Never Lose Your Place: Persistent Onboarding & Always-On Re-Entry Points

Release v0.1.243 · UI/UX · Usability

The problem we solved

Getting a new landlord, agent, or tenant fully set up is critical to a fair tenancy outcome — but onboarding only works if users actually complete it. The previous OnboardingChecklist had two significant gaps:

State was ephemeral. Progress lived only in the client. A page refresh, a new device, or a logged-out session wiped it clean.
No way back. Once a user dismissed or skipped the checklist, there was no obvious CTA to resurface it. The checklist sat below the dashboard header, easy to miss and impossible to re-open.

The result: new users who skipped steps during the wizard had no clear second-chance path, and partially-completed setups silently stalled.

What's new in v0.1.243

1. Database-persisted completion state

Onboarding progress is now written to the database at the individual step level. This means:

Progress survives page refreshes, browser closes, and device switches.
Partial completions are preserved exactly — if a user completes steps 1 and 3 but not 2, 4, or 5, that's exactly what they'll see when they return.
No more accidental resets that make users feel like they're starting over.

2. Smart auto-completion detection

Steps no longer rely on users manually acknowledging them. Instead, completion is detected from real application state:

Step	Completion trigger
Add your first property	`properties.count > 0`
(additional steps)	(detected from corresponding data)

This means the checklist reflects what users have actually done, not just what they've clicked through. It also removes the confusion of a step appearing incomplete even after the user has taken the action.

3. Persistent progress banner

For any user with an incomplete setup, a banner now appears at the top of the dashboard:

✅ Getting started — 2 of 5 steps done     [Continue setup]  [✕]

The banner is dismissible — users who want a clean dashboard can hide it.
It persists across sessions until all steps are complete, providing a constant, low-friction reminder without blocking the UI.
It gives an immediate sense of progress, making it easier to find motivation to complete the remaining steps.

4. Sidebar "Setup guide" re-entry point

A "Setup guide" button is now anchored to the footer of the sidebar. It is always visible, regardless of the user's onboarding state.

Clicking it opens the getting-started-slide-over — the same guided panel shown during initial onboarding.
This provides a reliable, predictable re-entry point for users who dismissed the checklist early or want to revisit guidance later.
No more hunting through menus or help docs to find setup instructions.

How it all fits together

Dashboard
├── [Progress banner]  "Getting started — 2 of 5 steps done"  (dismissible)
├── Header
├── Main content
│
Sidebar
└── [Footer] "Setup guide" button  →  opens getting-started-slide-over
                                          └── OnboardingChecklist
                                               ├── Step 1: ✅ (auto-detected)
                                               ├── Step 2: ✅ (auto-detected)
                                               ├── Step 3: ⬜ Pending
                                               ├── Step 4: ⬜ Pending
                                               └── Step 5: ⬜ Pending

Impact

These changes collectively close the loop on new-user onboarding:

No lost progress — database persistence guarantees state is durable.
No dead ends — the sidebar button means users can always get back to guidance.
No manual effort — auto-completion detection rewards users automatically for the actions they take.
No ambiguity — the progress banner gives a clear, persistent signal of where users stand.

Together, these improvements give every new user a genuine second (and third, and fourth) chance to complete their setup — which means more properties added, more inspections completed, and fewer disputes down the line.

Affected file: src/components/onboarding-checklist.tsx