Help pages and how to use them.

These help pages for the website are divided into sections to explain and describe each of the main functions available to you as a user. To view the details about a particular section, click on the header in the index below to open out the associated tab.

You can also click on any of the help icons on this site to view the help section here about that page. The help icons will normally be found in the green header box at the top of the page and will link directly to the relevant section of this help page.

  How to create a new user.

As a new user of this website, the first step is to create your user account. The form you need to complete is displayed by selecting the "New User" button on the main menu. Once the form is displayed, there are several fields that must be completed in order to create the account. The descriptions of these fields are as follows;

• DISPLAY NAME - This is the name that will be shown to other users of the website.
• USERNAME - This is your username used to login to the website. This username will be verified to ensure that it is unique.
• PASSWORD - Your chosen password to log into this website.
• REPEAT PASSWORD - Confirmation of your password.
• ADDRESS - Your address (you can chose not to display this information).
• TOWN - Your town (you can chose not to display this information).
• COUNTY - Your county (you can chose not to display this information).
• POSTCODE - Your postcode (you can chose not to display this information).
• PHONE - Your phone number (you can chose not to display this information).
• EMAIL - Your email address. Ths is the address that your messages will be forwarded to if set up to do so (you can chose not to display this information).
• ACCOUNT TYPE - Not yet active so leave as "Private".

Once the fields have been completed, you must confirm that you have read and accepted the Terms and Conditions for using the website by selecting the tick mark in the checkbox displayed.

The final part of the form is the visual or audio verification. This check is designed to ensure that the website can only be used by humans and not automated programmes. To complete this part of the form, enter the two words displayed into the box on the screen. As an alternative, clicking the "Use Audio" button will give an audible pair of words which will be heard through you PC sound system (if available). When the form is submitted, these two words will be verified. If they match, the user account will be created otherwise an error message will be displayed.

  Viewing user profiles.

You can view the profile of any user that is a member of a group you are also a member of. The information that you see about any individual user will be subject to their account settings. Similarly, you can adjust your own account settings to define what information other users will see about you. Your profile will also only be seen by others members of the groups you have membership of.

When viewing your own profile, however, you will always be able to see all of your own details.

There are a number of ways that you can display the profile of a user that you have permission to view;

• From the PROFILE button on the main menu. (your profile only)
• By selecting a user in the CONTACTS list from the main menu. (any profile)
• From the GROUP MEMBERS list on the GROUP DETAIL display. (any profile)
• Clicking on any LINK that contains the users name. (any profile)

  How to update your account details and settings.

As well as being able to update your profile details, you can also adjust you account settings to allow or inhibit the display of aspects of your personal information. The configurable tems are;

• ACCOUNT STATUS - Use this to enable/disable you account. When your account is disabled, you will still be able to login and view your account but you will have restricted access to other users.
• SHOW ADDRESS - Set this option to 'No' to keep your address private.
• SHOW EMAIL - Set this option to 'No' to keep your email address private.
• SHOW PHONE NUMBER - Set this option to 'No' to keep your phone number private.
• FORWARD MESSAGES - Set this option to 'Yes' to have all messages received by your account forwarded on to your designated email address.

To complete the update, you will have to enter your current password in the highlighted PASSWORD field. If you wish to change your password, you must also enter the new password in the 'NEW PASSWORD' and 'REPEAT PASSWORD' fields. The password will be changed when the update is confirmed and you will be logged in with your new password.

Finally, you will need to complete the reCaptcha data at the end of the form in the same way as you did when you created the account.

  Deleting your user account.

WARNING! - Deleting your user account is permanent. All your group memberships will be removed and all items added to your account will be deleted. Any groups you are the group administrator of will also be deleted and all memberships cancelled. In addition, all your internal messages will be destroyed. This change can not be undone once the action has been completed.

To allow a group you are the administrator of to continue after you delete your account, you must first transfer the administrator role for that group to another group member.

If you do wish to delete your account, select the DELETE button from the USER PROFILE screen. You will be prompted to confirm the action before the deletion takes place.

  Viewing your user summary page.

The USER SUMMARY page contains the most recent information relating to your account. On this page you will also find additional links to the full listings of each type of information.

The four information types are;

• UNREAD MESSAGES - This is a list of all the curren, unread messages in your inbox. You can view the details of any message by clicking on the SUBJECT link or the ICON on the right hand side of the item. Once you have clicked on a message to view the details, it will automatically be marked as read and will no longer be dislayed on the summary page. The message will still be displayed in the INBOX until it is deleted. There is also a link to your SENTBOX to view your previously sent messages.
• AVAILABLE ITEMS - These are the most recent items shared with you by other users in the groups you are a member of. Details of a specific item can be viewed by clicking the ITEM NAME link or the ICON on the right hand side. The heading displays the total number of items shared with you and you can view the complete list of all these items by clicking on the SHOW ALL button.
• OWNED ITEMS - This section contains the items you have most recently added to your account. Details of a specific item can be viewed by clicking the ITEM NAME link or the ICON on the right hand side. The heading displays the total number of items you have in your account and you can view the complete list of all these items by clicking on the SHOW ALL button.
• GROUPS - This is a list of the most recent GROUPS that you are a member of. his list includes both groups you have started and groups you have joined. Group details can be viewed by clicking the GROUP link or the ICON on the right hand side. The heading displays the total number of groups you are a member of and you can view the complete list of all these groups by clicking on the SHOW ALL button.

    Viewing your message folders.

There are two message folders where your received (INBOX) and sent (SENTBOX) messages are stored. You can view these folders by selecting the buttons on the MAIN MENU or the USER SUMMARY page.

When one of these folders is selected, the full list of messages will be displayed with the total number shown in the header. Messages can be viewed by clicking on the SUBJECT link in the main display. In addition to this, there are several icons to allow you to perform actions on the messages directly from the lists;

• READ MESSAGE - Displays the message details (inbox/sentbox).
• REPLY TO MESSAGE - Brings up a message form to reply to the message (inbox only).
• DELETE MESSAGE - Allows you to delete the selected message. This action can not be undone (inbox/sentbox).

The list of messages can be sorted by any field by clicking on the column header. The sort function has a toggle feature so that if you click the same header again, the list will be sorted by the same column but in reverse order.

  Viewing individual message details.

When viewing the details of a message, there will be a number of button slectable options depending on if the message was sent or received. The options are as follows;

• RETURN TO LIST - Goes back to the list view (received/sent).
• REPLY TO MESSAGE - Brings up a message form to reply to the message (received only).
• DELETE MESSAGE - Allows you to delete the selected message. This action can not be undone (received/sent).
• REPORT MESSAGE - Select this button if you wish to report a received message to us (received only).

    Sending messages.

This site has it's own built-in messaging system that allows you to send messages to other users you are members of a group with. The two main ways of sending messages are to;

• COMPOSE A NEW MESSAGE - This is the name that will be shown to other users of the website.
• REPLY TO A RECEIVED MESSAGE - This is your username used to login to the website. This username will be verified to ensure that it is unique.

If you send a message to a user who has enabled the option to forward their messages, that message will be forwarded to their designated email address automatically.

  Automated messages.

In addition, the system will also send automated messages to other users or the webmaster when one of the functions below is carried out;

• REQUEST AN ITEM - This is the name that will be shown to other users of the website.
• GROUP INVITATION - Your chosen password to log into this website.
• REPORT A USER/GROUP/ITEM - This is the name that will be shown to other users of the website.
• CONTACT US - Confirmation of your password.

Adding new items to your account.

To adda new iyem to your account, select the ADD NEW from the ITEMS section of the main menu. A form will be displayed enabling you to enter the details of the item you wish to add. The fields of the form are described below;

• ITEM NAME - The name of the item you are adding. This is the name that will be used to describe the item in any lists and pages.
• SECTION - You must select the section to which the item will be assigned. Currently, available sections are DIY, GARDEN, HOME, LEISURE, SERVICES and VEHICLE.
• DESCRIPTION - Enter a description of the item you are adding in this field.
• IMAGE FILE - (optional) Click the button on this field to browse your PC for an image of the item you are adding. The image will be uploaded to the server when you complete the for and the item is added. The maximum size of image you can upload is 1Mb and the format can be JPG, PNG or GIF.
• ITEM TYPE - Currently disabled. Please leave as PRIVATE.
• SHARE TYPE - This is used to show other users how you are intending to provide this item. Available options are FREE SHARE, PAID SHARE, JOINT OWNERSHIP, FOR SALE, FREE SERVICE and COMMERCIAL SERVICE.

Once you have added the item to your account, you will then have the option to share this item with any/all of the groups you are a member of. When an item is shared with a group, only the other members of that group will be able to see it. Other users of the site in other groups will not be able to view that item.

Listing all your own items.

From the main menu, click the OWNED button in the ITEMS section. This will provide a list of all the items you have aded to your account. This list can be sorted by any field by clicking on the column header. The sort function has a toggle feature so that if you click the same header again, the list will be sorted by the same column but in reverse order.

The header box will show a count of how many items you have in your account. You can view the details and image (if present) of any individual item by clicking on the ITEM NAME link in the list.

There are also several ICONS on the right hand side of the list that allow you to perform the following functions;

• DETAIL - Click to view details of the item.
• SHARE - This option will allow you to select which groups to share the item with.
• UNSHARE - You can stop sharing an item with a group by selecting this option.
• UPDATE - Allows you to modify the details of the item.
• DELETE - If you select this option, the item will be deleted and will no longer be shared with any groups. This action can not be undone.

Listing all items shared with you.

This is displayed by selecting the AVAILABLE button in the ITEMS section of the main menu. You will then see a list of all the items shared with you from all the other users in the same groups as you. The header box will show the total number items currently shared with you by other users.

This list can be sorted by any field by clicking on the column header. The sort function has a toggle feature so that if you click the same header again, the list will be sorted by the same column but in reverse order. In addition, the list can be filtered, using the DROP DOWN BOXES at the top, according to the SECTION the item is in or the SHARE TYPE of that item (eg. For Sale).

You can view the details and image (if present) of any item by clicking on the ITEM NAME link in the list.

There are two ICONS on the right hand side of the list that allow you to perform the following functions;

• DETAIL - Click to view details of the item.
• REQUEST - This opens a message form that allows you to make a request for the item in question.

Individual item details and options.

The full details of any individual item you have access to can be viewed by selecting that item from the USER SUMMARY, ITEM LISTS or by clicking an ITEM NAME link on any of the pages. The following details for that item will be displayed;

• ITEM NAME - The name of the selected item.
• DESCRIPTION - The description of the item, as entered by the user that added it.
• IMAGE - The image of the item, if available.
• SECTION - The section or category that the item is in (e.g. LEISURE, DIY etc.).
• OWNER - This will show the owner of the item. It is an active link that can be clicked on to display the profile of the owner.
• SHARE TYPE - The type of sharing of the item (e.g. FREE SHARE, COMMERCIAL SERVICE etc.).
• STATUS - This is the current status of the item and can be either ACTIVE or INACTIVE. The status will only be visible when viewing items you own.
• VIEW TYPE - Disabled so it will always say PRIVATE.
• ADDED - This field will show the date the item was added by the owner.
• SHARED WITH/FROM - Here you can see the groups the item is shared with or from. If you own the item, this field will display all the groups the item is shared with. If the item is shared with you by another user, you will only see the groups the item is shared with that you are a member of. The group names displayed are active links that can be clicked on to display the group details.

As well as viewing the item details, there are also a number of buttons that will alow you to perform various actions on that item;

• SHOW ALL - If you own the item being viewed, this butt will display the list of all the items you own. If the item is shared with you by another user, the button will take you to the list of all items shared with you (owned and shared items).
• SHARE - This button links to the screen where you can select which groups to share an item with (owned items only).
• UNSHARE - This function allows you to chose to stop sharing an item with a group it is currently shared with (owned items only).
• UPDATE - Selecting this function displays the page where you can update the details of an item you own (owned items only).
• DELETE - This allows you to delete an item you own. All existing shares of that item will be deleted and the item will no longer be accessible. This action can not be undone once it has been completed (owned items only).
• REQUEST - You can use this button to bring up the item request message form. This form is used to send a message to the owner of the item to make a request based on the SHARE TYPE it is listed as (shared items only).
• REPORT - If you feel an item shared with you is inappropriate, you can click this button to send us a message about it. We will investigate all reports we receive.

  How to create a new group.

To create a new group on the C-Share website, select the CREATE option from the GROUPS section of the main menu. You will be presented with a form in which to enter the group information. The details required are;

• GROUP NAME - This is the name of the group and will be verified to ensure it is unique.
• DISPLAY NAME - This is the name that will be shown on the website. It does not need to be the same as the group name.
• DESCRIPTION - (optional) A description of the group could help users to understand the aim of your group. This description will also be displayed if your group details are displayed as part of a search result.
• LOCATION - The location of the group (e.g. street, company name etc.).
• TOWN - Enter the town where the group is located.
• COUNTY - Select the county the group is located in from the drop down list.
• POSTCODE - The postcode you assign to the group will be used to determine if another user is in the same area. This is very important if you wish to start a group for your road or street.
• GROUP TYPE - Not yet active so leave as "Private".

The DISPLAY NAME and the POSTCODE are the fields that are used for searches so it is important you enter these correctly so that other users can find your group.

The final part of the form is the visual or audio verification. This check is designed to ensure that the website can only be used by humans and not automated programmes. To complete this part of the form, enter the two words displayed into the box on the screen. As an alternative, clicking the "Use Audio" button will give an audible pair of words which will be heard through you PC sound system (if available). When the form is submitted, these two words will be verified. If they match, the group will be created otherwise an error message will be displayed.

When the group is created, a unique GROUP CODE will be genrated automatically for your group. This code, along with the DISPLAY NAME will be required for any user to join the group. As the group creator, you will automatically be a member and the group administrator

Once the group has been created, you will then be able to share your own items with that group and invite other users, friends, family or colleagues to join.

  Inviting other people to join a group.

You can invite other people to join any group you are already a member of. To join any group, the other person will require a valid C-Share user account, the DISPLAY NAME of the group and the GROUP CODE. The DISPLAY NAME and GROUP CODE can be found on the group details screen.

Selecting the INVITE option in the GROUPS section will show a form that can be used to invite other people to join a group. This form can also be displayed by clicking the INVITE OTHERS TO JOIN link on the group details page. If the invitation form is selected from the group deails page, the group code will automatically be netered into the form.

There are 3 ways you can use the site to invite others to join;

• BY EMAIL - On the invitation form, select the group you are inviting people to join from the drop down box. Next, enter the group code in the field provided. In the RECIPIENT EMAIL ADDRESSES field, enter the email addresses of all the people you wish to invite to join the selected group. If multiple email addresses are entered, they must be on a line each with no additional characters (like commas) at the end of each line. An email will then be sent to each of the email addresses with you r invitation, including the required joining information.
• LOCAL USERS - If you are creating a group for your road or street, it is also possible to invite all current users of the site who have the same postcode as the GROUP POSTCODE. Again, using this method, you must select the group you are inviting people to join from the drop down box and enter the group code in the field provided. All users with the selected postcode will receive the invitation in the user account inbox.
• GROUP POSTER / CARDS - On the group details screen, at the bottom of the page, two buttons are available to generate a group poster or a sheet of invitation cards in PDF format to advertise your group invitation. These could be used if you are greating a group for an office or community where it may be easier to manually distribute the group details. To view and print the poster or cards, you will require a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit PDF Viewer.

It is worth remembering that optimising the size of your group is how you will get the most benefit. If the group is too small, there may not be much to gain but if you try and make the group too large, you may find many people become more cautious and reserved about how much they share.

How to find groups to join.

Apart from being invited to join a group, you can also search the website for groups you would like to join. The two criteria that can be used to search for groups are the GROUP NAME or the GROUP POSTCODE.

• QUICK SEARCH - On the right hand side of the screens is the QUICK SEARCH box. If you enter your POSTCODE into the field and click SEARCH, a list of existing groups in that area will be displayed. This search field is not case sensitive.
• FULL SEARCH - Selecting SEARCH from the main menu will display the full search form. This form allows you to enter the POSTCODE to search for and/or specific text to search the exiting GROUP NAMES for. These search fields are not case sensitive.
• LOCAL SEARCH - On your USER PROFILE page, there is a link at the bttom of the page to perform the LOCAL search. This will automatically perform a search for groups with a POSTCODE the same as, or similar to, yours.

The search results.

The SEARCH RESULTS page will differ depending on whether the search is carried out by a public user or by a logged in member. This page will show all the existing groups that match your search criteria. At the top of the search results page, a count of the number of groups found will be shown. The results are split into 2 groups;

• EXACT MATCHES - These are groups that have exactly the same POSTCODE as the one you entered or the GROUP NAME is exactly the same as the text you typed into the search form.
• SIMILAR MATCHES - These are groups where either the first part of the POSTCODE matches (e.g. SO53 4) or the GROUP NAME contains the text entered into the search form.

If you perform a search and you are not logged in, only the NAMES, LOCATIONS and DESCRIPTIONS of the groups will be displayed to you. If you are logged in, however, the following additional options will be available;

• VIEW DETAILS - If you are already a member of the group, you will be able to click on the link and view all the details of the selected group. You will not have permission to vire details of a group you are not a member of.
• JOIN GROUP - If you already know the GROUP CODE, you can click on this link to display the form that will allow you to enter the details and join the group.
• REQUEST MEMBERSHIP - You can select this option to display a form that allows you to send a message to the GROUP ADMINISTRATOR requesting membership of that group. If your request is accepted, the GROUP ADMINISTRATOR will send a reply message with the group code to enable you to join the group.

Joining an existing group.

In order to join an existing group, you will need to know the exact GROUP NAME and the associated GROUP CODE for that group. The GROUP CODE can only be seen by the group administrator or members of the group. This information can be obtained either from a joining invitation or by sending a membership request to the GROUP ADMINISTRATOR from the search results page.

To join the group, select the JOIN option in the GROUPS section of the main menu. A form will be dslayed where you can enter the GROUP NAME and GROUP CODE. This information will be verified when you submit the form and, if it is valid, you will become a member of that group.

Once you have membership of a group, you will be able to see all items shared with that group and you wll be able to share your own items with that group. You will also be able to contact any of the group members directly as their details will be added to your CONTACTS list automatically.

Viewing group lists.

You can view a list of all the groups you are a member of by selecting ALL GROUPS from the GROUPS section of the main menu. The list contains both groups you have started and other groups you have joined. This list can be sorted by any field by clicking on the column header. The sort function has a toggle feature so that if you click the same header again, the list will be sorted by the same column but in reverse order.

You can view the details of any of the groups by clicking on the GROUP NAME link in the list. Alternatively, there are icons on the right hand side of the list to provide additional functions;

• DETAIL - Select this icon to view the group details.
• LEAVE - Selecting this icon will allow you to cancel your membership or leave that group. You can not leave a group you are the administrator of.
• UPDATE - This icon will display the form used to update the group details. It is only available if you are the group administrator.
• DELETE - This option allows you to delete the group completely. This is only available if you are the group administrator. Once the group is deleted, all memberships will be cancelled and there will no longer be any items shared with the group. This action can not be undone.

If one of the options is not available for a group in the list, the icon will be replaced with a grey, unavailable icon.

Viewing group details.

The details of any individual group you are a member of can be viewed by selecting that group from the USER SUMMARY, GROUP LIST or by clicking an GROUP NAME link on any of the pages on the site. The following details for that group will be displayed;

• GROUP NAME - The displayed name of the selected group.
• DESCRIPTION - A description of the group as entered by the user who started the group (optional).
• LOCATION - The entered location of the group.
• ADMINISTRATOR - The name of the current group administrator.
• GROUP CODE - This is the automatically generated code for the group. This is required by any other user who wishes to join the group.
• STATUS - Shown the current group status. This is only visible for groups you are the administrator of. If the status of the group is INACTIVE, it will not be accessible by other users and none of the items shared with the group will be sen by the group members.
• STARTED - This shows the date the group was initially created.
• No of MEMBERS - Here you will see a count of the number of group members. Alongside the total is a link to the invitation form where you can invite other people to join the group.
• No of ITEMS - This shows a count of the total number of items currently being shared with the group by all its members.
• MAP - The map displayed shows the location of the group. This is based on the POSTCODE currently set as the groups location.
• GROUP POSTER - You can click on this page to automatically generate a PDF poster with the group details. This poster can be distributed or displayed to invite other people to join your group. The poster will be automatically created with the GROUP NAME, GROUP CODE and ADMINISTRATOR.
• GROUP MEMBERS - On the right hand side of the screen, a list of ACTIVE group members will be shown. You can click on any user in the list to view their public profile page. If you are the administrator of the group, you will also have the option to remove any user from the group.

In addition to viewing the group details, there are also function buttons allowing various actions to be performed. These are located at the top of the page;

• SHOW ALL - This option returns to the main GROUP LIST page.
• UPDATE - Select this option to update the group details. This option will only be available if you are the current group administrator.
• TRANSFER - You can use this option to transfer the administrator role for the group to another current, ACTIVE member. This will then allow you to leave the group without having to delete it.
• DELETE - Select this option to delete the group. Once the group is deleted, all memberships will be cancelled and there will no longer be any items shared with the group. This action can not be undone. This option is only available to the group administrator.
• LEAVE - Select this option to cancel your membership or leave that group. You can not leave a group you are the administrator of.
• REPORT - If you feel the group you are a member of is inappropriate, you can click this button to send us a message about it. We will investigate all reports we receive.

Group Administration Functions.

The follwing is a list of functions that are only applicable to the ADMINISTRATOR of a group.

• UPDATE GROUP - Only the current administrator of a group has the functionality available to update the group details.
• TRANSFER ADMINISTRATION - The current administrator can chose to transfer the administrator role to another group member. Once the transfer is complete, they will no longer be the group administrator or have access to these administrator functions.
• REMOVE USER - As the group administrator, you will have the functionality to allow you to remove any member from the group.
• MEMBERSHIP REQUESTS - As the group administrator, you will receive all messages from other users requesting membershp of your group. It will be up to you to provide these users with the GROUP CODE necessary for them to join the group.
• DELETE GROUP - The administrator can chose to delete a group completely. Once the group is deleted, all memberships will be cancelled and there will no longer be any items shared with the group. This action can not be undone.

User activity log.

Various actions throughout the site, such as creating groups, deleting items or reporting users, are logged by the website. The user activity log can be displayed by selecting the ACTIVITY option in the USER section of the main menu. The log file displayed will contain up to the last 200 log entries for the current user.

This log file displayed can be sorted by any field by clicking on the column header. The sort function has a toggle feature so that if you click the same header again, the list will be sorted by the same column but in reverse order.

At the top of the page is an option button to CLEAR LOG. This option will delete all entries in the logging database for that user, apart from the initial entry when the user account was created. A new log entry will also be stored showing the action to clear the log.

  Site accessibility options.

To make this site as user friendly as possible to the greatest number of people we have taken into account a lot of the accessibility features currently recommended for website design. We have tried, wherever possible, to take into account the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These are a set of guidelines that help with making sure that websites are also easily accesible to disabled or partially disabled users.

MENU HOTKEYS - In the main site menu, we have added hotkeys that allow you to navigate directly to pages without the need for a mouse. Only the main items are hotkeyed and this is shown by the hotkey being underlined in the menu item text. Unfortunately not all browsers allow you to access hotkeys in the same way but here are some of the more widespread examples;

• FIREFOX: <alt> + <shift> + <hotkey>
• INTERNET EXPLORER: <alt> + <hotkey>
• OPERA: <shift> + <escape>
• CHROME: <alt> + <hotkey>
• SAFARI: <alt> + <ctrl> + <hotkey>

FORM TAB STOPS - We have also tried to make it easier to move between the fields in any of the forms you will find on his website. You can move to the next field in any form by pressing the <tab> key, or go back to the previous field by pressing the <shift> + <tab> keys together.

AUDIO VERIFICATION - When using the websites built-in form verification (reCaptcha), you have the option to switch to using audible numbers instead of printed words. This does, however, require a suitable audio output device to be already installed and working on your PC.