This is version 1.1 of the tutorial dated December 8, 2009. Post suggestions for improvements to this tutorial here.

In order to complete an application to be a service provider you must first become a registered user of the site; this ensures that it is not possible for (spam)bots to generate submissions. Other advantages of being a registered user on the site are that I will assign you the service provider role, which will enable you to post blog entries on the site and get yourself more exposure; and you will also be able to get back into your provider information in the database and maintain it at any time.

After you have signed into the site and accessed the service provider application you may fill in your information. The only information that is not required on the form is Company Name and Website. Some fields have restrictions on the type of characters that are allowed; complete the form the best you can and contact me if you are being prevented from entering a character or symbol that is important. I will address the issue for you.

In the upper left of the screen there are places for you to fill in your First name, Last name, City, State, and Country. All fields allow free-form entry. However, try to follow the standard conventions for State and Country so that users may more easily conduct searches. For instance, I live in the state of Colorado in the United States of America. The convention I am using in this database is CO for the state and USA for the country. As the database grows, it should become readily evident what the conventions are for the various places throughout the world. Finally, you may also upload an image that will appear in your dialog box when a user double-clicks on your row in their search results.

Enter your Company Name (optional), Website (optional), and Satisfaction guarantee in the upper right. If you do not wish to enter a website address, you may delete the "http://" that has been pre-filled. If you would like me to use an affiliate link to your site, just complete the form without the website and contact me to sign up as an affiliate with you. I can then insert the affiliate link into either the website or the Description of Services section.

You will enter your service category, specialty, and delivery method in the lower left. The form has some checkboxes already available. If you don't see an appropriate checkbox you can add a new one by using the "Add" function on the bottom of that section. If you add a new option, try to use one that already exists (in another record) in the database. I will periodically review the database and clean things up so that there is consistency in how things are described. But, it will be beneficial to all concerned if you are careful in the options you add to the database.

Make sure that you enter a description of the population you are meant to serve and what your purpose in life is in the Description of Services section in the lower right. This site is meant to help people in the process of self-actualization. I want to know that the resources are geared to that function in some way. This section gives you an opportunity to demonstrate how you fill that need.

Once you have entered your information into the database, I will review it and approve it for inclusion in the search results. If I feel that there is some reason that it would not be appropriate for me to include you in the database, I will contact you with further questions or, perhaps, with the suggestion that you place your information in one of the Member to Member forum categories.

You are able to get back to your personal information by signing in to the site and accessing the service provider application again. It will come up with all of your information filled in and give you the option to update the entries.