Registering with iShareStuff
Registration is fast and private, and can be done by following the New Users link on the Home Page.

All we want is your first name and the first initial of your last name (you’re telling us what you own, after all, so we don’t want to get too much information about you), an e-mail address (this is the main identifier for your account), your zip code (so we can track usage at a high level, and because we plan to localize the site), and then a password you choose.

If you have multiple e-mail addresses, enter them in the Alternate E-mail Address fields on the registration screen. iShareStuff relies on e-mail addresses to identify you in the various lending/borrowing groups that users set up, so having all of the addresses enables us to consolidate all the accounts that you can borrow from, even if people have entered different addresses for you.

Once you have picked a password and agreed to the Terms of Service, iShareStuff will send an Authentication Message to your e-mail address. Because we rely on you to enter your e-mail address, we need to authenticate that you were, in fact, the one that entered the password and information before you can use the site again. In that message is a web-page URL that you must visit to activate your account. Once you have activated your account, you can enter the list of items you have to lend (see Entering Stuff to Lend) and the people you want to lend them to (see Determining Who Can Borrow Your Stuff).

When you respond to the Authentication Message, we present you with a list of common items. Select the items that you want to lend; you can always change your selections - and add items not on the list - from the Lend tab on the menu bar.

Administering your Contact Information
Contact information for your account can be managed at the User Profile tab of the menu bar. You can change your name, alternative e-mail addresses, zip code, password, and contact preferences. Because your primary e-mail address is your main identifier for the site, you can’t change that (yet…we’re working on it).

Entering Stuff to Lend
Entering the stuff you have to lend happens at the Lend tab of the menu bar. The initial page in this section presents the list of items you have entered.

To add an item, click on the Add Items. There are two ways to add items:

First, iShareStuff has assembled a list of common items. Click on a Category to bring up a list of relevant items, then click on an item and click on the Go button (we’ve even included areas of expertise, like auto care and science, because sometimes we’d like to know who we can ask about how to change our oil). You will be presented with an updated list of your items; to enter another item, click again on the Add Items button.

Second, you can enter an item not on the pre-set list in the free-form field. Select the category (there’s an Other category in case it falls outside the categories we’ve made), type the item name into the free-text field, and then click on the Go button. Just as with items added from the pre-set list, you will be presented with an updated list of your items; to enter another item, click again on the Add Items button.

To remove an item, click on the Remove button next to it.

Determining Who Can Borrow Your Stuff
Entering the people you want to have access to your stuff happens at the Lend tab of the menu bar. The initial page in this section presents the list of people who have access to your information - your Lending Group.

To add people, click on Add Users and enter the e-mail addresses of the people who can borrow your stuff (one per field!). To keep entering addresses after each 5, click the Go button, which will take you back to the list of people you have entered, and then click on Add Users again.

After you submit each set of addresses, the system will briefly show an iShareStuff summary of those users: which ones you can borrow from and lend to (“Borrow and Lend”), which ones you can only lend to (“Lend”), and which ones are not yet members (“Invited to Join”).

The system sends e-mail messages to the addresses you register: people already signed up with iShareStuff receive messages telling them you have registered and given them access to your information; people not signed up with iShareStuff receive messages telling them you have registered and inviting them to join.

To remove a user from your list, click on the Remove button next to the name.

Borrowing Other People’s Stuff
Seeing what’s available to borrow and requesting an item happens at the Borrow tab on the menu bar.

There are 3 ways to search for an item to borrow:

First, you can list all the items available to you by clicking on the Show All Items button. This list shows you what you can borrow from each person in your Borrowing Group.

Second, you can enter a keyword in the field under Search by Keyword, and then click on the Go button.

Third, you can search using iShareStuff’s pre-set list, clicking on either on a category or a particular item, and then Go button.

iShareStuff presents the search results on the next page, listing the category and item.

You can see a list of people that have given you access to their information - whom you can borrow from - by clicking the Go button under View Borrowing Group.

To generate an e-mail to the lender requesting the item, click on the Request Item button. The resulting page tells you the item and lender, and then lets you select the date you want the item and how long you want to borrow it, and provides you a field to write a short note. iShareStuff then sends the lender an e-mail (with your direct return e-mail address) with the information you’ve provided on this page.

After that, iShareStuff isn’t part of the process; the lender responds directly to you. It’s up to you to get the item, and return it in GOOD SHAPE!

Thanks for making iShareStuff the web’s best sharing service.