Uploading Plans to the Portfolio Home Pl​ans Server

The following is a overview of the Portfolio Home Plans designer upload process, capabilities after plan approval plan submission is made and general overview of our system. EULA will be available once we create your user login. We will also outline the most important areas of the EULA within this page.

1.        Logging In to the System- You will first be provided with personal login credentials for the Portfolio Home Plans system, This will enable you to upload images of elevations, floor plan(s), Specifications listed later in this document all of which you have complete control. No construction documents. Also this will include access to collaborations with customers, Orders, Your personal information.

Personal Information

2.     Update and complete your Account info- Within the home page or "Dashboard" Please be sure to completely fill out your contact information including manage personal login and password settings, choose your time zone and determine whether or not you will allow modifications of your plans. This is also for Portfolio Home Plan to process royalties and Contact you if we need to. You may also delegate specific people within your company that will be responsible items like: "Official correspondence" when we need to speak to the right person, "For Questions about Plans" when a customer collaborates with one of your plans. and Mailing list so that you do not miss any news we broadcast. 

3. Creating your typical plan set and uploading your sample plan-

This section allows you to create any number of plan set descriptions which you will be able to attach to specific plans you upload. When a customer clicks details within one of your plans. The typical plan set description will be listed below. The description you include should cover in detail everything a specific plan should include. You have the freedom to be as descriptive as you would like. Our text editor will allow you to insert small images and control the text styling. I also encourage that you upload a sample .pdf plan so that the customer can see first hand what your plans will look like. We recommend that this plan be striped of any owner identification and remove anything that could allow this plan to be used for construction. We recommend that you blur out all dimensions and/or notes and also place watermarks. This sample plan is only for general viewing purposes to be used with each of your plans you select. You have the option to create more than one if you like e.g. Conceptual plan sample, Garage Plan Sample, Accessory Plan Sample, etc... Please note that all text and images within your typical plan sets are subject to approval before becoming live.

4.        Setting Pricing for your Plans- The Portfolio Home Plans system allows designers to create pricing tiers that can be used to group their home plans accordingly. By using this method you are able to update pricing independent across all matching plans without editing each plan entry. Most designers group their plans by ranges in square-footage (e.g. 1000-2000 square foot living, etc.) The following are additional options for which you can provide pricing for:

• Number of complete construction documents in Sets (Options include 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 sets and the ability to add extra sets) These sets must be shipped through a shipping facility. 100% of shipping costs are reimbursed. 
• Mirror Set and True Mirror Set: also known as reverse and right read reverse
• Reproducible Set: Typically printed on Vellum stock and shipped through a shipping facility. (Must include a Copyright release)
• Electronic Set: .pdf or portable document format. (Must include a Copyright release)
• C.A.D Set: Typically .DXF format or you may specify your format within your plan specifications (Must include a Copyright release)
• Review Set: This is a "Not For Construction Set" Minimum requirements are Floor Plan and  4 Elevations
• Conceptual/International Set

This system is designed to allow you to later adjust your package prices instantly across all plans, should you decide to do so.

GENERAL OPTIONS EDITOR:

Our editor allows you to add unlimited options including images, styling and special formatting which we will cover in more detail below: Please note that personal information or branding will not be allowed. To help get you started we have also included a list of predefined templates which you can use as is or edit further.

5.        Establishing Foundation - Standard Foundation options are included in the Portfolio Home Plans database to give customers the ability to choose between foundations that you have available with a particular plan, without your customers having to question which are available or which are in addition. These foundations should be priced at $0.00 and "Same Day" because they are considered to be foundations to be included with your standard plan purchase. (The customer my only select a single foundation within a single purchase) if in case you have multiple foundations you would like your customers to choose from. It is good practice to create all your available standard foundations before you add your first plan. This way when you upload a new plan all options will be available during the time of your upload process.

6. Additional Foundation Options- Additional foundation options may include other foundations that are not already included above. e.g. “Pier foundation,” “Crawlspace,” etc. This option is to give your customer the ability to purchase at an addition charge. With each plan that is uploaded. (Note: You have complete control on: Pricing, Turn-around time, Description and creation of special foundation types). We only provide you with pre-built templates to help get you started.

Because customers will be required to select a foundation option before proceeding to checkout, standard foundation options must be provided with each plan before they become live. This does not apply For conceptual plans because foundations are not required.

7. Additional miscellaneous Options- You are able to create unlimited options (e.g. “change front load garage to side load garage,” etc.) can be included, as well as extra service fees or expected turnaround times for such options. You can add a material list or elevation options. All options created are available for you to choose to include. All choices are up to you.

8.     Specifying Shipping and Handling Options- As the designer, you are granted full authority to decide upon which shipping costs and options are offered for you plans and at what cost. A set of standard shipping options, which include everything from ground to next-day shipping for national and international customers, will be provided. Portfolio Home Plans offers a listing of typical shipping options and prices for utilization if you choose to do so. As a designer you will receive 100% of shipping cost you designate.

As an added feature we also make email plan option available for you to offered for any and all plan packages outlined above, at your discretion. When checking these options the customer will have the additional option within shipping method to email a specific plan package. Keep in mind that if you select email for plan sets 1,3,5,8,10 this will force you to fulfill the order by email rather than typically physically shipping it.

9.     Taking Your Plans Live- Before a plan is published on the Portfolio Home Plans database; it must be submitted to the system administrators for approval. When a designer uploads a new plan, two saving options are available, including the following:

·          Save as Draft- This option has no requirements to save and is available to allow you to upload information at your pace that can be saved for future editing.

·          Submit for Approval- Choosing this option will notify the Portfolio Home Plans administrators that you have uploaded a plan that is ready for review and approval. Once the plan has been reviewed, it will be marked with an “approved” or “denied” status. In cases where a plan is denied, instructions will be provided regarding what needs to be corrected for full approval. Plans should only be submitted when all requirements have been adhered to. Once approved, plan will be live over the internet through our re-sellers.

Plan Grouping

The Portfolio Home Plans library is strategically designed to display each of your plans that is similar to those that the customer has recently viewed, even though they may not fit into the customer’s original search criteria. To facilitate this marketing tool, you have the option to group plans that are similar within your library. An accessory plan or garage suggestion may also be included.

Plan Collaborations and Customer Interaction

When a customer visits a re-seller’s website and searches for plans in the Portfolio Home Plans database, the following options will be made available to him/her:

•  General and Advanced plan search
• View plan details
• Save plan as a favorite
• Compare favorite plans side by side
• Ask the designer a question
• Make a modification request using our Interactive Plan Modification system
• View all plans by a specific designer (selected through a specific plan)
•  Email plan details to a friend
• Purchase plan
• Track collaborations
• View and track active purchases and view purchase history
• Share plan with original website location using social media icons: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, Direct Link, Tumbler and Houzz

To allow for organized and focused customer service, the PHP system includes a listing of all plan collaborations with customers who have inquired about your designs. As the designer, you are the only person with the ability to respond to customer inquiries regarding your plans. No third-party is involved.

Also included in the PHP system is an Interactive Modification System which allows customers to make notes and erase and draw lines on plan images. These modifications will automatically be attached to the collaboration listing and will allow the customer to convey their desires seamlessly. Once collaborations are received, you are able to include a quoted price for each modification request, and such quoted modifications can then be added to the initial order by the customer. Even after the initial sale, the customer can continue collaborations and make additional change requests, at your discretion. You’ll be prompted to provide a quote for each modification request and the customer will be allowed to purchase the changes at your specified price. This option is very helpful if you prefer to bill by percent complete.

Plan Royalties

Here is a list of diagrams listing the different purchase scenarios typically encountered:

Payment Processes

All payment processes begin upon completion of a transaction. Portfolio Home Plans understand the importance of payment timeliness and will process all orders on an expedited timeline. Most importantly, Portfolio Home Plans will manage the collection of payment so that you do not have to.

We hope this has clarified our system and answer any questions you may have had. If you still have more questions, Please feel free to contact us. We hope you consider becoming a part of our team.

Complete Specifications List

The Portfolio Home Plans specification list includes:  

PLAN INFO:   

• Plan number
• Plan type (House Plan, garage, etc.)
• Plan name (Optional)
• Number of levels (1, 2, 3 story)
• Is it a split level plan?
• Is this plan modifiable? (can specify each plan you would like to be modifiable by you)
• Price tier (This list is populated from the price list you have created)
• Conceptual Plan (Designates that this plan is a conceptual plan and not a complete plan)

DIMENSIONS:

• Total width and depth (including feet and inches)
• Average ceiling height
• Average roof pitch
• Ridge height (including feet and inches)

FOOTAGE:

• Square footage including first level, second level, third level, Fourth Level, Fifth Level, basement, total living, porches, car & storage, bonus space, expandable space and total roofed footage

ROOMS:

• Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, ½ baths, cars (two options for each including actual and potential)

STRUCTURAL:

• Roof load
• Roof framing
• Exterior framing

EXTERIOR MATERIALS:

• Exterior finish (including main, second, third and fourth finish as applicable)
• Average window type

SAMPLE PLAN SETS & NOTES:

• Choose your sample plan set as outlined earlier.
• Add additional Notes that is specific to this plan

PLAN STYLE:

• Plan styles (e.g. French Country, craftsman, etc.)

PLAN FEATURES:

• Exterior features (including Wrap around porch, Covered front porch, Covered rear porch, Screen porch, Courtyard, Sunroom
• Car features (including Garage, Portico, Carport, Garage under, No garage, Detached
• Car location (including Front, Rear, Front outside, Front inside, Rear outside, Rear inside
• Main features (including Open floor plan, Office/study, Unfinished basement, Media room, Daylight basement, ADA accessible, Balcony/loft, Workshop, Storage, ADA adaptable, Game room, Mud room, Volume/vaulted, Drop zone, Split bedroom)
• Kitchen features (including Breakfast, Island, Butler pantry, Walk-in pantry, Peninsula bar, Tech center)
• Bed and bath features (including Master sitting, Jack-and-Jill bath, His/her master bath, Mother-in-law, His/her closet, Walk-in closets in other bedrooms)

PLAN DESIGN:

• Energy design(Yes/No)
• Any energy certification type (e.g. L.E.E.D.)
• Designed region? (Which region this plan is best suited for or has originally designed for, Pacific Northwest, South Central, Northeast, Pacific Southwest, North Central, Southeast.

PLAN PRICING AND PACKAGES: (REQUIRED)

• Which plan packages are available for this plan? which includes the list of our standard price tier sets: Standard Packages 1,3,5,8,10, Reproducible Set, Electronic Set, CAD Set, Review Set, So if you have all plan pricing set with each tier created you can specify per plan in case certain plans do not have specific packages within a tier.

WHICH PACKAGE OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS PLAN?

• Additional Sets
• Mirror Set
• True Mirror

WHICH FOUNDATIONS ARE INCLUDED WITH THIS PLAN? (REQUIRED EXCEPT FOR CONCEPTUAL PLANS)

• This will be a populated list of foundation options that include extra charge you created and outlined earlier.

WHICH ADDITIONAL OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS PLAN?

• This will be a populated list of additional options that include extra charge you create and outlined earlier e.g. "Change Garage door from side to front", "Add material list".

Plan Image Guidelines

The following is a list of image placeholders for upload your plan images: The purpose of these guidelines is to insure that our library remains as uniform as possible and reflect the highest level of presentation to our viewing customers while at the same time insuring that our re-sellers remain satisfied with the quality which will make their own website shine even brighter. But even more important to you is we want you to sell your plans which requires meeting the demand in which the customers want. Pretty and eye catching images. Think of "selling the sizzle not just the steak".

• Main elevation Image #01: All images are reviewed by quality of the presentation and the overall improvement we believe that will add to the overall site. The examples below are a general guideline. Please try to stay with natural perspectives, Arial images do sometime look nice but in reality you are placing the customers view in an nu-natural angle which we have found reduces potential plan sales. NO Technical Drawings. We ask that you only use technical style drawings within the miscellaneous image placeholder and still remove as must technical information as you can
• Main Floor Level Image #03: As the name implies, single image preferable
• Floor Plan / Misc. Images #: These are any remaining floor plans and/or elevations, Photos etc… No limit of on misc. images. NO technical looking floor plans. remove all detail notes, window and door sizes and above all keep the wall lines solid and bold, preferable Black and White. Adding color to the floor plan to represent zones is a encouraging way to make your images more understandable to the common viewer.

Minimum requirements for plan submittal:

ELEVATION IMAGE REQUIREMENTS:

ELEVATION IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS:

Our system is designed to reduce and crop automatically. The final dimensions of the main elevation image will be cropped to a wide landscape size which is 900 pixels wide by 400 pixels high. This format is used because most houses are wider than they are tall and this size gives a more panoramic view to the customer. Even though we know that some elevations are taller than they are wide will leave white space on each side of the image, so we recommend widening the landscape or adding an additional view next to the original image. This will have to be done within an external image editor.

FLOOR PLAN IMAGES AND BEST PRACTICE:

When preparing floor plan images please make multiple floors appear close in size. If you crop each image to the edge of your drawings our system will enlarge and/or reduce the final image to fit within our layouts. This may cause undesired results for our customers because each floor is at different size making it hard for the customer to visualize the intended location and can make the customer think one floor space is much bigger than the other.

We hope this has clarified our system and answer any questions you may have had. If you still have more questions, Please feel free to contact us. We hope you consider becoming a part of our team.