Issues

Issues are the core superpower of Minicastle. They're designed to help you achieve everything you want to build, fix, or improve. Use Issues when you find a problem or think of something that needs to be:

• Fixed or replaced
• Installed or hung
• Recycled or thrown away
• Moved, assembled, or disassembled
• Designed or coordinated
• Automated or organized

You can also use Issues to help you purchase, hire, or delegate tasks that are too ambitious to DIY.

Benefits

Issues provide you with the following benefits:

• Track anything that you want to do (fix, build, improve, etc.)
• Break down big or overwhelming problems into smaller chunks of work
• Prioritize and focus based on Areas
• Easily remember what happened or how you fixed a problem when similar issues pop up in the future
• Enjoy the progress you've made with reporting and visualizations

Creating an Issue

A well documented, useful Issue will have some or all of the following pieces of information:

• Issue Name: At a high-level, what is the problem? Something like "Paint the bathroom wall" or "Fix the loose cabinet" should do the trick
• Issue Type: In a nutshell, what do you need to do? "Fix", "Install", "Replace", "Paint", and "Clean" are all common Issue types
• Priority: How urgent is this? Choose from:
  • Urgent — needs immediate attention
  • Necessary — important but not time-sensitive
  • Nice to Have — would be great to get to eventually
  • None — no priority set
• Description: A rich-text editor lets you give as much context as necessary — it'll be a useful reference to your Co-Owners, or to yourself in the future
• Related Areas: Where does the problem exist? It could be specific to a single room, an entire floor, or even the whole house
• Project: Issues can be rolled up into larger efforts by tying them to a Project
• Scheduled Date: When do you want to work on this? Add a date to plan around a day or weekend worth of work
• Cost: How much money have you spent? You can be as general or specific as you'd like
• Time Spent: Keep a record of time spent to help appreciate the hard work you've put in
• Status: All Issues start as "To Do". Mark them as "In Progress" when you start working, and "Done" when you're finished!

Only a Name is required! Issues can handle a lot of useful information, but don't worry about capturing it all at once.

Adding Links & Context

Once you've created an Issue, you can layer on helpful, contextual information for reference. The easiest way to do that is with Links. Links are a great way to connect issues to:

• Storage services (like Google Drive or Dropbox)
• Spreadsheets or documents
• Manuals
• Videos (like DIY guides)

To add a Link, open the issue detail page and click "Add" in the Links section. You'll see a form to add a URL (required), as well as a name for the link (optional). Just make sure to include "https://" in front of any URL you add.

Find Videos

Need help figuring out how to fix something? From the issue detail page, click "Find Videos" to search YouTube. Minicastle auto-generates a search query based on your issue's name and type (e.g., "Fix loose cabinet tutorial how to fix home repair"). You can refine the search, and save any video directly as a link on your issue.

Images & Before/After

You can upload images directly to any issue from its detail page. Scroll to the Images section and click "Add" to upload.

When uploading, you can tag each image as "Before" or "After". Minicastle displays tagged images in a side-by-side Before/After viewer, making it easy to see and share your progress.

Recurring Issues

Some tasks need to happen on a regular schedule — changing air filters, cleaning gutters, checking smoke detectors. Instead of remembering to create these issues manually, you can configure them as Recurring Issues.

From the issue detail page:

1. Toggle the "Recurring" switch in the settings panel.
2. Set the frequency — Weekly, Monthly, or Annually.
3. Set the interval — for example, "Every 3 Months".
4. Choose a start date.
5. Decide how the next issue should be scheduled:
   • Original Start Date — new issues are always spaced from the original start date, keeping a strict schedule
   • Completion of Previous Issue — new issues are spaced from whenever you actually finish the current one, giving you flexibility
6. Click "Save".

Once saved, Minicastle will automatically create new issues on your schedule. Recurring issues are marked with a green recurring icon in your Issues list and on the detail page.

Sorting

Sorting is a straightforward but effective way to prioritize your list of issues. You can sort by:

• Date Created
• Name
• Status
• Priority
• Type
• Recurring

Click the sort button in the toolbar to choose a field, then click the arrow icon to toggle between ascending and descending order.

Filter & Search

Use the search bar to find issues by name. Want to filter by Area? Type area: "Kitchen" into the search bar (replacing "Kitchen" with the name of your Area). Don't forget the double-quotes around the name!

You can also use the "Show Done" toggle in the toolbar to hide or show completed issues — helpful when you want to focus on what's left.

Pro Tip: You can also automatically filter your Issues list by clicking on the Issues counter from any given Area. Keyboard shortcut: press / to jump to the search bar.

Putting Issues on your Calendar

Another effective way to take control of your Issues is to add them to your Calendar in Minicastle. This is a great way to help plan days or weekends of work. To add an Issue to your Calendar, just make sure to give it a Scheduled Date, then head to the Calendar.

The Calendar displays all Issues with Scheduled Dates alongside Inventory items with Warranty Expiration Dates — giving you a unified view of upcoming work and deadlines. If you have multiple houses, use the dropdown at the top to filter by house. You can also click any day to see its items, or add new Issues and Inventory directly from the Calendar.

Creating Issues for Areas & Projects

Issues have important relationships with Areas and Projects:

Issues and Areas:

• Issues can be related to a single Area or multiple Areas
• When Issues are connected to an Area, you can easily see everything you have to tackle in a single room, floor, wing, etc.

Issues and Projects:

• Issues can only be related to a single Project
• When Issues are connected to a Project, you can easily see big problems (Projects) broken down into smaller chunks (Issues)

To create an Issue from an Area

1. Go to the Areas tab
2. Find your Area (like "Kitchen")
3. Click on the "..." button and select "Add Issue"

Your Area will be pre-loaded into the "Related Areas" field. You can still add more Areas to the list if you'd like!

To create an Issue from a Project

1. Go to the Projects tab
2. Find your Project
3. Click on the "..." button and select "Add Issue"

You'll see two options: create a "New" Issue, or add an "Existing" Issue. For either option, the Issue will be automatically added to the Project.

What else would you like to see when it comes to Issues? Leave feedback on our roadmap or email us: help@minicastle.app