Author	Message
Written on Mar 12 2010 11:59
jessekaedra WWOOF User Registered Since: Feb 05 2009 Posts: 10	i think that the verification aspect is a great way of putting it -- because how people view themselves is how they write their profiles, and this is very subjective. certainly reviews and more objective quesitons will help this. its exciting to me to see some new things taking place that seem like they will get at serious issues!
Written on May 25 2010 22:40
jessekaedra WWOOF User Registered Since: Feb 05 2009 Posts: 10	i was just checking back on this forum to see if anything new had been added. some other thoughts i have about the wwoof.pt site - i think that most wwoofers who have an experience where the wwoof host is using the wwoofer mainly for cheap labor on other projects are most likely to sit around an complain internally, never say anything so as to not make problems, not report it because of a lack of confidence in what other wwoof farms are like, and then, make the best of it as they are still likely in a beautiful place in portugal, possibly with nice people, and are not spending much money. i certainly have witnessed this several times! thus, no communication takes place regarding the wwoof host. i still think that having some objective questions for the wwoof host to answer on their site/profile would be very, very good. perhaps as survey could be sent to wwoofers asking for their input on information that would be up front useful. after being at 10 farms, it has most certainly been the case that 2 of the hosts who were most appropriately using wwoofers, who were doing wonderful things, also had very poor profile that we re not very attractive. on the other hand, one of the hosts we were at who was using wwoofers to run their business had one of the most elaborate, attractive, inaccurate, and deceptive websites. at the very least, a helpful thing that all wwoof hosts could answer would be if they run a business (that is in any way at all outside of selling agriculture products) and if so, if they expect wwoofers to be involved with it at any time. this is a really good tip, (and quite frankly, if there is a business one might be able to assume from this that making money trumps taking care of a garden...) because wwoofing is such a relational concept, i think that people are often afraid to say anything negative about their hosts use of wwoof. i think that maybe one way of getting a response is to directly invite it rather than waiting for a wwoofers initiation. perhaps an automatic email that is sent asking for their reviews and comments about farms they have been on. this could be sent to all wwoofers possibly when their membership expires? or to all wwoofers every several months? i just have found that of the majority of wwoofers i have spoken with, most are not spending their time reading the forums because most are not too concerned with the concept of wwoofing or its integrity. an objective question that could be asked to all wwoofers - perhaps included as an objective question for references also - could be to list the projects that you were involved with while you were at that host's, and list for each of those the estimated percent of time you spent on each of those projects while you were with that host. this could really help make things transparent and not make wwoofers feel like they were "telling on" their host, who they might also have had a nice time with. in the responses it was seen that, say, the wwoofer spent most of the time doing dishes, decorating, cleaning bathrooms, and only 5% of the time working doing something agricultural.... it would become pretty clear. also, if hosts knew that at the end of every ___ months, wwoofers were going to get an email asking to list the farm they had been on, what they worked on their, and in what estimated percent -- perhaps this would help hosts keep hosts in check who are having wwoofers spend the bulk of their time doing things totally unrelated to wwoofing. i hope that some of these things can be implemented!
Written on May 26 2010 17:17
rodrigo WWOOF Coordinator Topic creator Registered Since: Jan 07 2009 Posts: 106	Hi Jesse, Thanks again for your usefull coments. We are growing a lot! and this week we pass the mark of one thousand active volunteers! It is natural that you have more bad weeds on a big garden (unless you use chemicals ). We are aware of this problem and I begin to work on it some months ago. Two important new features was setup: - The Reference system. The host can invite the WWOOFers to be a reference. All the new WWOOFers can see this references and send Private Messages to this reference WWOOFers. - The Complaint Procedure. Each time I receive a complaint (that unfortunatelly is not so often), I apply the complaint procedure. Have a look at http://www.wwoof.pt/fileadmin/images/portugal/ComplaintsProcedureWWOOFPT.pdf . WWOOF Portugal is ready to act in a democratic way through the Complaint Procedure. In my opinion what is missing is that the WWOOFers stops just complaining to each other (or to the hosts) and take a simple action that can really change something. Send an email to us! A message to the Hosts ... in case a WWOOFer is Complainig about other Host, please tell him/her to send an email to us! I will try to promote this kind of emails putting an information that all WWOOFers can read when they login on the system. Let me know your opinion, Best wishes, Rodrigo
Written on Nov 29 2010 18:22
caegire WWOOF User Registered Since: Nov 29 2010 Posts: 4	Hello, As a brand new wwoofer to the site, one thing I've noticed which would be really handy, as someone has already mentioned, would be a 'favourites' or 'bookmark' option, so that as you browse hosts, you could bookmark the ones you were considering, so you'd create your own list for easy access when you log back in to go straight to the ones you wished to consider further or contact. Just an idea, but also, as a brand new user to the site, I am enjoying looking around and getting familiar with it. It's easy to use and navigate around, and I'm really looking forward to getting fully involved in wwoofing in Portugal!! Obrigada, C. [This article was edited 2 times, last edit Nov 29 2010 19:25.]
Written on Dec 01 2010 15:50
rodrigo WWOOF Coordinator Topic creator Registered Since: Jan 07 2009 Posts: 106	Hi Carlene, Thanks for your positive post and for your suggestion. I have pointed down your bookmark suggestion for our next major upgrade. Wish you a nice WWOOFing, Rodrigo
Written on Dec 08 2010 00:02
tara1977 WWOOF User Registered Since: Dec 01 2010 Posts: 1	Hi i am a member of WWOOF France, Spain and England also helpx. This website is by far the best and the easiest to navigate. I really like the forum section, this makes WWOOF Portugal feel like a community and the warmest of the sites i am a member of. I am pleased to be aboard. Commence journey.
Written on Dec 08 2010 10:43
rodrigo WWOOF Coordinator Topic creator Registered Since: Jan 07 2009 Posts: 106	Hi, Thanks very much for your feedback. We are trying harder to provide a good service for WWOOFers and Hosts inside this magical WWOOF ideal. Wish you a nice WWOOFing, Rodrigo