A reference for boards that stay in the room

What Tallyhand is

Tallyhand is an independent reference for offline planning boards. It explains how to choose a surface, lay out columns, label cards, and keep a board current without a screen. It also offers a planner that does the column arithmetic and draws the result to scale.

The site is a reading room, not a shop. It does not sell boards, fixings or kits, and it does not ask you to create an account.

Who it is for

• Households that share a kitchen or hallway wall and want chores and plans where everyone passes them.
• Students mapping a term, who need to see reading, practice and deadlines in one place.
• Small teams that want work visible without another login, and without a dashboard that nobody opens.
• Makers who sketch a week or a project on paper before they move it to a screen, if they move it at all.

How we write

We write the way a good workshop manual reads. The sentences are short, the steps are numbered, and every claim is something you can check with a tape measure or a pencil. We would rather say “this takes two minutes” than “this will transform your week,” and we will not promise results we cannot show.

When we explain a method, we also explain its limits. A board that does too much is usually a board nobody reads, so most of our advice is about what to leave off.

Principles

• A board is a shared object

  It works when the people who use it can see it, touch it and change it. A board that only one person can edit is a notebook on a wall.

• Fewer columns, used daily

  Three columns that are checked every day beat seven that are checked once a month. Add a column only when the board has already earned it.

• The surface comes first

  Measure the wall before you choose the layout. Column width and card size decide what fits, and no amount of care fixes a board that is too narrow.

• Nothing leaves the page

  The planner runs in your browser. It keeps no record of what you enter, and it sends nothing anywhere. A plan on paper stays on the wall.

What this site leaves out

Tallyhand offers planning methods and arithmetic. It does not give financial, legal or medical advice, and it does not tell you how to spend money, what to sign or how to manage a health condition. When a board touches those areas, the guide describes the method and leaves the decision to you and the people you trust.

You can reach the site by email at any time. The contact page explains what to include.