Time flies when there is so much to do!

It has been one week since we made the FoodieLink.com beta site available to the public. Thanks to everyone who has signed up, used the site, and provided us feedback. Overall, the reception has been good, but we also recognize that there is still a lot to do! Below is a quick update of what is going on with the beta…

Email Notices:

First and foremost, one of the most widely-asked-about items about the site is how to manage email notifications! We recognize that people don’t want to receive an overwhelming amount of email based on activity on the site. To manage your email settings, you should sign onto the site, go to your Inbox and click on Notices . Scroll down on the Notices screen, and you will see a series of check-boxes that allow you to select which types of activity you would like to receive email notices for. We will make this easier and more intuitive to find in the coming weeks.

Following vs. Friends

On FoodieLink, you have the ability to Follow other members and/or become Friends with other members. What’s the difference? “Following” is specifically for watching a member’s FoodieUpdates (What are you eating today?). “Friends” are simply a way of keeping a list of other members you are friends with.

The ability to Follow and/or Friend someone is found on a member’s profile page. Earlier in the week, we had not implemented the Follow function, which caused some confusion. But it has been added to the site now, so follow-away!

Finding Friends

We are in the process of adding some features, such as listing our newest members, as well as a general search function. These will help you find other members. Until those functions are implemented, the only way to find someone is to look for something they did on the site; eg. Looking at All FoodieUpdates, seeing who has uploaded photos, browsing through the authors of various blogs, looking at who has submitted articles to FoodieNews or going through the various discussions. From those items, you can go to the profile page of whoever you find and initiate contact from there.

Discussions

As you can tell, the Discussions area is still awaiting an interface design. We are working on it, and it will be unveiled sometime next week. But rather than a traditional “Discussion Forum”, we will be implementing it using the “Groups” design that is popular among Social Networking sites. So when you Create your own discussion, you are in essence creating a “Group”. Discussions can take place within a Group, so keep that in mind when you are deciding on what kind of group you want to create.

Your Profile

After you register, we would like to encourage all of you to tell us a little bit about yourself. Once you sign-on, click on "Profile", the on "Edit Profile" in the Information box to the left of the profile page.

There is still a lot of stuff on the way, so please stay-tuned and keep letting us know what you think! Best way to get in touch with us is by email or by sending a message to phil here on the site.

Thanks for participating in the FoodieLink Beta launch!

The FoodieLink Team