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F.A.Q.

Frequently. Asked. Questions.

How do I become part of a family?

You either join an existing family or create a new family. Both options are available from the "my info" link on the left (when you are logged in).

What should I name my family?

That's entirely up to you. However, you can't have the same name as somebody else. That'd be totally confusing. Be creative. Here's some examples:

  • The Kokomo Jones
  • Dunder Mifflin Scranton
  • Green County Greens
  • My Funny Family Name

How do you deal with small children?

Assuming that you are asking about handling them on FamilyGiftSwap.com and not asking for parenting advice, then typically a parent creates the child's account and manages their list until they're old enough to do it themselves. When you give them control don't be surprised when you start seeing items like, "A Unicorn".

That's great, but how do I add new family members?

There are three ways:

  1. If you created the family (the family is listed under "I'm An Owner" on the left when you are logged in):
    1. Click on the family name.
    2. Click on the "Add" link near the top below "My Family".
    3. Enter their information and click "Create Member".
    4. Let them know you did this, or, if you plan to manage their list, do nothing.
    5. You're done.
  2. Also, if you created the family, then you can invite them:
    1. Click on the family name.
    2. Click on the "Invite" link near the top below "My Family".
    3. Enter their e-mail address and a short message.
    4. Click the "Invite!" button.
    5. You're done.
  3. Just send them an e-mail telling them how awesome FamilyGiftSwap.com is and make sure you tell them your family name.

So, the point of this site is to buy the gifts people want. How do you prevent two people buying the same gift for someone?

When you buy a gift for someone, view their list and click the "Bought It" button next to the item you purchased. That item will now be clearly marked as purchased for everyone except the person that will receive it.

Darn It! I accidentally clicked "Bought It" on the wrong item. Now what?

No worries, the "Bought It" button will change into "I didn't buy this". Click that and all will be forgotten. Only the person that "Bought It" will see the "I didn't buy this" button.

A person will never know what people have bought for them?

Yeah, pretty much. On the "summary" screen, they'll see a note that says something like, "Congrats, people have bought you stuff. Do you need to remove items?".

How do I see the lists of people in my families?

Simply click the "their lists" button. Then, click the person's list you want to view.

Can I buy gifts from FamilyGiftSwap.com?

Someday we'll add a store where you can buy common gifts like CDs, Movies, Gift Cards, etc. That store may be here now, look for the "Store" link. If not, we try to help you find the gifts on the InterWeb. When looking at somebody's list, click the shopping cart icon. We'll search the web and hopefully find something useful.

How do I make my internets faster?

Basically, you have to keep your pipes clean and clear. So, keep those pipes and drains clear. Don't have any water running. The best method for speeding up internets is to find any field or document and type: "FamilyGiftSwap.com is a very bad place to get technical advice!" These methods have often worked for me. YMMV.

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Speeds Up Gifting

We did most of the heavy lifting for you to provide a system to manage the gifts you want and see the gifts they want. Additionally, we placed the system up in the cloud somewhere so that it's always available.

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User Experience Focused

By utilizing the latest technologies (available at some distant time in the past), we have created a system with a user interface. Something we focused on for at least a few minutes.

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Easy to Work With

We have read lots of pages on the internets that teach one how to create a positive and happy workplace. I don't know why you care about this, but it sure has made staff meetings almost bearable.