How did the Family Gift Organizer get started?

The Family Gift Organizer started out as a bunch of lists on my bulletin board in my home office. I had lists of what the kids wanted, lists of what they needed and lists of what they already had. I had lists of gifts I planned to purchase, gifts I had already purchased and stashed somewhere and lists of items I needed or wanted, not to mention lists of clothing sizes and favorite colors, lists of web sites with super deals and more.

Being a computer geek, I decided that storing all of this information in a database and using a web site to access and update it, might make my life a whole lot easier. Not to mention, the paper that I could save by keeping my lists electronically. Thus, was Family Gift Organizer born.

My family was very involved in the development and testing phase of this web site. As they began using it to enter their Christmas and Birthday lists, they made suggestions, helped me to test new features and ferreted out any bugs in the code. I have attempted to implement their suggestions and ideas in the final product and I want to thank them for all of their input. This web site wouldn't exist without them.

What can I do with the Family Gift Organizer?

The Family Gift Organizer will allow you and all the members of your family or group to organize your gift giving activities. Each member will be able to:

• Enter his/her own "wish" list including the name of the item, a short description, a web site address to be linked to the gift item and a price range
• View all other family member's "wish" lists
• Plan purchases, designate gift items as purchased and add gift items to the "wish" lists of other family members
• Personalize his/her "wish" list page with a photo, a short description and contact information

The Family Gift Organizer keeps your planning and purchasing secret from other family members. Gifts that you add to another family member's list will not be displayed when that family member logs in. The only way to see your gift planning and purchased lists is to login with your user credentials.

How do I get started using the Family Gift Organizer?

The first step in using the Family Gift Organizer is to register your family or group and the primary user. The primary user will be responsible for entering a short description of the family or group. Once other users have been added to the account, the primary user may designate another family member as primary user and other users may add more family members.

After your seven day free trial expires, any member of the family may extend and pay for the subscription. The subscription fee is per family account, not per user.

After you've registered your family or group, you can start building your "wish" list. You may also want to update your profile with a photo and a short description that will be shown to other family or group members on your "wish" list page. Make sure you enter your birthday and anniversary, so they will show up on the family calendar.

To get started, visit our registration page.

How do I use the Family Gift Organizer?

On your Family Gift Organizer home page, you'll find a list of your family members, the family calendar showing birthdays and anniversaries of family members, your profile information, your gift planning list (if applicable), your gift purchases list (if applicable) and your "wish" list. By clicking on a family member's name, you'll be taken to that family member's "wish" list page.	[Click to view Enlarged Screenshot]
On the "wish" list page, you can view the items that family member has entered, go to the web site where the item may be purchased (if entered), designate a gift as one you plan to purchase for that family member, designate a gift as one you have already purchased for that family member or cancel a previously planned or purchased gift. This page will also show you the family member's photo (if uploaded), his/her contact information and the short description entered by the family member.	[Click to view Enlarged Screenshot]
On your "wish" list page, you will be able to enter gift items that you want including the name of the item, a short description of the item, a web site URL where the item can be viewed or purchased and a price range. You can also edit or delete items from your list.	[Click to view Enlarged Screenshot]

On your profile page, you can edit your contact information, upload a photo and add a short description about yourself.