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Information for members of all Freecycle teams

Review of the basics

Do's and Don'ts for Team Members

Posting on Moderator Discussion Groups

Email Do's and Don'ts

Tech issue reporting process for team me

Roles of teams

Tips

More team resources

Review of the basics

Please review the mod manual just to make sure you are aware of all the latest information

Do's and Don'ts for Team Members

  • Please defer to your GOA's decisions on all matters regarding your group.
  • Please use your Group Admin privileges for work related to your position. Please do not use it to make notes on your own group without permission from GOA or HUB Coordinators or Deron.
  • Please use your Freecycle.org ID associated with TFN only for official work related to your team. We ask that you not moderate your own or neighboring groups with an official ID.
  • Please understand and follow all aspects of the Mod Manual.
  • We have a "one hat" rule, where we ask that you be a member of one team at a time. We welcome you to try out other teams if you are interested in changing things up. Please see your current Team Leader or Coordinator to assist you with the change.
  • Mods on the same group may not be on the same leadership team. Exceptions can be made for existing team members
  • At the Leadership level, Freecycle.org needs all team members to be committed to our mission of keeping usable items out of landfills. Leadership team members are asked not to support groups which misuse the Freecycle name or use a confusing variant of "Freecycle" because these groups are competing with us for members and diluting our mission. In addition, any unaffiliated group that uses the name Freecycle or our logo is in violation of the Freecycle trademark. When you became a moderator, the only requirement was that you not mod these groups. Being a member of a Leadership Team requires more commitment. We ask that you relinquish your membership in these groups.
  • All communications are by email. Team members are asked not to make phone calls for team business, whether it's for contacting a member, another moderator, or doing investigative research on behalf of a team.
  • Please do understand that Freecycle works best when we give latitude to volunteer moderators, allowing them to opt in to orientation, training, or group memberships like the FLC, etc. It's the difference between providing empowering tools and options and requiring mandatory tasks. The same tools represent something much different in both cases.

Posting on Moderator Discussion Groups

  • As members of leadership teams we have ourselves modded on leadership groups to avoid "oops" moments.
  • Report all tech issues to your team leader/coordinator instead of the Tech Group. Your TL/Coord may have the answer already, and if not, will make sure the issue is dealt with quickly and efficiently and given the priority that teams deserve. Click here for more information about the tech issue reporting process for team members.
  • We ask you to use your personal email address and not include your team member title in your signature line in posting to leadership groups like the Groups.io Tech Issues group, and FLC so that it is not misconstrued that you are speaking on behalf of your team. This includes cases where you assist mods with information that any knowledgeable mod would know, or with information available in the wiki. However if you are assisting mods in any behind-the-scenes capacity not available to a normal mod, please use your Freecycle.org ID/email address and not your personal email (TLs only).
  • And, while it may go without saying, please use care not to divulge internal team correspondence or privileged information on FLC, the Tech Issues group, or anywhere else that might cause confusion (or accidentally reveal spam control approaches or other internal info that might work against the mods/groups in the long run).

Here are some additional considerations when posting on FLC:

  • When discussing Freecycle policies on FLC, please try to stick to the language in the Guidelines and Disclaimer. If you have to stretch beyond that language, make it clear that you're referring to your local group policy. We like to leave Freecycle policy interpretation/clarification for Deron.
  • If you want to discuss a potential Freecycle policy change, please start by discussing it with your TL/Coordinator rather than putting it out there on the discussion boards. Your TL/Coordinator will either explain why the policy exists or else will forward your suggestion to the Hub Coordinator.
  • Please avoid introducing controversial subjects on FLC. We try to keep a good morale going among moderators, and when they start flaming each other on discussion boards it doesn't really help further the goals of Freecycle. We ask your help in keeping discussions congenial.

Email Do's and Don'ts

  • Do use your Freecycle.org email for official TFN business only and not for personal reasons.
  • As far as possible, please use the templated emails available in your team wiki (or in Help Scout for teams that use this software). To make sure you're using a current version of an email template it's better to copy and paste from the wiki rather than using a local copy on your computer. 
  • Please do not forward email to another account without permission of your TL. 
  • Please help keep our mail servers working at optimum speed by logging out when you are done reading your mail and filing emails as soon as you are finished with them.
  • Please don't delete emails except for routine questions from members not requiring a followup response.

How to structure an email:

  1. Briefly state the problem and the reason you're writing. Try to focus on just one issue per email.
  2. State briefly what you want the recipient to do.
  3. Provide details on the problem. Leave out extraneous details.
  4. Provide more details on what you want from the recipient. What outcome are you looking for? Propose the next steps. Again, no extraneous details.
  5. Attach supporting evidence. When attaching email chains, make sure the entire chain is in a coherent chronological sequence and doesn't contain duplicate emails

Tech issue reporting process for team members

  • Member of IMOD/GOA watch group reports a problem to the moderator, GOA/IMOD refers member to the Support Team. GOA/IMOD should not act as an intermediary between the member and Support. If the problem is not solved or if it is a major issue that cannot wait, GOA/IMOD can escalate it by going directly to GOACoordinator, Hub Coordinator or Hub Coordinator's assistant.
  • Mod discovers a problem, mod reports it to the Tech Group
  • Mod tells GOA there's a problem. If GOA can't fix it, refer mod to Sitemodhelp@freecycle.org. GOA should not try to act as intermediary between SMH and the mod. If SMH does not solve the mod's problem or if the problem is a major issue that cannot wait, GOA can escalate the issue by going through GOACoordinator/Hub Coordinator
  • Team member has a problem, team member reports it to Team Lead. TL confirms the issue by reproducing it. TL files asks Hub Coordinator to file a ticket.
  • For issues referred to SMH, SMH will attempt to replicate the problem. If SMH needs to enter the group for testing, they first get permission from the GOA. GOA should annotate GA that SMH is entering the group for testing. SMH or the Support Coordinator will file a ticket if issue cannot be resolved.
  • Mail issues: the tech team is unable to address problems that are not related to Freecycle.org's servers. If you are having a problem with Thunderbird that replicates on webmail, please report it. 

General guidelines for reporting tech issues

The more information, the better. The following is always required:

  • Computer operating system and browser(s) used
  • Verbatim error messages. Always include screenshots if possible.
  • List everything you have done to replicate the problem.
  • Forward emails with headers to your TL whenever appropriate.
  • Remember to report the problem directly to your TL and not the Tech Group.

Freecycle.org (website) issues

  • Do you have the problem on more than one browser? If not, clear your browser cache and try again.
  • Problems with posts -- please provide the post number, your user ID on the group and group link.
  • Problems with Admins -- please provide the Admin URL, your user ID on the group and group link.

GA access

Remember to sign into GA with your local mod user name or email, or sign in first to Freecycle.org with your local mod user name/email. Because Freecycle.org IDs change hands from time to time using your personal email helps keep track of who did what.

Mail issues

Webmail problems

  1. Remember to log in with your Freecycle.org email address and not your user name
  2. If you have access to more than one mailbox, check another box to see if the problems persist.
  3. Clear cache and cookies.
  4. Try another browser to rule out a cache problem.
  5. Report to TL.

Thunderbird problems

Thunderbird is for advanced users only. If you decide to use Thunderbird or another mail client, please remember that tech support is not available.

  1. Does the problem also occur with Webmail? If it does, report the issue to your TL.
  2. Verify that your mail settings are correct. Sometimes it helps to try different ports or protocols.
  3. If you have multiple email accounts, make sure they all have correct passwords and settings. A problem in one mailbox can result in blocked access for all mailboxes.
  4. Too many login attempts will result in a temporary block on your IP address. Wait an hour and try again. 

Roles of teams

Click here for information on what each team does, their presence on Town groups, mailboxes, and team member GA privies. 

Tips

  • Google is your friend.
  • Search past posts on the team discussion group (or the Groups.io Tech Issues group, for general moderator-type problems) to see if the question has been answered before.
  • Don't be afraid to ask your fellow team members on the team discussion group. Most teams have at least one tech-savvy member.

More team resources