This 48-inch extra tall retractable baby gate works similarly to other retractable baby gates. You must align the connector plates over your baseboard and keep the gate level while installing the hardware. Because of this, I found it's best to have 2 people for the installation. One person to hold the gate steady and in place while the other person screws the plates to the studs.Function-wise, care needs to be taken when retracting the gate as if you accidentally let go - it'll whip anything in its path back to the base of the unit.Lastly, I'm not sure if it's just because this baby gate is so tall - but I have a difficult time getting the mesh screen on the gate to rewind and not bunch up on itself. If you don't hold the mesh perfectly vertical while it's retracting, the bottom mesh gets all wrinkly on itself.