Ellipse toolbox steps
Download as PPTX, PDF0 likes897 views
This document provides instructions for updating a community website using the Ellipse Toolbox. It outlines the various sections and features that can be edited, including the homepage content, amenities, bulletin board, community calendar, floor plans, pet policy, resident links, and more. Users can log into the toolbox to manage website content and keep residents and prospects informed. The toolbox allows community managers to easily maintain and optimize their online presence.
Ellipse toolbox steps
- 1. ELLIPSE TOOLBOX STEPS UPDATING YOUR COMMUNITY WEB SITE 1
- 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS Breakdown of the Website Page 5 to 11 Toolbox Log-in Page 12 to 14 Website Manager Page 15 to 17 Contact Tracking Page 18 to 20 Tell-A-Friend Postcard Page 21 Dynamic Pages-Amenities Page 23 to 24 Bulletin Board Page 25 to 27 2
- 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS Community Calendar Page 28 to 31 Dynamic Floorplans Page 33 to 37 Pet Policy Page 38 Resident Links Page 40 to 49 Specials Page 50 to 51 Staff Profiles Page 52 to 53 Welcome Text Page 54 to 56 3
- 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS Edit Property Page 57 to 58 LiveStats/Urchin Page 59 to 60 Photos & Virtual Tours Page 61 4
- 5. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE The “Landing” or “Home” page must have text or words that will help your community website show up in the results of a search. Unit Sizes Name of Schools Program requirements Location details Item(s) that make your community unique. 5
- 6. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE The “Landing” or “Home” page contains office hours, address, phone numbers and email address. This information may be changed in the toolbox. 6
- 7. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE The top crossbar has options to assist the prospect to learn more about your community; Amenities Floorplans Photos Contact us 7
- 8. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE The Resident Services section has options to assist Residents in several areas. Bulletin Board Community Calendar Service Request Tell-A- Friend Postcard 8 Pet Policy
- 9. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE Educate your Residents on the website during move-in! Bulletin Board Much like a community newsletter. Post items about what is going on in your community, like exterminator dates, or filter change dates, or community events and so on. Community Calendar Post dated items that are mentioned in the bulletin board. Note when the office will be closed, and things like residents birthday, dates of area events and other worth while items. Service Request Tell-A- Friend Postcard Pet Policy Resident Links 9
- 10. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE Service Request Let your residents know they can send you service requests through the website. Think, how nice for the phone to ring a few times less??!! Tell-A- Friend Postcard Use this cute looking email format for any messages to Residents or prospects. Let your Residents know this is great to let everyone know they have moved! Pet Policy Pets may de a “deal breaker” so be specific, but positive in explaining your policy. Resident Links 10
- 11. BREAKDOWN OF THE WEBSITE Resident Links Don’t you think your Residents would love to know how to get their car licensed or how/ where to vote. Or what the nearest pizza delivery is? The Residents Links page takes the hassle out of doing their own search to find information or businesses that are in your area. Other links of interest may be: City sporting events Nearest hospital & pharmacies Links to the schools Any food delivery Family or Senior centers Shopping areas & malls Utilities Travel, bus, taxi & any ride services Post office Services like financial help, Medicare and so on. 11
- 12. TOOLBOX LOG-IN To enter the Toolbox, click on “Staff Login” You will need a username and password for login. Contact Linda Hansen lhansen@yarco.com for your login information. 12
- 13. YOU MAY ALSO LOGIN FROM THE YARCO HOME PAGE 13
- 14. TOOLBOX LOG-IN ENTER USERNAME AND PASSWORD 14
- 15. WEBSITE MANAGER Website Manager is your entry to manage you website Toolbox. Also you will find the “Help Desk” link to report any items not working on your toolbox 15
- 16. WEBSITE MANAGER After clicking on “Website Manager” this crossbar will be your tool to control information that appears on your website. 16
- 17. WEBSITE MANAGER Starting with the most left option, the “Art Center” may contain floor plans, logo and other art items you have saved there. It is not uncommon to not have any items in the “Art Center” Next click on the “Contact Tracking” option. This will open a page showing names of anyone who used the “Contact Us” option. 17
- 18. CONTACT TRACKING When “Contact Us” is clicked, this page will open and allow someone to ask questions and so on. 18
- 19. CONTACT TRACKING In the Toolbox the Contact Tracking page shows all the contacts you have received. Each time someone enters a contact you, receive an email from contacts@ellipseinc.com announcing the new contact. You may reply from the email, but you should reply from your Contact Tracking page so you can use the “Postcard” 19
- 20. CONTACT TRACKING The list has 3 options: View - From View you can also Send Postcard Shows reply correspondence Send Postcard A colorful, attractive way to reply to the contacts. Delete Remove old useless contacts. 20
- 21. TELL-A-FRIEND POSTCARD Tell-A-Friend Postcard is a colorful, attractive way to reply; to not only contacts, but anyone. 21
- 22. YOUR COMMUNITY TOOLBOX Next is the “Dynamic Pages” Dynamic means that the content is changeable. Clicking If you hover over “Dynamic Pages” a drop down menu will appear showing the options that you may change or update. 22
- 23. DYNAMIC PAGES - AMENITIES First item in the drop down menu is the “Amenities”. Move your curser down to Amenities, it will highlight. Click it to open the amenities page. 23
- 24. DYNAMIC PAGES - AMENITIES “ADD NEW AMENITY”. Click on the words “ADD NEW AMENITY”, a window will open to allow you to type a new amenity. You may add an additional amenity, or update information. Be sure to click update information to save! Or Edit / Delete a current amenity 24
- 25. BULLETIN BOARD Second item in the drop down menu is the “Bulletin Board”. Click it to open the Bulletin Board page. 25
- 26. BULLETIN BOARD The Bulletin Board page gives many options: Change font Change font size Change font color Make font bold, italic, or underline Add bullets or #’s Justify the text left, right or center Add pictures Add links Remember to click on the “Update Information” to save your work. 26
- 27. BULLETIN BOARD The Bulletin Board is a great tool to keep the Residents informed on various items. Reminders of the exterminator Warnings if work will be done on parking lot Warnings if the water will be turned off Staff changes Community events Area events/festivals Announcements, marriage, new baby and so on List of the new Residents, first name only. Offer the Bulletin Board as a tool for Residents to sell items or report lost pets. 27
- 28. COMMUNITY CALENDAR Third item in the drop down menu is the “Community Calendar” Click it to open the Community Calendar page. 28
- 29. BULLETIN BOARD To enter date information, click on the number (it will turn red). 29
- 30. BULLETIN BOARD A page will open for you to type whatever you are posting on that date. Note: if the post is more words than the date box will hold, if you hover over the “Date” it will turn red and you can click to open up a page that will hold the rest of the post. Educate your Residents on how this works! Click “Update Calendar”. 30
- 31. BULLETIN BOARD On the live community calendar, any posted items with “ … “ in the date lets you know there is more. Click on the actual date number to open another page with the rest of the information. 31
- 32. YOUR COMMUNITY TOOLBOX Fourth item in the drop down is the “Dynamic Content”. Skip this option, it does not show up on your web site. 32
- 33. DYNAMIC FLOORPLANS Fifth item in the drop down is the “Dynamic Floorplans” Click it to open the Dynamic Floorplans page. 33
- 34. DYNAMIC FLOORPLANS The floorplans on your web site will be listed. If you want to rearrange of the floorplans you can by clicking on the “number” then “drag & drop” them to a new location/order. View – shows what is currently showing for that floorplan Edit – Click on this to make changes 34
- 35. DYNAMIC FLOORPLANS The edit page has a box for each entry. If the box is blank, nothing will be displayed on your website. It is important to put lots of information about the apartment and community in the “Details” and “Description” boxes. Add words someone may use to search for your apartments as well as deposit and utility information. Click update Information to save. 35
- 36. DYNAMIC FLOORPLANS Note: Looking at the live website floorplan page you will see “View E- Brochure” Click on the View E-Brochure to open a helpful leasing tool. 36
- 37. DYNAMIC FLOORPLANS The E-Brochure is a printable single page brochure that Prospects can “take-a-way” with them. It is important to have lots of information on this page! 37
- 38. PET POLICY Sixth item in the drop down menu is the “Pet Policy”. Click it to open the Pet Policy page. Pets may de a “deal breaker” so be specific, but positive in explaining your policy. 38
- 39. RESIDENT LINKS Seventh item in the drop down menu is the “Rental Criteria” Yarco does not use this category, skip it 39
- 40. RESIDENT LINKS Eighth item in the drop down menu is the “Resident links”. Click it to open the Resident Links page. 40
- 41. RESIDENT LINKS From the Resident Links page you can: Add a new link Editlinks View current links Delete links 41
- 42. RESIDENT LINKS To add a new link: Minimize your toolbox by clicking the minus button in the upper right hand corner Find and open the web page/link you want to add I’ll use Chiefs Football as an example 42
- 43. RESIDENT LINKS When you have the web page open you want to add, put your courser (mouse pointer) in the upper left box that has the URL (Link) in it Now Right Click on your mouse. The box will highlight (usually turns blue) and a drop down menu will appear. Move your courser down to “COPY” then left click on “COPY”, the link is now copied! Minimize this page by clicking the minus box in the upper right had corner. 43
- 44. RESIDENT LINKS Click on the “ADD NEW LINK” and it will open the page to enter the link and information 44
- 45. RESIDENT LINKS Title: enter the name of the link, (in this case it will be Chiefs Football) Link: put your courser inside this link box and and RIGHT click and a drop down menu will appear. 45
- 46. RESIDENT LINKS Move you courser over to “Paste” and left click on paste and the link will appear in the link box! 46
- 47. RESIDENT LINKS Address: Phone: It is helpful for the residents if you enter this information also. Description This also may be helpful 47
- 48. RESIDENT LINKS Logo: If you have one you may add it. Category: It is suggested and helpful to put links into related categories. Some suggestions are: Food Delivery Health Care Sports & entertainment City Information Schools 48
- 49. RESIDENT LINKS Don’t you think your Residents would love to know how to get their car licensed or how/where to vote. Or what the nearest pizza delivery is? The Residents Links page takes the hassle out of doing their own search to find information or businesses that are in your area. Other links of interest may be: City sporting events Nearest hospital & pharmacies Links to the schools Any food delivery Family or Senior centers Shopping areas & malls Utilities Travel, bus, taxi & any ride services Post office Services like financial help, Medicare and so on. 49
- 50. SPECIALS Ninth item in the drop down menu is the “Specials” Click it to open the Specials page. 50
- 51. SPECIALS The Specials page works very much like the Bulletin Board page, except for one BIG item, the “Special Active” box MUST be checked before the special will show up on your web site!! 51
- 52. STAFF PROFILES Tenth item in the drop down menu is the “Staff Profiles”. Click it to open the Staff Profiles page. 52
- 53. STAFF PROFILES The Staff Profiles page may also be used for an employee roster; however, Yarco does not use this option. Only the staff names & their titles will show up on the web site. Look at the Bulletin Board page of your web site. To the right is “Meet the Staff”, clicking on that will open a page with the staff names (it will show first and last names if you enter first and last) 53
- 54. WELCOME TEXT Eleventh item in the drop down menu is the “Welcome Text”. Click it to open the Welcome text page. This is one of the most important pages! 54
- 55. WELCOME TEXT This box works much the same as the Bulletin Board. However, the content you put in this box is very important. When anyone does a search looking for an apartment there may be particular points/hot buttons they want, like location or keeping their children in the same or better schools and so on . . 55
- 56. WELCOME TEXT When someone goes to Google (for example) to type in what they are looking for, they most likely will type in those points/hot buttons, AND if your community has those points/hot buttons you want to make sure they are written in your web site so your web site will show up in the results!! This completes the Dynamic Pages tab. 56
- 57. EDIT PROPERTY Moving over to the next tab is Edit Property. The only one from this drop down list you will use is: Address / Office Hrs / Directions 57
- 58. EDIT PROPERTY This property information is what will appear on the home page of your web site. If you have seasonal or if the office hours change, you make the change here. The email address that is listed will be the one that the “Contact Us” and the “Service Request” notifications will go to. Confirm it is correct! It is not necessary to enter directions. When the “Get Directions” is clicked, it goes straight to Google Maps 58
- 59. LIVESTATS/URCHIN The next tab, “LiveStats/Urchin” is the reporting piece, showing number of visits to your web site. There are many reports available and some are very detailed. I suggest you take time to become familiar with the ones you like. The left side “Dashboards” has an arrow for a dropdown menu. Click on the arrow and choose “Marketer” for your menu options. 59
- 60. LIVESTATS/URCHIN The top 3 reports will be the most useful: Marketer Overview Site Summary Marketing Summary Total Visitors will show the number of people/visitors that have viewed your website. Total Visits will show the total number of visits to your website. For example, someone may have looked at your website yesterday and again today. Total Visits will count that person twice. Total Visitors will count that person once. Below the Dashboards menu is an ”About this report” link which will educate you on the report you are viewing at the time. 60
- 61. PHOTOS & VIRTUAL TOURS Last is Photos and Tours Do not enter photos, contact Linda Hansen, Director of Property Marketing 816-300-0634 or lhansen@yarco.com Contact Linda for any questions you may have or training on the Toolbox. 61
Editor's Notes
- #14: Although Logging into your tool box can be done from the Yarco home page. I prefer you to do it from your community web site. You should review your web site weekly and make note of the changes you want to make to the web site.
- #15: Enter your username and password and log in
- #16: This is a new look – a new page. You will see here where you find the Website manager. Don’t forget you can also get access to the Ellipse Help desk too. Now click on the website manager.
- #17: I hope you all have your Login information. Go ahead and log in your username………Now enter your username. Did everyone get in?
- #18: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #20: Contacts are listed for you to keep track so sending a postcard to. You will receive an email notifying you of the new contact. If you have not been receiving these notifications, we will cover how to correct that later on.
- #21: Contacts are listed for you to keep track so sending a postcard to. You will receive an email notifying you of the new contact. If you have not been receiving these notifications, we will cover how to correct that later on.
- #23: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #24: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #25: This will pop up and let you send a cute postcard and answer any questions they may have asked. When you are finished click// “Click Here To Send”.
- #26: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #27: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #29: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #33: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #34: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #39: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #40: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #41: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #51: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #53: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.
- #55: Art center is a location for things like floor plans, pictures of your community and so on.