Adding members and plots

These are the two lists everything else hangs off. Plots first, then members, then join them together.

Adding a plot

Plots → Add plot. It needs:

• a plot number — whatever you call it on the ground, 5A or 12 or North 3. It has to be unique on the site, and if you run more than one site each can have its own plot 1.
• a size — free text, so use whatever your association uses: rods, square metres, "half plot".
• a fee — what it costs for a year. This is the figure rent is worked out from.
• notes, if there is anything worth remembering about it.

A new plot starts as vacant. It becomes occupied when you give it to somebody.

You can change any of this later. Changing a fee updates the current year's invoices for that plot; previous years stay as they were.

Adding a member

Members → Add member. The only thing Allotmin insists on is a name. Everything else is optional and can be filled in whenever you have it:

• email address — needed if you want to email them or send them their balance page
• phone number and postal address
• the date their tenancy was signed
• the plot size they are after
• their National Allotment Society number
• notes
• any custom fields you have set up

Then join them up

A member with no plot is not billed for anything. See giving a member a plot.

If you have a lot to add

Do not type them. Import them from a spreadsheet — it takes both members and plots, and you can do it as many times as you like.

Deleting somebody

You can delete a member, but think before you do. Their past invoices, correspondence and inspections are part of your association's record. If somebody has simply left, ending their tenancy is usually the right move — the plot goes back to vacant and the history stays intact.