How to use Porchlight Relay

1. First sign in and orientation

Each caregiver should use their own account. Do not share one family login. Individual accounts make it possible to remove access, track ownership, and send the right alerts.

1. Open your invitation email. New caregivers use the single-use setup link to create their own account. Existing Porchlight Relay users receive a sign-in link, then accept or decline the invitation from Settings.
2. Create or confirm your account. Use your own email address and a strong password. If prompted to change a temporary password, complete that step before continuing.
3. Sign in from the login page. After sign in, you should land on the caregiver dashboard.
4. Use the Getting started card. New owners, caregivers, and read-only family each see a short orientation checklist matched to their access. Use the buttons once to learn where each area lives. For caregivers, start with Needs attention and Tasks before changing anything else.
5. Check the top selectors. If you belong to more than one family care circle, use the Care circle selector. If a family has more than one care recipient, use the Viewing selector.
6. Open Settings once. Confirm your notification preferences, alert email or text settings, and any pending invitations.

2. Daily caregiver routine

A good daily rhythm keeps the care circle calm and reduces duplicate calls, missed follow-up, and “did anyone handle that?” moments.

1. Start with Needs Attention. Look near the top of Today for medication follow-ups, waiting acknowledgements, schedule follow-ups, unassigned tasks, notes from the day page, or alerts for another recipient.
2. Review the medication status. Confirm what has been reported taken, what is still waiting, and whether anything needs a caregiver follow-up.
3. Read messages and message status. Check whether important messages were acknowledged from the day page.
4. Check Shopping and notes. Look for requests entered by the care recipient from the tablet page.
5. Review Tasks. Take ownership of unassigned tasks you can handle. Complete or update tasks after action.
6. Log a check-in when useful. After a visit, phone call, appointment, or meaningful update, add a check-in so the next caregiver starts with context.

3. Using the caregiver dashboard

How to respond to a Needs Attention item

1. Read the item title and short description.
2. Click the item if it is shown as a button. The dashboard will jump to the related section.
3. Review the underlying information before acting.
4. Complete the appropriate action, such as taking ownership of a task or following up on a medication.
5. If the item remains after action, refresh the page or wait for the dashboard to update.

4. Switching care circles and recipients

One login can belong to multiple family care circles. A single care circle can also include multiple care recipients, such as Dad, Grandma, or Aunt Linda.

Switch to another care circle

1. Look near the top of the dashboard for the Care circle selector.
2. Select the family care circle you want to view.
3. Wait for the dashboard to reload that circle's recipients, tasks, messages, and alerts.
4. Confirm the selected recipient before making changes.

Switch to another recipient in the same circle

1. Use the Viewing selector near the top of the dashboard.
2. Select the recipient you want to view.
3. Confirm the page title, recipient name, and sidebar information changed.
4. Make updates only after confirming you are on the correct recipient.

5. Privacy habit: use the least detail needed

Porchlight Relay is safer when each family enters only what caregivers and the recipient actually need. The goal is useful coordination, not a full medical chart or identity record.

• Use relationship labels, first names, initials, or short labels when they are enough: Dad, Grandma, Jim, or D. Smith.
• Use generic medication labels when possible: Morning meds, Evening meds, Refill, or Eye drops.
• Use specific medication names only when the exact name is needed for safe caregiver follow-up.
• Keep messages on the tablet free of full names, diagnoses, account numbers, financial details, or private family information.
• Keep complete medical instructions in the written care plan, pharmacy paperwork, or clinician instructions outside Porchlight Relay.

6. Sending messages to the day page

Messages appear on the recipient's simplified day page. They are best for short, clear, friendly information the recipient should see. Because the tablet may sit in a shared space, avoid details that are not needed for the message.

Send a message

1. Open the Today view for the correct recipient.
2. Find the family messages area.
3. Enter a short message, such as "Call coming at 2:00" or "Groceries are by the door."
4. Decide whether the message needs acknowledgement.
5. Send the message.
6. Check Message status later if acknowledgement was requested.

When to request acknowledgement

• Use acknowledgement when the recipient should press “I got it.”
• Examples: schedule changes, visitor information, medication-related reminders, or important instructions.
• Leave acknowledgement off for encouragement, greetings, or low-importance notes.

Recall a message

1. Find the message or message status entry on the caregiver dashboard.
2. Choose the recall option.
3. Confirm the recall if prompted.
4. Refresh or wait briefly; recalled messages should no longer be active on the day page.

7. Managing the day page schedule

Schedule items appear in the recipient's Today plan on the day they are scheduled. Caregivers can add items for today or plan ahead up to one year, such as appointments, visitors, calls, or yearly checkups.

Add a schedule item

1. Open the Today view for the correct recipient.
2. Find Schedule and choose Add.
3. Choose the date the item should appear. Dates can be scheduled up to one year ahead.
4. If the item should repeat, choose Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly and set the repeat-until date.
5. Choose the time and enter a short, privacy-minded title, such as "Clinic visit" or "Lunch with family."
6. Add only the helpful details the recipient or caregivers need for that day.
7. Turn on recipient or caregiver reminders only when the item should actively prompt someone.
8. Choose whether the reminder should happen at the scheduled time or a set number of minutes, hours, or days before.
9. Save the schedule item.

How future schedule items behave

• The caregiver Schedule list can show upcoming items so caregivers can review what is planned.
• The recipient day page only shows items for that recipient's current local date.
• Repeating schedule items create dated entries through the repeat-until date, up to one year ahead.
• Editing or removing one repeating item changes the whole repeating series.
• Advance reminders can appear before the appointment date without adding that future item to today's plan.
• If an item is edited to a different date, previous reminder dismissals for that item are cleared.

8. Managing medications and missed-dose alerts

Medication features are for visibility and caregiver coordination. They do not prove that a medication was swallowed and do not replace clinical instructions.

Add a medication

1. Confirm you are viewing the correct recipient.
2. Open the medication management area from the dashboard or Settings.
3. Enter a generic medication label when possible, such as Morning meds, Midday meds, or Eye drops.
4. Use the exact medication name only when caregivers truly need it for safe follow-up.
5. Add practical instructions, such as "with breakfast," "after dinner," or "take with water."
6. Set the scheduled time shown on the day page.
7. If the medication is not daily, choose the correct weekdays.
8. Enable missed-medication notification only when caregiver follow-up is needed.
9. Choose the alert time by which the medication should be reported taken.
10. Save the medication.

Medication reporting on the day page

1. The recipient taps the medication button when they report it taken.
2. If they tap it again to undo the report, they should see a warning first.
3. Caregivers can see the updated status on the caregiver dashboard.
4. If a medication is not reported by its alert time, caregivers see a warning and may receive email.

Pause, edit, or delete a medication

• Pause when the medication should temporarily stop showing.
• Edit when the name, instructions, time, weekdays, or alert settings change.
• Delete only when the medication should be permanently removed from Porchlight Relay.

9. Creating, assigning, and completing tasks

Tasks are for caregiver work that should not get lost: calls to make, errands, paperwork, follow-ups, appointment scheduling, or household needs. Keep tasks action-focused and use the least identifying detail that still lets another caregiver do the work.

Add a task

1. Open the Tasks view or use Add task from the dashboard.
2. Enter a short title that starts with an action, such as "Call pharmacy" or "Pick up groceries."
3. Add helpful details if another caregiver may need context, but avoid full names, diagnoses, and specific medication names unless needed.
4. Choose a specific caregiver, or choose Anyone to leave it unassigned until a caregiver takes ownership.
5. Choose a due date.
6. Save the task.

Understand the task board

• Needs an owner: Tasks that are open but unassigned.
• Assigned to you: Tasks you own.
• Assigned to others: Tasks another caregiver owns, shown for visibility.
• Each task card shows the timing or status first, then the task title and details, then the Owner controls.

Take ownership, take over, or release a task

1. Open the Tasks view.
2. Find the task in Needs an owner or Assigned to others.
3. For an unassigned task, tap either the Unassigned owner chip or Take ownership.
4. Use Take over only when you are intentionally taking responsibility for a task assigned to someone else.
5. Use Release if you own a task but need to put it back into the shared pool.
6. Confirm if prompted.
7. The task should move into Assigned to you.

Complete, edit, or delete a task

• Complete after the work is done.
• Edit / assign if the due date, owner, title, or details need to change.
• Release if you can no longer own the task and someone else should take it.
• Delete only if the task was created by mistake or is no longer relevant.

10. Shopping lists and notes from the day page

The recipient can add shopping items or notes from the day page. These appear on the caregiver dashboard with dates so caregivers can tell what is new. Notes should be simple and practical, not a place for private medical, legal, or financial details.

Review notes from the recipient

1. Open Today for the correct recipient.
2. Find Shopping and notes.
3. Read the item and date.
4. If action is needed, create or take a task so the work has an owner.
5. Mark the item complete or remove it when no longer needed.

Good uses for recipient notes

• Groceries, toiletries, or household supplies.
• Simple reminders the recipient wants family to know.
• Non-urgent questions that can wait for the next caregiver check-in.

11. Timeline, check-ins, and recent history

Log a check-in

1. Open Today or Timeline.
2. Choose Log check-in.
3. Write a short summary, such as “Lunch and a short walk.”
4. Add details the next caregiver should know.
5. Save the check-in.

Use Timeline filters

1. Open Timeline.
2. Choose All, Check-ins, Concerns, or Tasks.
3. Review entries in chronological order.
4. If you need to act, use the related dashboard section or task board.

Dismiss an old Latest update

1. On Today, find the Latest update card.
2. Choose Dismiss latest update if the item is old and you no longer need it shown there.
3. The update is hidden only from your Latest update card. It remains available in Timeline for reference.
4. When a newer check-in or concern is added, it will appear as the Latest update.

Recent history in Settings

Owners can view Recent history in Settings for security and caregiving changes, such as invitations, role changes, task changes, tablet pairing, and support access activity.

12. Pairing and using the recipient tablet page

The day page is designed to be simple and separate from caregiver-only pages. It should not provide links back into caregiver settings or private dashboard areas.

Pair a tablet or simple device

1. On the caregiver dashboard, confirm you are viewing the correct recipient.
2. Open Settings.
3. Find the tablet access area for that recipient.
4. Enter a device name, such as Kitchen tablet or Bedroom laptop, so it is easy to identify later without using a full name.
5. Create a new one-time pairing link.
6. Creating a new one-time pairing link cancels older unused setup links for that recipient. Use the newest active link.
7. Use Copy link if you are pasting it yourself, or Email link if someone else will open it on the device.
8. If you use Email link, Porchlight Relay opens a new email draft with the one-time pairing link, the normal day-page address, and a short Porchlight Relay Admin signature.
9. Send or open the one-time pairing link only on the exact device that will become the day-page device.
10. Open the one-time pairing link once on that device.
11. After pairing, use https://app.porchlightrelay.com/day.html on that same device. If the pairing link does not automatically navigate there, open the day-page address from the email.

Use the day page

• The page refreshes automatically about every 15 minutes and also has a Refresh page button.
• The recipient can report medications taken, acknowledge messages, and add shopping or notes.
• Medication and schedule reminders appear inline near the top of the day page when they are due.
• Reminder cards can include actions such as I took it, Snooze 10 min, or Dismiss today.
• Notification sounds may require one tap on the page before the browser allows audio.
• If My Day cannot securely load or update, it shows a persistent warning instead of sample care information.
• When that warning is visible, care actions stay unavailable. Tap Try again, and call the caregiver if the page still cannot update.
• Use full-screen or kiosk-style browser settings when possible to reduce accidental navigation.

Replace or revoke a paired device

1. Open Settings for the correct recipient.
2. Revoke device access for the old tablet or laptop if it is lost, replaced, sold, or paired by mistake.
3. Cancel unused one-time pairing links if setup was started but not completed, sent by mistake, opened on the wrong device, or no longer needed.
4. Create a fresh one-time pairing link.
5. Open the fresh link only on the correct device.

13. Weather, sounds, and page layout

Configure weather

1. Open Settings and confirm the selected recipient.
2. Turn on Show a weather forecast on the day page.
3. Choose Today and tomorrow or Five days.
4. Enter the recipient's ZIP code for automatic coordinates.
5. If ZIP lookup is not sufficient, enter latitude and longitude manually.
6. Save the care recipient settings.

Weather labels such as Today and Tomorrow follow the recipient's timezone, not necessarily the caregiver's local timezone.

Configure day-page sounds

1. Open Settings for the selected recipient.
2. Enable sounds for new messages and medication reminders.
3. Choose separate sounds for messages and medication reminders.
4. Choose whether sounds should play once or repeat for 10, 15, or 30 seconds.
5. Use the test sound buttons if you want to confirm the sound and repeat setting before relying on it.
6. Save settings.
7. On the tablet, tap the page once if sounds do not play immediately.

Repeating sounds are meant to make reminders easier to notice. They stop after the selected time and should stop sooner when the recipient acts on the reminder.

Rearrange dashboard or day-page layout

• Caregiver dashboard layout is per caregiver and per recipient.
• Day-page layout is per recipient.
• The day page uses a hold-to-unlock layout control to reduce accidental changes.
• Put the most important information near the top for the recipient's routine.

14. Invitations, roles, sessions, and security

Invite a caregiver

1. Open Settings.
2. Find the care circle members area.
3. Enter the caregiver's email address.
4. Choose the correct role: Caregiver if they should help update care, or Read-only if they should view without changing care details.
5. Send the invitation.
6. Ask the caregiver to check email. Pending invitations show their expiration date in Settings. New users create their own account from the single-use setup link; existing Porchlight Relay users sign in and accept or decline from Settings.

Care circle roles

Use the lowest access that works. Most family members should be Caregiver or Read-only; make someone an Owner only if they should help manage members, settings, devices, support access, and data controls.

• Owner: Manages settings, caregivers, tablets, data controls, and deletion. A care circle can have more than one owner, but it must always keep at least one.
• Caregiver: Can view and update care information.
• Read-only: Can view information without changing care content.

Promote or demote an owner

1. Open Settings as an owner.
2. Find the care circle members area.
3. Use the role menu beside an existing member.
4. Choose Owner, Caregiver, or Read-only.
5. Confirm the change when prompted.
6. If you try to remove the last owner, Porchlight Relay blocks the change so the care circle is not left without someone who can manage it.

Remove access

1. Open Settings as an owner.
2. Find the member or pending invitation.
3. Use Cancel invitation if the pending invitation has not been accepted.
4. Use Remove member if an accepted caregiver should no longer have care-circle access.
5. Review sessions and use Revoke session if you are concerned an account is still active somewhere unexpected.

Good security habits

• Use a unique password and passkey when available. Add passkeys only on devices you control, and remove passkeys from lost, shared, sold, replaced, or untrusted devices.
• Do not share caregiver accounts.
• Use individual invitations so access can be removed cleanly later, and never forward invitation links.
• Use the least detail needed in names, messages, medications, tasks, and notes.
• Caregiver emails are intentionally brief; sign in to Porchlight Relay for message text, notes, task details, and medication labels.
• Review signed-in devices and revoke unfamiliar sessions. A remembered browser is a helpful security clue, but it is not proof that two sign-ins are the exact same physical device. Porchlight asks for confirmation before signing out devices or forgetting a remembered browser.
• Revoke paired device access if the tablet or laptop is lost, sold, replaced, or opened on the wrong device.

15. Important settings owners should know

Settings sections start collapsed to keep the page easier to scan. Porchlight Relay opens a section automatically when something needs attention, such as a pending invitation, generated pairing link, support request, system issue, or unsaved change.

Notification preferences

1. Open Settings.
2. Expand Notification preferences if needed.
3. Use the Email and Text columns to choose how each available alert should reach you.
4. Optionally enter an alternate alert email for email notifications.
5. Choose a daily digest time if daily digests are enabled.
6. To receive text alerts, enter your own mobile number, check the SMS consent box, and turn on the specific text-alert preference you want. Text alerts are currently available for late scheduled care confirmations, schedule reminders, and task updates. Text options marked not available are reserved for future delivery types.
7. Review Text alert readiness. It summarizes whether text delivery is active in the environment, whether your phone and consent are saved, which text-alert types are on, and whether a test text can be sent.
8. Save notification preferences.

Notification emails and texts are designed as privacy-minded nudges. They tell you what kind of item needs attention, but keep message text, day-page notes, task details, and medication labels inside the secured dashboard whenever possible.

Notification delivery log

Owners can open Settings, expand Owner tools, and review Notification delivery log to see recent email and text delivery attempts for the care circle. The log shows the alert type, channel, status, caregiver, recipient, and time. Use the status and channel filters to quickly focus on failed, skipped, email, or text records. It does not show private message text, note text, medication labels, task details, or phone numbers.

Text alerts are optional. They are only sent after Porchlight Relay text delivery is activated, your mobile number is saved, you agree to SMS terms, and you enable a specific text-alert preference. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. Use brief labels in the app so text alerts do not expose medication names, dosages, diagnoses, full names, or private notes.

Your name for this recipient

1. Open Settings for the recipient you are viewing.
2. Find Your name for this recipient.
3. Enter the label that feels natural to you, such as Dad, Jim, Grandma, Auntie, or D. Smith.
4. Save your label.
5. Leave the field blank to use the family-wide label set by the owner.

This only changes wording for your caregiver login. It does not rename the recipient for other caregivers or change the tablet page address.

Care recipient settings

• Name and "How to address them" control wording across the app. Prefer short labels over full legal names when possible.
• Timezone affects day-page dates, medication timing, weather, and daily digest timing.
• Weather, sound choices, forecast length, and day-page heading are recipient-specific.

Add another care recipient

1. Open Settings as an owner.
2. Find Add another care recipient.
3. Enter a short name or label, timezone, and daily page heading.
4. Save the new recipient.
5. Switch to the new recipient before adding medications, messages, tasks, weather, or tablet pairing.

Delete a care recipient

1. Open Settings as an owner.
2. Select the care recipient you want to delete.
3. Use Delete care recipient in the care-recipient settings area.
4. Read the warning and type the recipient's name exactly when prompted.

Deleting a care recipient permanently removes that person's one-time pairing links, paired devices, medications, messages, tasks, schedule items, shopping and notes, and related recipient history. Porchlight Relay does not allow deleting the last remaining care recipient in a circle.

Support access

Support access is owner-approved, read-only, time-limited, and can be removed. Only approve support access when you are actively asking for help with the account.

If Porchlight support asks for the care circle Support ID, open Settings and look under Help & support. Use Copy ID, then share that ID only with Porchlight support or someone you trust to help with your account. The Support ID does not grant access by itself.

16. Provider or business accounts

Provider features are intended for organizations that coordinate care for multiple clients. Family-only accounts usually do not need provider setup.

Provider roles

• Manager: Manages the provider organization, invitations, clients, and assignments.
• Provider caregiver: Sees assigned recipients and related care coordination information.

Provider setup basics

1. Create or connect a provider organization only when the care circle belongs in a business workflow.
2. Invite provider team members with the least access they need.
3. Assign caregivers only to the recipients they support.
4. Review assignments regularly when staffing changes.

17. Troubleshooting

I cannot sign in

1. Confirm you are using the same email address that received the invitation.
2. If you are brand new, open the setup link from the invitation email first.
3. If you already have an account, sign in normally and check Settings for pending invitations.
4. Use Forgot your password? if the password is not working.
5. If passkey sign-in fails, try password sign-in instead, then review passkeys from Settings.
6. Do not share another caregiver's login. Ask the owner to send your own invitation.

I did not receive an invitation or reset email

1. Check spam, junk, promotions, and quarantine folders.
2. Ask the owner to confirm the email address was typed correctly.
3. Ask the owner to cancel the pending invitation and send a fresh one if the address was wrong.
4. If you already use Porchlight Relay for another family, sign in and check Settings instead of looking for a setup link.
5. For password resets, wait a few minutes before requesting another reset link.

The tablet says it needs a new My Day link

1. Confirm the one-time pairing link was opened on the actual tablet or laptop.
2. Confirm you used the most recent active one-time pairing link for that recipient.
3. Create a fresh one-time pairing link if the first link was opened on the wrong device.
4. Name the device clearly before creating the new link, so it can be recognized later.
5. Open the new link on the correct device.
6. After pairing, use /day.html on that same device.
7. If still blocked, revoke old paired-device entries and pair again.

My Day says it could not load or update

1. Check that the tablet is connected to the internet.
2. Tap Try again on the persistent My Day warning.
3. If older information remains visible, treat it as out of date and do not use its care-action buttons.
4. If the page still cannot update, use the family’s normal phone or text backup and ask a caregiver for help.
5. Do not rely on the day page alone for urgent, emergency, or time-critical care decisions.

An invitation sent the sign-in link instead of setup

• If the person already belongs to another active care circle, this is expected.
• They should sign in and review the invitation from Settings.
• If they were removed from all care circles, a new invitation should provide the setup link.

A button says unable, expired, or security token

1. Refresh the page once and try again.
2. If the error repeats, sign out and sign back in.
3. For invitation or pairing links, ask the owner to confirm the link is still the most recent active link.
4. If you are still blocked, note the exact wording, what you were trying to do, and the time it happened.

Medication alert did not arrive

• For email alerts, check spam or junk folders.
• For text alerts, confirm your mobile number is correct and that you have not replied STOP.
• Confirm medication notifications are enabled for that medication.
• Confirm your notification preferences allow the expected email or text alert.
• Confirm the follow-up time has passed in the recipient's timezone.
• Only one alert per channel should be sent for a missed-medication alert until the alert state changes.
• For privacy, alerts may not include the exact medication label. Open the caregiver dashboard for details.

Weather is not showing

• Confirm weather is enabled in Settings.
• Enter a valid ZIP code or latitude/longitude.
• Confirm the National Weather Service forecast is available for that location.

Sounds are not playing on the tablet

• Tap the tablet page once to allow browser audio.
• Check the tablet volume and silent mode.
• Confirm sounds are enabled for that recipient in Settings.
• Confirm the selected sound is not set to No sound.
• Remember that the visual reminder still appears even if the browser blocks sound.

What to send when asking for help

• Include the Support ID from Settings → Help & support when Porchlight support asks for it.
• Send the page name, the button or action you tried, and the exact message shown.
• Include the approximate time it happened and whether you were on a phone, tablet, or computer.
• Use short labels, such as Dad or J. Smith, instead of full names when possible.
• Do not send passwords, reset links, pairing links, full medication lists, account numbers, or financial details.
• If a screenshot helps, crop it to the smallest area that shows the issue.

Support access requests

• Only approve support access when you are actively asking Porchlight Relay for help.
• Choose the shortest access window that gives support enough time to troubleshoot.
• Use recipient-only access when the issue is limited to one care recipient.
• Remove support access from Settings when the issue is resolved.

18. Safety boundaries

Porchlight Relay is meant for calm, routine coordination. Do not rely on it as the only source for emergency decisions, urgent medical instructions, fall detection, crisis response, or time-critical monitoring.

• Call emergency services if there is immediate danger.
• Contact the appropriate clinician or pharmacist for medical questions.
• Keep critical instructions available outside Porchlight Relay as well.
• Use the least detail needed. Avoid full legal names, diagnoses, medication names, account details, and financial information unless they are truly needed for coordination.
• Use Porchlight Relay to coordinate family awareness, not to replace professional care plans.