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Your estate: places, units and shapes4 min read

Stacked or flat? Setting up a building with floors vs a subdivision with streets

A building and a subdivision are both 'units with people in them', and the software could treat them the same. It would be wrong in twenty small ways a day. The shape setting is how the platform avoids that.

By the end of this pageYou will know exactly what the shape changes on screen and in the language, and be able to choose it with confidence.
On this pageWhat stacked changesWhat flat changesWhat is the sameChoosing
The same Units page, two shapesDrag to compare
harbourridgeMy dayMoneyPeopleHousekeepingGateInventoryDana · AdminHarbour Ridge · UnitsFloor 66A6B6C6D6E6F6G6HFloor 55A5B5C5D5E5F5G5HFloor 44A4B4C4D4E4F4G4HFloor 33A3B3C3D3E3F3G3HFloor 22A2B2C2D2E2F2G2HFloor 11A1B1C1D1E1F1G1H
sunsetvillasMy dayDuesHomeownersGateSupportInventoryDana · AdminSunset Villas · LotsMabini StreetLot 1Lot 2Lot 3Lot 4Lot 5Lot 6Lot 7Lot 8Lot 9Lot 10Lot 11Lot 12Lot 13Lot 14Lot 15Lot 16Lot 17Lot 18Lot 19Lot 20Lot 21Lot 22Lot 23Lot 24Rizal StreetLot 25Lot 26Lot 27Lot 28Lot 29Lot 30Lot 31Lot 32Lot 33Lot 34Lot 35Lot 36Lot 37Lot 38Lot 39Lot 40Lot 41Lot 42Lot 43Lot 44Lot 45Lot 46Lot 47Lot 48Luna StreetLot 49Lot 50Lot 51Lot 52Lot 53Lot 54Lot 55Lot 56Lot 57Lot 58Lot 59Lot 60Lot 61Lot 62Lot 63Lot 64Lot 65Lot 66Lot 67Lot 68Lot 69Lot 70Lot 71Lot 72
StackedFlat
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Left: floors, corridors, a cleaner's route. Right: streets and lots, dues and a gate. One setting at sign-up decides which you see.

What stacked changes

  • Units carry a floor. Lists and totals group by floor; the building card on My day shows occupancy per floor.
  • Housekeeping assumes corridors. The rota walks a cleaner along a floor; "next unit" means the next door, not the next street.
  • The gate is one door. Visitors are logged for the building and directed to a unit.

What flat changes

  • Units are lots with a street, block or phase. Sorting and grouping follow those.
  • Language shifts. "Tenant" can become "homeowner", "rent" becomes "dues" if you say it is an association. Navigation shows Dues and Homeowners instead of Money and Clients.
  • The gate is a perimeter. The guard post logs vehicles and plate numbers; visitors are admitted to a lot.
  • Housekeeping is common areas, not corridors — the park, the clubhouse, the streets — unless you also clean homes.

What is the same

Everything underneath. Units, clients, invoices, payments, expenses, staff, files, the audit log, the portal. A stacked and a flat place in the same workspace share the same money pages and the same people. The shape changes how things are arranged and named, never how they are stored.

Choosing

If units are on top of each other, stacked. If they sit on the ground along streets, flat. If you have both, two places. If there is an association collecting dues rather than a landlord collecting rent, flat and mark it as an association. The three-question chooser gets the same answer faster.

Townhouses in a row with shared walls and a common gate are flat: each has its own ground-level door and lot. A low-rise with two floors and external stairs is stacked, even though it barely stacks. The question is whether floor or street is the thing people say when they give directions.

Related

Your estate · 4 minPlacesRead the article →Your estate · 4 minAdding unitsRead the article →Your estate · 4 minScattered unitsRead the article →
←  PlacesAdding units  →

Describes the platform as it is today. Something out of date? Tell us. · help 0.12.3