What TownStakes does
Everything below works in the app today.
Screens are from the real app, running a test campaign in St. Clair. Hosts' names, house numbers and chat messages are made up.
Drop it, check it, done
GPS or tap the map
Standing in the yard? One tap drops the sign at your phone's location. Planning from the kitchen table, or on a Wi-Fi-only iPad with no GPS? Tap the spot on the map instead.
Photo, notes and host name
Snap a photo, add notes like "left of the driveway," and record whose house it is, such as "Askews house." When you zoom out, the map shows host names, so your team talks about signs the way they already do.
Property check before you place
TownStakes looks up who owns the parcel and warns you if the spot is city or county land, a park, a school, or the road right-of-way. It shows ownership, not permission: always get the owner's OK.
Covers St. Clair, Macomb and Oakland counties, with more Michigan counties on the way. St. Clair and Macomb show the owner's name. Oakland County doesn't publish owner names, so TownStakes flags tax-exempt land (public, school or church) instead. TownStakes works out the county for you, and anywhere else it tells you plainly that there's no property check there yet.
Street View before you drive
Every sign, suggested spot and lot has a Street View button. It opens Google Maps Street View at that spot, so you can look at a yard or corner before you head out.
Property lines and satellite view
Turn on county parcel lines over a satellite photo as a planning guide to where one lot ends and the next begins. They're a reference, not a survey. Public land is shaded red. Available in St. Clair, Macomb and Oakland counties.
Import a spreadsheet
Already have a list of sign requests? Bring it in from Excel, Google Sheets or a CSV file. TownStakes matches each address to its spot on the map.
See the race the way drivers see it
Opponent signs
Log opponents' signs as diamonds, each opponent in their own color. Filter the map to one opponent to see where they're strong.
Published daily traffic counts
The Michigan Department of Transportation's published daily traffic counts show on the map. They're measured averages, not live traffic. Every sign gets a High, Medium or Low rating based on them. Covers roads across Michigan, with road names statewide, freeways included (for example "I-94 (Ford Fwy)").
Coverage heat map Paid plans
Turn on Heat map: sign coverage in the map legend. The map glows where your signs are close together and stays plain where coverage is thin, so gaps show at a glance. Flip the switch to Opponents to see where the other side is concentrated. Name labels hide while it's on so the colors read clearly; the pins stay.
Suggested spots
TownStakes marks busy stretches with no sign of yours within 800 feet. Corners, hot spots and opponent signs move a spot up the list.
Busy roads: you vs. them
A table of the busiest roads in your area, with your sign count next to each opponent's.
Hot spots
Mark the places traffic counts miss: school pickup lines, churches, ball fields and busy store lots.
Optional voter file import Paid plans
Want to match signs to voters, or see your signs by ward and precinct? Add the Qualified Voter File from any Michigan city or township clerk, or we'll pull it for you with the $49 voter file setup add-on. Then tap a house to see who lives there, who votes regularly, and the ward and precinct. The list is private to your campaign, and volunteers see names only.
Get every sign back before the deadline
Removal-deadline countdown
Set the date your signs must come down and TownStakes counts down the days so nobody forgets.
A mapped pickup route
The signs still standing are put in order on the map so a volunteer can drive one loop instead of zigzagging across town.
Google Maps directions
Google Maps takes up to 9 stops per trip, so TownStakes splits a long route into parts. Open the next part when you finish one.
One map for the whole campaign
Shared campaign accounts
Everyone on your team works from the same map. Send an invite link by text or email and choose what role the person joins as.
Sign in with an email code
No passwords to forget. Enter your email, get a code, type it in.
Roles that fit a campaign
Owner runs the campaign. Managers edit everything, import lists and invite people. Volunteers drop, pick up and report signs. View only can see the map and lists but not change them.
Assign signs to volunteers
Owners and managers hand out the work: planned spots to place, or signs that are out to pick up. Assign one sign or many at once, with a due date if you want one.
"Your list" for every volunteer
Volunteers see their own list with due dates and a Map my route button. Their assigned signs have a gold ring on the map. Only owners and managers can reassign work.
Alerts
A chat bubble in the top bar shows a red count. Volunteers get an alert when a sign is assigned to them. Managers get one when a sign is reported damaged or missing, and when a volunteer finishes a job: "Kyle placed the sign at Rood's." Each person sees only their own alerts.
Alerts show up live while TownStakes is open. On devices that allow it, they can also pop up while it runs in the background (on iPad and iPhone, after you add TownStakes to your home screen). They don't arrive when the app is fully closed.
Team chat
One shared conversation for your campaign, private to your team. Every sign has a Message team button that attaches the sign to your message, so nobody asks "which one?"
Live sync
When a volunteer drops a sign across town, it shows up on your map right away.
Record signs with no signal
Out on a back road with no bars? Keep recording signs. They're saved on the device and sync to your team when you're back in range. Property checks need a connection, since they look up the county's records.
Try it on your own street
Start free with 20 signs: drop one in front of your house and run the property check on it. Traffic ratings, assignments and pickup routes come with the paid plans.