Creating and Managing Area Structure

This guide shows you how to create and manage area structures in Leanheat Monitor to organize your Ally devices by building, floor, room, or any other logical grouping.

Understanding Area Structure

Areas provide a hierarchical organization system for your devices. Think of areas as folders that help you group devices logically, making it easier to find devices, assign permissions, and perform bulk operations.

Common area structures:

• By location: Building → Floor → Wing → Room
• By function: Residential → Commercial → Common Areas
• By ownership: Owner-Occupied → Rental → Shared Spaces
• By zone: North Zone → South Zone → East Zone → West Zone

Why use areas? Areas make device management scalable. Instead of searching through hundreds of devices, you navigate through your building structure just like you would physically walk through it.

Planning Your Area Structure

Before creating areas, plan your hierarchy:

Single Building Example

Building A
├── Floor 1
│   ├── Apartment 101
│   ├── Apartment 102
│   └── Common Hallway
├── Floor 2
│   ├── Apartment 201
│   ├── Apartment 202
│   └── Common Hallway
└── Basement
    ├── Mechanical Room
    └── Storage

Multi-Building Example

Campus
├── Building A
│   ├── Floor 1
│   └── Floor 2
├── Building B
│   ├── Floor 1
│   └── Floor 2
└── Building C
    ├── Floor 1
    └── Floor 2

Functional Grouping Example

Property Portfolio
├── Residential Units
│   ├── Studio Apartments
│   ├── One-Bedroom
│   └── Two-Bedroom
├── Commercial Spaces
│   ├── Retail Ground Floor
│   └── Office Spaces
└── Common Areas
    ├── Lobbies
    ├── Hallways
    └── Recreation Rooms

💡 Planning tips:

• Maximum 5-6 levels deep (any more becomes unwieldy)
• Match your physical or organizational structure
• Use consistent naming (all floors as "Floor 1" or "1st Floor", not mixed)
• Consider future expansion (leave room in numbering scheme)
• Think about who needs access to which areas

Creating Areas

Step 1: Access Areas Management

1. Go to Admin in the main navigation
2. Click Areas

Step 2: Create Top-Level Area

1. Click + Create area
2. Enter Area name (e.g., "Building A")
3. Leave Parent area as "None" for top-level
4. Click Save

Your first area appears in the area list.

Step 3: Create Sub-Areas

To create areas within an existing area:

1. Click + Create area
2. Enter Area name (e.g., "Floor 1")
3. Click Parent area dropdown
4. Select the parent area (e.g., "Building A")
5. Click Save

The new area appears nested under its parent in the hierarchy.

Step 4: Create Multiple Levels

Continue creating areas to build your complete structure:

1. Create "Floor 2" under "Building A"
2. Create "Apartment 101" under "Floor 1"
3. Create "Apartment 102" under "Floor 1"
4. Continue until structure is complete

Viewing Area Structure

The Areas page displays your hierarchy as an expandable tree:

• Click ▶ (arrow) next to an area to expand and see sub-areas
• Click ▼ (arrow) to collapse
• Indentation shows hierarchy levels
• Device count shows next to each area name

Editing Areas

Rename an Area

1. Find the area in the list
2. Click the edit icon (pencil)
3. Change the Area name
4. Click Save

Move an Area

To change an area's parent (move it in the hierarchy):

1. Click the edit icon next to the area
2. Change the Parent area dropdown
3. Select new parent or "None" to make it top-level
4. Click Save

The area and all its sub-areas move to the new location in the hierarchy.

Deleting Areas

⚠️ Before deleting: You cannot delete an area that contains devices or sub-areas. You must first move or delete all devices and sub-areas.

Step 1: Remove Devices

1. Move devices to another area (see "Assigning Devices to Areas" article)
2. Or unassign devices (remove from all areas)

Step 2: Remove Sub-Areas

1. Move sub-areas to different parent
2. Or delete sub-areas (after removing their devices)

Step 3: Delete Empty Area

1. Verify area is empty (0 devices, no sub-areas)
2. Click the trash icon next to the area name
3. Confirm deletion

Area Structure Best Practices

💡 Recommended practices:

• Consistent naming: Use same format throughout (e.g., all "Floor 1, Floor 2" or all "1st Floor, 2nd Floor")
• Logical hierarchy: Follow physical structure or clear functional grouping
• Reasonable depth: Stop at 4-5 levels maximum for usability
• Future-proof numbering: Leave gaps in numbering (Floor 1, 3, 5 allows adding 2, 4 later)
• Meaningful names: "Building A - Main Office" better than just "A"
• Permission alignment: Structure areas to match how you assign user access

Common Area Structure Patterns

Pattern 1: Geographic Hierarchy

Portfolio
├── City A
│   ├── Building 1
│   │   ├── Floor 1
│   │   └── Floor 2
│   └── Building 2
└── City B
    ├── Building 3
    └── Building 4

Use when: Managing properties across multiple locations

Pattern 2: Functional Type

Property
├── Residential
│   ├── Studios
│   ├── 1-Bedroom
│   └── 2-Bedroom
├── Commercial
│   ├── Retail
│   └── Office
└── Common
    ├── Lobbies
    └── Amenities

Use when: Mixed-use properties with different management needs

Pattern 3: Physical + Functional

Building A
├── Residential Floors
│   ├── Floor 2
│   ├── Floor 3
│   └── Floor 4
├── Commercial Ground Floor
│   ├── Retail West
│   └── Retail East
└── Common Areas
    ├── Main Lobby
    └── Parking

Use when: Combining location and function matters for management

Using Areas for Navigation

Once created, areas appear throughout Leanheat Monitor:

In Device Administration:

• Filter devices by area
• View only devices in specific area
• Navigate through area tree to find devices

In Bulk Operations:

• Select all devices in an area at once
• Apply changes to entire floors or buildings

In Dashboards:

• Create dashboard views per area
• Monitor specific buildings or floors

Troubleshooting

Problem: Can't Delete Area

Check area is completely empty (0 devices). Verify no sub-areas exist under this area. Move or delete sub-areas first. Move or unassign all devices first.

Problem: Area Structure Too Complex

Simplify by removing unnecessary levels. Combine similar areas (e.g., merge "Hallway North" and "Hallway South" into "Hallways"). Flatten hierarchy by making sub-areas top-level. Restart with new structure if current one is unworkable.

Problem: Wrong Area Parent

Edit the area and change parent area dropdown. Area and all sub-areas move together. Verify devices remained in correct areas after move.

Problem: Need to Reorganize Entire Structure

Plan new structure on paper first. Create new parallel structure. Move devices to new structure gradually. Delete old structure when empty.