Online Tools
How to use When2meet. How to apply for a your-group@extinctionrebellion.uk email address. For the XR-specific tools, see Shelf 1.
How to use When2meet Polls
When2meet polls are a really useful tool for helping groups to decide which times are suitable for them to be together. It is a free tool and relatively easy to use, once you know how. There is a little video here, as well as this guide. It is divided into three pieces: the first section for people filling a poll; the second for people who want to keep an eye on what the poll is telling them; and the third is useful for someone setting a poll up.
This is a similar app to Doodle for choosing when to meet.
Important note: whilst When2meet can be accessed on a mobile device, it works much better on a computer. This might mean that if you receive the link via a social media chat, you are well advised to email it to yourself so you can use it on your desktop.
Filling in a When2meet
- Open up the poll by clicking on the link you were given.
- Type your name into the ‘Your name’ field under the ‘Sign in’ section to the left of the screen. Make sure you remember this (the exact spelling and whether you used upper/lower case letters) as this will allow you to return and edit your availability. People tend to use the same name, spelling, case for all their when2meets.
- You don’t need to fill in the password, although you can if you want (again, remember this if you do, so you can edit later)
- Click the ‘Sign in’ button - the dates/times field will appear below.
- Click and hold as you drag your cursor across the times you are available. The cells, which are in half-hour increments, will turn green.
- If you want to turn a cell back to pink, click and hold and drag back over the cells where you are not available.
- When2meet saves your selections automatically, you don’t need to do anything. When you leave the page, your availability should be saved.
- That’s it! Bookmark the page if you want to visit it later, or it will appear in your history.
- If you want to edit your availability, just click on the link, sign in using the name you used originally and then use your cursor to turn area green or pink as you need to.
‘Reading’ a When2meet
- Open up the poll by clicking on the link you were given.
- You will see that as more people fill the poll in, areas on the date/time field on the right side of the screen will become darker and darker green. These are the ‘hotspots’ which indicate where the most people are available.
- If you put your cursor over any area of the field, the names of the people available/not available will appear in the left half of the screen.
- You can move your cursor over the time increments to work out exactly who is available when.
Setting up a When2meet
- Click this link to go to the when2meet site: https://www.when2meet.com
- Type your event name (this could be the name of the group you are trying to bring together) in the ‘New Event Name’ field at the top of the screen - do this carefully - it can’t be edited once you have done it. If you make a mistake, no worries, you can just start a new one in another browser window.
- Go to the ‘What dates might work?’ section in the left half of your screen. Select which dates you want to include in your poll by clicking on them. The dates you have selected turn green. Click them again to deselect them.
- The default setting is ‘Specific dates’ meaning the poll will be for the dates you have selected, but you can select ‘Days of the week’ to create a generic poll for days of a week without specifying dates.
- Move across to the ‘What times might work?’ on the right side of your screen. Here, you can choose the number of hours your poll will span. The ‘No earlier than’ field indicates the start of the poll window, whilst the ‘No later than’ field indicates when the end of the poll window will be.
- Select the time zone, if needs be.
- Click the ‘Create event’ button when you are ready. But remember, once you have done this, you won’t be able to edit your event, so if you have made a mistake you will just have to start again and make a new poll.
- You will be taken to another page where you can email them a link or send them a link via facebook. Probably the easiest way is to cut and paste the link from your browser’s address bar into the message you want to send.
- When you send the link out, it’s a good idea to include a deadline for people to complete the poll by so you can convene the meeting with appropriate notice.
- It’s also a good idea to bookmark the poll so you can revisit it and see who has filled it in and identify ‘hotspots’.
- You’re in business!!!!!
How to apply for a your-group@extinctionrebellion.uk email address
This page explains which groups are eligible for XR email addresses, and how to apply for one
Is your group eligible?
The following types of group may be issued with email addresses :
- regional groups
- district groups
- local groups
- regional working groups
- district working groups
- local working groups only if they are demonstrably large, active and well organised - otherwise they should use a 'plus address' folder on their parent group address (see below)
- UK level working groups
- National working groups
Addresses cannot be issued to:
- individuals
- affinity groups
- local working groups (unless demonstrably large, active and well organised )
- any groups lacking a corresponding record on the Communications Hub (see below)
Is your group on the 'Communications Hub'?
Addresses can only be issued to groups whose existance has been recorded on the XR UK Communications Hub since we* use the hub to verify requests. If your group is not yet listed you should ask your 'Group Admin' or the 'Group Admin' of your parent circle* to help with this.
Are you personally on the 'Communications Hub'?
The applicant should be personally listed on the hub as holding a core role* in the group requesting an email. If you're not yet listed you should ask your 'Group Admin' or the 'Group Admin' of your parent circle* to help with this (more here).
How to apply
If you're happy that you/your group meet the above criteria please make your request with a message to this chat channel (on XR's Mattermost).
If you need an address urgently but are unable to immediately fulfill all the above criteria, please ask for advice in the above channel anyway: We may be able to find a work-around
Footnotes:
- Who is 'we'? Your-group@extinctionrebellion.uk email addresses are administered by the Digital Discussions Applications Team
- A 'core role' would be any of 'External Co-ordinator', 'Internal Co-ordinator' or 'Group Admin' etc
- 'Parent circle': For local groups the 'parent circle' would be your regional group
This page has been contributed by the Digital Discussions Applications Team. February 2023.