# Start Here

What Diarybook does, the key concepts, and an ordered path through your first week

New to Diarybook? These pages give you the layout of the product, the words it uses, and the order
in which to set up an account. Pick the route that fits.

## Pick your route

- **New to Diarybook** — read [What Diarybook Does](/docs/start-here/what-diarybook-does/) for
  the screens you'll meet, then [Key Concepts](/docs/start-here/key-concepts/) for the vocabulary.
- **Joining an account that is already set up** — the
  [Welcome Tutorial](/docs/start-here/welcome-tutorial/) takes you from the welcome email to
  adding clients and appointments.
- **Setting up a new account** — [Your First Week](/docs/start-here/your-first-week/) gives the
  setup order, with what each step depends on.
- **Diarybook works alongside your existing patient management system** — read
  [Standalone or Synced](/docs/start-here/standalone-or-synced/) first.

## One product, two modes

Diarybook runs either **standalone**, as the complete scheduling system, or as an **integration
layer**, alongside an existing patient management or hospital information system. The screens and
features are the same in both. The difference is how appointments get in: standalone services
enter them in Diarybook, while integrated services receive them from the source system in a daily
file. Integrated services can still add appointments by hand.

If an integrated service doesn't take client replies or other feedback, staff don't need to use
the Diarybook screens day to day. Reminders go out on their own, and the screens are there for
anyone who wants to check what was sent.

## Pages in this section

- [Key Concepts](https://diarybook.com/docs/start-here/key-concepts/): The words Diarybook uses, and how the pieces of an account relate to one another
- [Standalone or Synced](https://diarybook.com/docs/start-here/standalone-or-synced/): The two ways Diarybook runs, what differs between them, and whether staff need the screens
- [Welcome Tutorial](https://diarybook.com/docs/start-here/welcome-tutorial/): How to get started with Diarybook
- [What Diarybook Does](https://diarybook.com/docs/start-here/what-diarybook-does/): What Diarybook is for, and a tour of the screens you meet after signing in
- [Your First Week](https://diarybook.com/docs/start-here/your-first-week/): The order in which to set up a new Diarybook account, and what each step depends on

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Source: https://diarybook.com/docs/start-here/