Getting started: Rework whole section (GenAI, edited)

docs/_include/links.md

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <!-- markdownlint-disable MD034 -->
 <!-- markdownlint-disable MD053 -->
 
+[Admin UI]: inv:crate-admin-ui:*:label#index
 [Amazon DynamoDB Streams]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/Streams.html
 [Amazon Kinesis Data Streams]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/streams/latest/dev/introduction.html
 [Apache Airflow]: https://airflow.apache.org/
@@ -13,8 +14,9 @@
 [cloud-datashader-github]: https://github.com/crate/cratedb-examples/blob/amo/cloud-datashader/topic/timeseries/explore/cloud-datashader.ipynb
 [CTE]: inv:crate-reference#sql_dql_with
 [CrateDB BLOBs]: inv:crate-reference:*:label#blob_support
-[CrateDB Cloud]: https://cratedb.com/product/cloud
+[CrateDB Cloud]: inv:cloud:*:label#index
 [CrateDB JDBC Driver]: https://cratedb.com/docs/jdbc/
+[CrateDB Reference Manual]: inv:crate-reference:*:label#index
 [CrateDB Self-Managed]: https://cratedb.com/product/self-managed
 [CrateDB's PostgreSQL interface]: inv:crate-reference#interface-postgresql
 [crate-jdbc-standalone]: https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/io/crate/crate-jdbc-standalone/

docs/feature/query/index.md

@@ -111,10 +111,9 @@ ORDER BY 1 DESC;
 :::::
 
 
-(aggregation)=
-(aggregations)=
 ## Aggregations
 Fast aggregations, even with complex queries.
+- {ref}`aggregations`
 - [Analyzing Device Readings with Metadata Integration]
 
 ## Bulk Operations

docs/index.md

@@ -307,9 +307,9 @@ Selected application domains where others are using CrateDB successfully.
 ```{toctree}
 :hidden:
 
+start/index
 install/index
 connect/index
-getting-started
 feature/index
 Ingestion <ingest/index>
 topic/index

docs/start/application/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+(example-applications)=
+# Sample Applications
+
+
+:::{rubric} Starter
+:::
+
+::::{grid} 3
+:gutter: 2
+
+:::{grid-item-card} JavaScript guestbook app
+:link: https://github.com/crate/crate-sample-apps
+:link-type: url
+A JavaScript guestbook app with several backend implementations.
++++
+Each uses a different client library to communicate with CrateDB over HTTP.
+:::
+
+:::{grid-item-card} Geospatial demo with CrateDB
+:link: https://github.com/crate/devrel-shipping-forecast-geo-demo
+:link-type: url
+Geospatial data demo application using CrateDB and the Express.js framework.
++++
+Click on the map to drop a marker in the waters around the British Isles,
+then select Search to see which Shipping Forecast region your marker is in.
+:::
+
+::::
+
+
+:::{rubric} Advanced
+:::
+
+::::{grid} 3
+:gutter: 2
+
+:::{grid-item-card} CrateDB UK Offshore Wind Farms Data Workshop
+:link: https://github.com/crate/cratedb-examples/tree/main/topic/multi-model
+:link-type: url
+The workshop explores multimodel data modeling and queries with CrateDB.
++++
+Acquire geographic data in WKT format and hourly performance data in JSONL
+from The Crown Estate (manager of the UK's offshore wind farm sites),
+import them into CrateDB, and display them on a Leaflet map.
+:::
+
+:::{grid-item-card} CrateDB UK Offshore Wind Farms Data Demo
+:link: https://github.com/crate/devrel-offshore-wind-farms-demo
+:link-type: url
+Demo application that visualizes data in the UK offshore wind farms
+example dataset using CrateDB.
++++
+Navigate the map widget to see the locations of individual wind farms, then
+click on a marker to see details about that wind farm's performance.
+Zoom in and drill down to locations and performance data of individual turbines.
+:::
+
+:::{grid-item-card} Planespotting with SDR and CrateDB
+:link: https://github.com/crate/devrel-plane-spotting-with-cratedb
+:link-type: url
+Plane Spotting with Software Defined Radio (SDR), CrateDB, and Node.js.
++++
+Import data from the FlightAware API, then query the latest data for planes
+that have a plane_id, callsign, altitude, and position and have been updated
+within the last 2 minutes.
+:::
+
+:::{grid-item-card} CrateDB GTFS / GTFS-RT Transit Data Demo
+:link: https://github.com/crate/devrel-gtfs-transit
+:link-type: url
+Capture GTFS and GTFS-RT data for storage and analysis with CrateDB.
++++
+The demo application has a Python backend and a JavaScript/Leaflet
+maps frontend. It uses GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) and GTFS‑RT
+(the extra real-time feeds for GTFS) to store and analyze transit system route,
+trip, stop, and vehicle‑movement data stored in CrateDB.
+:::
+
+:::{grid-item-card} CrateDB RAG / Hybrid Search PDF Chatbot
+:link: https://github.com/crate/devrel-pdf-rag-chatbot
+:link-type: url
+A natural language chatbot powered by CrateDB using RAG techniques and data from PDF files.
++++
+Source data and knowledge are extracted from text and images inside PDF documents,
+then stored in CrateDB as plain text with a full‑text index and vector embeddings.
+Users can ask questions of the knowledge base using natural language.
+:::
+
+::::

docs/start/connect.md

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+(start-connect)=
+# Connect to CrateDB
+
+:::{include} /_include/links.md
+:::
+
+:::{div} sd-text-muted
+Start interacting with the database for the first time.
+:::
+
+
+(use-admin-ui)=
+## Admin UI
+:::{div}
+CrateDB ships with a browser-based administration interface called
+[Admin UI].
+:::
+The Admin UI is enabled on each CrateDB node. You can use it to inspect and
+interact with the whole CrateDB cluster in various ways.
+
+If CrateDB is running on your workstation, access the Admin UI using
+`http://localhost:4200/`. Otherwise, replace `localhost` with the
+hostname CrateDB is running on.
+
+When using CrateDB Cloud, open the Admin UI from the Cloud Console
+using the link shown there (port 4200). The URL typically looks like
+`https://<cluster-name>.<region>.<provider>.cratedb.net:4200/`, e.g.
+`https://testdrive.aks1.westeurope.azure.cratedb.net:4200/`.
+
+![Admin UI SQL console showing a sample SELECT statement](https://cratedb.com/docs/crate/admin-ui/en/latest/_images/console-query.png){width=320px}
+![Admin UI navigation and overview panel](/_assets/img/getting-started/first-use/admin-ui.png){width=320px}
+
+:::{note}
+If you are running CrateDB on a remote machine, you will have to create
+a dedicated user account for accessing the Admin UI. See {ref}`create-user`.
+:::
+
+
+(use-crash)=
+## CrateDB Shell
+
+The CrateDB Shell, called `crash`, is an interactive command-line interface
+(CLI) program for working with CrateDB on your favorite terminal. To learn more
+about it, please refer to its documentation at {ref}`crate-crash:index`.
+
+![crash default screen after executing a query](https://cratedb.com/docs/crate/crash/en/latest/_images/query.png){width=320px}
+
+
+(use-drivers)=
+## Adapters and drivers
+:::{div}
+- To learn how to connect to CrateDB using software drivers, see {ref}`connect`.
+
+- To learn more about all the details of CrateDB features, operations, and
+  its SQL dialect, please also visit the [CrateDB Reference Manual].
+:::

docs/start/first-steps.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+description: >-
+  This section gives you some guidelines on how to get started quickly with
+  CrateDB.
+---
+(first-steps)=
+# First steps with CrateDB
+
+:::{div} sd-text-muted
+How to get started with CrateDB quickly.
+:::
+
+## 1. Create your first cluster
+
+The fastest and easiest way to get started with CrateDB is by
+[creating a free CrateDB Cloud cluster][CrateDB Cloud Console].
+
+## 2. Take a starter tutorial
+
+Choose the interactive tutorials that match your interests,
+or run them directly in the CrateDB Cloud Console.
+
+* **Working with JSON payloads?** • Analyze **marketing data**. • {{ '{}(#objects-basics)'.format(tutorial) }}
+
+  In this tutorial, explore the dynamic **OBJECT** data type to store and
+  query complex, nested, multi-structured data from various platforms.
+  You will also discover how to use generated columns to parse and manage
+  URLs for deeper insights.
+
+* **Interested in full-text search?** • Explore the **Netflix catalog**. • {{ '{}(#search-basics)'.format(tutorial) }}
+
+  In this tutorial, learn how to use CrateDB Cloud’s full-text search capabilities
+  to work with large datasets and manage a collection of Netflix titles.
+
+* **Exploring time-series data?** • Investigate **weather data**. • {{ '{}(#timeseries-querying)'.format(tutorial) }}
+
+  In this tutorial, you’ll work with weather readings from multiple locations
+  to learn how to efficiently store and analyze time-series datasets.
+
+## 3. Take an advanced tutorial
+
+* **Analyze Device Readings with Metadata Integration** • {{ '{}(#timeseries-objects)'.format(tutorial) }}
+
+  In this tutorial, capture device metrics such as battery level, CPU usage,
+  and memory usage, then enrich your time‑series data with JSON and text
+  metadata to enable more comprehensive analysis.
+
+
+:::{rubric} Congratulations!
+:::
+You are now onboarded and ready to explore further. Check out the other sections
+in the menu to dive deeper into CrateDB’s capabilities.
+If you need assistance, also [check out our support plans].
+
+
+[check out our support plans]: https://cratedb.com/support/support-plans
+[CrateDB Cloud Console]: https://console.cratedb.cloud/