“Groups” added to FoodieLink.com

We’ve added Groups!

Since the beginning when we first conceptualized FoodieLink.com, The FoodieLink Team has had an ongoing discussion regarding the best way for members to discuss their interests in food. After weeks of brainstorming, we concluded that the concept of “Groups” is the best means for members to get engaged.

* With the vast array of topics and areas of interest in the world of food, providing a platform for Groups creates an organic member-driven structure to discussions.
* Groups allows members to find other like-minded members around specific topics of interest.

So here is how we have implemented Groups on the site:

* Members have the ability to create a Group. The Group can be formed around a specific topic (eg. “Healthy food for kids“), or even around an organization (eg. “Foodielink“). Each Group should have a good description and can have a photo/image associated with it.
* Once a Group is created, other members have the ability to “join” it. Once joining a Group, a member will be notified when other people join the group (reminder: you can configure your notifications to send you email here)
* Within a Group, members have the ability to create “Topics” for discussion. For example, within the Movies That Feature Food group, you could create a Topic to discuss a specific movie that you like.

We still have various functions and refinements to add around the Groups feature, but we’ve launching it this week because we have had much feedback from Beta members who have wanted to engage and start some dialog. So give it a go and let us know what you think!

Other notes for the Beta:

* Profile Photos and Information: As you can see from the “Newest Foodies” section, we do have a good flow of new members joining the site every day. But very few Profile photos! Once you join, please take some time to upload a Profile photo and enter some information about yourself!
* Invite your friends via email: Some of you have asked if there is a way to invite friends to join the site. The answer is “yes!”. From your Inbox, go to “Invitations” and you’ll see a place to enter an email address plus a note to invite someone to join the site. They will receive an email with a link that will allow them to activate an account. Please give it a try…your friends will thank you!
* As much as we’d love you to invite your entire Google or Yahoo Contact/Address book, unfortunately that function currently does not work. We hope to have it fixed soon.

As always, you can contact us with questions and/or feedback at support@foodielink.com.

Sincerely,

The FoodieLink Team

Merchants!

We’ve added Merchants!

One of our goals with FoodieLink is to help people find local businesses that are like-minded in our pursuit for high quality, healthy, sustainable food. To accomplish this, we’ve added a directory of markets, restaurants, producers, and nutritionists who we feel have a standard of delivering on these principles. We’ve started with merchants in the New York City area.

What To Expect…

Foodielink would not be complete without the much anticipated merchant platform to provide the best in both in-home and out-of-home options for a lifestyle of better eating. Creating intriguing and educational content provides value for our members, while providing an on-line social community, allows our members to interact and share with other “foodies”. But, a dedicated network of trusted merchant partners will provide access to a comprehensive directory featuring; restaurants, farmers, artisan producers, gourmet markets, health food stores, and nutritionists. Looking for healthier dining options, savory and succulent home grown delights, and/or connections to leaders in wellness and holistic eating: FoodieLink is your answer! And this not about boring listings that provide limited or marginal value, our merchant profiles are robust and bring to life what the merchant is all about. And it doesn’t stop there. Our program partners are active in the community, and when you access a merchant profile page, you can see what they are up to, review recent articles, and gain access to an ongoing selection of exclusive deals and events from local shops, farms, and restaurants to help support your “FoodieLink” lifestyle.

Our Commitment To You…

As we strive to help people live healthier and happier lives by increasing awareness and access to eating better, we ensure you that our merchant partners share the same vision as you do. What we eat is a major determinant of the individual and societal impact on the environment and natural resources, and we want to do our part, as a company, but also in partnering with our merchant community to ensure responsibility and contribution to a greater good. Whether a local dining establishment, a neighborhood grocer, or an artisan producer or small farmer, all of our merchants have to demonstrate a commitment to serving food or providing ingredients that are better for people, and better for the planet. This includes documented use of local, natural, or organically sourced products that contribute to better health and/or better conservation of natural resources. You demand the best for yourself, and our goal is to provide you with a viable and trusted merchant community.

We are rolling out this beta platform with select producers and a handful of exclusive merchants on the “UES” of New York City. Stay tuned for our progress, but for now visit some our community partners and see what you’ve been missing.

Enjoy what we have to offer! Check it out here: http://www.foodielink.com/merchants/

Back up! Everything is back to normal

Looks like a server issue at our hosting service did cause the outage. Everything is restored and working fine again. Thanks for your patience!

Site is down…looking into it

FoodieLink.com went down today at about 1:30pm ET. Initially, it looked like a problem at our hosting service, but things now look ok there and the site is still down. We are on it and hope to restore service soon. Stay tuned…

Hello world! FoodieLink launches our beta site!

We are happy to announce the Beta-launch of FoodieLink.com!

Our intention with FoodieLink is to grow a community of people who love food and have passion for healthy and sustainable eating.  With this Beta-launch, we hope to give you a chance to explore our site, become a site member, and share your food experiences with us!

FoodieLink.com features what we call “Social Applications”.  The purpose of these Social Applications is to allow our members to express themselves and share with their fellow foodies.  They include:

* Blogs:  The best way of sharing your thoughts, ideas, and even recipes!  Write about your personal food experiences, recipes, concerns, or whatever ideas you want to tell the world about.
* News:  Read something on the web that you found particularly interesting or noteworthy?  Share it here on FoodieNews.  You can submit articles or vote on articles submitted by other members.
* Photos:  Did you cook something that you’re proud of?  Have something at a restaurant that is beautiful and delicious?  Or even have a funny kitchen disaster?  Upload a photo of it and share it with the FoodieLink community!
* Updates:  What are you eating today?  Write a quick update and let everyone know what you are eating.  And yes, people are actually interested!
* Discussions:  At the center of any community is discussion.  Foodielink is a place where you can talk with other members interested in food.

Over the following weeks and months, we will be adding more features, including profiles of local merchants (markets, producers, restaurants, nutritionists, and so on), events and special offers, and even an ability to buy things.  And of course, we want to hear from you what other kinds of services and applications you would like to see on FoodieLink.com.

Of course, with this Beta launch, please forgive us for our appearance, as parts of the site are still awaiting graphics and user-interface elements to be implemented.  If you come across any problems or would like to offer feedback, please send us a note at support@foodielink.com

So have fun checking out FoodieLink.com Beta!  We look forward to having you join and engage in our community.

Sincerely,

The FoodieLink Team