How it works
Anyone can read the board. To pin something to it, offer on a request, or message a member, you say hello first. That is the door. Everything behind it is shown below, screen by screen, so you know what you are joining before you do.
Offered freely, gifted, or available to borrow. Most of the board.
A skill for a thing, a thing for an afternoon. Written down so both remember.
Work together without defining the money first. Films, orchards, fridges.
A thing rented, a skill hired. Priced by the person, settled between you.
Say what you need. You need not offer anything first, ever.
On your phone
The app is the same board, sorted by where you are. Open it and the first thing you see is what people near you need this week. Scroll to see it move.
The search bar is pinned to the top of every screen. Type “ladder” and the island answers: things, people, requests, rides.
Requests from your area come first, with who asked, when they need it, and what they are open to.
Every listed thing has a picture and a badge for how it is offered. Tap to ask. The keeper says yes or no.
Who is driving to Victoria, who needs a seat, what needs collecting from Duncan. Tell the app which destinations you care about and it tells you.
Every arrangement happens inside Folk.Share. Where to collect a thing is shared in the thread, not on a page.
Green, always there. A request takes two minutes and needs no listing first.
The tab bar reads Home, Search, Ask, Messages, Me. Five things, nothing hidden in a menu.
On a laptop
Nothing is app-only. Walter uses the website on a laptop with the text made larger, and it does everything the phone does. Scroll through the four screens a member sees most.
What people near you need, your open conversations, and what was listed this week. Every number is a link.
The whole board, filtered by category, area and what people are open to. A row is a request; click it to read it whole and offer help, which goes to the asker privately.
One thread per arrangement, labelled with what it is about. Directions and receipts live here, never on a public page.
Pause a thing while you are using it. Add your website and the accounts you want people to find. Choose what is public, who can contact you, and whether search engines can see you. Download or delete everything with one click.
The screens above are pictures. This one is not: it is the members' side of Folk.Share with everything working, signed in as Ben and Maya from Beaver Point. Search the island, ask for something, offer help on somebody's request, put a tool on the board, answer a message, turn your privacy settings on and off. On a phone you get the phone build and on a laptop the desktop build, and there is a switch in the corner if you want to see the other one. Nothing you do there leaves your browser, and nobody is ever charged anything.
Things, skills, requests, people and rides in one list, nearest first. A search with no result is kept, and founding members are asked to fill it.
See a results pageA plain sentence, a category, roughly where, and when. Replies are for members; anyone can read the request.
The requests board One requestA photograph, a badge for how it is offered, and a keeper who decides every time. Pausable with one tap.
All things One thingTaught, traded, hired or given. A skill is a person, not a business, and prices are theirs.
All skills One skillPublic profiles show a first name and a surname initial, an area, what someone shares and what they are looking for. Vouches are signed sentences. No scores.
Neighbours One profileRides offered, rides needed, and things to collect from Victoria, Duncan, Sidney or another island. By destination and sailing.
The rides boardSix volunteers, two wheelbarrows, one trailer. People put their name on a line and the organiser confirms them. Every line filled is not the same as done: the organiser marks it finished after it has happened.
Projects One projectShort pieces and photographs, made with the person in them.
Stories One storyNo phone numbers, no email addresses. A thread per arrangement, kept so both of you can see what was agreed, written in your own words. Nothing to sign.
Every journey, with a link In the appThe hall, the library, the school, the food bank, a land trust, an association. Same profile, same listings, same requests. Free for them as well.
Organisations One of themReal name, email and password, general area, a photograph of you. A few minutes. You do not have to list anything, and if you do, the first profile is read before it goes up.
The sign-upPublic profile on or off, on the map or not, contact from verified members only, search engines allowed or not. Download or delete everything.
Account controlsWhat it costs
Folk.Share takes no commission, sells no adverts and has no premium tier. It is community infrastructure, like the hall. If it proves useful it is kept going by donations, an annual drive and sponsors who support it and do not control it.
No. Asking is the point. Most people list something later, once they have seen what other people are asking for.
Nobody. Folk.Share stores a general area, not an address. Where to collect a thing is arranged in messages between the two of you.
Pause it. One tap on My listings and it disappears from search until you unpause it. Listing never obliges you to lend.
Because a rating turns a neighbour into a supplier. A member can vouch for another in a signed sentence, and that is the only judgement on the site.
That is the plan. Folk.Share is built so each island or town is its own board, with rides and errands crossing between them.