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For the past month, your KCTB software admins have been trialing the new version of our timebank software.
The new version has received not only a colorful and convenient facelift, but also more modern ways of navigating between the various aspects of the site.
This is very exciting, as it will help members to more easily record transactions in the software, leading to a more user-friendly experience.
We hope that the new site will bring members together more ‘inside’ the software than ‘outside’ of it! As we who use social media have come to realize, those systems are no longer the way to find your friends and family and the services and entertainment that you crave. The algorithms of social media have begun to divide communities, which is the opposite of the purpose of Timebanking. Our Timebanking founder, Edgar Cahn, developed timebanking to BUILD community.
The software is not only a requirement of the IRS to allow us to utilize ‘the concept of time’, but has been intentionally designed to bring us together as the ‘Timebank Community’. This new version is expected to be even better at fulfilling this purpose.
Don’t let the idea of this change worry you! We are still using the same hOurworld software. This is not a migration to another platform, but simply an improvement to the already existing system. All the information you have now will seamlessly be there when you log in after April First.
Until April First, the software remains the same on your end, but when you log in on April 1, you will find a whole new look that we know you will love!
Your CRAT and KCTB Board Members are asking that you prepare ahead by updating your profile and photo and getting all of your transactions recorded before the end of March.
Here are a few of the exciting new aspects of the facelift:
There is an option in the new version to enter your talents and interests, which will help to build community by bringing similar people to each other’s attention within the software!
Each page has an individual HELP button that explains the purpose of and how to use the page.
At the top of the site, there is a SEARCH box that will help you find everything that is related to the topic of the page you are on. So, if you are on the PEOPLE page and search the word BICYCLE, you’ll find any Profile that mentions bicycles! You may even want to search to find how many people in the Timebank have your same name.
If you are on the ADS page, where you can peruse the Offers and Requests, and you search the word bicycle, you will find all Offers and Requests that mention that word!
With the INBOX, we can communicate more frequently in the software, leaving Facebook behind as our main mode of communication. This is one of the major reasons of moving to the new software. We need to operate more ’inside’ the software with timebanking and be less reliant on ‘outside’ third-party systems to keep us connected, especially since the algorithms in those other systems are not conducive to privacy and connectivity. We will continue to use social media, but intend to phase away from it as our members become more comfortable inside the software.
In your HOURS page, you will be able to see the person you transacted with, the amount of the transaction, and now can see the comments that you enter so that those nice messages and reminders are clearly available!
No longer will it be a mystery if you are the giver or receiver, because the new software asks you to indicate if: “I gave help” or “I offered help”. You can also “gift hours” to another, if you have too many and want to share! Finding the person to transact with is also much easier!
We are very excited for this improvement to the Timebanking experience ! What we need you to do now:
• Log into the software soon to update your profile and photo.
• If you have expired Offers or Requests, delete them (we recently learned that deleting no longer removes the credits).
• Watch for an upcoming APRIL TC BLITZ to be announced by the KCTB Board, and start putting all your new Requests and Offers in your software account in preparation.
Edgar Cahn said, “Timebanking links people in a social network; each act of caring triggers a reciprocal act so that every transaction has social capital built in”.
Let’s build our social capital in real time with our real neighbors and friends!
Heidi Weisel, member of the CRAT board |
