The last week has seen a few new abilities for the Coop site. The first is invites - our administrators can now simply invite members via email, and the new member fills in their relevant information. This is more secure for everybody, because the personal info doesn't have to be hand-written, verbalized, or emailed. And it's much more convenient for us as admins.
The invite system will eventually be opened up to general membership. Members will have a set number of 'invites' they can give out, and those invited will have the opportunity to join the Coop. This has the advantage of managing our growth these first few months - we've been getting LOTS of positive feedback, and many, many requests to join.
Adding on to the Invite system is the Producer Request system. Members can simply click a button and enter their business name, and a request for producer abilities is sent to the admins. Once approved, that Member becomes a Producer, and has the ability to list products on the site. This again saves the headaches for our admins of having to coordinate with producers on their company info, and hopefully gets the membership aware of their abilities as producers.
And on a final note, our schedule for the January order cycle is finalized. As follows:
Jan 5-9: Producers can add/edit/delete items from their product lists.
Jan 10-13: The membership can shop.
Jan 13-19: Producers review and fill orders.
Jan. 19 from 8-10 & 4-6: Producers drop off at Alger Heights Foods.
Jan. 20 from 2-5: Members pick up and pay for their orders.
Stay tuned for more, and post below or email questions@westmichigancoop.com with feedback!
-Paul D.
WMCoop "Tech Guy"
