Members, Discourse & App

Freegle Volunteer Wiki › 👥 Members, Discourse & App

This section covers the tools volunteers use to reach and support members, and to talk to each other. It brings together Freegle Direct - the website and app members use to post, chat and manage their account - and Discourse, the forum where volunteers discuss things nationally. There's also guidance on data protection, terms of use and handling awkward emails like spam complaints and failed unsubscribes.

Start here: Freegle Direct is the overview of the member-facing website and app, and Discourse is the overview of the volunteer discussion forum.

Freegle Direct: the website and app for members

• Freegle Direct - an overview of the Freegle Direct website for members, with links to its main features like ChitChat and post deadlines.
• Freegle Direct Categories - how posts get categorised, illustrated with a year's worth of real category stats from one community.
• Freegle Direct Events - how members can post their own local events, and how moderators review them before they go live.
• Freegle Direct Photos - the rules behind photos on posts and chats: display order, minimum size and acceptable aspect ratio.
• Promise button - how members promise an item to a specific replier, and what happens on-site once they do.
• Member Ratings - how the thumbs up/down rating system works after a transaction, and why each member can only rate once.
• Sign in with Apple - why iOS apps must offer Sign in with Apple, and what that means for members who use it.

Rules, data and awkward emails

• Terms for Freegle Users - the plain-English Terms of Use members agree to when using Freegle Direct.
• Data Use & Protection - what personal data Freegle holds, where it's kept, and how it's processed and protected.
• Spam - what to say when a member accuses Freegle of sending spam, and the terms they agreed to on sign-up.
• AOL complaint - why support@ gets a flood of AOL "abuse report" forwards, and why they're not something to worry about.
• Trouble unsubscribing - how to help a member who can't unsubscribe, including the most common causes and fixes.
• Publicity tools - the technical publicity tools available to volunteers: QR codes, shortlinks and live post listings.

Discourse: the volunteer forum

• Discourse - an overview of Discourse, Freegle's volunteer-only discussion forum, with links to every how-to below.
• Discourse signing in - who can use Discourse, and how to sort out login problems using your ModTools account.
• Discourse usage - how to use Discourse across laptop, phone browser, app or email, and choosing which groups to follow.
• Discourse creating posts - how to start a new topic or reply, including formatting, mentions and previewing your post.
• Discourse menus, preferences and notifications - what the menu icons do, and how to set your email and notification preferences.
• Discourse using email - how to read and post to Discourse entirely by email, without visiting the site.
• Discourse app - how to install and set up the Discourse app on Android and iOS to get notifications on your phone.
• Discourse moderation and privacy - how moderation works on Discourse, who the Staff and Announcers are, and what stays private.
• Discourse technicalities - background on the Discourse software itself: who runs it, hosting costs and how updates are handled.
• Discourse Support Team Remit - the remit of the Discourse Support Team (formerly Central Mods), who keep the forums running smoothly.

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