Help Page
The Help page is about the webpage and not about Obedience in general i.e. "Do's and Don't" to make your experience of using the website a joy, instead of a frustrating catastrophy <vbg> (that means "Very Big Grin").
Recent Changes
November 2020
With COVID-19 I understand that people have been reluctant this year to updated their memberships (with there being no shows), but the website costs have continued including a fairly large corporation tax bill due in the New Year based on 2019/20 figures. I have therefore made the decision to increase the membership fee to £10 per annum.
As well as the Paypal button method of membership updates, I believe I can cover most peoples requirements by offering to take Direct Bank Transfer. I do find currently that people don't understand that I may be on holiday when their membership is due, and won't know that they have sent me a cheque by snail mail :)
£10 to Obedience UK Limited, Sort Code 40-18-43, Account No. 21274031. Plus put your ObedienceUK Username in the reference field. This does not cause an automatic update of your membership, but will wait on me to spot your payment. (You can email me at obedienceuk@gmail.com, if you like, to trigger me to look for the payment.).
From April 2020: There is another facility in Paypal to make payments directly to me.
This is at https://paypal.me/ObedienceUK/10 (which is £10 for 1 year), or https://paypal.me/ObedienceUK/20 ( which is £20 for 2 years) and leave me a note with your username. Once in Paypal you have the links to REQUEST or SEND the money - you should choose to SEND it to me.
You don't have to have a Paypal account to use this.
September 2019
In September I have decided to stop taking cheques as payment for memberships.
Top Questions
There are some questions that come up time and time again, so I'll cover these first:
"What is my email address?"
My email address is ObedienceUK@gmail.com for normal email. (This is NOT the Paypal email address.)' .
"Who to I make the cheque payable to?"
I will no longer be taking payment by cheque.
"How much is membership?"
Membership is currently £10 per annum. (Whether by Paypal, or direct bank transfer.)
"Can I transfer the membership fee to your Paypal account prior to my membership running out?"
I prefer you don't as things can go wrong which I then have to sort out. (E.g. You transfer the money to the wrong Paypal account.) By waiting for the Paypal link to appear after your membership expires (and this may take 24 hours) then by clicking the link will bring up all of the correct details.
From April 2020: There is another facility in Paypal to make payments directly to me. This is at https://paypal.me/ObedienceUK . Here you can enter a value (£10 for 1 year, £20 for 2 years etc.) and leave me a note with your username. You don't have to have a Paypal account to use this.
"I've paid by Paypal but my membership is still is not updated"
If you've definately paid by Paypal your membership should have been updated immediately to 'approved', and the new one years membership started. If it hasn't then email me on obedienceuk@gmail.com (I can check everything is OK in Paypal and update your access).
"How do I change my email address on the ObedienceUK website, as it's showing the wrong one on the Members Forum?"
In the website header, click the "View/Edit Profile" link, and you can change it there. (If you really don't want your email address to appear on the forum, then change it to something like donald.duck@disney.com). If you don't want it to appear on the userlist then you can choose this in your Profile.
"I can't seem to print the top part (bottom part) of the schedule (entry form)?"
Suggested by a member: If you set the Adobe printer options to 'fit printer margins' you can get the whole thing.
Schedules
OK, next up is the Schedules (the biggest source of headache for me, as I'm the one that normally has to 'sort you out').
There is a fee (see above) for anyone who wants to download Schedules. The payment can be made online using Paypal (who take Visa and Mastercard and 'I think' even Switch), or by Direct Bank Transfer - £10 to Obedience UK Limited, Sort Code 40-18-43, Account No. 21274031. Plus put your ObedienceUK Username in the reference field. This does not cause an automatic update of your membership, but will wait on me to spot your payment. (You can email me at obedienceuk@gmail.com, if you like, to trigger me to look for the payment.).
To download schedules you have to create a Username, then pay the annual fee. That is so, so simple, but you'd be surprised by all the people who mess it up. A lot of people blame it on me - to start with - but I'm sure they become very embarrassed to find they've not followed a few basic instructions:
- The Username you have to create for schedules has nothing whatever to do with any other username you might have.
- To get the Schedules you must put in your Username and Password into the "Log In" box on the Log In page and click the 'Login' button. Then you can go to the Schedules page.
- The Username must be one that you raised yourself, and then got me to authorise by either paying online (which will cover downloads for a 12 month period from the date that I authorise it).
- To raise a Username, click on the "Sign Up" link in the websites header. This will cause the 'form' to be displayed that allows you to enter your details. Please, please, please, please try to remember your Username and Password (that you create yourself) - I can't remember how many times I've been contacted about forgotten Usernames or Passwords. If you don't / can't remember your password you need to contact me to give you a temporary password.
- Unless you've turned 'Cookies' off on your browser, the page will remember who you are the next time you get to the ObedienceUK website and the website header will now say "Welcome ..." and your Username. It also tells you when it will expire.
- If you have turned 'Cookies' off, or you have pressed the "Sign Out" link, then you will need to re-enter your Username and Password to be able to download schedules.
- In 12 months your Username will expire, and your access to the downloads will have stopped, but you can re-start them by again paying online via Paypal or paying by Direct Bank Transfer (see above).
- The online button to pay via Paypal appears on your screen within 24 hours when your username has expired.
If you are paying online, please follow the process through Paypal till you arrive back at the ObedienceUK website. Failure to do this may mean that you have paid but not been updated on the website. Should this happen then please email me with the problem as I receive notification of all payments from Paypal and hence can step in and correct it. ("Only as a last resort please!")
To read the Schedules you need Adobe Acrobat Reader software, and there is a link to a site where you can download it for free on the Schedules page.
FAQS (frequently asked questions) on Schedules:
I can't download the Adobe software ... what do I do?
If you can't download it the best thing to do is to get a cover disk off a
computer magazine that has it on.A lot have a library of free software on every month, like the Acrobat
Reader software. Magazines like "PC Answers". (It's not usually in the
featured software of that month, but if you read the small print it's
usually on there.)
Paying by PayPal - Is there anything I should know?
OK, I've had some feedback from some people who have used PayPal to get their Schedule membership through, so I thought I'd better let you know their comments.
PayPal is not something you can sign-up for and use all at once. In other words, if you decide to pay your ObUK subs by PayPal and you aren't already accepted by PayPal then you are going to be disappointed. The signup process for PayPal involves them charging you a nominal fee to signup to PayPal, which they give you back when you complete the signing up. Unfortunately you have to wait for your next credit card bill which has a code in the transaction line that you then put back into your computer to finish the signing up(* - see note below about Switch). I can understand why they do this, as it ensures that you are who you say you are, and that the credit card belongs to you. (All of this you have to do before you can then use PayPal to get your membership paid.)
PayPal is however a recognise payment method online, and I understand it to be secure (it's up to you what you believe). It is used quite a lot on eBay (for instance).
So, if you plan on using online payment the next time your membership comes up for renewal I suggest you signup to PayPal now, then you'll be ready.
*For those using online banking, and wanting to pay by Switch you just have to go into your online banking site to see what the transaction code is and this takes less than a week.
Courses
There is a charge of £12.50 for each Course placed on the site. However, for £60 per annum you can have a perpetual page i.e. open all year around to display as many courses as you have (obviously only of interest to people running more than 5 courses in a year). Please contact me (Les Perry) if you want to place a course on the site.
Out & About
All Out & About pictures are now in flickr.
For Facebook ensure you are signed in to FB
and a member of the ObedienceUK.net group