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Setting Up Portfolio Conditions

Setting Up Portfolio Conditions

Learn how to create and manage Portfolio conditions for automatic permit discovery.

Portfolio conditions define what permits Plotwise automatically discovers for you. This guide explains how to create effective conditions for different use cases.

Condition Types

Portfolio supports four condition types:

Company Condition

Search by company or business name.

Fields:

  • Company Name: Business name (use autocomplete for best results)
  • FEI Number: Federal Employer ID (optional, improves accuracy)
  • Phone: Company phone number (optional)

Best for:

  • Your own company's permits
  • Client companies
  • Contractor businesses

Tips:

  • Use autocomplete - it matches database format
  • Add FEI number when available for precision
  • Company names are normalized (DR HORTON matches D.R. Horton Inc.)

License Condition

Search by contractor license number.

Fields:

  • License Number: State or local license number
  • License Type: General, Electrical, Plumbing, etc. (optional)

Best for:

  • Specific contractors
  • License-based tracking
  • Compliance monitoring

Tips:

  • License numbers are the most precise identifier
  • Include leading zeros if applicable
  • Some contractors have multiple licenses

Person Condition

Search by individual name.

Fields:

  • Person Name: Full name (use autocomplete)
  • Email: Email address (optional)

Best for:

  • Property owners
  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Individual contractors

Tips:

  • Use autocomplete for name matching
  • Full names work better than partial
  • Email can help disambiguate common names

Location Condition

Search by geographic area (typically used for Radar, but available in Portfolio).

Fields:

  • Address: Street address or coordinates
  • Radius: Search distance (miles or kilometers)

Best for:

  • Property-specific monitoring
  • Neighborhood tracking

Creating a Condition

Step 1: Open Add Condition Dialog

  1. Navigate to Portfolio page
  2. Click the menu button (⋮) next to condition tabs
  3. Select "Add Condition"
Add Portfolio Condition dialog showing condition type tabs

Step 2: Choose Condition Type

Click the tab for your condition type:

  • Company: For business entities
  • License: For license numbers
  • Person: For individuals

Step 3: Enter Search Criteria

For Company conditions:

  1. Start typing company name in the field
  2. Wait for autocomplete suggestions (2+ characters)
  3. Select from dropdown OR enter manually
  4. Add FEI number if known
  5. Add phone if known

For License conditions:

  1. Enter license number exactly
  2. Select license type (optional)

For Person conditions:

  1. Start typing person name
  2. Select from autocomplete suggestions
  3. Add email if known

Step 4: Set Display Label

Enter a short, descriptive label:

  • Appears in condition tabs
  • Helps identify the condition quickly
  • Example: "ABC Construction" or "John Smith - Arch"

Step 5: Save Condition

Click "Add Condition" to save. The condition immediately starts discovering permits.

Using Autocomplete

The autocomplete feature is crucial for matching permits correctly.

How It Works

  1. Type at least 2 characters
  2. Plotwise searches the database
  3. Suggestions appear with permit counts
  4. Select the matching entity

Why Use Autocomplete

Company and person names in permit databases are often inconsistent:

  • "D.R. Horton Inc." vs "DR HORTON"
  • "Smith, John" vs "John Smith"
  • Abbreviated names

Autocomplete:

  • Normalizes your input
  • Matches database format
  • Shows permit counts to verify

Autocomplete Tips

  • Wait for suggestions to load (400ms debounce)
  • Select from dropdown when possible
  • Check permit count matches expectations
  • If no match, try variations

Managing Conditions

Viewing Conditions

Each condition appears as a tab:

  • Tab shows display label
  • Active tab highlighted
  • "All" shows combined results

Editing Conditions

  1. Click the menu button (⋮)
  2. Select "Configure Portfolio"
  3. Click edit icon on condition
  4. Modify fields
  5. Save changes

Deleting Conditions

  1. Click the menu button (⋮)
  2. Select "Configure Portfolio"
  3. Click delete icon on condition
  4. Confirm deletion

Condition Strategies

Your Own Company

Recommended setup:

  1. Company name condition (primary)
  2. License number condition (backup)

This catches permits even if company name varies.

Client Tracking

For each client:

  1. Create organization for client
  2. Add client company name condition
  3. Add client license numbers

Subcontractor Monitoring

For key subs:

  1. Add license number condition (most reliable)
  2. Or company name with FEI

Property Owner

For tracking owner permits:

  1. Person condition with owner name
  2. May need location condition for common names

Condition Limits

  • Maximum 5 conditions per organization
  • No duplicate conditions (same criteria)
  • All condition types count toward limit

Maximizing 5 Conditions

Strategies when at limit:

  • Combine related entities logically
  • Use most precise identifier (license over name)
  • Create separate organizations if needed
  • Remove inactive/unused conditions

Troubleshooting

Best Practices Checklist

  • Use autocomplete for company/person names
  • Add FEI number when available
  • Use descriptive display labels
  • Start with your own company
  • Review results after adding condition
  • Remove unused conditions regularly
  • Combine with license conditions for reliability

Related Documentation

OverviewBrowsing Discoveries