The Transport menu handles how Ardour handles the playback and playhead.

Start/Stop
Starts or stops the playhead, and recording if it's armed
Play
Play Selection
Only plays the selected part of the session, be it a range or selected regions
Play Selection w/Preroll
As the previous menu, except it starts the playback 1/2 bar before the beginning of the selection
Start/Continue/Stop
FIXME
Play from Edit Point and Return
Starts the playback at the Edit point, and when stopped, goes back to the orginial location
Play Loop Range
If a Loop range is defined, play it and loop until stopped
Start Recording
This is a shortcut to trigger the global recording, and start playback at once
Stop and Forget Capture
Stops the recording, removes the newly created material, and goes back to the original position
Enable Record
Triggers the global recording. Next time "Play" is pressed, it will record on the track(s) that are armed for recording
Set Loop from Selection
Converts the selection into a Loop range by placing loop markers at the start and end of the selected range
Set Punch from Selection
Same thing, for Punch
Set Session Start/End from Selection
Same thing, for the start and end markers of the session, defining the sessions length
Forward
FIXME
Rewind
Plays the audio backwards from the playhead on
Transition to Roll
FIXME
Transition to Reverse
FIXME
Playhead
Playhead to Mouse
Set the position of the playhead at the current position of the mouse cursor
Playhead to Active Mark
If a marker is selected, set the position of the playhead at the position of the marker
Center Playhead
Centers the view on the playhead without changing the zoom level (putting the playhead in the middle of the screen)
Nudge Playhead Forward
Shifts the position of the playhead to the right by the amount shown in the nudge timer
Nudge Playhead Backward
Same thing, to the left
Move to Next Transient
When transient have been set, moves the playhead to the next one to the right
Move to Previous Transient
Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Grid
Regardless of the state of the Grid Mode, goes to the next grid to the right, as set by the Snap/Grid unit
Playhead to Previous Grid
Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Region Boundary
Moves the playhead to the right to the next beginning or end of region on the selected track or, if no track is selected, on all tracks
Playhead to Previous Region Boundary
Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Region Boundary (No Track Selection)
Moves the playhead to next beginning or end of region, be it on the selected track or any other
Playhead to Previous Region Boundary (No Track Selection)
Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Region Sync
Moves the playhead to next Region Sync Point, that is by default the beginning of a region but can be moved
Playhead to Previous Region Sync
Same, to the left
Jump to Next Mark
moves the playhead to the next marker on the Ruler
Jump to Previous Mark
Same, to the left
Go to Zero
Sends the playhead to the 00:00:00:00 time, regardless of the sessions Start marker
Go to Start
Sends the playhead to the Start marker of the session
Go to End
Sends the playhead to the End marker of the session
Go to Wall Clock
Sends the playhead to the current value of system time, as shown on the top right of the Status bar
Active Mark
To Next Region Boundary
Moves the currently selected marker to the next region beginning or end
To Previous Region Boundary
Same, to the left
To Next Region Sync
Moves the currently selected to the next region sync point (by default: beginning or end of the region)
To Previous Region Sync
Same, to the left
Markers
Add Mark from Playhead
Creates a Marker at the position of the playhead
Remove Mark at Playhead
Removes any marker at the position of the playhead
Toggle Mark at Playhead
Combine the 2 previous: if a marker exists, deletes it, otherwise create it
Locate to Mark n
If it exists, goes to the n-th marker
Set Session Start from Playhead
Puts the Start of the session marker at the playhead's position
Set Session End from Playhead
Puts the End of the session marker at the playhead's position
[] Time Master
Sets Ardour as the Time master, i.e. Ardour sends the time information to the audio system
[] Punch In/Out
Based on the Punch in and Punch out markers if they exist, tells Ardour to record only between those two points
[] Punch In
Based on the Punch in marker, only allow to record from this point on
[] Punch Out
Based on the Punch out marker, forbids recording before this point
[] Audio Input
If checked, automatically switch the monitor from input to playbackmode when playing
[] Follow Edits
If checked, selecting a region moves the playhead to its beginning
[] Auto Play
If checked, moving the playhead in the ruler starts the playback
[] Auto Return
If checked, when the playback is stopped, go back to the previous position of the playhead. If not, the playhead stays where it is when the playback is stopped
[] Click
Activates/desactivates the click track (metronome)
[] Follow Playhead
If checked, while playing, when the playhead reaches the right of the screen, Ardour scrolls one screen to the right to keep the playhead visible at all times
[] Stationary Playhead
If checked and if Follow playhead is checked, on playback, the playhead stays at the center of the screen, and the session scrolls
Panic
Immediately stops all MIDI playback (usefull e.g. when a MIDI bug in encountered)