What do You Like?

One of the challenges in bringing a meal for someone else is choosing foods that they will like. Now, when you signup or edit your profile, you can tell everyone what you like (and don't):



How do you use this information? On a meal plan, everyone will be able to see the likes/dislikes of each receiver (if they updated their profile). This will make it easier to choose and prepare a meal everyone will enjoy.

Go ahead and update your profile today!

No Email, No Problem

Do you know someone who wants to bring a meal, but isn't an email user? No problem. With our "On Behalf" feature, you can signup on behalf of someone else. Here's how it works:

1. Let's pretend, that Carla tells me that she wants to bring a meal on November 2nd. She isn't an email user, so she can't access CaringMeals.com and sign up herself.

2. I login to CaringMeals.com, open the plan, and click "BRING MEAL" next to November 2nd.

3. I'll see a screen as shown in the picture above. I enter "Carla" in the box, and her phone number in the comments (so she can be contacted if needed).

That's it! When others view the meal schedule, they'll see something like this:

Everyone can see that I signed up, but Carla is the person actually bringing the meal.

2 Years Young

Just as children grow from crawling to walking and squeaking to talking, CaringMeals experienced tremendous growth in its first 2 years. Thousands of people all over the world used CaringMeals.com to coordinate thousands of encouraging meals. We are humbled to play a small part in helping welcome new babies home and easing the pain of illnesses.

If there is anything we can do to make you more successful with CaringMeals.com, please email help@caringmeals.com - We want to make this year the best ever!

The Meal Network

As you build up a network of friends on CaringMeals, you will find a lot of exciting information on the My Meals page. Besides the tabs for meals you are coordinating, watching and bringing, there is now a list of your friends' activities on CaringMeals.

If you are on someone's friend list, their activity will appear on your page.
Here are two quick tips for using this page:
1. If you see a friend's name, click on it. You will be able to add them to your friend list, which will save time when you need to coordinate meals. In no time, you will have a large list of friends, all without ever typing an email address.
2. You may see a plan for someone you know but were not invited to. You can click on the plan link and send a friend request to the coordinator. This has really exciting possibilities for connecting people and bring together communities.

Your Social Network

Social Networking in all its flavors (Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.) is marvelous in the way that it allows people to keep informed on what all of their friends are doing.

Each time you add a Friend on CaringMeals, you are building your social network. So far, the CaringMeals Friend system has served primarily to build your address book and provide security.

On August 25th, you will see your CaringMeals Social Network in a whole new and exciting way! Stay tuned...

Changed your mind?

Didn't know what you were going to bring when you signed up to bring a meal? Changed your mind about what you are cooking? No problem.

Now, when you move your mouse over your comment, you will see a pencil/paper icon. Just click, and a small dialog box will appear with a place to edit your comment. In addition, Plan coordinators can edit all comments on their Plans. Enjoy!

What's Next?

Sorry its been awhile since the last update. Don't worry, there is a lot of exciting activity going on behind the scenes. Here are some coming attractions in August:
- Edit Meal Comments: Many people have asked for the ability to change or update the meal comment (what they are bringing). This should save a lot of time and confusion

- Import Contacts from a CSV file: If you have your contacts' email addresses in Yahoo/Google/Outlook, you will be able to quickly import those email addresses into CaringMeals, saving typing and time.

- A New Documentation site: CaringMeals is designed to be self-explanitory, but there are times when your have questions or need help with using the site. We are developing a detailed system that will include documentation, examples, and faqs to help you be successful with CaringMeals.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Vijay