Getting Help
Have a question? Something not working the way you expected? Your community is here to help.
We’re here!
Get started: How do you use the Open Food Network?
The Open Food Network is created by a values-based community of volunteers and paid contributors with a vision for a fair, regenerative world. The information on this page is brought to you by the global OFN support circles and your own fellow users. We love user submissions – please let us know if you have something to pitch in.
Take a look at the ways you can use the Open Food Network (opens in a new window), come back, and click on the “+” in the green circle next to the section below that describes you best.
I'm brand new!
Welcome!
If you’re new to shopping on the Open Food Network, you might take a look at this quick video about creating an account, or read all about the shopping experience in the user guide. In most cases, when you find the shop you want to buy from, they will help you with any ordering or payment questions.
If you’re new to selling on the Open Food Network, you have questions about how to register your enterprise, how much the OFN platform costs to use, how to join a group or offer other producers’ goods, or maybe you just want an overview of product setup screens. We also have a quick start guide to help you get going.
If you’re new and setting up a profile, shop, or hub, here are a few questions to think about to guide your OFN setup. This onboarding presentation (in PDF or editable pptx format) with lots of visuals can help you and your producers get started with OFN. Don’t forget that our user guide is a great go-to resource for getting started too.
I'm a producer selling on OFN
Great! Thanks for being part of the community.
If you are already selling on a Open Food Network, you might have questions about setting up payment methods and order cycles, running reports, or helping your customers find the products they care about.
Here is a how to change a Profile to Shop document that will walk you through the steps to open your own Shop.
Here is a how to on Adjusting Fees for a Shop or Hub to give a discount or special offering to customers.
Here is a how to on Naming and Arranging products in your Shop or Hub
I run a food hub or farmers market
Awesome, you have your hands full – we’ve been there!
As someone who offers and aggregates products from multiple producers, you might have questions about payment reports, order confirmations, adjusting orders, and organizing your shopfront. We suggest you make good friends with our awesome User Guide and our YouTube Channel. Here’s a playlist with some helpful Videos. We are always here to answer your questions too – we’re online waiting for you on Mondays at noon EST at meet.openfoodnetwork.net and in the meantime, the contact page will tell you how to get hold of us!
I'm just looking around, but I have questions!
Great! Glad you found us.
If you are wondering if OFN is right for you, Please let us know if you would like to play with our “test shop” or “test hub” so you can get a feeling for what the system is like without registering and going through setup.
If you are a partner organization or sponsor and you’d like to connect with the OFNUSA team, we would love that! Please contact us for more information!
User Guide
Most of your questions can be answered in our User Guide – check it out for comprehensive how-tos, tips and tricks.
You Tube Channel
Did you know we have a sweet YouTube Channel? It’s full of all kinds of advice and know-how in videos made by users and support teams from all over the world.
Drop-in calls
Got a quick question? Want to say hi? Got a complaint or suggestion? Drop in on our “office hours” most Mondays at 9am Pacific Time, 10 Mountain, 11 Central, and noon Eastern. Just point your browser to meet.openfoodnetwork.net.
Resource Library
Learning something new? Getting a presentation ready? Our user community has created some free, open-source material that you can use and adapt. Have you created a resource you want to share or improved on something you found here? Let us know!
Contact Us
If you’re still unable to find an answer to your question, contact us with your question and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
Welcome to your Community
Have an idea, a project or a question? Want to help others use the Open Food Network software and meet some very cool people in the process? Get in touch and let's get you contibuting!