Understanding the data model
The four words behind everything in Winston — objects, attributes, records, and lists — and how they map to the spreadsheet you use today.
Everything you store in Winston fits into four ideas, and all four have a direct equivalent in a spreadsheet. If you have ever kept a workbook with a tab for contacts, a tab for bookings, and a filtered view you rebuilt every Monday, you already understand Winston's data model — this article just gives the pieces their names.
Four words, and their spreadsheet twins
- Objects are the tabs of your workbook. Each object holds one kind of thing: People, Companies, Deals, or something you define yourself, like Events. Understanding objects covers them in full.
- Attributes are the columns. Every object has its own set — name, email, deal value, event date — plus any you add. Some fill themselves in: understanding attributes explains how.
- Records are the rows — one guest, one company, one deal each. The difference from a spreadsheet row is that a record is a full page with the person's entire conversation history attached. See understanding records.
- Lists are the saved filters and working sets — Wedding leads 2026, Deposits to collect — that you would otherwise rebuild by hand. Understanding lists shows how they work.
Why not just keep the spreadsheet?
Because a spreadsheet only knows what someone typed into it. In Winston, the same structure is connected to your inboxes and calendar: when a guest emails or meets with you, that activity lands on their record automatically. Three things follow from that:
- No copy-paste updates. Conversations attach themselves to the right record, so the history is complete without anyone maintaining it on Fridays.
- No duplicate rows. One person is one record, however many lists they appear on and however many of your inboxes they write to.
- Winston can read it. Because the data has structure, Winston can keep attributes current, answer questions like "which leads haven't replied?", and draft replies that know the history.
How this section is organized
The next four articles take the four words one at a time — objects, attributes, records, and lists. The final article, define your data model, puts them together with a worked example: an event venue setting up its workspace from scratch. Read them in order the first time; after that, each one stands alone as a reference.