None of this is required — Arcadia works fine if you just open it and start clicking. But these are the shortcuts that save a new shop the most time.
If you've already got your machines or parts written down somewhere — a spreadsheet, even a messy one — don't retype it. Tap Import on the Parts, Machines or Recurring Tasks page, download the template, fill in whichever tabs apply in Excel or Google Sheets (Machines, Parts, Recurring Tasks — leave the rest blank), and upload it. A whole floor goes from zero to tracked in minutes instead of an evening of one-by-one entry.
Anything already in Arcadia is skipped instead of duplicated, and you get a list of exactly what was skipped — so it's safe to run again after you clean up the spreadsheet.
Don't have a spreadsheet handy? From Machines → Add From Catalog, browse Arcadia's built-in catalog of real games — picking one fills in sensible defaults and its typical parts. Manuals aren't included; attach your own PDF from the machine's page.
"Shelf B2" and "shelf b2" are the same shelf to a human, but Arcadia treats storage locations as free text. Pick a format once (we use Shelf + letter + number) and stick to it shop-wide — it's what makes the search bar actually useful six months in.
The default threshold is 1, which only warns you when you're already out. For anything you'd normally keep a couple of on hand — fuses, common switches, bulbs — bump the threshold up when you add the part, so the warning fires while there's still time to reorder.
When a machine goes down, set its Floor Status to Down with a reason — not just a note buried in Tech Notes. It's what surfaces the machine on the dashboard and in the down-machine count, so the next shift sees it at a glance instead of discovering it on the floor.
Manuals live right on each machine's own page now — no separate tab to remember. From a machine's page, + Add a Manual lets you attach a PDF (it's copied into Arcadia's own data folder, so the original file can move or get deleted and it still works), link out to one online, or just paste the text in if that's all you've got. Pasted text is searchable right in the app, which a PDF isn't.
If your office is anywhere other than standing on the floor, turn this on. From Settings → Network Sharing, any browser on your shop's own Wi-Fi — no install — can see and update active projects and recurring tasks in real time, PIN-secured. It only runs on your own network; nothing leaves the building.
Arcadia keeps everything in a data folder on that computer — nothing is synced to the cloud. With the normal installer it lives in %APPDATA%\Arcadia\data; with the portable version it sits right next to the app. That's great for privacy, but it means backing it up is on you. Copy that folder to a flash drive or your normal backup drive every so often, the same way you'd back up any other files on that computer. File → Open Data Folder jumps straight to it.
Don't want to do any of this yourself? Onsite setup is available as an add-on — see the pricing section for details.
See pricing →