Help & FAQ

A local, volunteer-run platform where people from Wettenberg and the neighboring villages in the Gleiberger Land (e.g. Krofdorf-Gleiberg, Wißmar, Launsbach, Biebertal) can offer or find concrete support – for example after an emergency, in a difficult life situation or for a time-limited need. We focus on concrete needs (time, items, transport, storage space) rather than money.

The non-profit association Wettenberg bleibt bunt e.V. from Wettenberg. The platform is maintained on a volunteer basis.

No. The platform is free for all residents of Wettenberg. We don't charge any fees and we don't run ads.

In principle anyone of legal age who lives, works or wants to help locally in Wettenberg, the Gleiberger Land or the surrounding area. Minors please only together with an adult.

No. The occasion was a fire that made a house uninhabitable for a longer period. But the platform is intended as a permanent local help tool for all kinds of life situations – e.g. after an illness, a move, small emergencies or larger community projects.

At /register: name, email, password (at least 10 characters with letters and digits). Optionally phone number and district. You then confirm your email address via a link we send you.

Please check your spam folder first. Sometimes emails from us end up there. If nothing arrives, just send us a short message – we'll handle it manually.

On the login page, click "Forgot password?" and enter your email address. You'll receive a link (valid for 1 hour) to set a new password.

Not directly in the profile in the current MVP. Just send us a short message and we'll change the address manually. A self-service function is coming.

Click "Log out" in the menu at the top. For security reasons, your session also expires automatically after longer inactivity.

Open a project and click "I'd like to help". If applicable, pick a specific need, describe your offer, state your availability and – optionally – a phone number for coordination. At the end, confirm that your contact details may be shared with the authorized coordinators.

No. Help offers including your data are not public. They are only shown to the association's authorized coordinators – and only if you explicitly allow it in the form.

Yes – but only if the responsible coordinator actively ticks that box on the status change. There is no automatic mass mailing. The email text can be customized before sending. At most one message per status change is sent to the email address you used when registering.

Yes. In your profile you'll find the "Messages from coordinators to me" section. There you can see the subject, content, date and the related project – including phone calls or in-person conversations, if a coordinator logged them manually. This makes it possible at any time to trace what was discussed with you within the platform.

A coordinator or admin reviews your offer. If it's a good fit, we'll get in touch. You can see the status of your offer at any time under "My offers" in your profile.

Yes, at any time. In your profile you'll find a list of your offers. As long as an offer hasn't already been completed or declined, there is a "Withdraw" button.

Time (hands-on help), lending an item, donating an item, transport, storage space, tools, professional help (e.g. craftwork, advice) and other.

Yes. In your profile you'll find a multi-select for help categories and a free-text field ("Description of what I can offer"). If you also consent to being contacted, association coordinators may write to you personally about suitable future projects. You can revoke this consent at any time in your profile.

Yes – with a separate consent. In your profile you'll find the toggle "Show me anonymously in the public helper directory". When active, your profile appears at /helfer-profile – only a pseudonym (e.g. "Helper #a1b2c3"), district, help categories, availability and (a shortened version of) your description are visible. Name, email, phone and images stay hidden. You can revoke visibility at any time.

A 7×3 matrix (Mon–Sun × morning / midday / evening). Mark the time slots when you would generally have time. People seeking help and coordinators can filter by this. The matrix is optional and doesn't commit you to specific dates – those are arranged directly when needed.

Yes. With a help offer you can upload up to 3 images (e.g. of a trailer or a tool). In your profile under "Images of items" you can also store up to 5 permanent images. Both are not public and only visible to authorized coordinators. EXIF data (e.g. GPS coordinates) is automatically removed on upload.

After logging in, click "Create project". Title, short description, detailed description, district and urgency. Please keep things factual and do not post any personal data of third parties (full names, addresses) without their consent.

So that no one accidentally or intentionally publishes unsuitable content. Association admins briefly review each new project once before it goes public. This usually happens within a day.

Yes. You'll find your projects under "My projects". Owners and – if assigned – coordinators can adjust the key details and needs.

By default, the person who created the project. Admins can reassign the owner if needed, in case coordination is handed over to someone else.

A person authorized by the association who looks after a project operationally, reviews incoming help offers and brings the participants together. Coordinators must have 2FA enabled.

Yes. For each project, admins can assign a main coordinator and a deputy. Both have the same rights (managing needs, reviewing and rating help offers, setting status, viewing images) and are both notified by email about new help offers. This ensures continuous support even during vacations or illness.

A specific help request within a project – e.g. "Stacking boxes with lids", "Help with carrying on May 17" or "Trailer for a day". A project can have any number of needs.

On the project's edit page, every need has a ✓ Done button. One click is enough. Reopening works the same way.

Yes. Owners, assigned coordinators and admins have a 🗑 delete button per need with a confirmation prompt.

An optional date by which the need should be covered. It helps helpers set priorities, but is not required.

open · partially committed · committed · done · no longer needed. You can set the status freely in the edit area or switch to "done" / "open" via quick button.

A central overview of safety-relevant information for Wettenberg: current weather and heat warnings from the DWD, local notices from the association team, emergency numbers as a tap list, recommended warning apps (NINA, KATWARN), siren signals explained, flood water levels, what to do during a power outage and emergency-supplies tips. Reachable at /bevoelkerungsschutz or via the "Civil protection" link in the footer.

Active warnings appear at the top of the civil protection page and — for important warnings — also at the top of the home page. You can also subscribe to them as an RSS feed.

No. The official warning systems are NINA (Federal Office of Civil Protection) and KATWARN (used by the Landkreis Gießen). We recommend installing NINA on your smartphone — it's the most reliable, most privacy-friendly warning. Our page complements it with local notices and a clear overview.

A free tool at /bevoelkerungsschutz/selbstcheck. You go through 17 points (water, food, electricity, first-aid kit, documents, communication, neighborhood) and instantly see how well prepared you are. Whatever is missing you can print as a list. Your answers never leave your device — they are only stored locally in your browser.

A small printable card in credit-card format that fits in your wallet. It contains your name, allergies, important medications and 1–2 emergency contacts ("ICE" = In Case of Emergency, known to paramedics worldwide). Available at /bevoelkerungsschutz/notfallkarte. Your entries never leave your device; they are only cached locally in your browser so you can print them again later.

At /bevoelkerungsschutz.rss we provide an RSS 2.0 feed with all active warnings. You can subscribe to it in any feed reader (e.g. Feedly, NetNewsWire, Inoreader, Thunderbird, RSSOwl) — no account, no tracking. The feed is updated roughly every 5 minutes. Many browsers show the RSS icon automatically because the page includes an auto-discovery hint in the HTML head.

No. We use neither geolocation nor IP-based location detection. The civil protection content is fixed to Wettenberg / Landkreis Gießen because that's our association's area.

Not directly via this website. For push warnings we recommend NINA (free, from the federal government) and/or KATWARN. In addition, since 2023, major warnings are automatically sent across Germany via Cell Broadcast to every phone in the affected area — you don't need to set anything up.

Yes. The Feuerwehr Wettenberg runs a WhatsApp channel. You'll find the link in the "Local information channels" section on the civil protection page. WhatsApp channels are one-way — you receive information, and other subscribers can't see each other.

A full overview is on the civil protection page. In short: 1 minute wailing tone (rising and falling) = warning, turn on the radio (hr1/hr3/hr4). 1 minute steady tone = all clear. 3× 12 seconds steady tone with pauses = fire alarm (only relevant to firefighters).

Every year on the 2nd Thursday in September at 11 a.m.. All warning channels (sirens, radio, NINA, Cell Broadcast) are tested at the same time. It's not a real alarm — just a functional test. You don't have to do anything except check whether your devices warn along.

In short: Stay calm, turn on the radio (battery-powered or crank radio — hr1/hr3/hr4 broadcast continuously during a crisis). Keep the fridge closed (food keeps for about 12 hours). No open flame indoors (candles → fire and CO risk). Use your power bank sparingly. More tips on the civil protection page.

If you're missing information, find a mistake or would like to add local notices (fire-brigade siren tests, events, safety tips): just send us a short note at kontakt@wettenberg-bleibt-bunt.de. Association admins can publish manual warnings via the internal admin area.

In addition to your password, you enter a short code from an authenticator app when logging in. This protects your account even if someone knows your password.

Any TOTP-capable app works: Google Authenticator, Authy, FreeOTP, 1Password, Bitwarden, Aegis (Android), Raivo (iOS) – all are well suited.

In your profile, click "Set up 2FA". The app scans the QR code, you enter a confirmation code – done. You then receive 8 backup codes, which you should store safely.

If you lose the smartphone with your authenticator app, you can log in once with a backup code, set up a new device and reinitialize 2FA. Keep them in a password manager or printed in a safe place.

For regular users optional, but recommended. For admins and coordinators 2FA is mandatory; it is enforced on first login.

Check whether your smartphone's clock is automatically synced with the internet – even a few seconds of drift is enough. If that doesn't help, use a backup code and set 2FA up again.

Name, email, password hash. Optionally phone number and district. Plus your own projects, needs and help offers as well as a consent history. For details see the privacy policy.

You yourself (in the profile). For help offers also the association's authorized coordinators, exclusively to arrange the concrete help. No one else. We don't pass data on to third parties.

Yes. In your profile you'll find the "Export my data as JSON" button. You receive a file with all information stored about you.

In the profile under "Anonymize account". We remove your name, email, phone and district and lock the account. Existing content stays in an anonymized form so that project histories remain traceable.

On a European web space at Infomaniak (Switzerland, GDPR-compliant). There are no tracking cookies, no profiling and no external advertising services.

Please reload the page once. If the error persists, send us a short note: what you did, which page was affected and (if possible) a screenshot. Address below.

That's intentional for privileged roles (admin, coordinator). Please set up 2FA now – it protects your account and therefore also sensitive help offers.

Write to us. Accounts are only locked for violations of the terms of use or at the user's own request.

Please report it to us briefly by email with a link to the page. We review every report. It helps other users if you don't comment on suspicious content but report it directly.