Quick start

This walk-through takes about five minutes and touches every part of Margin. You do not need an account.

Open the app#

Go to /app. You land on the Home tab of the workspace. It shows a Start here card for your first note (it becomes Continue reading once you have opened a note), a strip with your study streak, notes studied this week, flashcards due and your next exam, then every subject with its courses, and the tools.

The sidebar on the left has Home and the Tools at the top, then the contents of one course:

• Choose the subject name to switch subject. The menu lists every subject with its syllabus code.
• Choose a course from the row of short labels beneath it, such as P1, P3, M1, S1 and S2 in Mathematics, or AS and A2 in the other subjects.
• Expand a unit to see its notes. A unit with a single note opens it directly.

The sidebar follows whatever note you have open, switching to its course and unfolding its unit. On a phone, it opens from the menu button instead.

Find a note#

Press ⌘ K (or Ctrl K on Windows and Linux) to open the command palette, or choose Search at the top of the sidebar. Type a topic, a formula or a phrase, for example integration by parts or projectile motion.

Results update as you type and are grouped by subject, with each note's course label beside it. A match inside a note shows the heading it came from, and opening it jumps straight there. Press Enter to open the highlighted result. The same palette also opens tools and runs commands such as Split editor right or Use dark theme.

Read and try an example#

Scroll to a worked example. Try it yourself first, then open Solution to check your working. At the end of the note, the practice questions have full worked answers in the same way.

Builds on, under the title, links to the notes to read first. At the bottom, Where this leads lists the topics that come next and related notes, followed by the previous and next note in the course.

Track your progress#

Under the title of every note, choose Mark as studied once you have worked through it, and rate your confidence: Learning, Confident or Mastered. Rating a note also marks it studied.

Your ratings feed the Progress tab, which shows how far through each course you are, your study activity over recent weeks and the topics worth revisiting. See Progress.

Graph a formula#

Select a formula in the note with your mouse. A small toolbar appears above the selection. Choose Graph to open it in the grapher in a new tab. Graphs drawn inside a note have an Open in grapher button too.

In the grapher, type another expression on a new line, for example y = sin x or x^2 + y^2 = 9. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan, and hover a curve to see roots, turning points and intersections. The Grapher syntax page lists everything it understands.

Start a cheat sheet#

Back in the note, select a formula and choose Add to sheet. The cheat sheet opens with the formula filed under the note's course and unit. Add a label, reorder items, and print the page when you are ready to revise.

Make flashcards#

Open Flashcards from the sidebar and choose New deck. Write a question in the last row of the deck and its answer beside it, then press Enter to add the card. Choose Review, reveal each answer with Space, and rate how well you knew it with 1 to 4 (Again, Hard, Good, Easy). Margin schedules each card's next review for you. See Flashcards.

Plan your revision#

Open Planner from the sidebar. For each course you are taking, choose the course and the exam date, then Add exam. Choose Generate plan, and Margin schedules that course's notes between today and the exam: topics you rated Learning come first, then ones you have not started, then Confident ones. Anything not yet Confident comes round a second time later in the plan, and Mastered notes are left out. See Planner.

Keep your work#

Everything you just made is saved in this browser. To keep it across devices, choose Sign in to sync at the bottom of the sidebar and continue with Google or an email code; your guest data moves into your account automatically. The first time, Margin asks your year and courses so it can open on what you study. See Accounts and sync.