sudomod

apparently I have been thinking button pads work waaaaay different than they actually do. Ive attached a picture of a pcb I plan to use in a project and im absolutely stumped.
1. each separate button pad is connected together across the whole board. Is it a shared ground that is connected when you press the button?
2. each side of each button pad is already connected together. i tested with my multitester and each side of each pad is already connected to the other. WHAT. I must be missing something here.

Ive never really looked into using these before and I kinda just figured I knew how they worked. What am i missing here. I might have messed something up maybe? maybe copper tape is the way?

All of the buttons being connected is probably just a common ground but the fact the two sides of the button pad is constantly bridged inst good as it means that the button is being constantly pressed. Maybe try cleaning it off with alcohol to see if that solves the issue.