Freegle in Norfolk - Getting a Yahoo ID and joining a group

Getting a Yahoo ID and joining a Freegle group

Currently, all Freegle groups run using the Yahoo Groups service. In time (and hopefully soon!) it is planned that we will operate our own dedicated servers which will be set up to make it as simple as possible to join and use a Freegle group, but in the meantime we must stick with Yahoo Groups.

We realise that, unfortunately, getting a Yahoo ID and joining a Yahoo Group for the first time is not always the straightforward process it should be! Below are the most important tips we have gathered from helping out numerous people in the past. Please read this page before you apply if you are new to Yahoo Groups - you may want to keep it open in one browser window while you do the application in another (press Control-N in most web browsers to open a second window). Remember, you can always contact your group's moderators if you need help.

We also have a page of more general tips for joining a Freegle group, besides actually getting yourself a Yahoo ID.

If you haven't got a Yahoo ID, clicking on Join This Group on your group's home page will allow you to get one at the same time as joining the group. When doing this, the most important thing is to take careful note of which email address will be used with the new Yahoo ID for your membership of Freegle.

When you sign up for a Yahoo ID, Yahoo automatically tries to give you an email address that matches it - for example, if you ask for a Yahoo ID of "Freegle_test_member", Yahoo automatically ticks the box for you to get the email address Freegle_test_member@yahoo.co.uk. If you don't want this email address, make sure you click on the box to un-tick it! If you do want to create a new Yahoo email address and use it for Freegle (this can be useful to keep the messages separate from other email, or keep your identity private), keep the box ticked.

In any case, make sure you keep a careful note of the Yahoo ID and password that you type in, as you will need them to access Freegle on the web. (If you choose to make a new Yahoo email address, as above, then you will use the same ID and password to access it.) If you forget your ID and/or password, we cannot help - you will have to contact Yahoo support.

If you want to join Freegle with an existing email address, you should enter it into the "Alternate email" box, a little further down on the joining page.

Please note that Yahoo Groups requires you to verify that address before you can use it - this stops people signing up an email address that doesn't belong to them. The next page reminds you of this:

You will shortly receive an email from Yahoo to your existing email address, asking you to confirm that you want to use it for the Yahoo ID you just created - all you have to do is click on the link in the message. The message generally comes quickly so it's worth keeping your web browser open until you have completed the verification process.

Once you have clicked on the link in the verification email, you should be able to continue with your application for the group, being careful to choose to use your existing email.

Please see our more general joining instructions for some other points about joining a Freegle group.

Last modified: 18th March 2010