User Guide
BeLocal caters to two types of users:
Vendors are the local foodmakers and farmers who want to connect with consumers at local markets. Foodies are the consumers who want to explore local produce, food, and markets. Throughout this guide, we will use the terms Vendors and Foodies to distinguish between the types of users mentioned above.
When you first arrive to the beLocal site, you will be greeted by a welcome screen and be presented with options on how to proceed. In order to register as a Vendor at this point, you can click on For Farmers or Foodmakers.
If you wish to explore the site, you can click on Start Browsing Now and then register any time from the registration menu on the top right by clicking on Register and then selecting As a Farmer or Foodmaker.
Once you click on Register as a Farmer or Foodmaker, you will be directed to the sign up page.
The sign up form lets you sign up quickly and easily with your Facebook account. Simply click Signup with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account. If you don't have a Facebook account or prefer not to sign up using your Facebook account, you can simply fill out the sign up form and click Signup as a Farmer.
###Sign In Once you have an account created with beLocal, you can sign in anytime by clicking on the Login button in the top right corner of the site. If you originally signed up using your Facebook account, click Login with Facebook to sign in. Otherwise, enter your username and password to sign in with the account you created with beLocal.
The Vendor Profile page lets you create or modify your inventory, locations, schedules, contact information. It also lets you post to your social media accounts.
When you sign in as a Vendor, you get redirected to the Vendor Profile page. You can also access this page by clicking My Account in the top right corner and selecting My Profile.
When you sign in as a Vendor for the first time, you will be prompted to go through a tutorial which takes you through the basic features of the Vendor Profile Page. You may access the tutorial any time by clicking My Account and then selecting Vendor Tutorial.
This section lists all the locations that you currently sell at. These locations might be existing markets, or your own custom locations. The Foodies that visit your profile can see these locations so that they can easily find you.
You can use this option to create new locations (or to join existing market locations) that you will be selling at.
Let us walk through an example for this. Let us assume that you will be selling at the Victoria Public Market and you want to display this information on beLocal. You can go through the following steps:
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Click on the Create New Location. You will be presented with the "Add New Location Dialog".
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Click on Join Existing Market tab if not already selected.
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From the drop-down of available markets, select Victoria Public Market. This will show you all the details of the market including location and timings. Note that only markets that are currently running will display in the drop down menu.
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Click Join Market to continue.
Once you have gone through this process, Foodies will be able to see the Victoria Public Market location and its details under your profile. In addition, they will be able to see that you are one of the Vendors selling at the Victoria Public Market when they view the market's information.
You can use the Create Location form to create Custom Locations. These are locations that are not part of the existing markets on beLocal. When you create a custom location, you can specify where and when you will be selling at that location. This can be either a one time event, or a recurring event. For example, you might sell out of your farm every Thursday and Friday. For this, you can set up a custom location with recurring times.
Once you have created a custom location, Foodies will be able to see that location and its details under your Vendor profile.
You can leave a location by clicking the trash icon in the top right corner of the location card. Once you do this, the location won't appear on your Vendor profile anymore.
As a Vendor, you can list your products for Foodies to discover. You can view, edit, or add new products on your Vendor Profile page under the Inventory section.
You can create an item by clicking Create New Item button. This will pop up a dialog where you can upload a photo for the item, its name and other details such as its categories and tags. Once you are done, click "Add Item" to add the item to your inventory.
You can edit an existing item by clicking on the Edit Icon in top right corner of the item card right next to the Trash Icon. This will bring up the Edit dialog which is very similar to the Create Item dialog. Click Save Changes once you are done.
Once you create an item, Foodies will be able to see it under your Profile, or search for it on the site. If you run out of stock and wouldn't like your item to be displayed any more, you can select Out of Stock on the item card. This will hide the item from your profile and searches. If you want to re-activate your item, simply select the In Stock option to immediately re-activate it.
To update your profile, click on 'Edit Profile' button. Here you will be able to update your contact information, as well as your website and Facebook profile URL (if you have one). Click on 'Save Changes' to update your profile.
To post on Facebook and Twitter, click on 'Post on Social Media'. Currently, beLocal does not have permissions to post directly to your Facebook profile, so we recommend copying and pasting the status we automatically generate for you to your Facebook profile.
A foodie is any person who is interested in locally produced items, local farmers and foodmakers, or local markets.
Foodies can browse the website without creating an account. To start browsing, simply click on 'Start Browsing Now' button on the welcome page.
If you wish to sign up as customer (enabling you to like products, vendors and markets), please click on 'For Local Foodies' or scroll down to the Local Foodies section of the splash page and click 'Register as a Local Foodie'.
If you have a Facebook account, then you can signup with Facebook. If you don't have a Facebook account or you don't want to signup with Facebook, then you can signup without Facebook by simply filling out the required registration fields.
If you wish to sign up as customer and you have already navigated away from the splash page, please click on 'Register' and select 'As a Foodie'. This will take you to the splash page.
The In Season Now page shows all products that are currently being sold by local farmers and foodmakers.
Clicking on a product will show the product details. Click on the 'Close' button when you are done viewing the product details. You can also like a product and click any of its tags to be taken to a page displaying products with the same tag.
beLocal also makes it easy to filter products by category or by a selection of tags using the checkboxes on the right side of the In Season Now page.
To browse farmers and foodmakers, click on 'Farmers & Foodmakers'.
Hover over a farmer or foodmaker to view their selling locations locations on the map. Each farmer card will also contain a snapshot of the products that farmer is currently selling. To view details on a specific product, click that product's image.
To learn more about a farmer or foodmaker, click on their name or image. This will show a farmer's or foodmaker's profile and detailed information about their selling locations and products. You can also like a farmer or foodmaker.
To browse local markets, click on 'Local Markets'. This will show local markets and their locations on the map. Hover over a market card to find their location on the map (shown as bouncing pin).
To view market details, click on the image of the market. You can also like a market.
The search bar at the top can be used to search products, vendors or markets.