The Main Requests Page of the EasyHOA Software

The requests page can be accessed by logging into the software and clicking on "requests" in the main software menu located at the left-hand side of the page when you first log in. Requests can be created in two ways. One way is by going to the requests main page and clicking on the "create new request" button as a board member and filling out the information on the new request page. If the board member is creating the request, once they get to the section called "form," the board member can fill out the form or choose to have the owner fill out the form. If the board member chooses to have the owner fill out the form, then once the request is created in the software the owner will have to log in to their owner account to fill out the form. If the board member is having the owner fill the form out and wants to send a notification reminding the owner to login to their account to fill out the form they can do so by sending a notification during the process of creating the request. If the board member wants to fill out the form for the owner they can do that as well during the process of creating the request. This scenario of the board member filling out the form, however, is not as common as just having the owner log in to their account to fill out the form. In the more common scenario of creating requests, owners will create the request through their owner account by logging into their software and going to the requests page and clicking on create new request. Another way an owner can fill out a form is if the board member creates a form under the requests page and then clicking the request forms button. From here they can create the form and show the form on the website by using the website widget called website forms. If a website form is shown on the website and an owner fills out the form through the website the form will be emailed to the HOA email, and then a board member would need to download the form from the email and upload it to the file section while creating a new request. So, if there is a form that needs to be part of the request and that form has been created in the software, these are the three ways to get it filled out. In Summary, First the board member can fill out the form when they create a request; second, the owner can fill out the form as part of the process of creating a request when logged in to their owner account, and third the form can be created and then added to the website. Again, if the owner fills out the form from the website one of the board members will need to download the form and attach it to the request manually. The best thing to do is to have the owner start the request from their online owner account. This way the request is created with the form filled out. When you click on the requests from the main software menu you will be taken to the requests page. On this page you will see a list of all the current open requests. This list has the columns that show the following information, the request ID which is a unique number assigned to the request, the title of the request which you can click to take you to that specific requests page, the unit the request is for, lot number(if applicable), who created the request, the primary owner, the type of request, the status of the request, the number of days open, the date it was created, a follow-up date(if applicable), whether a form was assigned to the request to be filled out, and then an archive icon to archive the request. You can only archive the request once the request has been closed. Above this list of current requests, starting at the left hand side of the page towards the top you will see a search bar where you can search for a specific request. To the right of this search bar there is a dropdown where you can filter the list by showing all open requests or to filter the list by status. To the right of this dropdown status filter there is a button called "filter" when you click on this filter button a small dropdown pops up with the list of: request id, title, unit, lot number, created by, primary owner, and type. Next to each of these items is checkmark that you can check or uncheck to either show or hide that descriptor item from the requests list. For example if I deselect the checkbox next to request id then the software will hide the request id on the list when I am view the list of requests on the requests page. If deselect lot number then the software will hide the lot number column from the requests list. Above the search bar and status filter are several buttons. The first button starting on the left is called "request forms" when you click on the request forms button it takes you to the request forms page. This is where you would manage and create forms that you want to use for requests. While on the request forms page you will see a list of current forms you have created to be used in the software. The list shows columns that show the title of the form, the date the form was created, an icon of document called duplicate, if you click the duplicate icon it will duplicate the form and add it to the request forms page, to the right of this duplicate icon is an icon with two documents with an arrow in between called "copy to another location". If you click on this copy to another location icon you will be able to copy the form you created to the website forms section of the software so that form can be used on the website or you can copy the form to the voting and surveys forms section of the software. This can help save you time so that you can use a common form on the website or under the voting and surveys section. When you click on the copy to another location icon a box will pop up where you can select a checkmark next to either the copy to surveys forms or the copy to websites forms and then click on copy. This will copy that form to either or both of those other forms sections in the software. To the right of the copy to another location icon is a delete garbage can icon where you can delete the form that was created. On this request forms page there is a button at the top right called "new form" if you click on this new form button it will take you to the page where you can create a new form. When you are on this page of creating a new form at the top right you will see the titles of, "designer" , "Preview", and "logic". These are the three main sections of new forms page. When you are on the new form designer page you will see at the top where you can create the title and description of the form and then on the right hand side you will see the following icons that will allow you to add different question and answer formats to the form that are a question-answer format where each icon allows you to add a certain question with a way to answer that question. These icons start at the top left with the radio button group icon. Each of these form widget icons also have the options to duplicate, delete, or make them required. You can see these options in the bottom right of the widget box after you add it to the form. If you click on the icon it will add that from element to the page and you can then edit that radio button group widget. The radio button group widget allows you to add a question and then answer to that question so that the owner would choose a the radio button next the answer, the next icon below the radio group icon is the rating scale form widget, this widget allows you to add a question and then have them answer by selecting a rating of 1, 2, 3, etc. The next icon below this is the checkboxes icon. This will add a checkbox widget to the form used more for adding a question and then allowing whoever is filling out the form to select a checkbox next to an answer. The next icon below this is the dropdown icon. This will add a widget to the form where you can add a question and then whoever is filling out the form will select one of the options in the dropdown. The next icon below this is the multi-select drop-down icon. This icon is similar to the dropdown icon but allows whoever is filling out the form will have multiple options they can choose from in the dropdown. The next icon below this is the yes/no boolean icon. This will allow you to add a question and whoever is filling out the form would have the option to choose yes or no. The next icon below this is the file upload icon. When you add the file upload widget to the form it adds the option for whoever is filling out the form to upload a file along with the form. The next icon below this is the image picker icon. This image picker icon adds a widget to the form where you can upload a photo and then have whoever is filling out the form choose or vote on an image. The next icon below this is the ranking widget. This ranking widget allows you to type a question and then answers to rank for whoever is filling out the form. The next icon below this is the single line input widget. When this single line input widget is added to the form it gives whoever is filling out the form a question and then one line where they can type out the answer, this would be used for smaller response type questions on the form. The next icon below this is the long text widget. When this long text widget is added to the form you add a question and then it gives a larger text box for whoever is filling out the form to type into, this widget is used for when you want to allow larger responses from whoever is filling out the form. The next icon below this is the multiple text box widget. This widget allows you to add a question and then multiple text boxes for the whoever is filling out the form to type in to. The next icon below this is the panel icon. This will add a panel onto the form and then inside this panel you can add multiple questions inside of this panel. The next icon below this is the dynamic panel icon. This dynmaic panel icon allows you to add a panel to the form and then certain questions and answers inside this panel but then gives you a few more dynamic options that you will see on the right hand side of the page under general where you can display the panel on the new line, hide the panel number, align the panel title, change where the error message is displayed, increase the inner indent, and a few more options. So this makes the dynamic panel more manipulatable than just the panel. The next icon below this is the single select matrix widget. This single select matrix widget allows you to add a question and the rows and columns with options to choose a certain option based on button the choose next to the column and row. The next icon is the multi select matrix icon. This multi select matrix will allow you to add a question with rows out to the right and then under the column headings they will have a dropdown to choose from instead of just the one option to select from. The next icon below this is the dynamic matrix icon. This dynamic matrix widget has the same functionality as the multi select matrix but is more dynamic in it gives you a few more options to under the general and layout options to the right. You will have more options to edit or work with when you select the dynamic matrix widget. The next icon below this is the HTML icon. This html icon adds an html box on the form where you can add actual html code to the box. This would used more by programmers or someone that knows html. The next icon below this is the expression icon. This expression icon allows you to add content to the form but does not have any options to choose from for the answer. This expression icon would be used to add content to the form but that you didn't need an answer from. The next icon below this is the image icon. This image icon simply allows you to add an image to the form. When you click on it and add it to the form you will see a choose image link where you can upload an image to this image widget. The next icon below this is the signature icon. This signature icon allows you to add a signature box to be added to the form where whoever is filling out the form would be required to electronically sign before submitting the form. This is the last icon on the left hand side of this new form page. To the right of this new form page you will see the following other options available when creating the form. The first section at the top right is called "general" when you click on this general link it opens up some general options for the form you are creating like survey title, description, language, editable, or read only. These are general settings that relate to the new form. Below this the next section is called logo in the survey header, this is where you would add a logo to the form. Below this logo section there is a section called navigation, under this navigation section you have some different options that allow you to change how you want the form to work when someone is filling out the form. For example do you want to show all the questions on one page or show just one question per page. Or do you want show a progress bar and if you do where do you want to show that progress bar. There are other options under this navigation page but these are couple of examples. The next section below this navigation section on the new form page is called question settings, these question settings have to do with how you want to align the questions, number the questions, restrict answer length, etc. The next section below question settings is the pages section. This pages section is where it gives you the options where you can divide the form into pages, show page titles, or numbers. The next section below pages is the conditions section. This conditions section is where you could add conditions to a variable. Each respondent inputs as source values and each custom variable has a unique name and an expression its based on. The next section below the conditions section is the data section. The data section is where you can choose to auto save the form, or when you want the form to clear hidden question values based on condition logic. The next section below this data section is the validation section. This validation section is where you choose when you want the form to validate the answers while someone is filling out the form. The next section below this validation section is the thank you page section. This thank you page section is where you would choose whether you want to add a thank you page once someone has completed the form and what you want the thank you page to say. The next section below this thank you page section is the quiz mode section. This quiz mode section is where you can add a timer to the form and choose how long you will allow someone to fill out a certain question or the form as a whole. At the top of this new form page to the right of the "designer" title there is a title called "preview" when you click on this preview title it will allow you to preview the form while you are creating it. This allows you to add certain questions and answers and then preview what it looks like while you are in the process of creating the new form. To the right of this "preview" title is a "logic" title. When you click on this "logic" title it takes you to a page where you can add certain logic to the form as a whole or to specific questions. For example you could add a logic where if they select a certain answer then it would skip to another question. These options are pretty rare but could come in useful if you were wanting even more flexibility with how the form works when someone is filling it out. When you new form page you will see a undo and redo arrows and then to the right of these arrows at the top of the page there is a disk icon. This is how you save the survey form when you are finished creating it. Note you can always go back and edit the form from the forms page where it lists all of your current forms that have been created. On the requests main page at the top of the page to the right of the "request forms" button is a button called "export csv" this export csv button allows you to export the list of requests to a csv file. It will download the csv file to your computer. To the right of the export csv button is a button called "export pdf" if you click the export pdf file button it will down a pdf of the list of current requests. To the right of this export pdf button is a button called "request settings". When you click on the request settings button it takes you to the request settings page. At the top left of this page you will see two titles. The first title is called "Types" this is the page you are defaulted to when you first click on the request settings page. Under the types of requests section you will see a list of all the request types. These could be architectural, general, maintenance, or any other type of request that your HOA deals with. At the top of this types page you will see a search bar where you can search for a specific type. The list of request types is shown below with the following columns, the title, the description, form required dropdown where they would choose whether a form is required to be filled out for that request type, a toggle button option to turn on/off if the request type is a type of request you allow an owner to create from their owner login portal, an edit icon that allows you to edit the title and description and then an archive garbage can icon where you can delete that specific request type. At the top and to the right of the search bar on this request types page there is a button called "new type". If you click on this new type button a box will pop up where you can add a new request type. These request types show up as part of the process of creating a new request. At the top left to the right of the types title is a "statuses" title. If you click on this statuses title it will take you to a page where it lists all the statuses your HOA uses for requests. The most common statuses are a closed and open statuses. You can add a new status to this page by clicking on the "new status" button located at the top right of this statuses page. On the main requests page to the right of the "request settings" button is a button called "create new request". When you click on this create new request button it takes you to the page where you can create a new request in the software. At the top of this page the first section is called "request information" under this request information you will add the request title, choose the request type from the dropdown, enter request details, and then select to which unit this request is for and whether a form needs to be filled out and attached to this request. You can select the form from the from dropdown or click on the "new form" button located to the right of this form dropdown. The section below this request information section is the section called "files" This is where you would upload a file to the request by clicking on the "add file" button out to the right. This attaches a file to this request once the request is created. Moving down the page the section below files is a section called "notes" with a button out to the right called "add note". If you click on the add note button you can add a custom note while creating this request. Below this notes section the next section on the page is an option you can turn on or off called "send notification with this request". If you are not attaching a unit to the request, the "send notification with this request" option will not appear. If you toggle the "send notification with this request" setting to "on" then you will see a new section open up below on the page called "notification" with an email content section and text content section. This is where you would select what notification you are going to send when this request is created. If you are not going to send a notification with this request then you can just click on the "create request" button at the bottom right of the page. If you are going to send a notification with this request then you will need to toggle the notification option, create the notification below and then click on the "create and send" button at the bottom right of the page. This will create the request and send the notification at the same time. You can add a follow-up date to the request but only after the request has initially been created. To add a follow-up date to a request, go to the request and click on it and on that main request page there is a spot in the middle of the page to add a date and click on save. You can update the follow-up date at any time by going back to that particular request and by changing the follow-up date by adding in a new date and then clicking save again. On the main requests page to the right of the "Create new request" button is a button called "archived requests". When you click on the archived requests button it takes you to the archived requests page where it lists all of the requests that have been archived. You can see the information in a list form with teh column headings of, title, for unit, created by, primary owner, type, status, # days open, created date, unarchive, and delete. You can delete requests on the archived requests page only after they have been archived though. On this page you can search for archived requests, export the list into a csv or pdf by clicking the export to csv and export pdf buttons at the top of the page. To get back to the list of active requests from this archived requests page click on the "active requests" button at the top left of this page. When you are on the main requests page where it lists active requests you will see the title column. If you click on the title of a request it will take you to that specific request page where the details of that specific request can be viewed and edited. When you are on the request page for a specific request you will see the following sections and buttons. At the top right you will see a "print request" button. If you click on this button it will create a pdf of this specific request and then you can print or email that pdf as needed. Moving down the page starting at the top left you will see the number of the request. To the right of this number is a dropdown that shows the different request statuses. You can change the request status through this dropdown. To the right of this status dropdown is an "edit" button. This is how you would edit this specific request. When you click on the edit button it takes you to the edit page where you can edit the title, request type, request details, and the form assigned to this request to be filled. Once you update this information click on the "update" button at the bottom right of this edit request page. Back on the main page for the specific request and below this edit button you will see the request number and a section that shows you the request title, what unit it is for, request type, owners, request details, an approval button, and then a show form button. If you would like to take a request and make it into an approval you will click on this approval button located on that specific requests page. For example if an architectural request had been created from an owner who was looking at putting up an outbuilding and the board members or a specific committee needed approve this architectural request you would want to create an approval from this request by clicking on the approval button on that specific requests page. When you click on this approval button a box will pop up where you select whether there needs to be a majority approval or unanimous, the board or committee members that need to approve it, who to notify upon successful approval, and then do you want to notify anyone else when this is approved. After you enter this information click on the "create" button. Once you click create it will create an approval from this request so that when you go the approvals main page now you will see this new approval item that was created from the request. Now this approval item can be approved and work through the necessary steps of being accepted or denied. Once the approval has been approved or denied you will need to make sure to archived and or delete that request on the request page. The other button under this section is called "show form" if you click on show form it will show you the form that was filled out as part of this request and you can see if it still needs to be filled out or if it has already been filled. On the main page for a specific request and to the right of this request number section on the page is a section called "board member internal notes" with a box where they can type a message and click "add". These would be internal notes associated with this request that only board members can see. These notes are not given or shown to the owner. Underneath the request number and board member internal notes section is a section called "owners communication log". This owner communication log is a list of all the email and text communications between the board and the owner pertaining to this request. Under this section at the top right is square button with a list icon on it. If you click on this square list icon button it will take you back to the main list of communications. To the right of this square list icon button is a "Compose email/text" button. If you click on this compose email/text button you will see an email content and text content section pull up where you can compose and email or text to send to the owner. As part of this section you can select an email template to send. Once you compose your email and or text click on the "send" button at the bottom right to send a new message to the owner regarding this request. To the right of this compose email/text button is a "print letter" button. If you would like to create a letter to print instead of emailing you can click on this print letter button, compose your letter and then click the "print" button at the bottom right. This will create a pdf of the letter you created and then you can print the pdf. Below the owners communication log on the page for a specific request is a section called "files". This files section lists all the files that have been uploaded to this request as well as a button called "add new" where if you click will allow you to upload a new file for this request. To the right of this file section is a section called "images". This images section shows any image files that have been uploaded to the request as well as has an "add new" button that allows you to add a new image to the request. Below the file and image sections on the page is the last section that lists the form if any associated with this request. If there was a form filled out with the request this form will be shown at the very bottom of this page.