Time Trader: Top Ten Tips for Navigating Community Weaver

Get your username and temporary password from the email notifying you your account has been activated
Go to www.timetrader.timebanks.org
Enter your username and password under “User login” (upper right)
Click the log in button.

Click the Edit User Account link in the left sidebar under your name. Change your password and upload a picture of yourself if you wish. Make sure your address and phone number appear as you wish other Time Traders to see them. Click Save.
Click My Account above your name or in the tabs on the upper right again.
Looking at the left sidebar under your name, scroll down until you see Edit Profile Details and click on it. Edit those portions of your profile, including your general availability and adding any links such as your personal blog, your business website, or your Twitter handle. Your phone number and email address will be made public unless you uncheck the boxes. Click Save.

3. View Other Members’ Profiles

Mouse over the Give & Receive tab (upper right) and then click View All Members on the pulldown menu.
Click anywhere in a row to see a specific member’s profile OR use the boxes (Member Name, Neighborhood, Affiliations) and click Search to sort by those values.

Click on the Give & Receive tab to get to the Time Bank Marketplace.
You can locate a service offer or request by clicking a specific category link to view those listings (i.e. Child Care, Events, Lessons, etc.). You could also click the Browse All Requests or Browse All Offers link (upper center), OR click the Search All Service Ads link to use a keyword search for service ads.
When you find an interesting ad, press the more… link for a fuller description.
If you want to reply to the ad, click on Respond to this Post. That opens a draft reply message form. Use a short form of the Request or Offer title as your subject. (i.e. If the Request is “Can you make cinnamon rolls?” your subject should be “cinnamon rolls.”) Write a brief message asking for the service or offering your service, list your availability, and the best way to contact you. Include your phone number if that is your preferred form of communication.
Click Send Message to send.
When you reply to an ad, the other person gets an email inviting him/her to visit the TimeBank website to read the message. When he/she responds to your initial response, you’ll get a notice via email as well. This will go back-and-forth until the two of you settle on a date and time for the service.

5. Set Up an Exchange

All emails are sent and received via the TimeBank website. When someone responds to your ad, you will get an email inviting you to go to the TimeBank website for the response.
Click the link in the email to go directly to your Message Center Inbox, or go to www.timetrader.timebanks.org/ to sign in. Mouse over the My Account tab and then click My Messages.
Each row in your Inbox contains a summary of the emails pertaining to a specific ad. Mouse over the topic you wish to see until it becomes underlined, then click on it to see all the emails about a particular service exchange.
You’ll see all the emails you have exchanged about the ad, and a white box labeled “Message”. Type your reply in the box, and when it is ready to send, click Send Message.

6. Record Your Hours

Once an exchange has been completed, you need to record hours for it. The simplest way to do this is to go the Service Offer or Request itself and first make note of the category of service, found on the right under the words “See similar ads from these categories”. Just above that, click on Record Hours for this listing.
Click the button to indicate the appropriate Service Category
The current date is the default. If the service was performed on a different day, enter the correct date. Please enter all transactions for a month by the 7^th of the following month so that Board Numbers are correct.
Enter the names of the Provider and Recipient of the Service in the appropriate boxes. Time Credits (TC) will go from the Recipient to the Provider.
Enter a description of the service.
Enter the number of whole hours in the first box next to Number of Hours. If the time includes a fraction of an hour, enter it using the pulldown menu, choosing .25, .50, or .75.
If all information is correct, click Record an Exchange. It will subtract the TC from the person who received the service and add them to the person who provided the service. The math will work correctly regardless of who records the hours.
This triggers an email notification to both parties to ensure accountability. Occasionally hours are recorded incorrectly. If you get billed incorrectly, send a message to the TimeBank Coordinator to dispute your bill.

7. Place an Offer / Request

Mouse over the My Account tab, then click on My Services.
Select Post a new Offer of a Service or Post a new Request for a Service, depending on what you want to add (a request or an offer).
Click on the appropriate Service Category from the menu.
Fill in the information: Ad Title, Description, and Availability. The default expiration (3 months) will appear; if you want the ad to expire prior to that, change it now. If you prefer to be contacted by phone, include your phone number in the description. The software hides all phone numbers automatically.
Click the Preview button to see how your ad will appear. If it looks the way you want it to, submit it by clicking Save.

8. Edit or Stop an Offer / Request

Mouse over the My Account tab and click on My Services.
Click the ad you want to change, and click the edit button.
Ads expire automatically after 3 months. In order to reactivate them, simply find them in Expired Service Ads and edit the expiration date.

9. View Account Activity

10. Exit the System

Tuesday, January 15, 2013