Getting Started in Time and Talents (The New Software)

Members,

As you're finding out, in order to gain the functions members are requesting, we've switched software platforms.  To get you up and running quickly, the Getting Started guide is a must read to help you with the switch from the previous software.  It'll get you logged in and answer many of the basic questions you'll have getting going in the new software.

You also need to read this Quick Start guide.  This teaches you about posting offers, requests, and announcements.  It also teaches you how to record transactions, indicate satisfaction with an exchange, endorsing members, creating and joining groups, and updating your account information.

For those of you that want to jump right into the mobile app, please note that you need to set up your web based account before going to the mobile application.  Make sure you've got your new password set up, make sure your profile looks OK, change what you feel you need to change, etc.

With that out of the way, we should talk about a couple of points about the website.  The banner area after you log in now looks like this:

You'll notice a 'Contact Us!' button on the right side of the banner, just above the dark horizontal bar.  The most efficient way to contact the admin is through use of that button.  Please be aware that our admin is a volunteer who works a 40 hour week at a paid job and thus cannot check emails every minute of every day.  Please allow for sufficient time for the admin to be able to see the email and respond.

Also in the banner, you'll see buttons for 'Offers' and 'Requests' (the middle buttons on that dark bar).  These buttons take you to all offers and requests that are currently posted by our members.  From that page, you can drill down by category or select the 'Browse Offers Directory' button (there's a 'Browse Requests Directory' if you've followed the request link) if you want to see all posts for every category on a single page.

To get to your personal posts (both offers and requests), please use the links that are shown below the dark bar, just under the words 'Welcome back, <your name>' where <your name> is you.  You will also see these links from your account page.  They look like this:

We will go through them from left to right:  Clicking on the left-most circle (with the dashed arrow pointing inward) will take you to your personal requests so you can edit or delete those requests.  The next circle (with the solid arrow and plus sign), will allow you to create new requests.  These arrows point into the circle to symbolize individuals asking for the members to provide something.  Hovering over the symbols brings up a little text box describing where each will take you so if you forget, you can still figure out which is which.

The next two circles deal with your offers.  Arrow pointing out, meaning you're offering services/time to other members.  The circle with the dashed arrow allows you to manage your existing offers, the solid arrow with the plus sign allows you to add new offers.

Of mention here is that there are many more categories with which to request and offer services.  This is done to help our members connect more quickly rather than browsing all posts to try to find what they need and want.  For instance, a person who does odd jobs, may not be the right person to fix an electrial wiring issue but both are help at home activities.

Also, you cannot have two offers or two requests in the same category/subcategory combination. So many of the offers and requests from Community Weaver were sorted into categories in hOurWorld to ensure all posts from users were migrated completely.

You will need to search Google Play or the Apple App Store for 'hourworld' to find it and then download to your device.  Once you have followed the directions above and in the guides provided, you can then go to the mobile application and use your login (email address) and new password.  The mobile application is being enhanced regularly so please pay attention when your app store tells you there's an update.

What you'll see are six symbols on the page when you log in.  Announcements, Offers, Requests, Search, Groups, and More.  The Offers and Requests categories are set up to show the most recent of each that have been posted.

All older offers and requests are searchable in the mobile app and use of wild card characters are encouraged.  For instance, someone might need a proofreader while others are offering proofreading services.  Search using the term 'proofread*' to see all of the combinations. 

Also, all posts are indexed every night at 2AM (Eastern) so that the posts from today are searchable after that time.  So, you are not likely to see today's new posts in the mobile app until morning.

I hope you find this information helpful as you begin using the new software.  Please come back often to see more detailed information about using the software.

Rob Harveland
Board Treasurer

Transition

Fellow Members,

Thank you for stopping by the blog. It’s true, we’ll have a mobile app this coming Monday, March 3, but the transition is going to take some time over the weekend so we’ll need to stop recording trades in Community Weaver as of 11:59PM on Thursday, February 27. Time Trader will be back up on Monday morning by 9AM. So, if you do trade over the weekend, you’ll be able to record those trades on Monday.

Please read on for the details behind this move.

As part of the transition work that you should all be familiar with, we’ve also been looking at how to address the functionality of Community Weaver and how to provide some added features that most of you have been requesting, most significantly, a mobile app. Those of you who have requested these in the past may recall that the hard part was never finding out if/when those changes would be implemented.

Additionally, Friday, February 28, is when Time Trader’s annual dues need to be paid to TimeBanks USA to use Community Weaver for the next year. As a board, we were trying to figure out how we would raise the necessary money each year.  Thankfully, Family Service Rochester continues to support us in this transition and said they would cover this year’s dues for us. But that would just delay the inevitable; how to pay the dues in future years. And there was not any projected outlook for the features our members wanted.

As we were investigating the features requested by members, we came across another software program being used in 155 time exchanges across the country.The software is called Time and Talents and comes from hOurWorld.It has a mobile app available for both Apple and Android (search your respective app store for ‘hourworld’). It also has features that allow for urgent trades and many additional features. The board has been testing the new software for about a month now, and we know that the basic features of Community Weaver are functional in both the web based software and with the mobile app along with the additional features requested.

So, the board decided to change software because not only did it offer many of the features and functions that members have been requesting, but it is also a free system that has been created and maintained by traders in many exchanges.  We believe that using the free software is financially responsible on our part and in line with the values and beliefs of Time Trader.

Important features of this new software include creating public and private groups, trading by vicinity, and trading globally. We will explain how each of these could be used in a separate blog entry.

If you’d like some quick overviews of the new software, you can check out these videos:

Brief History (3 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OmfLsbz0Yg&feature=youtu.be

Member Side (8 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YACf1WSb7O4&feature=youtu.be

To get you started with the new software, you will need to check out this member help document. It talks about the first steps for logging into the exchange, changing your password, checking out your profile, checking that we transferred your hours correctly, etc. The document states what the default password is set to. Because passwords on all websites are encrypted, there’s no way to pull your old password over to the new software, which is why there’s a default assigned. Of course, the ‘forgotten password’ function is always there and, based on experience, takes about a minute to submit, receive the email, and create a new password. The longest time in that process depends on your email provider.

If you go to the hOurWorld link, you’ll actually see a ‘Member Login’ link on their home page. If you click that, you’ll be able to follow the steps in the member help document to get started Friday evening but because the admins want to spend some time this weekend checking to make sure things transferred correctly, we are requesting no transactions be recorded until Monday morning. Click around, create groups, and check out the features that didn’t exist in Community Weaver. For now, the trading stop is mainly so we can spot check balances and make sure no one lost nor gained hours in the transition. If you happen to see an issue in your balances while you are looking at your account, please let us know by sending an email through the "Contact Us" button in the title bar of the new Time Trader site after you are logged in.

Currently, there are no public groups in Community Weaver. Anyone can create one and you should feel free to create as many as you want. If the admins see what they consider duplicates, we will work with the creators to consolidate those into one group.

Another note that’s important to point out about this new software; several times over the course of our testing, requests for enhancements were made by admins in many other timebanks. Those requests were implemented very quickly. For instance, mid-February, the main contact for Time and Talents software sent an email on Thursday, requesting admins to send in new enhancement requests. On Monday morning, he sent out a note indicating that there were 4 new features added based on the requests. A week later, more enhancements were added. Many of these, like global trading, are able to be turned on by the local exchanges and do not necessarily affect the current operation, i.e. they are add-ons, not so much changes to functionality. So, as we see a need for a new function, they are much more able to quickly and easily implement it for us.

Now, due to the change in software, the board expects a learning curve. The getting started document will indeed get you started, and it is a must-read. However, we know some members will want more hands on help understanding the new software. If you are among them, please let us know. If there’s enough interest, we’ll set up group events where we can walk people through creating requests, responding to offers, creating groups, emailing groups, etc. If there’s an individual that wants a one-on-one session and may be willing to facilitate one of these group sessions, we can make that arrangement.

We believe this is the best decision as we move Time Trader forward and we appreciate your willingness to jump in and figure out the new software. We do believe you will appreciate these new functions and come up to speed quickly.

Rob Harveland
Board Treasurer

New Year--"New" Time Trader

I don’t know about you but often I find great energy, fun, and hope in the word “new”. New car, New clothes, New Year, New You—you get the picture. The same can be said for the NEW Time Trader.

Ok, so the program itself is not new, but in transitioning the program to a community led group, there are lots of exciting things happening. There are new members and new businesses that will be joining, which in turn means that there will be new offers, new requests, and new opportunities. A big, grand, bucket of NEW. Reminds me of being a kid and getting a new box of crayons—all crisp colors with unblemished tips to spend hours in creative expression.  

It’s a new year….a new chance to achieve your goals, tackle a project, learn a new skill, spend more time in a hobby… all while connecting and helping in your community.

Have you heard the phrase, “When you help others you help yourself”? As a member of Time Trader that is certainly true. For every minute that you donate to help someone else, you gain that same time back into your time bank account. Plus, you get all the other added bonuses to your physical and mental health by volunteering. How cool is that?!

Is your wife nagging you to get the garage cleaned up? Do you loathe the chore yet you’d really like to make your wife happy? Read on for a solution!! Mark is a Time Trader member who is looking to help out—he’s willing and happy to clean your garage. You give him two hours time credit to clean the garage while you gain back the two hours teaching Sue’s son how to play soccer. SCORE!  Especially since you love to play soccer! You feel happy and awesome to help someone in your community with a need that they had, and you and your wife are both happy that the garage is clean. Mark is happy to have added 2 hours to his Time bank to spend later as he wants. It’s a whole huge circle of Happy goin’ on. Who knew a clean garage could do such wonders!

Seriously though, Time Trader has a lot of new and exciting times around the corner and plenty of ways to get involved. You can meet new people and strengthen your community while getting some of your needs met at the same time. Maybe you are already a member but haven’t been active recently; if that’s the case we want to encourage you to ‘get back in the game’. If you need help or assistance making the program work for you, please contact us at timetrader@familyservicerochester.org  or check out our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Time-Trader/92884166702. We want to hear from everyone. Together we can make this a strong and mutually supportive community!

Make joining and participating in Time Trader one of your New Years’ resolutions!

Meagan