Accessing and Managing Your Account

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WHAT EVERYONE CAN DO: Everyone can see what's Offered and Wanted but cannot view the member details behind those listings. Everyone can view the News and Events section of the Members Area to see when meetings and socials will be held, for example. Non-members can view the About/Join pages and some of the items in Useful Pages (like this one, because it explains how to get back your password if you've forgotten it). And everyone can contact us with feedback, queries or news items or enquiries via Contact Us.

WHAT MEMBERS CAN DO: Once logged in, members can read more of the Info pages, connect with other members, update their own profiles, and do online transactions, following the links in the sidebar - further details are explained below.

LOGGING IN: If you have an account on this site, the system will "know" you if you put in your ID and Password when you log in. Your ID is your four-digit account number. Members are given an automatically-generated password for their account when their account is initially set up, but can change it to something more memorable via the My Profile page. If you have forgotten your password, you can request a new one via the Password Reset link as long as you know your ID. If you don't know your ID, ask for help via the Contact Us link in the sidebar.

MANAGING YOUR OWN ACCOUNT

UPDATING YOUR OWN DETAILS: Once you are logged on, you can also update your profile, via the My Profile link in the sidebar. Under Edit My Personal Information, you can update your contact details and update the general text including a website link to "About Me" and upload a photo of yourself. If you need any help with this, go to Contact Us.

OFFERS & WANTS: The My Profile menu also enables you to Create and Update your own Offers & Wants. When you are creating a listing, make sure your heading is a good title. Use a capital letter at the beginning and end it with a colon (two dots). If you are not sure which category to place it in, put it in Uncategorised. The Directory Editor can create or edit the categories and move listings into them as appropriate. You can add a description, as well as limiting the duration of the listing. Any of this can be updated by you at any time, but if you want to alter the title itself, you will need to copy and save the text, create a new listing, and copy in the text you have saved. Then you can delete the old one.

RATES PER HOUR: The Offers listing enables you to quote a rate per hour, and some members have asked for guidance on this. In the original LETSystem it was assumed that the value of the local currency would be equivalent to the national currency, and this has clear advantages, (i) it helps determine the price of "goods" and (ii) enables "half-to-half" pricing which makes more sense than offering concessions. The hourly rate can be quoted as "neg" meaning "negotiable" or stated numerically on the Offer listing, and does not have to be the same for all tasks. Some groups - perhaps in "women in dungarees mode" - insisted on fixing a standard rate per hour, implying that everyone's time is equal, but this rigidity is detrimental to realistic trading, especially in groups where, due to inflation, that rate is now way below the minimum wage. The compromise that LETSlink recommend, if members want to have a standard rate per hour, is to use that as a guideline for when members want to trade on an equal basis, but always to allow exceptions - this can be discussed and determined at an AGM.

PUBLICISING EVENTS: The Core Group will organise formal, decision-making meetings, and some socials. However, any member can use the Events category in the Offers & Wants function to invite members to an event, whether they are hosting it or consider that it will be of interest to other members - and the update will go to all members who have opted to receive updates - please allow a week in advance to allow the update to reach those who have requested Weekly, rather than Daily updates. When creating such a listing, please use the "Should this listing be set to automatically expire?" function to set an end-date, which will help to keep the Directory up to date.

HARMONY TRANSACTIONS: Harmonies are the local currency for Harrow LETS. If a members has done some work for you, and you want to give them some Harmonies, go to the Transactions menu linked in the sidebar. You can view your own trading record and that of other members there, as well as doing online transactions. If there will be any delay before you can go online to make the transaction, both parties can sign each other's copy of a Local Claim Form as an interim record (to be added), or use a cheque (to be added) and post it or hand it in at a social, as long as someone in the Core Group is carrying out this function (none currently). Once you have done a transaction you will be invited to provide feedback. If you have difficulty with any of this, go to Contact us and ask for help

WHAT MEMBERS CAN'T DO: Members can't update their own Harmonies balance, ie pay themselves Harmonies. When you've traded with another member, the person who has received the service or item is the one who records it on the Transactions Menu, but where appropriate you can use the Invoice function to request payment. Once the transaction has taken place, you will see it appear on the page "View My Balance and Exchange History". Those who are not online can be matched to a buddy, who will help them set up a web-based email address and/or help them manage their account.

WHAT CORE GROUP MEMBERS CAN DO: As well as helping with Transactions, designated Core Group members can help members with editing and also update some pages on the website, eg the News Page. The webmaster (currently the LETSlink Support contact) can also do major updates to the website, and if you notice anything not working or out of date, again you can use the Contact Us link to give feedback. Alternatively to enable you to contact the appropriate person for help here is the link to Core Group Roles.