Comotivate - Help & FAQ

Help & FAQs

Why comotivate?
The basics
Rules for roles
Goal set up, monitoring and completion
Teams: creating, joining, leaving, closing
Managing my Account
Typical frustrations
Privacy concerns
Technical problems
Who owns comotivate?

Why comotivate?

Q. Why does the site exist?
A. comotivate exists to help people address aspects of their life they wish to see evolve in some way. comotivate is social networking with a purpose. The focus is on achieving defined positive outcomes to improve quality of life.

Q. What does it mean to ‘comotivate’?
A. Support networks are widely recognized as playing an important role in validating issues we have in our lives. Support is certainly part of what comotivate can facilitate but it is intended to provide a structure for people to work together on resolving issues and meeting shared goals. To ‘comotivate’ is to collaborate in a mutually supportive way that enhances the satisfaction of the resulting achievement.

Q. How does the site work?
A. Your registration will provide information about you and your goal that will allow the site to match you with someone else just like you. Your physical or psychological similarity makes excuses harder to come by, motivation easier to share and more effective. Perhaps most importantly, the more people that register, the more accurate these matches are likely to become and the better your experience will be.

Q. Why is comotivate so great?
A.Having a hand in someone else’s success can be even more satisfying than achieving success for yourself.

Q. Is comotivate free?
A.Yes, completely.

Q. What makes comotivate special?
A. comotivate is different to other social networks in ways which relate to the quality of the user experience:

Inactive users are ‘benched’ which means there are fewer ‘lurkers’ on the site and a higher percentage of engaged, committed people with whom to comotivate.
Buddy Match settings can be continually refined to ensure buddies are increasingly well matched and enhanced control over the alerts you receive means less frustration.
The bigger the site gets, the better it gets because your buddy match is more likely to be ‘perfect’ and your experience will be more meaningful.
comotivate is a less public and more secure environment. Your registration data maintains a high level of anonymity. Your homepage is completely private and access to your Team Area is restricted to only those buddies in your team.
Browsing has been deliberately limited to enhance the user experience. The point of comotivate is not to ‘browse’ but to ‘act’. You don’t need to go looking for relevance; it is presented to you.

Q. What can I do on the site?
A. There is lots of functionality to help you reach your goal.

You can use a range of tools to display and monitor your progress and then view your progress against the best and average progress in your team.
You can share videos, photos, text and other files in pursuit of your mutual goal.
You can retain a private and personal homepage separate to your Team Area.
You can swap Teams based on alerts you opt in to.
You can create Private, Open or Managed teams and control the exposure you have to the comotivate community.
You can manage several goals at the same time (as long as they are different).
You can mark your achievement by customising a PDF certificate.

The basics

Q. Can I browse the site?
A. You can browse recently available buddies and teams by goal category, but browsing has been deliberately limited to enhance the user experience. The point of comotivate is not to ‘browse’ but to ‘act’. Relevance comes to you; you don’t need to go looking for it.

Q. How do I register?
A. Two choices. To sign up quickly, click the blue button on the homepage. This fast track registration will give you a private homepage and from there you can select your first goal. The second way to sign up as a first time user is to complete a full registration using the drop down on the left hand side of the homepage.

Q. How closely will I be matched?
A. You control how closely you are matched based on the criteria you tick in the goal registration form. Make sure you manage your notifications properly so that you get just the right number of messages about possible buddies. You can select ‘Amend Goal’ at any time once you’ve registered.

Q. What happens when I register?
A. Everyone who registers gets a personal homepage (to centrally manage their account) and a Team Area for each goal they buddy-up on.

Q. What can I do from my homepage?
A. Signing-in as a registered user takes you to your homepage. From here, you can

You can use a range of tools to display and monitor your progress and then view your progress against the best and average progress in your team.
- buddy and team matches
- requests to join buddies and teams
- activity in your team
View details of your Current Goals
- time remaining to completion and your relative progress (if other tools are selected)
- update your progress
- amend your goal (and settings)
- abandon your goal
- access ‘My Potential Buddies’ (unless you are a Team Owner)
- access your Team Area (if you’ve got a team)
- leave your team (if you’ve got a team)
Start New Goals
View your Completed Goals
Edit your details

Q. What can I do from the Team Area?
A. If you’ve started a Team but are yet to find buddies, your Team Area could be a little lonely! But if you are in an established Team, this is where the action is. From here, you can:

Post progress to the blog
Team Talk with other Buddies
Chat with Buddies who are online
Access Resources and suggest additions
View team’s progress
View team related activity feeds
View Buddy Match feeds (if you are the Team Owner or an appointed Manager)
Link to ‘Team Potential Buddies’ (if you are the Team Owner or an appointed Manager)
Edit Team Details (if you are the Team Owner or an appointed Manager)

Q. What can I do from the ‘Potential Buddies’ page?
A. This is the page that allows you to view buddy and team matches, invite other users to buddy up or view the requests you have received. Team Owners have their ‘Potential Buddies’ page removed but Team Buddies and Managers remain free to explore this page on an ongoing basis.

Q. What can I do from the ‘Team Potential Buddies’ page?
A. If you are a Team Owner or appointed Manager, you will have access to a ‘Team Potential Buddies’ page which displays potential buddies that have been matched to the Owner’s goal and allows join-the-team requests to be sent and responded to.

Q. How do I find buddies?
A. If your initial registration fails to find a good enough match for you, you can choose to invite friends directly by entering their email addresses on the ‘Potential Buddies’ page. Or you can simply wait to be notified when the perfect buddy comes online. Your feeds and emails will alert you to potential buddies. These can be managed on your ‘Edit Details’ and ‘Amend Goal’ pages to ensure you’re being contacted only when it’s appropriate.

Q. How do buddies find me?
A. At the end of your goal registration, you are asked to indicate how you want to be found. Click ‘Amend Goal’ to check these preferences.

Q. Can I have two or more of the same goals live at the same time?
A. No. It’s time to focus!

Q. How do I report abuse?
A. Click on the ‘report abuse’ link at the bottom of the page. If you are in an open team, your report will be investigated by a comotivate member of staff. The source of the complaint will remain confidential. If the offender is deemed to have contravened the terms of use, they will be warned about their future conduct and then have their username revoked. Complaints raised within private or managed teams will be sent to the relevant Team Owner for action first.

Q. How can I invite my friends to comotivate?
A. Visit ‘Potential Buddies’ or ‘Team Potential Buddies’ and send them an email….or stop reading these FAQ’s and just tell them about it!

Rules for roles

Q. How does the site differentiate users?
A. Registering on comotivate makes you a ‘buddy’ but what you are able to then do depends on how you create or join a team. There are four possible roles you could play:

If you start a team by yourself, you are a ‘One-Buddy-Team’.
If you accept a request to buddy up, you become a ‘Team Owner’.
If you join an existing team, you become a ‘Team Buddy’.
If the Owner appoints a Team Buddy to help administrate the team, they become a ‘Manager’.

Q. What is the role of the Team Owner?
A. Everything they do is based on their role in the team because as soon as they are appointed, their goal becomes the team’s goal and it remains the team’s goal even if they leave. Team Owners have their ‘Potential Buddies’ page removed so they are totally dedicated to the team’s success. In Managed and Private Teams they are the ultimate authority in team decisions.

Q. How do Team Owners remove Team Buddies?
A. Team Owners can remove a Team Buddy by going to the ‘Edit team details’ page. Owners can also assign this authority to one or more Team Managers. Any buddy who is not active on the team page will be automatically removed from the team if they do not post activity during 75% of the team’s scheduled existence.

Q. What happens when a Team Owner makes someone a Team Manager?
A. The new Team Manager has the ability to recruit and remove Team Buddies. Managers get access to the ‘Team Potential Buddies’ page via Team Feeds but they don’t get Matches or Requests relating to their Team in their homepage feed or via email. All Team Managers are able to restore their former status (de-activate their Admin rights) on the Edit Team Details page but only the Owner can re-activate their Manager status.

Q. How do I become a One-Buddy-Team?
A. Click on the ‘Start your own team’ link at the bottom of the ‘Potential Buddies’ page. You’ll then have a homepage and a Team Area all set and ready to go for when you find your perfect buddy. At the point of being joined by a Team Buddy, you’ll become a Team Owner and the ‘Potential Buddies’ page will be removed so you can focus on getting ‘Team Potential Buddies’ as you think necessary. The ‘Potential Buddies’ page will only be restored if your Team Owner status changes.

Goal set up, monitoring and completion

Q. What goals can I choose from?
A. There are 13 goals but some have been kept general to allow you to specify a more precise goal within the registration page of that goal. Feel free to browse the categories on the comotivate homepage.

Q. How is my progress verified?
A. Nobody checks the accuracy of the data you enter. You’ll only be cheating yourself if you lie about the progress you’re making. There are no prizes or points to be gained by completing a goal. All you’ll have to show for your efforts is new found knowledge, pride in yourself and at least one really good friendship! We didn’t think a gold star would make that any sweeter.

Q. How do I change my goal?
A. Go to your homepage and select ‘Amend goal’ to update any goal details.

Q. What’s the maximum number of live goals I can have?
A. Although you can only have one team per goal, you can belong to as many teams as there are goal categories. Try to limit the number of goals you run alongside each other to give yourself a chance!

Q. How can I see my progress?
A. You can upload images and video to the Team Area or blog and input progress data into one of the tools on your homepage.

Q. How many progress tools can I select?
A. You can only display two progress tools on your homepage and two on your Team Area.

Q. How do I select a progress tool?
A. Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and scroll down the page. Your choice will be restricted to those tools that work with your goal. Your other goals may permit different tools to be selected. If you join a team before selecting a tool, your progress tool will be created to match the tool for your team so that your data syncronises.

Q. Where do I enter my progress data?
A. Always update your progress from your homepage. When you join or create a team, a progress tool will be automatically installed on your homepage to match the tool chosen by your Team Owner for the Team Area. As long as you don’t change your homepage progress tool, the data you input there will be tracked by your team’s progress tool. If you select a progress tool before you’re in a team, you can change your tool to match the one on your Team Area but you will lose any data you input up to that point.

Q. What happens if I complete my goal before the deadline?
A. You will receive your completion certificate as normal and will still be allowed access to the Team Area unless you want to register the same goal and start a different team, in which case you will have to actively leave your former team.

Q. Can I complete my goal after the deadline?
A. Yes as long as the Team Area remains active.

Q. How will I retain my goal history?
A. Everyone who completes their goal can complete a certificate sent to you as a PDF and filed under your ‘Previous Goals’ panel.

Q. What’s the difference between the certificate of merit and the certificate of achievement?
A. The first is presented to you if you didn’t quite meet the goal you set in the deadline you gave yourself. The second is presented if you did meet your goal.

Q. My old team page is still going (even though we’ve all completed our goal) and I’m trying to get into a new team that has the same goal. The system won’t let me. What can I do?
A. Leave your old team by clicking on the "Leave team" link under that goal listing. Your profile in that team will be deleted but you will retain your certificate.

Teams: creating, joining, leaving, closing

Q. Do I even have to be in a team?
A. No, but you will get a very basic user experience without at least one buddy…err and the site’s called ‘comotivate’.

Q. What happens if I send multiple requests to form a team?
A. The first acceptance you receive will determine how you are buddied up. Your other requests will be automatically ‘withdrawn’. If you are a Team Owner or Manager and you send multiple requests for people to join your team, they will all remain live unless you withdraw them yourself.

Q. Who sets up the Team?
A. It is always the Team Owner who sets up the Team and so the Team’s goal is based on the Owner’s goal. In any buddy match scenario, the role of Team Owner is given to the Receiver of the request to buddy up.

Q. How do I become a Team Owner?
A. You only become a Team Owner if you’re in a team with someone else. Starting a team on your own doesn’t give you the same privileges (refer to earlier User Status category for more on this). The role of Team Owner is awarded automatically when teams are created, so you don’t need to worry about how this happens. If you are already in a team and the Owner leaves, there is a chance that you will inherit the role of Team Owner because it passes to the longest serving Team Buddy or Manager.

Q. What are the differences between the various types of team?
A. The three different team types are designed to suit different preferences.

Open Teams can be joined by anyone without approval.
Managed Teams require permission to join from the Team Owner or Manager.
Private Teams are invisible to anyone who hasn’t been directly invited to join that team.

Q. Can I set up a team without a buddy?
A. Yes. You will become a One-Buddy-Team and appear in Team Match results rather than Buddy Match results.

Q. What’s the maximum number of buddies in a team?
A. In the words of 2unlimited “there’s no limit”.

Q. How do I change buddies?
A. There are several ways to change buddies if you wish.

Be notified of potential potential buddies on your ‘My Potential Buddies’ page, accept or send a request to buddy up.
If you are the Team Owner or manager, you can remove a buddy from your team (but they will lose their progress data so this is always a tough option).
You can abandon your goal and start a new one with a different team.
You can leave your team but keep your goal and just look for another buddy or Team.

Q. What happens if a Team Owner quits?
A. An appointed Team Manager or the team Buddy with the next longest run in the team will become the new Team Owner. They will not be able to amend the goal. To decline ownership, they will have to leave the team.

Q. Can a team have more than one goal?
A. No.

Q. Who selects the team’s goal?
A. The owner’s goal is automatically made the team’s goal.

Q. I am in a team so why can’t I access ‘Team Potential Buddies’ and get notified of Team Buddy matches?

A. Ask your Team Owner to make you a Team Manager by adjusting your privileges on the ’Edit Team Details’ page. This will allow you to view ‘Team Potential Buddies’ and assist the Owner with team administration. For more on this, read the Rules for Roles.

Q. When and how do Team Areas expire?
A. Automatically, 7 days after the deadline of the last participating buddy in the team. Further Team Area activity will continually extend the life of the Team Area by 7 days.

Q. Does everyone in the team need to have the same completion date?
A. No, but it’s a good idea if they’re at least close. Try and agree on a date. The Owner can update the goal and it’ll be more fun.

Q. What happens to my goal if I want to leave my team?
A. If you want to leave your team, the best thing to do is to start actively using the "Potential Buddies" page on your homepage and make sure your goal preferences are set to maximize your options for finding a better match. You can transfer to a new team anytime and we’ll take care of the logistics. Your existing progress data follows you to your new team if you join one with the same goal. If you decide to leave your team before finding a new one, click on "Leave team" and we’ll send you an email to confirm your exit. We’ll also let your team know you’ve left – just as a courtesy. If you don’t find a new team within 7 days of leaving, your goal will be noted as "abandoned".

Q. If I leave a team, can I take my goal data with me?
A. Yes.

Q. How do teams close down?
A. When the last person leaves the team or when no activity is registered on the Team Area for 7 days after the goal completion date.

Managing my Account

Q. How can I get notified of more/fewer matches?
A. Visit your ‘Amend Goal’ page under the appropriate goal.

Q. How can I better manage my email notifications?
A. Visit your ‘Edit Details’ page and check the relevant boxes.

Q. Can I change my username or team name?
A. Unfortunately, you cannot change your username. If you are unhappy about your username, you’ll have to delete your account from within the “Edit Details” section of your homepage and re-register. It is possible to change your team name by clicking on ‘Edit Team Details’.

Q. How do I delete my account?
A. From your homepage, go to ‘Edit Details’ and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on ‘delete account’. To delete your account, you must ensure that you are no longer a Team Buddy, Manager or Owner of an active team.

Typical frustrations

Q. What can I do to improve the quality of the match notifications I receive?
A. Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and either select fewer criteria you’d like to be matched on or increase the number of shared match criteria required to trigger a notification. Try different combinations of these settings as often as you like until the quality meets your expectations.

Q. What can I do to get more match notifications?
A. Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and either select more criteria you’d like to be matched on or decrease the number of shared match criteria required to trigger a Match notification. Try different combinations of these settings as often as you like until your expectations are met. If you are a Team Owner, click on ‘Edit Team Details’ and make sure your team type is set to Open or Managed.

Q. What can I do to get fewer match notifications?
A. There are several things you can do:

Visit ‘Edit Details’ and scroll down to where you’re able to select the kinds of email notifications you’d like to receive.
Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and select fewer criteria you’d like to be matched on. Then increase the number of shared match criteria required to trigger a notification.
Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and un-check the box that makes you visible to buddies or teams. This will stop you receiving any Matches and Requests completely.
If you are a Team Owner or Manager, change your team type to Private by clicking on the ‘Edit Team Details’ link.

Q. What can I do to receive more buddy-up requests?
A. There are several things you can do:

Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and re-write your personal comment to appeal to the type of person you’d hope to be hearing from.
Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and select more criteria you’d like to be matched on. More matches will mean more chance of a buddy-up request.
Don’t wait for a buddy-up request to come to you. Visit ‘Potential Buddies’ or ‘Team Potential Buddies’ and send a request yourself.
Click on ‘Edit Details’ or ‘Edit Team Details’ and change your photo.
Tell more people about comotivate so that more potential buddies register.
If you are a Team Owner, click on ‘Edit Team Details’ and make sure your team type is set to Open or Managed.

Q. What can I do to get fewer emails?
A. There are several things you can do:

Visit ‘Edit Details’ and scroll down to where you’re able to select the kinds of email notifications you’d like to receive.
Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and select fewer criteria you’d like to be matched on. Then increase the number of matches required to trigger a Match notification.
Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and un-check the box that makes you visible to buddies or teams. This will stop you receiving any Matches and Requests completely.
If you are a Team Owner or Manager, change your team type to Private by clicking on the ‘Edit Team Details’ link.

Q. Now that I’m buddied-up, what can I do to block feeds about non-team related stuff?
A. There are several things you could do:

Click on ‘Amend Goal’ and un-check the box that makes you visible to buddies or teams. This will stop you receiving any Matches and Requests completely because you will no longer be presented in anyone’s buddy searches.
If you are a Team Owner or Manager, change your team type to Private by clicking on the ‘Edit Team Details’ link.

Q. How can I get fewer feeds on my homepage?
A. Feeds provide an important vehicle for receiving motivation and knowing that you’re part of an active community. Feeds relating to your team cannot be switched off, just ignored or deleted. Feeds relating to Buddy or Team matches or Requests can be reduced by improving the quality of your matches. To go further and switch them off completely you will need to click the ‘Amend Goal’ link and change your visibility settings.

Q. How can I get fewer feeds on my Team Area?
A. Feeds provide an important vehicle for receiving motivation and knowing that you’re part of an active community. Feeds relating to your team cannot be switched off, just ignored or deleted by the Owner. Feeds relating to Buddy matches or Requests can be reduced by Owners who click on ‘Amend Goal’ and select fewer criteria to be matched on, then increase the number of shared match criteria required to trigger a notification. To go further and switch these feeds off completely you will need to click the ‘Amend Goal’ link and change your visibility settings. The final option is to change your team type to Private by clicking on the ‘Edit Team Details’ link.

Q. Why can’t I find my friend in my Buddy Match list?
A. There are a number of possible reasons:

If they are a Team Owner, they will appear as a Team Match not a Buddy match so make sure your profile allows you to view available teams.
You may have set up your match criteria in a way that prevents you from viewing them as a suitable match. Click ‘Amend Goal’ to make any adjustments.
Your friend may belong to a Private Team, in which case you’ll have to wait for them to send you an email request to join.

Q. How can I stop my team growing too big?
A. If you are a Team Owner or Manager you can go to ‘Edit Team Details’ and change the type of team you have to Managed or Private.

Q. How can I stop people leaving my team?
A. You can’t. If they leave it is because they have:

Found a better match – good luck to them!
Given up on their goal – you didn’t want them anyway!
Been tempted by a more appealing Team or Buddy description or photo – check yours reflects what your team is really about.

All you can do is lead by example to make your team as supportive and active as possible.

Q. How can I set up an unlisted goal?
A. Select ‘Suggest a goal’ on the comotivate homepage and we’ll keep extending the site as demand increases. In the meantime, if you select a ‘Find happiness’ or ‘Learn something’ goal, there is an ‘Other’ selection you can make within it.

Q. Is comotivate available in other languages?
A. We hope to translate the site into other languages in 2009.

Q. Why can’t the Progress Tools be the same for every goal?
A. Some of the goals do not lend themselves to being tracked by some of the tools. Also, if you have chosen not to share specific data in your goal registration, some of the tools will be unavailable to you.

Q. Can I get access to comotivate on my mobile (cellphone)?
A. We’ve not yet optimized the site for mobile device…but it’s on its way.

Privacy concerns

Q. What personal information must I provide?
A. The nature of the information you provide will depend on the goal you select but the only thing to identify you with that data is your email address. Your email address is NOT displayed publicly anywhere on the site (not even on your homepage). You are not required to give your date of birth but can give your year of birth. Your home address or real name is not asked for in the goal registration.

Q. Will my personal details remain confidential?
A. Yes. Your real name and date of birth are not even captured (only your year of birth). Your homepage is not public. You can even choose to create a private team, so that your Team Area remains locked down. If you have any concerns about privacy, please read our Privacy Policy.

Q. Who can see my homepage?
A. Your home page can only be viewed by you or by someone entering your login details.

Q. Who can see my Team Area?
A. Anyone in your team.

Q. How do I delete my account?
A. From your homepage, go to ‘Edit Details’ and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on ‘delete account’.

Q. What happens to my progress data when I leave my team or the team closes?

A. It is irretrievably destroyed. All you are left with is the PDF certificate you created at the end of your goal archived to your ‘Previous Goals’ tab on your homepage.

Technical problems

Q. How do I upload video and images?
A. You can upload images from your desktop by clicking on the 'browse' button. You can upload video in this way as well but it will be viewed on the site as a file to be downloaded. A much better way is to upload your video to YouTube first and then copy and paste the link to your YouTube video into the Team Talk window on your comotivate Team Area.

Q. How can I report a technical fault?
A. Send an email to

Who owns comotivate?

comotivate is privately owned by Comotivate Pty Ltd an Australian company based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.