Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Transition Help Desk - Jennifer


This blog entry has been modified from its original appearance. The Coordinator's email address has been changed. If you have questions please contact the Coordinator at the email address below.

If you need assistance, feel free to email the Coordinator anytime using the subject line SOFTWARE ISSUES at timetrader@familyservicerochester.org and I will respond as soon as I can. Please do also check the FAQs posted here on the blog. You may call my direct line at 287-2040 extension 3022 at the following times for assistance.

Thursday 11/3 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Tuesday 11/8 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

At other times you may leave a message and I will return your call as soon as I can. Time Trader Christina is also doing help desk hours.

Community Weaver 2.0 FAQs

Where is the marketplace?
The “marketplace” is found by clicking on the “Give and Receive” tab, found in between “home” and “my account”.  Click on the tab itself, not the dropdown.  You can also follow this url: http://timetrader.timebanks.org/give_receive

Why are there (0) service ads for each main category when there are service ads in the subcategories?
The ads are all there, but there is a counting bug that is still being corrected.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/give_receive

How do I record hours for a service that doesn’t have an ad?
Go to the “Give and Receive” tab’s dropdown.  Choose “record an exchange”.  Most exchanges will be one-to-one.  Enter the information for the exchange and click the “record an exchange” button.

When I record hours for a service, who gives the hours?
When you record an exchange, you will use the text box “Recipient of service” for the person who received the service.  This person receives services so he or she will GIVE hours. http://timetrader.timebanks.org/exchange

When I record hours for a service, who gets the hours?
When you record an exchange, you will use the text box “Provider of service” for the person who provided the service.  This person provides services so he or she will GET hours. http://timetrader.timebanks.org/exchange

I thought I was recording hours for a service I performed, but I ended up deducting hours from my own account. What happened?
When you record an exchange and you performed the service, you will use the text box “Provider of service” for yourself.  You will GET hours.  You probably misread the labels as provider of hours or recipient of hours instead of provider of service.  To correct this, send an email to the timebanks coordinator using this link:  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/contact  The coordinator will respond to the problem when in the office.

How do I record the actual hours?
There are two boxes needed to record hours.  One is for the integer, or whole number, of hours.  The other is a drop down for increments, or parts, of an hour.  So, to enter an exchange of 1 ½ hours, you would type 1 in the text box and choose .5 from the drop down menu. http://timetrader.timebanks.org/exchange

How do I record hours for a specific service ad?
Go to the service ad and click “record a transaction”.  This will take you to the “record an exchange” screen, but some data will already be autofilled: the service category, your name as either the recipient of service or provider of service, and the description of service.

I clicked on the tab “My Account” and then in the dropdown “My hours”, but I can’t seem to record hours here.  How do I record hours?
There are two ways.  You can either enter an exchange with an ad or without an ad.  To enter an exchange with an ad, search for the ad click “record a transaction”.   Or, go to the “Give and Receive” tab’s dropdown and choose “record an exchange”. 

I just want to browse the ads.  How can I do that?
There are lots of ways to filter ads while browsing.  For an overview of all ads, click directly on the “Give and Receive” tab, and then choose the “search all service ads” link in the upper right corner.  From here you can see how many ads are listed under each main and sub category. You can search for ads by main category, sub category, or use the links on the upper right to narrow your search by offers or requests.  After clicking on one of these links, you can narrow your search even more.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/give_receive

But there are there (0) service ads for each main category even though there are service ads in the subcategories.  So are there ads in the main categories or not?
The ads are all there, but there is a counting bug that is still being corrected.  If you click on the main category, you will see all ads listed in the subcategory of the heading.  All ads are accounted for and organized as timebanks users have specified.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/give_receive

I’m looking for a specific ad.  How do I find it?
The easiest way to search for a specific ad is to click directly on the “Give and Receive” tab, and then choose the “search all service ads” link. From here you can search using keywords, category, neighborhood, or affiliations.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/all_services

I want to search for an ad by a member.  Can I do that?
Yes, you can do a search for a specific person or several persons.  There are two ways: you can either search by members or filter a search for ads by members. 

How can I search for a member?
For an overview of all members, click on the “Give and Receive” tab, and then choose the “view all members” link in the dropdown menu.  From here you can narrow your search using member name, neighborhood, or affiliations.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/members

But I don’t know the member’s last name.  How can I search?
You can search using a single letter in a person’s first or last name, but the more of the name you use the better your search will be.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/members

How can I filter an ad search by a member?
To filter an ad search by member, you will need to be searching for either offers or requests.  Click on the “Give and Receive” tab, and then choose the “view all requests” or “view all offers” link in the dropdown menu.  From here you can narrow the results by using a member’s FIRST name.  If you type slowly, a dropdown menu of members will be offered. 

I forgot the name of the person I exchanged with and I’d like to arrange another exchange.  Also, the ad isn’t posted anymore.
Go to the “My Account” tab.  Choose “My Hours” in the dropdown menu.  This will show your history of time dollars exchanges.  From here you can choose either a member name or an ad and find what you are looking for.


How do I create a service ad?
Click on the “Give and Receive” tab, and then choose the “post a service ad” link in the dropdown menu.  Enter your ad information and click the “Save” button.

Can I include my ad in more than one category?
Yes, and including your ad in several categories is easier to manage than creating several ads.  To see all the subcategories, click the green circle with the white arrow next to the category heading.  Since service categories and sub categories are checkboxes, you can check more than one.

How do I use bold and other fun stuff in my ad?
The ad description box is rich text enabled, so you can use bold, indents, cut and paste, and more.  You can also turn off rich text if you want.

How can I see my own ads?
Go to the “My Account” tab.  Choose “My Services” in the dropdown menu.  This will show your offers, requests, and expired ads. http://timetrader.timebanks.org/user/me/services

How do I suspend an ad?
You need to change the expiration date.  It will not suspend immediately.  Go to the “My Account” tab.  Choose “My Services” in the dropdown menu.  This will show your offers, requests, and expired ads.  Click on the ad you want to suspend.   When you view the ad, choose EDIT.  Change the expiration date to at least one day in the future.

How do I reactivate an ad?
You need to change the expiration date. It will activate immediately.  Go to the “My Account” tab.  Choose “My Services” in the dropdown menu.  This will show your expired ads.  Click on the ad you want to reactiveate.   When you view the ad, choose EDIT.  Change the expiration date.

How do I see my profile?
Click directly on the “My Account” tab.  Click on the tab itself, not the dropdown.  From here you can see your picture, contact info, ads, availability, exchange history, and more.

How do I change my personal information?
Click directly on the “My Account” tab.  Click on the tab itself, not the dropdown.  From here you can change your picture, contact info, ads, availability, exchange history, and more.  Editing your biography, user account, profile information, and service ads can all be done by clicking links on this main page.

From my profile page, how do I see my messages?
Your profile page only shows that you have new messages.  To see older messages, you need to go to “my messages”.

How do I find my messages?
Click on the “My Account” tab, and then choose “my messages”.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/messages  

It looks like the same message is repeated over and over.
Each new message thread that started with a response to an ad begins with some of the original ad.  The newest message will be closest to the top of the list, if they are sorted in descending order.  So, even though they look the same at first, that is just because they started with the same conversation. 

There is no “my messages” in the “My Account” dropdown.
It disappears sometimes.  It’s a bug.  Click directly on the “My Account” tab.  “My Messages” will reappear.  http://timetrader.timebanks.org/messages  













Transition Help Desk - Christina

This blog post has been edited from its original appearance. The email for Christina has been replaced with the email address for Time Trader. If you have questions please use that email.

A Time Trader has offered to serve as Help Desk personnel as we transition. Please check the FAQs posted here on the blog first. If that doesn't answer your question, you may email it to timetrader@familyservicerochester.org anytime and she will respond as quickly as possible, or you may call her at 398-2143 at the following times:

Tuesday 11/1 2:00pm - 7:30pm
Wednesday 11/2 2:00pm-4:00pm
Thursday 11/3 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Thanks Christina, for helping as we get acclimated to the new system. If she is unavailable you may also contact the Coordinator.