Front door latch mechanism?

How does the front door latch mech work? I need to change the way my half doors open since my current way uses hte stock handles and they basically got smushed and almost ripped off on my last trip. So, does the lever need to be pushed down or up in order to get the latch to pop open? I already closed mine in so I cant see it anymore. I am considering putting in some TJ door latches on the inside face of them, or possibly just putting in a pull lever to keep it simple.
Thanks for the help...
j

Not that this helps, but my door hinges that are welded onto the body have almost completely broken the weld off...and I've replaced quite a few door latch mechanism pieces..