SHEFA User Guide

The public SHEFA site helps visitors find local farms and fresh food. Here is how every part of the site works.

Top bar (desktop)

• Logo / Home — returns to the homepage.
• Categories — browse products by food category (when enabled).
• List Your Farm — goes to farm plans and registration.
• Sign In / Sign Up — member login and registration (a popup may appear for visitors).
• Cart & Favourites — shown when those features are enabled.
• Settings gear — switch layout (Traditional vs Holy Grail), light/dark theme, FAQ, Support.
• Profile menu (when signed in) — Dashboard, My Profile, Sign out, and Switch to Farm or Member dashboard.

Holy Grail layout (left panel)

On desktop Holy Grail layout you get a fixed left navigation bar with category shortcuts and a More button at the bottom.

• More opens: List Your Farm, FAQ, Support, Farm Sign In, Terms, Privacy, User Guide (this page), and contact info.

Mobile

Use the hamburger menu for the same links. Layout may default to Traditional on mobile.

The homepage has two main search cards:

Find Fresh Food

1. Enter a keyword (e.g. tomatoes, eggs).
2. Optionally set zip code and radius (miles).
3. Click search — you go to /products with results.

Find A Farm

1. Enter a farm name or keyword.
2. Set zip code and/or state filter.
3. Click search — you go to /farms.

Spotlights

Carousels below may show Featured Farms and Popular Food near your location (uses zip cookie or browser location when allowed).

Sign up (new member)

1. Go to /signup or use the Sign Up popup.
2. Fill in name, email, phone, address, and password.
3. Complete reCAPTCHA if shown.
4. Submit — you receive a verification email.
5. Click the link in the email, or visit /check-email to resend.
6. After verification, sign in at /signin.

Sign in

1. Go to /signin.
2. Enter email and password.
3. You land on the Member Dashboard.

Forgot password

Use /forgot-password → check email → reset link.

After member sign-in, open /user/dashboard. The left sidebar (Holy Grail shell) contains:

Dashboard

Overview of your member activity and quick links.

Joined Farms

Go to Joined Farms (/user/farms) to see every farm you have joined. From a farm's public page, use Join Farm to add it here.

My Subscriptions

View farm-share or other subscriptions you hold at /user/subscriptions.

My Account

At /user/account update your profile photo, contact info, address, food preferences, and password.

Signout

Logs you out of the member portal (and admin if impersonating).

More (bottom-left)

Support, FAQ, Terms, Privacy, and User Guide.

Top bar — Switch to Farm

If you also own a farm, profile menu → Switch to → Farm Dashboard — no second login needed.

Step 1 — Choose a plan

1. Visit /plans or click List Your Farm.
2. Compare Farm Stand, Micro Farm, and Market Farm (✔/✖ show included features).
3. Click Sign Up on your chosen plan.

Step 2 — Complete the form

1. Fill owner name, farm name, email, phone, address, city, state, ZIP.
2. Submit the registration form (reCAPTCHA if enabled).
3. A member account is created automatically with the same email/password.
4. Your farm enters pending verification until admin approves.

Step 3 — Pay (if plan has a fee)

If your plan costs money, you are redirected to the Stripe payment screen. See Year Pass & Billing below.

Step 4 — Farm sign-in later

Use /farm-signin with your farm email and password after admin approval.

Signed-in farm owners use /myfarm/dashboard. Left sidebar items:

Edit Farm Details

Opens a modal to update farm name, description, logo, cover photo, contact info, and location without leaving the page.

Dashboard

Home screen with product count, share holders, and Year Pass badge (when active). Shows payment banner if subscription is due.

New Product

Go to /myfarm/products/add — add title, description, price, category, photos, availability. Plan limits apply (Farm Stand = up to 5 listings).

Product List

/myfarm/products — edit, deactivate, or delete existing products. Badge shows active count.

Orders

/myfarm/orders — view customer orders placed through SHEFA.

Farm Share

/myfarm/farmshare — create and manage CSA-style farm share offerings.

Farm Share Holders

/myfarm/farmshare/list_holders — see who subscribed to your shares.

Farm Members

/myfarm/members — members who clicked Join Farm on your public profile.

Account section

• My Account — farm owner contact details.
• Payment History — past Stripe transactions.
• Manage Subscription — plan, auto-renew toggle, upgrade, cancel.
• Plan & Billing Guide — explains Year Pass and auto-renew.
• Open Hours — set weekly open/close times shown on your public farm page.
• Change Password — update farm portal password.
• Signout — leave farm portal (returns admin to admin dash if impersonating).

Notifications bell (top bar)

Alerts for verification, subscription, payments — click to open /myfarm/notifications.

More panel

Support, FAQ, Terms, Privacy, User Guide.

First payment

1. After registration (or when prompted), click Pay now or go to the payment screen.
2. Review plan name, price, and Year Pass message.
3. Click Pay with Stripe — complete checkout on Stripe's secure page.
4. On success you return to the farm dashboard with subscription active.

Year Pass

Your first payment includes a promotional pass (3, 6, 9, or 12 months — set by admin). During the pass you are not charged monthly. A green badge on the dashboard shows days remaining.

Auto-renew

Enabled by default. After the pass ends, billing continues monthly at your plan rate unless you turn it off.

Turn off auto-renew

1. Farm sidebar → Manage Subscription.
2. Use the Auto-renew toggle — slides off instantly.
3. You keep full access until the current period ends; then your farm is hidden from public search until you pay again.

Cancel entirely

Manage Subscription → Cancel subscription → confirm. Same end-of-period behavior.

Upgrade plan

Manage Subscription → buttons to switch to Micro Farm or Market Farm.

Farm registration creates both a farm account and a member account on the same email.

1. Click your profile name/icon top-right.
2. Scroll to Switch to.
3. Choose Farm Dashboard or Member Dashboard.
4. No re-login required — sessions for both are kept.

Farm owners can browse the site as a member (search, join other farms, favourites) and manage their farm from the farm dashboard.

Search page — /farms

1. Enter keywords in the search box.
2. Set Zip code to find farms near you.
3. Use State dropdown to narrow results.
4. Set Radius (miles) for distance filtering.
5. Results load as cards — scroll for more (infinite scroll).
6. Click Reset to clear all filters.

Farm detail page — /farm/{slug}

• Farm photos, description, hours, map (Leaflet).
• Product listings from that farm.
• Join Farm (members) — adds farm to Joined Farms.
• Farm Share subscribe link if shares exist.

Only farms that are admin-approved AND have an active paid subscription appear in search.

Search page — /products

1. Search by food name or keyword.
2. Filter by category, zip, radius, state.
3. Cards show farm name, price, availability badge (Available, Sold Out, etc.).

Product page — /product/{slug}

• Photos, description, price, farm link.
• Availability status badge.
• Link back to the farm's profile.

Categories — /categories

Browse all categories, then drill into a category listing.

Visitors may see a sign-in/sign-up modal on first visits (controlled by admin App Controls). You can often close it during the grace period. After the grace period, some actions may require signing in. Use Sign In or Sign Up in the modal or top bar.

• FAQ — common questions.
• Support — contact form for help.
• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Phone: 1.330.403.3340
• Email: info@shefa.life