Commissioning tutorial part 2: Creating a site

Having followed the initial setup, the next step is to create the site that we're going to be working with. A site on the zencontrol cloud represents a building or small set of colocated buildings (eg. the separate buildings which make up a school or university campus). If you want to learn more or have specific questions which may have already been answered, there is a section of the FAQ which is dedicated to sites.

Sites can be created either via the Cloud or the Commissioning Android application (see Introduction to the zencontrol Software).

Option 1: Creating a site using the Cloud

When you log into the cloud (https://cloud.zencontrol.com) you'll see a list of the sites that you have access to, and an option on the top navigation bar to add a site.

Clicking on the "Add a site" link will bring us to a form where we can add a photo and the site details:

On this first tab we give the site a name, address, photo and timezone. The timezone is important, as this data is written to the control systems and used for scheduling.

Once complete, select "Next" to take us to the Power settings:

If you have this information to hand, you can fill this section out now. Otherwise, it can be modified later on. Select "Next" to move on to the Location tab:

The longitude and latitude of the site are used by the control systems to determine sunrise and sunset times as they vary throughout the year. You can learn them from most online map providers or, if you're in the area now, you can allow the form to use your current location.

We're not going to change anything on the next tab (Settings) for now because we'll come back to it soon, but select "Next" and take a look at what's there and then "Next" again to progress to Site owners:

 You should see yourself listed automatically, and have the ability to add others. There is a full explanation in a dedicated article (see: How do I add other owners/members to my site?) for how the permissions work for owners and members. For now just add yourself and any other accounts which will need admin access at this stage as owners and then select "Next" to progress to the members page.

We don't need to add any members at this stage, so select "Save" on this last page to complete the site creation process.

Option 2: Creating a site using the Commissioning application

The Commissioning app offers mostly the same settings as the above, but on your mobile device.

When you log in, you'll see a list of the sites which you have access to (these have been blurred for the screenshot, but if you have any sites you'll see their name and address):

To add a site, you can either tap on the button or select the menu in the top left and then "Add site":

Choosing to add a site will bring us to a form where we can add a photo and the site details:

On this first screen we give the site a name and a photo. Once done, select the button to move to the next screen.

Here we add the street address and select the button to move to the next screen.

The longitude and latitude of the site are used by the control systems to determine sunrise and sunset times as they vary throughout the year. You can learn them from most online map providers or, if you're in the area now, you can allow the form to use your current location.

Select the  button to move to the next screen. We're not going to change anything on this settings screen for now, because we'll come back to it soon, but take a look at what's there and then again to progress to Time:

The important setting on this screen is the timezone, as this data is written to the control systems and used for scheduling. Select the correct timezone for the site and then tap to move to the Power settings.

If you have this power information to hand, you can fill this section out now. Otherwise, it can be modified later on. Select one last time to complete the site creation process.