Family profiles & children
Two things in Motley sound similar and aren’t: your children and your family profiles. Getting the difference straight makes the rest of the app make sense.
Children
A child is one of your kids. Each one has their own current grade and their own answer on special-education support (IEP, 504, gifted and talented, or none). Add and edit them under Settings → Family Profile.
Children matter because so much of admissions is per child. Admissions tracking, the documents list, and Smart Match all belong to one child at a time. The child pill in your dashboard header switches between them — if a deadline or a tracked school seems to have vanished, check which child is selected.
Family profiles
A family profile is a whole saved context: a home address and the research attached to it. Most families need exactly one. You’d want a second if you’re weighing a move — one profile for where you live now, another for the neighborhood you’re considering — so you can flip between them and see how the same question answers differently.
- Free accounts have one family profile.
- Motley Pro allows up to 3.
- Each profile can have as many children as you like.
Profiles are managed in Settings → Family Profile, and switched from the profile pill on your dashboard (or by asking Intelligence). You can copy a saved set from one profile into another rather than rebuilding it.
A note for free accounts: because your saved research is tied to your profile, changing something fundamental — your address, your children, your priorities — once you have saved work will ask you to confirm first. Empty profiles edit freely.
What Motley needs before it can personalize
Smart Match, the personalized neighborhood snapshot, and PDF reports rank things against your family, so they need five things:
- At least one child with a grade
- Your ranked priorities
- A borough, or some neighborhoods you’re interested in
- Your school-type preference (public only, open to charter, private is fine, or no preference)
- Whether each child needs special-education support — “none” counts
If any are missing you’ll see a prompt naming exactly which. Fill them in wherever’s easiest: by telling the Intelligence, in Settings, or through the form. Browsing, searching, saving, and comparing never require any of it.
Your home address
Every profile has one, and it’s required. It’s how we work out your district, your zoned elementary school, commute times, and what’s actually near you. If you’re moving, use where you’re starting from — you can change it any time from Settings, or by asking Intelligence to update it.
Notifications
The Notifications tab in Settings controls which emails we send you — neighborhood snapshots, Smart Match results, place research, and reports. They’re all on by default and each can be switched off independently.
Your account
Sign-in is Google only, so there’s no password to change. The User Profile tab edits your name; your email comes from your Google account and is shown read-only. For plan and payment questions, see Motley Pro & billing.