HatchedIt Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We’re a social organizer that lets you focus on sharing important things with just the people who are really close to you. 

Things like…. What should we do tomorrow?  What should we pack for vacation?  Who is going to pick me up afterschool?  Did you see how goofy we look in this picture?  How about we plan a surprise party for mom’s birthday?

That’s what Hatchedit.com is for.

Coordinating life – With your family.  With your friends.  With your “besties”.  

• Where you need to be
• What you need to know
• Who you need to talk to
• What you need to do
• What inspires you

 Here's a picture of our phone apps!  (they are also free!)

Learn about our iPhone/iPad apps HERE

Learn about our Android apps HERE

YES! 

Our FREE iPhone app is available HERE: iTunes Market

Our FREE Android app is available HERE:  ANDROID MARKET 

AND People LOVE us!

HERE are some screen shots from our phone app. 

Please go to our main page and fill out the information to join (it's FREE!)

Once you sign up we walk you through the whole process.  It's EASY!!

Add family members to your account - and you all share the same calendar, but get your own separate logins and passwords - that makes things extra safe.  

Once you have your account and have decided who you want on your calendar - you can then connect to other members. Want grandparents to see when the next soccer game is?  Connect to them and let them see your whole calendar, or just Sports events!

Your family information is stored in the area titled MY ACCOUNT.  

There are two ways to get to MY ACCOUNT.  

1. You can click on MY ACCOUNT at the top right of your board (to the right of the search box).  OR –
2. When you are on your own bulletin board – a MY ACCOUNT tab will appear as one of the pink tabs.  ?

Set up your information and then add other family members so that all of your information is shared on one central board.

When you set up family members you can determine what controls to give them.  You decide if they have the right to edit or to only view the family calendar. 

Your family information (including passwords and email notifications) can always be accessed through the MY ACCOUNT page.

Please note: When you give someone the right to “EDIT” your Curate it page you are giving them the right to comment on that page – not the right to add photos.

Here is a quick video walk through:

While that might work in some cases, we recommend that you let grandparents, or grown children establish their own accounts and then send them an invitation to view your calendar. 

The best way to determine who to include in your own account is to pick anyone who lives under the same roof as you.

If you want other people to see your calendar, please add them to your "circle"  (see next question in FAQ)

On HATCHEDit the default setting for your information is always PRIVATE - until you decide to share it.   

Unless you specifically give someone access, nobody can see the information that you put into your account.  

For example, you may decide to give someone access to your CURATE IT page, but not to your CALENDAR.  

However, only HATCHEDit members can interact with you on the site.   

Within your own family – the main profile-holder also has the ability to set permissions for all adults and children.  

When you add any family members to your account on HATCHEDit, you are given the opportunity to assign each member rights to view or to view and edit parts of your family’s account.  

Once you are a member, if you want to adjust these permissions simply go to the MY ACCOUNT page.  

Anyone designated as a child on the site will not be able to interact with any members outside the family account they are a part of.  Children will also not show up for anyone outside your account searching their name on the site. 

For more information on this topic – please see our privacy policy.

You can SEARCH for members on the site in the SEARCH box located at the top of each page.  Or on the left side of your page - in the MY CONTACTS list. 

Once your contacts are uploaded, we will show you who is a HATCHEDit member by placing a HATCHEDit icon next to their name.  Then you can choose to connect with them on the site and give them permission to view aspects of your board. 

Yes. You can upload contacts that you have stored on Gmail, Yahoo!, Outlook, and Mac iAddress Book.

On the CONTACTS area of your board you will see “Send an Invite” on the left side of the page.  Click on this and you will be prompted to invite contacts you have stored on either Yahoo! Or Gmail.   

If you want to upload contacts from Outlook

To export a CSV file from Outlook:

1. Open Outlook
2. Select “Import and Export” from the File menu
3. When the wizard opens, select “Export to a file” and click the “Next” button
4. Select “Comma separated values (Windows)” and click the “Next” button
5. Select the Contacts folder you would like to export and click the “Next” button
6. Choose a filename and a place to save the file (for instance, “Contacts.csv” on the Desktop) and click the “Next” button
7. Confirm what you are exporting: make sure the checkbox next to “Export…” is checked and click the “Next” button

To upload the file to HATCHEDit, simply click the “Choose File” button on the upload page and choose your newly-exported CSV file. Then click the “Upload Contacts” button.

Or from Mac Address Book

To export a vCard file from Mac OS X Address Book:

1. Open Address Book
2. Select the contacts you would like to export
3. Select “Export vCards…” from the File menu
4. Choose a filename and a place to save the file (for instance, “Contacts” on the Desktop) and click the “Save” button

To upload the file to HATCHEDit, simply click the “Choose File” button on the upload page and choose your newly-exported vCard file. Then click the “Upload Contacts” button.

Our most recent addition, the Hatchedit.com Activity/News Feed can be seen when you log onto our site:  www.Hatchedit.com.  It appears on everyone's Main Board, and is the best way to keep up on what the other members of your Family Account, and anyone you are connected to have posted. 

See above? I can see that Sophie added a few things to our grocery list.  I can also see that my mom added a picture, and that a few of the blogs I follow on my RSS Feed have posted new articles.  

People you are connected to will see if you have posted an event that falls under a category that you have given them permission to see.  For example, my mom lets me see medical events, so when she adds a doctor's appointment I can see it.  Same for my mom and my sister when I add a tennis tournament to my daughter's calendar.  That way they know what is going on, and have the opportunity to simply add that event to their own calendar if they want to attend.

The News Feed will not show any event that you mark private. Only the people included in that event will be alerted.  

The news feed also includes a quick and easy way for you to comment on an event, a photo being curated, or a comment in a group by starring that item in your news feed.  It then alerts the person who posted it that you starred the event, so that they know you saw it.  We'd love to get your feedback on the newsfeed!  as always we can be reached at: kikandmeg at Hatchedit.com 

I LOVE Groups. 

We created Groups because we are NOT fans of email chains - especially for talking between family members.

Emails can be long, obnoxious, and don't make any sense - and inevitably my Mom always forgets to hit "REPLY ALL" and we lose her mid-stream. 

Groups are great for any kind of group conversations you have.  Within families (I have one for me, my daughter and my parents to chat in), girlfriends, book clubs, anything where you want to have one place to chit chat.  

THESE ARE MY GROUPS

Most of them are private - so nobody else on the site can see them

One of them is public - so anybody can join.  

Curating – in the simplest terms – is choosing your favorite things, and keeping track of what those are.  We curate every day when, for example we choose to buy one type of soap over another; or when we choose to shop at one supermarket as opposed to another 

Oprah took curating to a higher level when she started sharing “her favorite things” with her audience.  In the same way HATCHEDit wants to give you a place to curate your favorite things.  

The Curate it area of HATCHEDit is a place where you can keep track of things that you have, or want, or want to consider and remember.  You might curate products.  You might curate events, or special moments that you want to share with a select few friends.   

The Curate it area can also serve as a place for you to store a series of things.  For example, if you are redoing your living room, you may want to curate pictures of different fabrics and pieces of furniture so that you can see how they look together.  We also give you a place to save a link.  

We envision HATCHEDit.com will be a site where people share with very small, tight knit groups. 

We estimate that the average HATCHEDit.com user will share their calendar/curate/news information with only 10-20 people (including their immediate family). 

For example, I am connected to 30 people on the site.  Out of those 30 people only 8 of them can see my calendar, the rest I share photos or To Do lists with. 

You can change or remove permissions whenever you like by going to that person's entry in your address book and clicking on EDIT PERMISSIONS

Connecting with people on our site also allows you to invite them to events more easily (although you can also send invites to non-members as well).  

When you can see someone else's calendar you can also opt to add an event on their calendar to your schedule.  For example, if you are looking at your sibling's calendar and see a soccer game that your nephew is in over the weekend you can add that event to your calendar so you remember to stop by and cheer him on. 

The reason why you would upload your address book – even though you are only allowing a handful of people to view your information is because:

1. it will allow you to see people’s up to date address/email information
2. it will serve as your online, mobile address book
3. it will allow you to view what groups they are in (groups will be launching soon)

All emails/notifications from Hatchedit.com - YOU CAN CONTROL.

Want to get notifications?  Then make sure that you have clicked off all of the checkboxes on your MY ACCOUNT page. 

Don't want to get notifications?  Please make sure the boxes are NOT checked. 

We send one email out EVERY DAY.  This email is an overview of YOUR ACCOUNT.  It is called The Daily Hatched It - and no two are alike.  It has all of your family information on it and will go to everyone that shares your family account - so that they can all see what is going on - even if they are not logging in every day.  

Here is my Daily Hatchedit from earlier this week!

We created Hatchedit.com because many technology tools have been designed for businesses - but none for running the business of a family.  

Here is one of the many potential problems we hope to solve!  :)

When you add a spouse or a child to your account we ask for their email address.  That email address is what begins a new profile.   

If you do not want your children to have access to the site or to view anything on the site, simply do not include their email address on your account page. Your child’s email address is not mandatory information for being able to list them on your calendar.  

If you do want your children to have access, then enter their email address and we will send them their log in and password information for viewing the site.  They will only be able to see the parts of your family page that you determine they should see.   

Currently, anyone designated as a child is not be searchable to anyone outside your account searching the site for members.  

Children also currently cannot share any information with anyone outside of their immediate family unit.  The only exception to this is if the parent decides to include the child in a GROUP chat.  

You can control all emails/notifications to spouses and children on the MY ACCOUNT page. 

Different people have different requirements for privacy.  We all have friends whom we look to for opinions on products and news, and those are usually people who like to share information more broadly.  Then, there are people who do not actively post pictures or opinions online, but like to read and comment when their friends do.   

You may be invited to view 20 CURATE it boards, and choose to only have five people view your own.  You may be the communication conduit for your family and view 4 calendars outside your own families, and yet decide to let nobody see your own.  

What you do or do not decide to share on HATCHEDit is entirely up to you.

HATCHEDitCANNOT see your personal information.  We are listed on your contacts list because we are enormous fans of curating and wanted a way to share some of the wonderful things that we see in every day life with the members of our site. 

If you click on HATCHEDitin your contacts you will be able to see our Curate IT board and our calendar of events.

Your kids will see mainly what you see - but other than Groups you include them in with extended family or close friends, they only see information shared in the immediate family account. 

No.  We recognize that the blogs that we keep on the blogroll are really geared more towards adults. 

When your child's account is set up we have different blogs that are pushed out to them on our default list. 

These include a science news site, CNN news for kids, and a variety of blogs targeted at Tweens (for example J-14 blog, teen.com, and some others). 

Because HATCHEDit is based on the idea of a smaller social circle, it does not make a lot of sense to use a fake name on our site.  After all, if you were to show up at a restaurant to meet your friends for dinner, and you were wearing a disguise, how would they know that it was you?   

Of course, if you typically use a nickname with your friends, feel free to use that nickname on our site.  However, in order to best leverage all that HATCHEDit has to offer identify through a name that your friends and family will recognize.

No. At this time we do not offer syncing with other calendar programs.

At the top of the calendar page of your board you will see a “Print” option.  This will allow you to print in day, week, or month view.

On the top right corner of the Curate it board there is a button: “Add a photo”.  Click on this button and a box will pop up on your screen.

Click on upload an image and then you can search your computer files, and choose which photo you would like to upload.

RSS feeds are used on many content sites.  The abbreviation stands for Really Simple Syndication (RSS), and simply said, lets you track your favorite content sites so that you can see when new information/articles are added. 

At the top right corner of the NEWS area is a button:  “add a feed”.  When you press that button it lets you add a link to the news site that you want to add.  The site will ask you for the FEED URL. 

To find a site’s FEED URL – go to the news site you want to track and look for the RSS Feed sign on the page.  It looks like this:  

When you click on that button it will take you to the page for that site’s RSS Feed and you can input this link where it says FEED URL

At the top right corner of the BLOG area is a button:  “add a feed”.  When you press that button it lets you add a link to the blog site that you want to add.  The site will ask you for the FEED URL. 

To find a site’s FEED URL – go to the blog site you want to track and look for the RSS Feed sign on the page.  It looks like this:

When you click on that button it will take you to the page for that site’s RSS Feed and you can input this link where it says FEED URL

If the answer you are looking for is not here - please refer to our CONTACT US page.

Sometimes mail servers identify daily emails as SPAM.  Here are some of the ways to ensure that you are receiving your HatchedIt.com communications: 

1. On the left of the screen under Mail, click Contacts.
2. Select either New Contact on the left of the screen under Tasks or Add to "My Contacts" at the top of your screen under Search Contacts.
3. If you clicked on New Contact, enter the address and/or URL and click Add. If you clicked Add to My Contacts, type the address or URL and press Enter.