How does the village request a change to Lumin?

Villages routinely need changes to their Lumin setup — adding new residents, updating the Residents Handbook, changing groups, configuring new features. This article covers how to request changes, what's quick, what takes longer, and what's normal volume.

How to request a change

The simplest way: contact Lumin Support. Phone, email, or — depending on your village's arrangement — a dedicated account manager. Give us:

• What you'd like changed — be as specific as possible (e.g., "add new resident in building C, dwelling 14B")
• Why — context helps us suggest the best way to do it
• When — if it's time-sensitive
• Who's involved — if the change affects a specific resident or staff member We confirm receipt and let you know roughly when it'll be done.

What's a typical volume

Most villages send Lumin around 3 to 5 change requests per month, ranging from quick updates (a new resident, a changed phone number) to larger ones (an event series, a handbook revision). If you're sending many more than that, it's usually a sign that either (a) the village is in transition (a refurbishment, a wave of new residents) or (b) something about your setup could be more self-serve. Talk to Lumin Support — sometimes we can build more village-side controls into the Portal that reduce the need to ask us.

What's quick

Some changes are usually same-day or next-day:

• Adding or updating a resident's contact details
• Adding or removing a Supporter (with the resident's consent)
• Sending a Community Message on the village's behalf (in rare cases where village staff aren't available)
• Activating an extra feature on a particular CareHub (e.g., adding the Spotify integration for a specific resident)
• Updating a small piece of village content (a new committee member, changed contact)

What takes longer

Larger changes typically need a bit more time:

• Resident Handbook revisions — usually 2–5 working days, depending on length
• New broadcast channel setup — 2 working days minimum
• New module activation (turning on a feature the village hasn't used before) — depends on complexity
• Changes to billing arrangements — coordinated with the finance team
• Significant changes to groups or community structure — requires planning to avoid disruption We always let you know the rough timeframe when we acknowledge the request.

Self-serve vs Lumin-managed

Some things village staff can do directly in the Portal:

• Send Community Messages
• Manage groups
• Schedule and run broadcasts
• View resident profiles
• Send messages to specific residents Some things go through Lumin Support:
• Adding or removing residents
• Changing the Residents Handbook
• Configuring new modules
• Changes to a resident's account that affect privacy or billing The general rule: anything that affects the platform's structure or another person's account goes through Lumin; anything that's the village's own day-to-day communication is in the Portal.

Documentation and approval

For changes that affect privacy or billing (a resident's account being closed, sensitive details being changed), Lumin Support will verify the request is properly authorised. For routine community changes, we trust the village's standing contact. If your village has a regular point of contact for Lumin matters, requests from that person can usually go straight through. If a less familiar person is asking for a sensitive change, we may ask for confirmation from your village's primary contact.

Larger projects

For changes that are bigger than a routine request — a major handbook overhaul, a new module rollout, an integration with another system — talk to Lumin Support and we'll bring in the right people. These are typically scoped, planned, and run as small projects rather than single requests.