The six-step setup, explained

Signing up takes you straight into a six-step guided setup. The numbers along the top are links, so you can do the steps in any order and skip any of them. Leave whenever you like: the banner on your dashboard brings you back to the step you stopped at. Have two things handy: your member spreadsheet and your board's email addresses.

The steps

• 1. Basics. Your community's name, the name emails come from, roughly when the homes were built, and what the association takes care of. That last list is what neighbors pick from when they report a problem, so a street of single-family homes is not asked about roofs. You will also see your community's own web address and email address here.
• 2. Approvals. Your approval rule (the dollar amount, and who has to say yes) and what happens to email that arrives on its own. The recommended setting, AI drafts and you confirm, means nothing files itself without a person.
• 3. Budget. Planned amounts for this year, with one budget line for each thing the association takes care of if you want a head start. Rough numbers are fine; you can refine them later. Your fiscal year and time zone are in Settings.
• 4. Directory. Bring in your member list: upload the spreadsheet, check which column is which, preview, then save. Skip it if you would rather do it later from Directory.
• 5. Invite the board. Their email addresses, one per line. Each gets board access and a sign-in link that works once.
• 6. Finish. A summary of what you chose. Your portal works from the moment you sign up; finishing just puts the setup reminder away.

Founding communities: we do this whole thing with you on a call, including the import.