How it works · the 30-second tour

Your community.
Your trusted pros.

Two short walkthroughs cover everything. The first shows an organizer spinning up a neighborhood in under a minute. The second shows what it's like when a neighbor taps the invite link and starts rating the plumber they actually like.

I'm starting a community → I got an invite link

~30 sec

to create a community

No email

required for neighbors to join

1,000s

of communities pre-loaded across TX · NV · VA · FL · AZ

For organizers

Start a community in 30 seconds

Name it, set your admin email, invite the block by WhatsApp, import the pros everyone already trusts.

Watch the walkthrough →

For neighbors

Join the one already running on your street

Tap the invite link, confirm a 6-digit code by text, and you're browsing your neighbors' rated providers.

See how it works →

For organizers · 1 min 50 sec

How to start a community

From a blank tab to a working admin dashboard, with invitations going out on WhatsApp. The whole thing fits in a coffee break.

Walkthrough · 1:50

📄 Read the transcript

From a blank tab to a working admin dashboard, with invitations going out on WhatsApp. The whole thing fits in a coffee break.

0:05Step 1. Go to porchapproved.net and click "Start a community." That lands you on the signup form. No download, no install — it's a web app.

0:18Step 2. Type your community name. Porch Approved has thousands of communities pre-loaded across Texas, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Arizona, so yours probably shows up in the dropdown with its city and zip already attached. Not in the list? Just type a custom name — your neighborhood block, parents' co-op, alumni group, condo building, whatever you'd call your community.

0:36Step 3. Add a one-line description and your name. The description shows up on the community page. Your name appears to neighbors as the person organizing.

0:48Step 4. Set your admin email and password. The email is for password recovery and important notices — never shared with members. The password is what you'll use to manage the community.

0:58Step 5. Hit Submit. Community created in under 30 seconds. You'll get a welcome email and the screen redirects to your community's admin login with a "Community created — sign in to continue" banner.

1:08Step 6. Sign in with the password you just set. You land on the admin dashboard. From here you can run the whole community.

1:18From the dashboard you can: invite neighbors with a shareable join link, sent over WhatsApp or SMS; import the home-service providers your community already trusts via CSV or spreadsheet; set your accent color and sign-in mode, and add co-admins; and watch the Approo AI answer questions like "Who's the most-recommended handyman?"

Go to porchapproved.net and click "Start a community" #

That lands you on the signup form. No download, no install — it's a web app.

Type your community name #

Porch Approved has thousands of communities pre-loaded across Texas, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Arizona, so yours probably shows up in the dropdown with its city and zip already attached.

Not in the list? Just type a custom name. Your neighborhood block, parents' co-op, alumni group, condo building — whatever you'd call your community.

Add a one-line description and your name #

The description shows up on the community page. Your name appears to neighbors as the person organizing.

Set your admin email and password #

The email is for password recovery and important notices — never shared with members. The password is what you'll use to manage the community.

Hit Submit #

Community created in under 30 seconds. You'll get a welcome email and the screen redirects to your community's admin login with a Community created — sign in to continue banner.

Sign in with the password you just set #

You land on the admin dashboard. From here you can run the whole community.

What you can do from the dashboard

Invite neighbors with a shareable join link #

Generate a link and paste it into WhatsApp or SMS. Tappers verify a 6-digit code and they're in — no email or password ever required.

Import the home-service providers your community already trusts #

Drop in a CSV or spreadsheet. The guided wizard maps columns, fixes common issues, and lets you review before anything is added. Round-trips with the export-as-CSV button too.

Set your accent color, sign-in mode, and add co-admins #

Pick the community's visual accent. Choose between shared password or passwordless email sign-in. Bring on co-admins so you're not the only one running it.

Watch the Approo AI answer questions #

Members can ask things like "Who's the most-recommended handyman?" or "Any plumber that does same-day?" — answers come straight from your community's directory and ratings.

For neighbors · 2 min 05 sec

How to sign in & use the directory

Your community admin sends a link. You tap it. You're in — no email, no password, no profile to fill out.

Walkthrough · 2:05

📄 Read the transcript

Your community admin sends a link. You tap it. You're in — no email, no password, no profile to fill out.

0:05Step 1. Get the invite link. Your community admin sends a join link by WhatsApp or SMS. Tap it — it opens the community page in your browser.

0:20Step 2. Enter your phone number. You'll get a 6-digit code by text. Enter it. That's the entire signup — no email, no password, no profile to fill out. (If your admin set the community to email-only sign-in, ask for a magic link instead. One tap and you're in.)

0:40Step 3. You're in. The screen lands on the directory — plumbers, roofers, electricians, lawn folks, painters, whoever your neighbors have already vouched for.

0:55Step 4. Browse or search. Scroll the categories on the side, or type in the search box to find something specific. The search matches across name, business, category, phone digits, and notes.

1:15On every provider you'll see: a star rating from your neighbors (1-5 stars, with how many rated and the average); the phone number and full written reviews; a "Save as contact" button that downloads them to your phone's contacts as a vCard; and a "Discuss this provider" thread where neighbors chat about them.

1:48Step 9. Rate a provider. Tap Rate on any provider, pick 1 to 5 stars, add your name (or stay anonymous), and an optional comment. Done. Changed your mind? Just rate them again — your most recent rating overwrites the old one.

Get the invite link #

Your community admin sends a join link by WhatsApp or SMS. Tap it — it opens the community page in your browser.

Enter your phone number #

You'll get a 6-digit code by text. Enter it. That's the entire signup — no email, no password, no profile to fill out.

Email-only communities? If your admin set the community to email sign-in, ask for a magic link instead. One tap and you're in.

You're in #

The screen lands on the directory — plumbers, roofers, electricians, lawn folks, painters, whoever your neighbors have already vouched for.

Browse or search #

Scroll the categories on the side, or type in the search box to find something specific. The search matches across name, business, category, phone digits, and notes.

What you'll see on every provider

A star rating from your neighbors #

1 to 5 stars, with a count of how many neighbors rated and the average.

Phone number and full written reviews #

Tap a provider to see their phone, plus every comment a neighbor left.

A "Save as contact" button #

Downloads them straight to your phone's contacts app as a vCard, with the community name in the notes field.

A "Discuss this provider" thread #

Public chat scoped to one provider, for when you want to ask "anyone used them lately?"

Rate a provider #

Tap Rate on any provider, pick 1 to 5 stars, add your name (or stay anonymous), and an optional comment. Done.

Changed your mind? Just rate them again — your most recent rating overwrites the old one.

Quick answers

Frequently asked

Do neighbors need to give an email to join?

No. The default path is phone-only — your admin sends an invite link, the neighbor taps it, enters their US phone, and confirms a 6-digit code by text. No email, no password, no profile.

If the admin switched the community to individual email sign-in, then a neighbor enters their email and gets a one-tap magic link instead. Their choice; phone-only is the default.

What gets shared with members vs. kept admin-only?

Members see: provider name, business, category, phone, notes, ratings, comments, and who vouched for them.

Admin-only: the admin's email, full member phone list, invite-link audit log, the import wizard, monitoring dashboard.

Never shared with members: the admin's contact info, individual neighbor identities (raters appear by their chosen display name only), invite tokens or IPs.

Can I import the list of pros we already use?

Yes — the admin dashboard has a guided CSV / Excel import wizard. Drop your spreadsheet, the wizard matches columns (Name, Phone, Category, etc.), fixes common issues like phones in the wrong column or missing categories, dedupes against what's already in your directory, and shows you a review screen before anything is added.

For clean CSVs there's also a one-click quick upload that skips the wizard.

Can I just type a provider in plain English?

Yes — and it's the fastest way to seed the first 5. The admin dashboard has a Quick add box at the top. Type one sentence per provider (name, phone, what they do, why you'd vouch) and the system pulls out the fields for you. You review, edit anything that's off, and confirm. Bulk works too — paste several lines at once.

Examples that all parse cleanly:

"Add Mike Stevens ABC Plumbing 469-555-0148, does emergency calls"
"Joe Smith handyman 214 555 1234 — used him three times, fair pricing"
"Carlos Lopez painter, 972-555-9988, painted both kids' rooms last spring"

The only field you really have to include is the phone — that's the one we can't guess. Name and category we can usually figure out. If a phone is already in your directory you'll get a nudge to merge or rate instead of double-adding.

What is Approo AI?

Approo is the AI assistant baked into every community. It reads only that community's directory and ratings — nothing else — and answers questions like "Who's the most-recommended handyman?", "Any plumber that does same-day?", or "Which lawn person was used most recently?"

It's the floating purple button bottom-right of every community page. Up to 10 questions per member per hour.

How do I change my rating later?

Just rate the provider again. Each member gets one rating per provider — submitting a new one overwrites the previous in place (no double-counting, no inflated averages). Bring the stars up if they came through. Bring them down if they didn't.