Partners, co-workers and social members

Some people are part of your association without holding a plot of their own — a partner who does half the digging, a family member on the deeds, a co-worker sharing the work, a social member who gave up their plot but stayed involved.

Allotmin handles them by linking them to a plot. They stay an ordinary member, and anything you charge for them appears on the plot holder's invoice.

Linking somebody

They need to be a member first — add them as you would anybody else. Then link them, from whichever end suits:

• From the plot — Plots → the plot's Actions menu → Linked members.
• From the person — open the member, then Manage plots & links, and use "Helping on someone else's plot".

Either way you choose the plot or the person, and say what you call them.

That last box is free text on purpose. Associations mean different things by "co-worker", "social member" and "partner", so whatever you type is what appears on the plot, on the invoice and in your records.

There is also a tick for include in plot emails, for when a message about the plot should reach both of them.

Charging for them

Set up a charge in the usual place, and choose per linked member as the way it is worked out.

Each linked person then gets their own line on the plot holder's invoice, with their name on it:

Plot 12 — rent                    £45.00
Association membership            £15.00
Social membership — J Smith        £8.00
Social membership — B Smith        £8.00

Rather than a single "Social membership ×2", which would not tell you who you had billed for.

The plot holder's own membership fee and the fee for a linked person are separate charges, so they can be different amounts.

What a linked member does not get

• No invoice of their own. The money is on the plot holder's invoice.
• No balance page. The plot holder's balance page shows the whole invoice, including the lines for anybody linked to their plot.
• No reminder emails. Overdue rent is chased from the plot holder, because that is whose invoice it is.

They can still be emailed, put in groups, given custom fields and searched for like any other member.

Adding somebody part-way through the year

Link them, then go to the charge and press Apply to this year. Anybody already billed is left as they are, and the new person gets their line.

When a plot changes hands

Links belong to a plot and to whoever holds it. If a plot holder gives up their plot, anybody linked to it is unlinked at the same time, and Allotmin tells you how many. Link them again once the plot is re-let, if they are still involved.

For the same reason you cannot link somebody to a plot nobody holds — there would be no invoice for the charge to go on.

If somebody stops being linked

Unlinking them does not remove anything already on this year's invoice — the committee may well have taken the money. Press Apply to this year on the charge and their line comes off the current year. Previous years are never touched.

You can also remove just that one line, using the small × beside it on the billing year page. That takes the money off but leaves them linked to the plot.

Somebody with no connection to any plot

If a social member is not attached to a plot at all, there is nothing to put a charge on — an invoice in Allotmin belongs to a plot holder. Two things still work: they can be emailed like any other member, and you can record what they have paid using a custom member field labelled something like "Subs paid".