Documentation

For any bugs, issues, comments, questions, suggestions, or requests, please don't hesitate to contact help@minicastle.app.

Getting Started

Quick Start

Minicastle is an application that helps you build, improve, and fix your house. We want to help you feel like your house is continually improving, without adding stress to your life.

Here's how you get started in 3 simple steps:

  1. Login to Minicastle and create your first building by just giving it a name - you can add any other details you want later. Buildings could be your home, vacation house, office, or any other space you want to improve.
  2. 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.
  3. Click on the "Issues" tab and add your first issue! This could be anything big or small that you'd like to fix or improve. You can always add more issues later. You'll be able to leave notes, specify the area of the house where the issue is found, and mark whether you've already fixed it or not.
Once you press "Save", you'll see your first issue. Congratulations! From there, you can even add "Links" from any internet source (like Youtube, Dropbox, etc.) to help you solve the problem, or save tutorials or other solutions.

How to Create Areas

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!

How to use Suggested Issues

Not sure where to start? You can use the Suggested Issues tool to generate a list of proactive issues that might be relevant to your home, along with a description of basic steps and a suggested frequency ("Monthly", "Quarterly", "Annually", etc.). Just navigate to the Issues tab and click "Generate Issues!" to get started.

(Please note: these are generic suggestions that might not apply to your home. Please use your best judgement when deciding which issues to add to your list. You can always delete issues once you've added them to your list. Please contact help@minicastle.app with any feedback.)

Questions

How do I share my data in public?

All buildings are private by default. To share your data using a public link:

  1. Navigate to your building.
  2. Within the toolbar, click on "Private".
  3. Within the modal, select the "Public" checkbox.
  4. Press save.
Once your building is public, you can copy the public link to your clipboard and share with whomever you'd like. You can revert your building to be private at any time by following the directions above, unchecking "Public", and pressing save.

Click here to see an example of a public building profile.

Note: If you only want to share with a spouse, roommate, etc., add them as a Co-Owner instead.

Can I export my data?

Yes! To export your data at any time, just go to the "Areas" or "Issues" tab, and press "Export". Your data will be downloaded immediately as a .csv file for that particular section.

How do I add links to my issues?

Once you've created an issue, go to the overflow ("...") menu in the top-right corner of the issue. From there, you can select "Add Link" to add a link to your issue. You can add as many links as you'd like - just provide the URL and an optional name!

Do you have a free plan?

Minicastle is completely free to use for 35 days once you sign-up. No credit card is required to sign-up. After 35 days, we'll send you an invoice for $25 via Stripe to cover your subscription for the year. If you don't want to continue using Minicastle, we'll make sure your account stays active for at least another 7 days so that you can download your data. If you need more time than that, just let us know.

Why did you change the name?

As you might've noticed, our new name is Minicastle! As much as we liked our original name(s), Shiny Buildings / Shiny.ooo, they felt a little long, ambiguous, and hard to remember, so we decided to change it to something a bit more fun and memorable.

If you're curious, the original name was inspired by the struggle of Jack Nicholson's character, Jack, in "The Shining" to take care of the Overlook Hotel (among other, much bigger problems, at least according to some Shining fanatics...). Our only goal is still the same: to make it much more fun and less stressful to take care of your home. We hope our new vibe is slightly less traumatic than a Stephen King thriller, but less us know what you think!

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. (Contact help@minicastle.app for access to Inventory tools.)

Tip: Make sure to create an area called "Whole House" or "Entire Home" to cover projects that extend to every room in the house (like wall painting, light bulb replacement, etc.).