Documentation
For any bugs, issues, comments, questions, suggestions, or requests, please don't hesitate to contact help@shinybuildings.com.
Guides
Quick Start
Shiny Buildings is an application that helps you build, improve, and fix your house. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for you to live in the home of your dreams.
Here's how you get started in 3 simple steps:
- Login to Shiny Buildings and create your first building by just giving it a name - you can add any other details you want later.
- Once you've created a building, navigate to the "Areas" taband start to add all the areas in your house. This could be the kithcen, bedroom, bathroom - any kind of space in your house.
- Click on the "Projects" tab and add your first project! You can give your project a name, type, and any other details you want. Make sure to tag any relevant areas you created, and you'll see how different parts of your building are growing and changing. Once you've saved your project, you can attach documents, add collaborators, and do everything you need to get your project done.
Whenever you're ready, you can start adding issues, tracking inventory, including more details about your house, and even invite collaborators to join your projects. Use Shiny Buildings as a central hub for managing your home - and please let us know when a new feature or tool would help make your life easier!
Check out this link for more: How to Start using Shiny Buildings in 3 Quick Steps
How to Track and Fix Issues
While you can't always get projects done and make your house better every single day, you'll probably always notice things that could be better... That's where "Issues" come in! Issues are anything that you'd like to fix or improve.
You can definitely use "Issues" to track little problems or details that bug you or just feel wrong. But "Issues" can also be placeholders for big ideas and dream projects! Don't overthink it - just jot your observations down, and when the time to work on your house, you'll have a list of potential projects big and small for you to dive into.
If you do get around to completing those projects, make sure to close your issues out - you can "resolve" your issues with the project that solved your problems!
Check out this link for more: Track and fix issues.
How to Schedule Your Digest Report
Staying on top of 'the little things' means one less leaky facuet or wobbly door knob to remember. To help you, Shiny Buildings lets you send "digests" - reports that you can schedule for regular delivery on a recurring basis that's convenient for you.
To set your preferred frequency, head to the Profile page using the nav bar. Under "Settings", you'll see a section called "Your Digest". Use the dropdown to pick a frequency. You can choose from any of the following options:
- Weekly (sent every Friday)
- Monthly (sent the first Friday of every month)
- Quarterly (sent on Jan. 1, Apr. 1, Jul. 1, Oct. 1
- or None if you don't want to receive any digests at all.
Once you've made your choice, press "Save" and you're good to go! You can adjust your settings any time.
Questions
Can I export my data?
Yes! To export your data at any time, just go to any data tab ("Areas", "Inventory", "Issues", or "Projets"), and press "Export". Your data will be downloaded immediately as a .csv file for that particular section.
Best Practices
Creating Issues
Issues are anything you'd like to fix or improve. They can be as big as a full-scale renovation or as small as a leaky faucet or wobbly door knob. Issues are great because they help you keep track of all the little things that need to be done around your house, and they help you to remember all the big projects you've done in the past.
You can use issues to track little problems or details that bug you or just feel wrong. But issues can also be placeholders for big ideas and dream projects! Don't overthink it - just jot your ideas down, and when the time to work on your house, you'll have a list of potential projects big and small for you to dive into.
If you do get around to completing those projects, make sure to close your issues out - you can "resolve" your issues with the project that solved your problems!
Creating Areas
Areas are any physical space within your building. They can be as large as an entire house, or as small as a closet or shed.
Typical areas might include spaces like kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, and garages - anything with a fixed wall works particularly great as an area. A roof or yard would also work as a good space, since they're often the center of their own major projects.
It helps to think of areas as places where projects happen - that way, you'll be able to see how your areas grow and improve, and track the history of projects within a given area. However, you might want to avoid getting too granular with your areas.Objects like cabinets or systems like boilers are better tracked as inventory since they can ultimately be moved or removed without too much work.