You can browse these features at any time but for those just starting out we recommend our quick start guides.

In the rest of the guide the features of OFN are explained chronologically, with the order of sections following the logical order for setting up an enterprise. The guidance within each section is also structured so that guidance for basic usage appears first and more advanced guidance later in the section:

• registration

• enterprise profile setup

• products

• shopfront

• orders

• subscriptions

• reports

• dashboard

• groups

Create your user account

• From homepage, click on "Login" on the top right corner, then "Sign up"

• Enter your email address and choose a password.

• You will receive an email in the next few minutes with a confirmation link. Click on it and you'll be redirected to the login page.

• Login

Create your first "enterprise" account

• Once logged in, click on the top grey banner "Interested in selling through the Open Food Network? Register here".

• Click the ‘I agree to the above Terms of Service’ box and select ‘Let’s get started!’

• Fill in your enterprise name and contact details.

• Choose between 'Producer' (you make/bake/grow products yourself) or 'Non Producer' (you distribute and sell food made by others).

• Click the ‘create profile’ button. You'll receive an email confirming that the profile is created. You can stop here and fill in the missing information later, or continue and follow the steps to complete your profile now.

• Fill in your enterprise description, add images, website/social media links, business details, etc.

• When you have finished, you will be redirected to the Enterprise Profile Menu.

Your first "enterprise" is now created and you have started to fill in your profile, but it's not finished!

The next step is to choose the OFN package (= profile type) which best represents your business model.

After doing so, your enterprise will added to the OFN map!

A short clip of registering your enterprise on OFN:

Access your Enterprise Administration Dashboard

Once you have created an Enterprise, you can manage your profile using the Dashboard. To access your Enterprise Dashboard log in to the Open Food Network and click on "Profile > Administration" in the top right corner. See Dashboard for more information.

Access your dashboard from the homepage by first logging in and then clicking on the Profile Icon in the top right hand corner and selecting Administration from the drop-down menu.

Producers

Hubs

In this section we detail the different menus that you can complete to refine your enterprise profile and, by doing so, access business-specific features that you may need.

After completing your enterprise registration you have an option to be taken directly to the enterprise settings page.

From here you will need to choose the OFN profile which best matches your business model. Without this step, your enterprise account will not be created and, hence, your enterprise will remain invisible on our map.

Open Food Network offers three types of enterprise profiles that will differ depending on whether you are a producer or not, and whether or not you want to open an online shop to sell on the Open Food Network. The profile types vary a little bit depending on if you are a producer or not, so we describe them below under two main sections: the profiles for producers and then the profiles for distributors (or "hubs" in the Open Food Network world).

For Producers

There are three types of profiles for producers:

For Non-Producers (Hubs)

Two types of profiles are available to non-producers (distributors / hubs):

Changing your profile type

You can change your profile type (package) at any time in the future. First log in to your OFN admin account:

Then visit your Enterprise Settings menu. From the table, select the correct option(s) from the drop down menus (you will need to be the 'Owner' of the enterprise to do this).

Next step

Once you have chosen the correct profile type for your food business you can complete any missing information and further refine your setup under the Enterprise Settings menu.

Access your Enterprise Settings

1. Once logged in and accessing your admin dashboard, select "Enterprises" on the blue horizontal menu.

2. Select 'Settings' next to your enterprise.

You will then access a menu with multiple options. The exact options available varies between Enterprise type. This is an example for a Hub:

This short video gives a quick insight into the steps and options detailed below:

Primary Details

Name: This is the name of your enterprise. It will be the title of your profile (and shop).

Primary Producer: Select the producer box if you are a producer.

Visible in Search: If your profile is ready to go public, select 'public', and your business will appear in the OFN's directory and map. Selecting 'hidden' will hide your profile in search and maps but still allow references in other shop profiles. 'Hide all references' will make your enteprise completely hidden on the platform.

Permalink: You can customise part of the web address which will host your shop.

Link to Shop Front: This is the web address of your shop on the OFN (if you've chosen a profile type with shopfront). You can customise part of the URL above.

OFN ID: This identifier makes it possible to recognise your enterprise even if you decide to change its name and simplifies the work of the support team if necessary.

Address

This information is used to geolocate your enterprise on the OFN map. You can opt to manually enter the coordinates of your address if the location automatically calculated is incorrect. This is useful for very rural locations.

Your exact address won't show if you are only registered as a Producer or Non-Producer Profile. However if you are registered as a Shop or Hub your address will show in text form in your shop front's contact details tab.

Contact

Contact Name: We ask for a contact name for the OFN’s records. This name will not be displayed on your profile, but will be included in order confirmation emails if you're running a shop.

Email, Phone & Website: These contact points will be listed on your OFN profile and shopfront as a means for others to make contact with you.

Social

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter: Links to these pages will be created on your profile and shopfront.

About

Short description: This will be displayed when your profile is viewed in the producers list. It should be under 1-2 sentences which briefly describe what you do.

About Us: This is a longer description of your enterprise. It will be shown when your profile is viewed in full. It should be between half a page and 1 pages long.

Business Details

Terms and Conditions (pdf files only) : Let your customers know any terms and conditions associated with purchasing from your business (for example your refund policy) by uploading a .pdf file here.

If you opt to add a file here, the customer will be required to check the box to say that they have read and agreed with your terms and conditions before they can submit their order.

Images

Logo image: This will be visible when your profile is viewed in brief, as a pop up window. It will also be shown on your profile. This image must be square (i.e. 100 x 100), or it will appear warped. All images inserted here will be resized to 100 x 100 pixels.

Promo image: This image will run horizontally along the top of your profile page. It should be 1200 x 260 pixels in size.

An example profile is shown below in its complete version (from the map or shopfront pages).

And now in its condensed version (from the producer listing page).

Properties

You can add properties (such as free range or certified organic) to your enterprise. These properties will then be automatically applied to all of your products.

Shipping Methods, Payment Methods & Enterprise Fees

Inventory Settings

For most enterprises the recommended setting can be used.

Tag Rules

Under this menu are all the 'tags' which have been assigned to the customers of your enterprise.

'Tags' are labels you apply to customers, products and other settings to assign differential access, pricing or other benefits to specific groups. They are particularly useful if you wish to charge loyal customers or 'members' of your food hub preferential prices or allow them to pay by BACS rather than PayPal/Stripe.

Shop Preferences

Shopfront Message: This message is optional. If completed the message will be visible under a 'Notices' tab on the top menu bar. Your shop (and its products) will appear under the 'Shop' tab.

The Shopfront message or 'Notice' is an opportunity to provide basic information to the customer about how your store works. For example, you may explain how your order cycles are structured, or any membership requirements. It could also be a friendly greeting, or a chance to promote specials. You can include links to external websites (perhaps to showcase where your products are grown), social media and more.

If left blank the 'Notices' tab will not appear on your shop front.

Shopfront Closed Message: This message will be displayed under both the 'Notices' AND 'Shop' tabs when your shopfront is closed (i.e. with no active order cycle). It’s a chance to tell customers when the shop will next be open and accepting orders.

Shopfront Category Ordering: By default, products are arranged alphabetically in your shop. You can also choose to display the products in a category order of your choosing. In this case, the products will be displayed in category order and then in alphabetical order within their category. E.g. you may wish to have your Meat & Fish products appear at the top, with your less important Pickles & Preserves appearing further down the shopfront.

Guest Orders? If you select ‘allow guest checkout’ shoppers won’t need to login to the OFN to shop with you, so they don't need to sign up and have a user account. If you want the extra security of knowing your customers must have an OFN account in order to have placed an order then select "require login to order".

In order for a customer to have an OFN account they must have confirmed the email sent to them when registering with us. Thus by selecting "require login to order" it may help limit the number of orders placed that are subsequently never collected as you know that the customer's order confirmation email will be sent to an active email account.

Opting for 'Customers can change or cancel orders while an order cycle is open' allows customers to change the quantities of products already in their basket or cancel their order altogether while the shop is open. They will not be able to add new products to their original order - doing this will generate a 2nd order.

Customer names in reports. If you distribute products from other suppliers / producers, they will be able to run reports showing details of their products as sold through your Order Cycles. This option allows you to make the names of customers visible in these reports. Depending on the distribution model you have in place, this may be necessary for Producers to pack and distribute orders to the customers.

Users

Owner: This is the email of the primary user responsible for this enterprise. They have the power to change all aspects of the profile. Only the owner can change the owner, choosing among the enterprise managers list. This user will have a star next to their name in the managers' field.

Notifications: This is the email of the user to whom the OFN system correspondence will be directed, i.e. order confirmations etc. Only the owner can nominate the user who will receive the notifications, among the enterprise managers list. This user will have an envelope symbol next to their name in the managers' field.

Managers: Other OFN users who have been granted permission to manage this account. Want to add a new manager? You can search for existing emails of users who have registered for an OFN account and add them as managers. If you don't find any user for the email you are looking for, the user doesn't exist yet on the OFN and you need to invite them (see next point).

Invite manager: This is for adding a manager who is not registered with OFN. When you add them they'll be sent an email confirmation, and when they confirm their email they'll be able to set a password and login to administer this enterprise.