1. Registering

To get the most out of I Grow Local you need to become a registered member. By clicking on the Register button to the right hand side of the main navigation you will be taken to the registration pages where you select your usertype. If you are a general user you fill out the consumer registration form or if you are a local food producer then you fill out the producer registration form.

When registering as a Producer you will need to provide your address and contact details. This information wil be used on your profile page so that consumers can find you easily. It is important that you fill out your street, town, county and postcode accurately in order to be displayed correctly on the Producer Map.

Once you have successfully completed the registrtion process you will be able to log in to the site.

2. Logging In

To access the members' area of the site, click on the Log In button to the right hand side of the main navigation. You will then need to enter the username and password that you registered with.

If you have entered an incorrect username and password combination then the log in will fail and you will need to try again. If you cannot remember your details then click on the Forgot Details link where you will be prompted to enter the email address that you provided when you registered. You will then receive an email to that address stating your current username and password, which you can use to access the members area and features.

3. Logging Out

When you are logged in to the site, the right hand side of the main navigation changes from Log In and Register to My Profile and Log Out. Once you have finished using I Grow Local and want to sign out, click on the Log Out button. You will then be directed to the log out successful page that confirms that you have logged out.

1. View Profile

When you are logged in to the site you can access your profile page by clicking on My Profile to the right hand side of the main navigation. Once clicked you will be taken to the preview page of your profile. Here you can see how your profile appears in its current state on the website directory.

Your profile page displays your current profile picture, lists your details, about information and content that you have uploaded. If you are a producer your profile will also display you map location, reviews and comments.

The sub navigation menu in My Profile allows you to upload content, edit your profile and account.

2. Editing Profile and Account

When you first register you are given a default profile picture and do not have any information on display (producers contact details and map do display) and your profile looks empty. So you should cutomise your page.

The sub-navigation of My Profile has a section called Edit Profile where you can choose your own profile picture and modify and update your about blurb (consumers should write about themselves, producers about the company and both on anything else such as views on local produce and hobbies).

When uploading an image, the file size cannot exceed 750KB and must be either a gif or a jpeg.

In the My Account section you can change your email address, password and location. If you update your password then that is the password you will have to use to log in and if you change your email address - notifications such as retrieving your log in details will now be sent to that address.

3. Uploading Content

To share your own content with the other users on I Grow Local, click on Upload Content in the My Profile sub-navigation. You will have the option to upload either an article, recipe or community project.

Make sure that you fill in all of the fields marked with a * and that any large bodies of text have their paragraphs formatted with line breaks to improve legibility.

You do not have to attach an image, however if you do, it needs to match the same criteria as uploading a profile picture.

Once submitted, your content will be sent to the administrator where it will be checked, moderated and then posted to the site. The content may take up to a few days to be processed. If what you have uploaded is inappropriate for this site then we may delete it without any notification.

1. Searching For Content

The main page for the content categories; Directory, Articles, Recipes and Community have a custom search form. You can either enter just a keyword or phrase to search a variety of fields such as username and title or refine it by selecting an option from the drop down menu.

For example, in the Directory you could type in your county to search all users in that area. If you do the same search again but also select Producers from the drop down list, then the results will return producers in that county.

2. Browse Maps

The maps display the content that have a location - the producers and community projects.

When the map loads you are greeted with a welcome message. To close it just click on the blue cross in the top right hand corner of the message box. You can then left click and drag the map around to look for markers. In the top left corner of the map there are controls to zoom in and out and also an alternative method of moving around the map.

Click on any marker on the map to bring up its information and then click on the button within the box to view the full content.

3. View Content

There are many ways to view content. You can search for it, browse the categories or use the interactive maps. In the main navigation menu select one of the categories, Community for example. You are then taken to the search page where you can enter a search for an item or you could lick on the sub-navigation categories or map if there is one.

To view content you can either click on the title or the button that is next to it. If you want to view the posters profile and find what else they have uploaded then click on their name.

There is also a latest content column on the right hand side of every page with links to the content.

4. Commenting, Rating and Reviewing

It is always nice for feedback. At the bottom of every producer profile, article, recipe and community project there are comment and review forms.

Just select a rating out of 10, for what you think the content deserves, and add a comment.

For quick access to the comments and ratings you can click on the comment number and rating at the top of the page in the information panel.

To comment you must be logged in. Producers cannot rate and review other producers.