email address to call or message directly from your device.
Admin users (Nick and Katie) can add and delete contacts. Tap ➕ Add New Contact at the top of the Contacts page, fill in the details, and tap 💾 Save Contact.
Open the 📰 News page from any page's ☰ Pages ▾ dropdown. This page shows a curated feed of farming news and seasonal tips relevant to livestock and arable farming in the UK.
Stories are automatically fetched and refreshed. Tap any article to read a summary and open the full article in your browser.
Open 💬 Messages from the map or diary nav. Select a recipient from the farm user list, type your message, and tap 📤 Send.
The 📥 Inbox tab shows messages received. The 📤 Sent tab shows messages you've sent. Unread message counts appear as a badge on the Messages button.
Tap 🗑 Delete to remove a message from your view.
The ⚙️ Users button is visible to admin users (Nick and Katie) in the map and diary navbars. It opens the user management panel.
From here you can:
From the Users panel (admin only), use the backup section to:
Go to the ❓ Help page from the navigation. Fill in:
Tap Submit Ticket to send. Your ticket will appear in the list below the form with a status of Open.
When Nick replies, the ticket status changes to Replied and you'll see the response when you open the ticket. Once resolved, it'll be marked Closed.
The support admin page (admin_support.html) is password-protected and intended for Nick to manage incoming tickets. From there you can:
An unread badge shows the count of tickets Nick hasn't opened yet.