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Understanding the Terms - Leads and Tenants Reservation Settings How to add a Lead How to Reactivate a Retired Lead Ways to Reserve a Space Converting a Lead or Reservation to a New Tenant Moving in a Lead Documents and Digital Signatures Transferring an Existing Tenant to a New Space Rent a Space as a Business! Access Control Updating and Cancelling a ReservationAuctions Overview Scheduling an Auction Viewing and Adding Auction Information Modifying a Scheduled Auction How to Cancel a Scheduled Auction? Taking Auction Payments Moving Out the Tenant and Closing Lease After Auction Handling and Refunding Cleaning Deposits Scheduling an Auction from the Auction Manager Configuring the Tenant Mobile ManagerTenant Profile Overview How to Take a Payment from a Tenant Updating Tenant Information Understanding the Delinquency Timeline Communications Overview Understanding Space Settings and Information from a Tenant's Profile Adding Promotions and Discounts Saving a Payment Method/Autopay Selling Merchandise Generating a Document for your Tenant Accepting an Inter-property Payment Updating Gate Access Creating an Invoice from a Tenant's Profile Linking Contacts in Hummingbird Adding a New City for Your Tenants Generating and Sending Documents via Multiple Delivery Methods Generate and Save Documents Without Selecting a Delivery Method Archiving and Unarchiving of Document Denying Online Payments Understanding Space Types Template Manager - Communication Templates for Email and SMS
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Configuring Website CMS Settings City Content Settings Company Blogs Settings Website Coupon Settings FMS Initial Setup Local Blogs Settings Location and Street View Settings Name and Address Info Settings Property Coverage Settings Property Email Notes Settings Property Media Settings State Content Settings Website General Settings Website Promotion Settings Website Social Media Settings Introduction to Alt Tags Clear Cache Company Pages Settings Hours and Amenities Settings Legal Pages Settings Storage Tips Settings Website General Pages Settings Website Themes Files Settings Tracking Script Settings Website API Keys Mariposa H1 Tags
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Get to Know Hummingbird - Our Property Management Software Hummingbird Customer Journey How to Use Hummingbird Creating Customized Views for Hummingbird Modules Hummingbird Glossary Adding a New User in Hummingbird Creating a User Role in Hummingbird Adding Spaces within Hummingbird Adding an Additional Space for an Existing Tenant Hummingbird Application Launcher Configure Do not Disturb Settings for Communications
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January New Features and Updates February New Features and Updates March New Features and Updates April New Features and Updates May New Features and Updates June New Features and Updates August New Features and Updates September New Features and Updates October New Releases and Updates November New Features and Updates
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If an Auction has already been processed, can you add an additional fee for your previous tenant? Can you schedule an auction without a prompt from Hummingbird's Delinquency Automation? If a tenant's Space goes into auction, do they have to be notified when Space is sold and the winning bid amount? If a tenant's space goes to auction, are they notified of the winning bid amount and if the space is sold? What is the minimum amount required for a scheduled auction to close?Are taxes on a rental payment applied prior to applying a promotion? Are taxes applied on late fees? If a property is on anniversary billing and a transfer occurs, what would be the new billing date? If there are two open invoices and a tenant makes a partial payment, which invoice will the payment get applied? While catching up with an account that is past-due for a few months, in what order is a payment applied? If a tenant is on a quarterly or yearly billing cycle and misses a payment, will they still be billed quarterly or yearly? How many days before the due date is an invoice generated? How often are invoices sent to tenants? What happens to an invoice amount when a tenant vacates a Space mid-month? How is tax applied to an invoice? What happens to the excess amount if a tenant overpays an invoice? Is there a difference in tax rates for different types of storage Spaces? How are taxes handled if a tenant rents a Space in a different state? What happens if there is a change in tax rates for a state? how do they reflect on invoices? Can you add additional discounts or promotions for tenants on a multi-month billing cycle? How are these applied? If you change the billing day for a lease with a quarterly or annual payment cycle, when does it come into effect? If invoices are not paid on time, in what order does a subsequent payment get applied? Also, in what order does a payment apply across invoice lines - Rent, Coverage, Taxes, Late fees, etc.? Is a tenant eligible to receive certain discounts on rental rates if they pay for multiple months in advance? Does Close of Day support petty cash? Do you need to Close the Day every day to ensure there are no financial or accounting errors?Are leads automatically created for incoming calls? How can a district manager listen to past calls? What is expected behaviour if no agents answer the call? What is the expected behaviour for a signed-in agent if another agent answers a call before they do? What is the behaviour if multiple tabs are open for a signed-in Charm agent and a call comes in? Can agents manually enter credit card numbers when they are on a charm call? How long does the user have to enter their card number before entry times out? What happens if the user enters invalid data for card number, CVV, or expiration date? What happens if the user enters card data that passes field validation but results in a payment processing error? (Issuer rejection or payment gateway error) Can a Hummingbird user present a card payment using a payment terminal if they are on a charm call? Does the caller have to re-enter all card information if a card payment is rejected by the payment processor? As an agent, I briefly hear a phone ringing sound (as if I’m phoning someone) when I pick up the call. Why and what does this mean? What is the caller’s experience if they are placed on hold? I moved the Toast to the bottom of the page, but it disappeared. How can I make it reappear? Is the agent availability status retained when an agent logs out and logs back in? Is it possible to delete a call recording or voicemail from Charm? Why does Charm immediately hang up on the caller when pressing the green answer button to take a call? Can we take calls directly on cell phones? How does call forwarding work, and how many people can be included? Does my browser need to stay active to hear Charm call notifications? Will calls be missed if the browser goes to sleep? Why does the “Retired” lead status not change to “Active” if a retired lead calls the property?What does an Overlock do in the Delinquency Process? Can you create a manual task outside of the Delinquency Automation and have that task be reoccurring? How much does a delinquent tenant have to pay in order to become current again? What are the supported delivery methods for generating documents during delinquency? If a tenant changes their delinquency structure (for example, the lien fee days from 35 to 30), does this impact all tenants or only new ones that go into lien? Can you send delinquency notices to the business representative? If there are two alternate contacts for a Space, will both of them receive delinquency notices?Can a gate access code have alphanumeric characters? What is the maximum allowed length for a gate access code? Can you modify a gate access code length? If a tenant rents more than one Space in the same property, can the same access code be set for all rented spaces? Can a family member or contact of a tenant be assigned their own gate access code? Does Hummingbird allow excluding certain values for use as gate access codes for security purposes? When linking contacts in Hummingbird, does the Access Code need to match for both contacts? Are DaVinci lock codes sent to all online rental customers despite their ID Verification status?What is the difference between Hummingbird properties and Non-Hummingbird properties? Can you search for tenants using their phone numbers? How to make new feature requests? Why does Hummingbird ask permission to use my microphone when logging in? What services does Hummingbird Integrate with? How can you subscribe to new applications? What is the Base Rent, and how is it calculated?Is there a way to add YouTube videos on the website, within a company page? Can tenants update their email and contact information via the online portal? If a tenant updates their address on the website, will the address in Hummingbird also be updated? Where can you modify Soft Reservation Notification emails? How do you set up a discount to be applied at online checkout? Do you have to use a discount code? How do you publish content for a date in the past? Can you change the unit illustration image displayed on the self-storage website? Is there an option to mandate Autopay for all tenants when they pay online? Can you modify the reservation days on the self-storage website? What are advance reservations and how do you enable them? How do I add a marketing banner at the top of the self-storage website? How can you change the email address from which messages are sent to tenants? Where can you modify the "Size Disclaimer" text on the website? If the 15-minute hold timer expires while the customer is still on the Rent Now Mariposa screen, will they have to restart or will a new unit be assigned? If different Rate Variance settings are specified in the FMS Initial Setup and Website General Settings, which one takes precedence? Does Mariposa/Incode accept passports as a valid ID during the online rental process? If No, then which IDs are accepted? What is the significance of "Enable Account Edit" in the FMS Initial Setup section of Website CMS settings? Can you integrate XPS live chat with Mariposa? What is the difference between Enable Cart Abandonment" and "Email Abandoned Rental Notification" in the FMS Initial Setup section of Website Settings?How do I ensure that Automatic payments (Autopay) is enabled for all the upcoming rentals at my property? What is the difference between Refunds, Offline Reversals, and Chargebacks? Which Terminal is Recommended for Tenant Payments for Accepting Card payments by Swiping/Tapping/and Typing Pin? A tenant has a prepaid balance and Autopay enabled. How is the payment deducted, from the prepaid balance or their card since Autopay is enabled? Why is there a Void option for Cash payments in addition to Refund? What does each signify? How can you know if a payment was made from a One Time Payment Link? Does Autopay provide additional discounts on rentals? Does a tenant incur any additional fees for making rental payments with a credit card? How long does it take to deposit an ACH payment? While catching up with an account that is past-due for a few months, in what order is a payment applied? While taking a payment from a tenant via Check, how do I record the amount associated with the check in Hummingbird? What is a Paid through date? How do you know when there is a payment failure? Can you find details about a failed transaction? When autopay fails (for reasons like NSF), when is the NSF fee applied, at the first failure or after all the attempts run? Is there a way to perform a merchandise return/refund that is sold to a walk-in customer who is not a tenant? Can I refund credit card transactions anytime in Hummingbird, or is there a limit on the number of days? Can you re-issue the same invoice after its voided? Which payment methods are supported for one-time payment links? If an Autopayment was made today, can a user void it the same day? If a tenant is on a quarterly or yearly billing cycle and misses a payment, will they still be billed quarterly or yearly? Why is there an ability to set Autopay to re-run for 'X' days after the billing date? What is the difference between a Variable Fee and a Fixed Fee? How to Issue a Refund to a Tenant Why must customers manually link each unit to their online account, even if they are already linked in Hummingbird? Why can't all units associated with their info or the first linked unit be automatically pulled in? Is there a log of changes when a tenant updates their account information? Are tenants required to sign an Autopay addendum when enrolling or is this only a requirement in certain states/a preference for certain operators? How can you waive a month’s rent, late fees, advertising fees, etc. for a tenant? Does the CC Chargeback option refund a payment to a tenant or just removes it from the ledger?How to set up recurring reporting within Hummingbird? What do you do if the Lease does not get generated or is incorrect? Is there a Report that shows all the transactions that occurred through Tenant Payments? Is there a report that shows how much is collected in late fees? Is there a report that shows past tenants? Can you set up Hummingbird to generate activity logs for tasks performed by Property Managers? How do I know the origin of a Payment (i.e. via payment terminal, autopay, on file/manual, etc.) in a Financial Report? Is there a report that can provide information regarding Chargebacks? Is there a report that shows which user retired a lead? What do you do if you get a timeout error while downloading a report for all your properties? Is there a report that shows the Tenants’ Credit Card Expiration Dates?If a Tenant reserves a Space and they don't move in, will the Space go back into inventory automatically or will the manager have to manually take action? Does Hummingbird allow screening for blacklists in the rental flow? When a rental/reservation is initiated, there is an option to choose “how did you find us”. Is there a report to find how many times a source was selected? Can you see who Moved in and Moved out every month on the Dashboard? Where can you update a tenant's vehicle information after a move-in? How can you add the vehicle details after the tenant has signed the lease and moved in? When renting as a business, is the lease agreement generated with the business representative's name? Can you change a business profile to an individual profile? How can you view the Rental Abandonments in Hummingbird? Where can you find a record of the Lead Source information captured while moving in leads? Is there an option to restrict online reservations when only one unit remains available?If you have a Prorize integration, can you make rent changes for your tenants? A tenant has a scheduled rent change for February and an existing invoice with a prepaid amount. Will the invoice be updated to the new rent amount on the Rent Change's effective date? Can a rental rate increase be applied in the middle of a payment cycle? While uploading a file in the Rent Change Queue, can I add new tenants or only the existing tenants whose rent is due for adjustment? What is the preferred file format? Are the rent plan defaults only available for value pricing or can you assign an automated rent plan to a space with no value tiers?How do I enable a user to Write off a past-due amount for a tenant as a loss to the property? If you’re unable to change a user’s role or permission, what could be the reason? Which permission controls whether a user can edit the autopay bill date? What can a user with No Permissions do and see within Hummingbird?How do I disable the functionality of sending monthly invoices to tenants via email? Let’s say, you have sent out an SMS in bulk to your tenants but some of them cannot see it in their Communications in Hummingbird. What could be the reason for this? Are property specific Email/SMS do not disturb settings based on the time zone where the property is located? Can you make alternate contacts mandatory? Can notes be deleted from a tenant profile? Can we resend failed documents via SimpleCertified in Hummingbird, or can we only download the failed documents and manually mail them out?What is Value Pricing? How Does Value Pricing Work? What needs to be configured for Value Pricing to work? Which views need to be enabled for Value Pricing to work? Can I change the name of the Value Pricing Tiers? What is Space Scoring? Does Space Scoring impact whether a unit is categorized as Good, Better, or Best? What does Custom Value Pricing do? Can I assign Rent Plans to my Value Pricing Tiers? Why don’t some units appear in Grid and List view?Why is my payment getting rejected? Possible Duplicate Request Invalid Service Expired Card Inactive Terminal (Backend) Cannot Complete Because of Violation Do Not Honor Invalid From Account Suspected Card Insufficient Funds Withdrawal Limit Exceeded Invalid Card Suspected Fraud Customer Requested Stop of All Recurring Payments from Specific Merchant PIN Attempts Exceeded Invalid Amount General CardAuth Decline
Company Blogs Settings
Table of Contents
The Company Blogs settings play a crucial role in managing the self-storage company’s blogs that appear on its website. The Company blogs primarily center around the self-storage property or brand. They highlight news, updates, and events specific to the company and may include announcements about property expansions, new services, promotions, customer testimonials, moving tips, etc.
The primary goal of these company blogs is to attract and engage potential customers, build brand awareness and trust, and drive conversions.
Through the Company Blogs settings, you can modify the blog title, header image or video, and its content, change the meta details that contribute towards SEO, and the blog’s publish status. You can also add a new blog, associate it with a required category, etc.
The Company Blogs appear in the Blog section of a self-storage website’s homepage.
Note: The visibility of the Company Blogs is tagged with the “Disable Blog” setting in the “Website General Settings” of the CMS Settings. Ensure that the checkbox corresponding to Disable Blog is not selected so the company blogs can appear on the website.
To configure the company blog settings, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Navigate to Website Settings and Company Blogs from the left navigation.
- You will see a list of existing blogs with their title, slug, status, and publish date. You can view the details pertaining to a blog by clicking it. If a blog is no longer required, you can delete it from the corresponding vertical ellipsis.
- To add a new blog and publish it on the website, click +Add New Company Blog.
Note: Once you change or add any configurations, ensure to click the Save button and then clear the website cache every time for the changes to reflect on the website. You can clear the cache by navigating to Clear Cache from the left navigation and clicking the Clear Cache button. You will receive a success message once the cache is successfully cleared.
Content
Page Header
- Title - The main heading that introduces and summarizes the content of a blog post. The blog title is intended to capture readers' attention and entice them to click through and read the blog.
- Slug - The part of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that uniquely identifies a specific blog post or article. It typically appears at the end of the URL after the main domain name and any additional path segments. For example, https://example.com/blog/post-title. In this URL, "blog" is a path segment indicating the section of the website where blog posts are located, and "post-title" is the blog slug, which uniquely identifies a specific blog post.
Blog slugs serve various purposes like providing uniqueness to a blog, enhancing its readability, improving SEO, making it easier to bookmark and share, etc. A blog slug is automatically populated when you enter the Title though you have the ability to modify it.
- Category - An organization or grouping of related blog posts based on common themes, topics, or subjects. Categories help readers navigate a blog more easily by providing a structured way to access content on specific topics of interest. A few examples of blog categories are Moving, Storage, Storage Tips, Vehicle Storage, etc.
You can create a new category or modify the details pertaining to an existing one by clicking +Add/Edit Category.
- Title - The name associated with a blog category that clearly indicates the topics covered and helps users quickly locate relevant content.
- Meta Title - The HTML title tag associated with a blog category that provides a brief and accurate description of the content found on the category page. It is displayed in search engine results pages as a clickable headline and also appears at the top of the browser window when users visit the page.
- Meta Description - Provides a brief summary of the content found on the category page. It is often displayed below the meta title in search engine results pages and serves as a preview snippet that helps users understand the relevance of the category page to their search query.
By providing an effective blog category meta title and meta description, you can improve the visibility and click-through rate of the category pages in search engine results, ultimately driving more traffic and engagement to your blog.
Click Save.
- Author - The blogger responsible for creating, writing, and publishing content on a blog.
To add a new author for the blog, click +Add/Edit Author and provide their name and email address. Then, click Save.
- Related Property - You can select a self-storage property associated with the blog post. For example, say, the blog highlights the features, amenities, and services offered at a specific self-storage property, provides details about the neighborhood or attractions of a property, announces updates, renovations, or improvements made to a property, etc.
If you do not wish to associate a specific property with the blog, select Not Specified from the drop-down list. Such blog posts will appear in the Company Blog tab of the website’s Blog section.
Website View:
However, if you associate a property with the blog by selecting it from the Related Property drop-down list, the blog will no longer appear in the Company Blog tab; instead, it will reflect on the selected property’s landing page.
Header File
- Image - The image used as the header or banner of a blog page. This image is prominently displayed and gives visitors a sense of what the blog is about and what they can expect to find.
Website View:
- Video (Optional) - You also have the option to use a video as the header or banner of a blog page instead of a static image. You can add a Wistia or Youtube video ID to embed a video at the top of a blog post.
The Video ID can be obtained by:
- Wistia - Video ID is a unique identifier found after the domain name in the URL. For example, in https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/ABC123, "ABC123" is the unique video ID.
- Youtube - The YouTube video ID is located after the "v=" parameter in the URL. For example, in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYZ456, "XYZ456" is the unique video ID.
After adding a Video ID, you can click Preview to see how the blog post will appear on the website once it goes live.
- Alt Text - The alternative text attribute associated with images inserted into a blog post. Alt text provides descriptive text alternatives for images in blog posts. It helps ensure that all users, regardless of their abilities or browsing conditions, can access and understand the content of the blog. Alt Text is an essential tool for enhancing a blog’s web accessibility and SEO.
Page Contents
- Abstract - A brief summary or overview of a blog post's content that appears on the website homepage and listings. It provides readers with a concise description of what the post is about and can help attract readers and improve search engine visibility. The abstract can be a maximum of 350 characters.
- Contents - The main content of a blog comprising of written text, images, infographics, etc. You can format the content and include images, code blocks, links, etc, from the options available in the editor.
Website View:
Promote
Promotion Header
The meta title, meta keywords, and meta description are elements of metadata that help optimize a blog post for search engines and attract clicks from users in search engine results pages. This improves search visibility and drives traffic to the blog.
- Meta Title - The HTML title tag that specifies the title of a webpage and appears as a clickable headline in search engine results pages (SERPs). It is displayed at the top of the browser window when a user visits the webpage. The meta title should accurately describe the content of the blog post and include relevant keywords to improve search engine visibility.
- Meta Keywords - Specific meta tags located in the HTML head section of a webpage containing a list of keywords that represent the content of the page for search engines.
Meta keywords were once a standard part of SEO practices; they are now considered obsolete and unnecessary. Instead, it is recommended to focus on creating content that naturally incorporates keywords.
- Meta Description - Provides a summary of the content of a webpage. It appears below the meta title in search engine results pages and serves as a snippet of information to help users decide whether to click on the link. The meta description should accurately summarize the blog post's content, highlight its main points, and entice users to click through to read more.
Settings
Page Settings
Status - The blog status signifies the current state or condition of a blog post, i.e. if it is in a draft state, published, scheduled for publishing, etc.
- Published - The state of a blog post that has been reviewed and approved for publication. Published posts are visible to the public and can be accessed on the blog's website.
- Publish Later - A blog post that has been written and approved for publication but is scheduled to be published at a future date and time specified by the author.
- Draft - The state of a blog that is still being written or edited and is not yet ready for publication. Drafts are typically saved in the CMS but are not visible to the public.
- Publish Early - You have the ability to publish a blog for a date in the past. Backdating content may be required in cases of publishing older content, aligning with certain events or anniversaries, etc.
After providing the details, click Save Blog and clear the cache by navigating to Clear Cache from the left navigation.