Members' guide · About BeanPool

Questions

Short answers to the questions members ask most.

Who runs my community?

Your community runs itself. Its server is looked after by people your community chose: its owners and admins. Your trades, posts and votes are kept on that server. The BeanPool project writes the app, and anyone can use it to start a community.

Is there interest on debt?

No. Being below zero costs nothing. Only beans you hold above 200 pay the small circulation fee.

Can I buy or sell beans for money?

The app has no way to buy or sell beans for money. Beans are earned by helping people.

Why can't I send a gift?

A gift needs two things. You must have completed a trade in the market (1 or 2 beans is too small to count), and you can only give beans you have. A gift can never take you below zero.

Why can't I spend below zero?

Two things set how far below zero you can go. Your trust from trading sets the most you could ever go. Your live Offers set how much of that you may use right now. With no live Offers, you cannot go below zero at all. Most people start by selling: post an Offer, and when someone takes it up, you earn beans and your first trust.

My badge says Steward. Why can I spend so little?

Your badge shows your trust. What you can spend right now also depends on how many live Offers you have. Badges never unlock anything.

Can I change my vote?

On a Decision or a Poll, yes, until the vote closes. On a keepers' vote, a group's own vote, or a vote for a new lead convenor, no.

Can anyone see how I voted?

On a Decision, the app shows only the totals, and your own vote to you. Your vote is stored on your community's server. The owners and admins who run the server can take a copy of its files, and could look it up there. A Poll is anonymous in the same way, unless the person who started it made it an open vote: then members can see who chose what. The poll says which it is before you vote.

Can other members see my balance?

No. Other members never see your balance. On the phone, in a community with Beans, they see your trust badge and how many trades you have done. A trade shows only its two people. If the community votes on removing you, the members who can vote in it see your balance and any debt, in that vote only. Admins can see more in some cases, and those looks are logged: see "What the admins can see".

I lost my phone. Is my account gone?

No, if you kept your 12-word recovery phrase. Install the app and restore your account with those 12 words. If you linked a sign-in account in Account Protection, you can also use that. Keep your 12 words somewhere safe and private. Anyone who has them can use your account.

Lost your 12 words too? An admin of your community can move your account to a new phone, in person: see "Lost your phone and your 12 words" in "Getting your account back".

Do I need a Google, Apple or Facebook account?

No. A local community lets you in with an invite from one of its members. The global community lets anyone in with 12 secret words, or with a sign-in if you would rather. If you join with 12 words alone, they are your only way back into your account, and a new account made that way starts slower for its first week. You can add a sign-in later, from any phone or browser where you are in your account, and not while your account is suspended. See "Joining BeanPool" and "Your 12 words".

Why are there no Beans on the global community?

Beans are a promise between people who can be found again. Anyone can join the global community with 12 words, so nobody there can yet vouch for who's who. Beans, deals, enterprises and Decisions live in local communities. The global community shows them from an example community, Example Valley, marked 🏘️ Local community. See "Beans and the global community".

How do I start a community?

Tap Start a community in the app. A community runs on its own small server: a spare computer at home, or a rented one for a few dollars a month. The software is free, and the community doesn't need beanpool.org. See "Beans and the global community".

Can I belong to more than one community?

Yes. On the phone you can save several communities and switch between them, using the same identity in each. In the web app, each community opens at its own address. Each community has its own beans, rules and members.

Can I join another community that anyone can join?

Yes, with the account you have. Some communities let anyone join, as the global community does, and their own people run them at their own addresses. When your phone reaches one where you are not a member yet, it says You're not a member here yet and offers Join ‹its name› with this account. You join it the same way as the global community: with the 12 words already on your phone, or with a sign-in if it asks for one. It is under that community's own name, and its address is shown, so you can see where you are joining. Your key and your 12 words stay the same, and nothing changes in your other communities. A link only opens that screen, and nobody joins until you tap. To show it, your phone asks that community for its name and whether it lets people join, so whoever runs that address can see that someone opened the link (nothing about your account is sent).

I am going away. What should I do?

Turn on Holiday Mode in Settings. Your Offers are hidden and nobody can send you new requests. Finish or cancel any open trades first, because Holiday Mode cannot start while a trade is open.

How do I leave?

You can delete your account in Settings. First finish or cancel any open trades. When you delete your account, any beans you hold go to your community's Commons, and if you are below zero, the Commons covers it. This cannot be undone, even with your 12 words. It deletes your account only in the community you are using. If another community on the phone still has you, the phone keeps your key for it; the key goes only when you delete at your last one.

Something is wrong or could be better. Who do I tell?

For problems with a person or a trade, talk to the admins of your community. To report a post, an event or a Pulse post, tap its 🚩 Report flag (on the phone, a post's button says Report Post). In a group's chat, tap a message and then the flag to report it (in the web app, Report under it). In the web app a chat with one person has a Report button too. Your community's admins are told. Pick Child safety if a child may be at risk. See "Reporting a problem". For ideas about the app itself, visit beanpool.org.

Related

• Your 12 wordsThe 12 words are the key to your account. Why they matter, where to find them, how to keep them safe, and adding a sign-in as a second way back.
• Getting your account backRestore your account on a new phone, and protect it with a sign-in account.
• More than one communityBelong to several communities with one account, switch between them, follow your community to a new address, and see what the global community shows you.
• Beans and the global communityWhat the global community is for, one community among many, and what you see there: the 🏘️ Local community marker, the example community Example Valley, why Beans wait there, and how to start or find a local community.
• Going awayHoliday Mode hides your Offers and pauses new requests while you are away.
• Leaving or deleting your accountSign out of this phone, or delete your account for good, and what happens to your beans.
• Getting helpWhere to look when you are stuck, and who to ask.

The same guide is in the BeanPool app, and works there without a connection: open Settings, then "Help & how it works" under BeanPool. Every other rule, guide and manual is in the Help Centre. Guide version 162.