USER GUIDE
Simple311™ (Request Tracking)
Simple311 is your community's request-tracking system. Residents submit requests — potholes, missed trash pickup, code complaints, permit questions — from your public website, and your staff triage, assign, work, and close those requests as tickets.
Before you begin
Simple311 needs a little structure before residents can file requests. Set these up in order — each one builds on the last:
- Ticket Categories — the broad buckets you sort requests into (Streets & Sidewalks, Sanitation, Parks).
- Ticket Types — the specific request kinds inside each category (Pothole, Streetlight Out). Every type must be filed under a category, so categories come first.
- General 311 Settings — how your public request page looks and behaves.
- Neighborhoods (only if you use the map) — the areas tickets can be tagged with.
You reach all of these from Apps › Simple311 › Settings.
To open the app, click Simple311 in the Apps row at the top of the admin. From its menu you can reach Settings, the Ticket Manager, the 311 Report, and the button to create a new ticket.
The three places people work
Simple311 has three separate screens for three different audiences. You set all of them up from this admin, but each is used by different people:
- Ticket Manager Dashboard (for managers) — the high-level view of every ticket, with filters and search. This is where managers and ticket admins live.
- My Tickets Dashboard (for field and support staff) — a focused screen on your own website domain where the people doing the work sign in, see what is assigned to them, add notes, and change status. It has its own login.
- Resident Portal (for citizens) — where residents log in to track their own requests and read the public notes your staff post.
1 Create Ticket Categories
Categories are the broad buckets you sort requests into — for example "Streets & Sidewalks", "Sanitation", "Parks", or "Code Enforcement". They drive routing and reporting, so set these up first.
Open Apps › Simple311 › Settings › Ticket Categories and add one row per category. Give each a clear name and save.
2 Create Ticket Types
Types are the specific request kinds that sit inside a category — for example "Pothole", "Streetlight Out", or "Missed Pickup". Each type belongs to a category.
Open Apps › Simple311 › Settings › Ticket Types to add them. When you add a type, pick the category it belongs to. A type can also be marked Staff Only (internal) so it never appears on the public request form — handy for requests only staff should create.
3 Set your General 311 Settings and public page
Open Apps › Simple311 › Settings › General 311 Settings to control how the public request page behaves and to edit its introductory content — the welcome text residents see before they file a request. This is also where you manage map options.
If your community draws requests on a map, open Apps › Simple311 › Settings › Manage Neighborhoods to define the neighborhood areas tickets can be tagged with. Skip this if you are not using the map.
4 Create a ticket
Most tickets arrive on their own — a resident fills out your public 311 page and it becomes a ticket automatically. But you can also create one yourself, for example for a request phoned in to the front desk.
Click New Ticket in the Simple311 menu (or the New Ticket button on the app's pages). Fill in the request details — the category and type, a description of the problem, the resident's contact information, and a location if you use the map — then save. The new ticket appears in the Ticket Manager, ready to assign.
5 Assign, work, and close a ticket
Open the Ticket Manager Dashboard to see every ticket. Open a ticket to view its full detail. From there you can:
- Assign it to the staff member who will handle it.
- Change its status as work progresses (for example, from new, to in progress, to resolved).
- Add notes and photos to record what was done.
- Close it when the request is complete.
The people doing the field work do not need to use the Ticket Manager. They sign in to the My Tickets Dashboard on your own website domain, where they see only what is assigned to them, add notes, change status, and upload photos as they go.
6 Use public vs. internal notes
Every ticket lets you add notes, and each note is either public or internal. This is one of the most important habits to get right:
- Public notes are visible to the resident in the Resident Portal. Use them for updates you want the resident to see ("Crew scheduled for Thursday").
- Internal notes stay staff-only. Use them for anything you do not want the resident to read.
The two staff dashboards
Simple311 gives managers and field staff their own views so each person sees exactly what they need.
| Dashboard | Who uses it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket Manager Dashboard | Managers and ticket admins | The full list of every ticket, with filters for assigned-to-me, unassigned, by category, by staff member, and by status. Search across tickets and open any one to work it. |
| My Tickets Dashboard | Field and support staff | A focused screen on your own website domain. Staff sign in and see only the tickets assigned to them, add notes, change status, and upload photos. It has its own login. |
7 Track aging and review reports
Two tools help you make sure nothing falls through the cracks:
- Aging & Escalation (Apps › Simple311 › Aging & Escalation) lets you set rules so tickets that sit too long are flagged automatically. Set the thresholds that make sense for your community.
- 311 Report (Apps › Simple311 › 311 Report) gives you analytics — oldest and newest tickets, totals, a breakdown by category, and per-employee activity.
Next steps
A good first pass is steps 1 through 3: create your categories, add your types, and review your General 311 Settings. After that, your public page is ready to take requests. Then practice creating, assigning, and closing a test ticket so you and your staff are comfortable with the flow before real requests arrive.
Related guides: see the User Guides index for Maps & Locations (used with Neighborhoods) and the Departments & Groups guide (used when routing tickets to teams).