FarmGateRun User Manual

FarmGateRun helps people discover Australian farm gates, roadside stalls, producers, markets, cafés, food trucks, wineries, accommodation and regional destinations. A visitor can collect approved listings into a private route and open that route in Google Maps.

FarmGateRun is a directory and planning service. It does not normally sell produce, take customer payments, confirm accommodation or event bookings, guarantee availability, or certify food safety.

Main account types#

• Visitor: searches, views listings and builds a temporary route without logging in.
• Traveller: saves routes and favourites, records visits, contributes places and follows Produce Alerts.
• Business Account: creates or claims listings and manages business content and tools.
• Administrator: moderates the entire service and manages configuration, reporting and operations.

Features that may be optional#

• Produce Alerts
• Traveller Rewards
• Private Events and group bookings
• Category promotions
• Enhanced Google Maps previews, geocoding or route optimisation
• Some QR download formats and media types

---

Standard Traveller and Business Accounts and core tools are free. No payment card, subscription, expiry, plan selection or billing step is required. Subscription, PayPal, paid-placement and First Five promotion journeys are parked, and advertising is not currently active.

---

Create an account#

1. Select Account → Register.
2. Choose either Create Free Account for a traveller or List My Business for a Business Account.
3. Enter the requested name and contact information.
4. Choose a strong password.
5. Accept the Terms and Privacy Policy.
6. Complete Cloudflare verification if displayed.
7. Submit the form.
8. Open the verification email and follow the link within 24 hours.

Travellers and businesses use the same login page. A traveller can later upgrade to a Business Account without losing saved routes or favourites.

Log in#

1. Select Account → Log In.
2. Enter the account email and password.
3. Complete security verification if requested.
4. Select Login.

The site returns you to the requested page when possible; otherwise it opens the appropriate dashboard.

Verify or change your email#

• Open the dashboard and use Resend verification email if verification is pending.
• Check spam or junk folders.
• Use Change email address to replace an incorrect address.
• Email verification is required for publishing listings and using several notification/business tools.

Reset a forgotten password#

1. Open Log In → Forgot password?
2. Enter the account email.
3. Follow the reset link sent by FarmGateRun.
4. Enter and confirm a new password.

Manage profile and sessions#

Open Account → My Account to:

• Update traveller name, home state and newsletter preference.
• Update a business contact name and phone number.
• Change password or email.
• Review email-verification, membership and last-login status.
• Select Logout all sessions if another device should no longer have access.
• Upgrade a Traveller Account to a Business Account.

Never share passwords, one-time links or payment credentials through a listing, claim, contribution, enquiry or support form.

---

Search all places#

1. Select Explore → Search All Places.
2. Enter a keyword or product, such as honey, eggs or a business name.
3. Optionally choose a state.
4. After choosing a state, choose a matching region.
5. Choose a category or other available filters.
6. Select Find Places.

Changing the state clears an incompatible region. If regions cannot load, retry or search by state only.

Search near your location#

1. Select Use My Location.
2. Allow browser location access.
3. Confirm the detected state/region where shown.
4. Select Find Places and use distance or closest-first controls.

Location access is requested only after you choose it. You can use manual state, region, suburb or postcode searches instead.

Browse instead of searching#

The Explore menu provides:

• Browse by State
• Browse by Region
• Browse Categories
• Community Routes
• Produce Alerts when enabled

Dedicated Farm Stays and Caravan Parks pages provide accommodation-specific filters.

Listing-card actions#

• Add to Route: places the business in the private route basket.
• View Listing: opens complete approved details.
• Share: opens the available share action.
• Map: opens the mapped location.

Traveller-added means the place was contributed by a community member and may not yet be claimed or verified by the business.

---

A listing may show:

• Business name, category and locality
• Business-managed or traveller-added status
• Description and formal location
• Opening-hours status and verification warning
• Pickup, access, parking and payment information
• Products and seasonal availability
• Food-safety, allergen or council information supplied by the business
• Photos and videos
• Approved visit totals and community media
• Produce Alerts
• Suggested shared routes
• Accommodation or private-event information

Common listing actions#

• Add to My Route
• Save to Favourites
• Send Enquiry for claimed listings
• Open in Google Maps
• Record a Visit
• Suggest an Edit
• Report a Problem
• Claim This Listing when eligible
• Add as Overnight Stay for eligible accommodation

Opening hours and availability can change. Check warnings and confirm important details directly before travelling.

---

Add stops#

Use Add to Route from search cards, listing pages, favourites, Produce Alerts or shared routes. The header’s My Route counter shows the number of current stops.

Open the planner#

Select Plan a Route or My Route.

The planner can:

• Display route stops and available map pins.
• Arrange stops into a nearby-stop chain.
• Use a manual starting point.
• Use your current location with permission.
• Add more stops.
• Remove stops or clear the route.
• Open directions in Google Maps.
• Add a Farm Stay or Caravan Park as the final overnight stop.
• Optionally optimise route order when route optimisation is configured and available.

Choose a starting point#

1. Enter an address, suburb or postcode, or select Use my current location.
2. Select Update start point when using manual entry.
3. Review the map and route order.
4. Select Clear start point to remove it.

The start is kept in the current session. It is saved only if a signed-in user explicitly saves it with a route. Private GPS/home starts are not published in shared routes.

Open in Google Maps#

Select Start route in Google Maps or Open route in Google Maps. Long routes may be divided into separate legs. Multi-day routes open one day at a time.

Google Maps controls navigation, traffic and directions. Confirm road suitability, closures and access, especially when towing a caravan.

Clear the temporary route#

Select Clear route. This removes the current private route basket but does not delete independently saved routes.

---

Saving requires a signed-in account.

Save the current route#

1. Build a route with at least one stop.
2. Enter a route name.
3. Add optional private notes.
4. Choose whether to save the current start point.
5. Select Save current route.

Manage saved routes#

Open Account → Saved Routes. For each route you can:

• Open it.
• Edit it.
• Share it or publish later changes.
• Duplicate it.
• Delete it after confirmation.
• Open it in Google Maps.

Saved routes remain private until explicitly published.

Edit a saved route#

1. Select Edit.
2. Change the route name, description, private notes or trip dates.
3. Set one to thirty trip days.
4. Change or clear the saved starting point.
5. Assign each stop to a day and order.
6. Add arrival/departure times or private stop notes.
7. Mark an accommodation stop as Overnight Stay.
8. Remove unwanted stops or add another approved listing.
9. Select Save changes.

For a multi-day route, an overnight stop can become the next day’s starting point.

---

Publish a saved route#

1. Open Saved Routes.
2. Select Share for the route.
3. Enter a public title and description.
4. Enter only a safe public start label such as a town or landmark.
5. Review the automatically derived final destination.
6. Optionally set an expiry date.
7. Choose route theme, recommended duration and suitability notes.
8. Choose discoverability:

• Anyone with the link: unlisted and not intended for search indexing.
• Apply for Community Routes: requires administrator review.

1. Choose whether signed-in travellers may save private copies.
2. Choose traveller, business or FarmGateRun attribution where permitted.
3. Add optional public notes for each stop.
4. Select Publish and Share.

Publishing creates a fixed snapshot. Later private edits are not public until Publish Route Changes is selected.

Shared-route privacy#

• Private notes are not copied into the public version.
• GPS coordinates and private/home starting addresses are not published.
• If an exact public address is deliberately entered, the creator must confirm it is safe to publish.
• Choosing a private current location while viewing a shared route does not change the published route.

Share and print#

A published route can provide:

• Permanent FarmGateRun link
• Copy-link and native share actions
• Facebook, WhatsApp and email sharing
• Web and high-resolution QR downloads
• SVG QR download
• Printable route card
• Website button and linked-QR HTML
• Aggregate activity such as views, QR visits, map opens and saved copies

Manage sharing#

• Make private: deactivates the public link.
• Reactivate same link: restores the existing link.
• Regenerate link: permanently invalidates the old link and creates a new one.
• Publish Route Changes: publishes a new version of the snapshot.

Use another person’s shared route#

• View it without changing your private route.
• Select Add These Stops to My Route to add available stops; duplicates are skipped.
• Select Save a private copy when copying is allowed and you are signed in.
• Choose a private start and open the ordered route in Google Maps.
• Report an incorrect, unsafe, private, copyrighted, misleading, broken or spam route.

---

Favourites#

Use Save to Favourites on an approved listing. Open Account → Favourites to revisit places or add them to a future route.

Record a visit#

1. Open the listing and select Record a Visit.
2. Choose I am here now or I visited previously.
3. Select the date.
4. Optionally verify current location.
5. Add an optional public visit note.
6. Add optional private feedback for FarmGateRun.
7. Optionally upload a photo and confirm you own or may share it.
8. Select Record Visit.

Exact verification coordinates are not shown publicly. Open My Visits to review your visit history.

Add a place you visited#

This is for recommending someone else’s business, not claiming ownership.

1. Select Add a Place.
2. Enter factual business, location and category details.
3. Upload at least one clear photo you took or may share.
4. Review possible duplicate matches.
5. If a match is the same place, open it instead of submitting a duplicate.
6. If it is different, confirm that and continue.
7. Submit for administrator review.

Open My Contributions to track pending, published, rejected or merged contributions. The business can later claim an approved community listing.

Suggest an edit#

Use Suggest an Edit on a listing to submit factual corrections. Suggested changes do not replace public information until moderated.

---

Produce Alerts are available only when enabled.

Traveller: find and follow produce#

1. Open Explore → Produce Alerts.
2. Search by product/farm, availability or state.
3. Open an alert and review status, quantity, price, pickup and last-confirmed date.
4. Choose an interest level: Definitely Interested, Maybe Interested or Remind Me.
5. Optionally enter estimated quantity, pickup date, travel distance and a note.
6. Choose whether to receive an Available Now email.
7. Select Save My Interest.

Your name, email and user ID are not shown to the farmer through Produce Alerts. The farmer sees anonymous aggregated demand and the optional planning responses/note without personal contact details.

Interest does not reserve produce, create an order or guarantee availability. Check the status before travelling.

Stop following#

• Open the alert and select No Longer Interested, or
• Use the signed No Longer Interested link in the email.

Business: create an alert#

1. Open the Business Dashboard → Produce Alerts.
2. Select Add Produce Alert.
3. Choose an approved listing you manage.
4. Enter product, category, variety and description.
5. Enter production method, quantity, price and purchase information.
6. Enter expected/available dates, pickup information and review/expiry date.
7. Submit for approval.

New alerts and significant identity/product changes can require administrator approval.

Business: confirm Available Now#

1. Open My Produce Alerts.
2. Select Mark Available Now.
3. Reconfirm quantity, price, stock, dates and pickup details.
4. Confirm the information is current.
5. Choose whether to notify eligible interested travellers.
6. Submit once.

Notification cooldown and transaction locks prevent repeated batches. Businesses can see anonymous interest totals and planning summaries, not recipient records.

Business: other alert actions#

• Mark low stock.
• Mark sold out.
• Mark more coming soon.
• Finish the season.
• Edit approved/pending content.
• Duplicate an alert for a later season.
• Review the required reconfirmation date.

Stale Coming Soon/Available Now alerts stop appearing as current until reconfirmed.

---

Use the dedicated discovery pages or relevant categories.

Add accommodation to a route#

1. Open an approved accommodation listing.
2. Select Add as Overnight Stay.
3. Review it as the last stop for that day.
4. Save the route and use the route editor to assign days.

Send an accommodation enquiry#

Claimed listings may provide an enquiry form. Caravan Park forms may request dates, adults, children, pets, rig type/length and preferred site type.

An enquiry is not a booking. Availability, payment, changes, cancellations and refunds are handled directly by the operator.

FarmGateRun does not assess towing dimensions, low clearances, weight limits, road surfaces or live closures. Verify caravan suitability independently.

---

This feature appears only when installed and enabled for eligible claimed listings.

Customer: request a date or quote#

1. Open a public or unlisted event offer.
2. Review group limits, typical duration, pricing basis, inclusions and exclusions.
3. Enter contact details, preferred/alternative dates, group size and event requirements.
4. Add catering, accessibility, accommodation, transport or special requests.
5. Select Send Date or Quote Request.
6. Use the private conversation page for follow-up messages.
7. Review an itemised quote when supplied.
8. Accept, decline or ask a question.

Accepting a quote indicates an intention to proceed; FarmGateRun does not take payment or itself confirm the booking.

Customer: manage an enquiry#

• View request details and messages.
• View quote versions and conditions.
• Accept or decline a sent quote.
• Withdraw an open enquiry.

Business: create an event offer#

1. Open My Listings → Events for an eligible listing.
2. Select Create Private Event Offer.
3. Complete offer category, title, summaries and full description.
4. Set group size, duration and pricing method.
5. Add inclusions, exclusions, facilities, catering and alcohol details.
6. Set access to Public or Unlisted.
7. Choose Draft, Published, Paused or Archived status.
8. Optionally attach listing media, a suggested shared route or reward terms.
9. Save the offer.

Business: manage requests and quotes#

• Review enquiries and availability.
• Reply in the private conversation.
• Create an itemised quote with quantities, tax, validity, inclusions, exclusions and conditions.
• Record booked start/end after checking overlap warnings.
• Decline, complete or cancel a request/booking record.

The business remains responsible for licensing, insurance, accessibility, safety, contract terms, payment and refunds.

---

Rewards are optional and may be disabled.

Traveller: claim and use a reward#

1. Open an active reward page or scan its FarmGateRun QR code.
2. Log in with a verified traveller account.
3. Review percentage, minimum purchase, dates, frequency and exclusions.
4. Claim the reward.
5. Present the current six-digit code at the participating business.
6. The business validates it against the eligible purchase amount.

Open My Traveller Rewards to review issued claims and their current status. Claims are single-use and should be presented before payment.

A reward is a business-funded percentage discount—not cashback, points, stored value or a FarmGateRun payment.

Business: configure a reward#

1. Open My Listings → Rewards or the listing’s QR toolkit.
2. Enter the reward percentage and eligibility conditions.
3. Set dates, minimum purchase and frequency.
4. Publish, pause or end the program.
5. Use the validation screen to enter the traveller’s six-digit code and eligible purchase amount.
6. Apply the validated discount through the normal checkout.

FarmGateRun does not receive the purchase payment or reimburse the discount.

---

Create or upgrade to a Business Account#

• Register directly as a business, or
• Open My Account → Upgrade to Business Account.

Use a Business Account only for a business you own or are authorised to represent. Use Add a Place You Have Visited for recommendations.

Create a business listing#

1. Open For Businesses → List Your Business.
2. Verify your email.
3. Choose or confirm a business plan; Free is available when enabled.
4. Complete the ownership declaration.
5. Enter business/category details and a useful description.
6. Enter structured address and confirm the map position.
7. Add contact, website and social links.
8. Enter opening hours carefully; leave unknown hours blank rather than marking every day closed.
9. Add pickup, access, parking, payment and product details.
10. Complete relevant food-safety/compliance sections.
11. Upload permitted media.
12. Submit for administrator approval.

Possible duplicate matches must be reviewed before creating a second listing.

Ask FarmGateRun to prepare the listing#

Use List My Business for Me when the assisted-listing service is available:

1. Enter the authorised representative and business details.
2. Nominate only public business sources such as the official website or social profile.
3. Give separate permission for each source FarmGateRun may review.
4. Choose whether selected authorised images may be copied or whether you will upload images yourself.
5. Confirm your authority and factual-use permission.
6. Choose a private draft for approval or an available express-publication option.
7. Submit the request.
8. Open My Assisted Listing Requests to track progress.
9. Review the prepared draft, request changes, approve publication or withdraw permission before publication.

FarmGateRun prepares an original summary; it does not import reviews, private messages, restricted pages or customer databases.

Claim an existing listing#

1. Search using Claim Your Business.
2. Open the correct listing and select Claim This Listing.
3. Enter your name and relationship to the business.
4. Provide official business email/phone details.
5. Choose email, phone, website or manual verification.
6. Provide verification information without passwords, payment details or identity documents.
7. Submit for review.

Management access starts only after approval.

My Listings#

Open Business Dashboard → My Listings to:

• Filter and review Draft, Pending, Approved or Rejected listings.
• Continue editing or resubmit a rejected listing.
• View approved public listings.
• Open QR, Rewards, Events and Shared Routes tools when eligible.
• Review listing status and feature availability.

Edit a listing#

1. Select Manage/Edit.
2. Update the relevant section.
3. Submit changes.

Producer edits may enter the approval queue. Existing approved public content remains visible until the update is approved.

Opening-hours edits reset their verified status. Always use explicit overnight status for a closing time after midnight.

Business statistics#

Open Statistics from the business tools to review aggregate profile views, route additions, map clicks and enquiries for listings you manage. These figures are operational indicators, not guaranteed unique customers or sales.

Create a scenic route to the business#

From an approved managed listing, select Create a Scenic Route to My Business. FarmGateRun creates a private route with the business fixed as the final destination. Add approved stops, review the route and publish when ready.

---

No payment card, subscription, expiry or plan selection is required. After email verification, continue directly to Add Listing. There is no plan-specific count limit on legitimate business locations; each location remains subject to ownership checks, moderation and fair-use controls.

---

Brands, Stockists and Where to Buy#

FarmGateRun lets an approved business create a brand profile and show where customers can buy or collect its products: retail stockists, regular markets and order collection points. Delivery businesses can advertise public collection venues while keeping their operating address private.

A store is represented by one shared FarmGateRun place listing. Linking a brand to a store does not make the producer the owner or manager of that store listing. A claimed retailer controls its own name, customer-facing location, opening hours, contact details, description and photos. The producer controls its brand relationship, attendance and collection schedule, ordering instructions and product range. Several businesses can use the same venue with different schedules.

Stockist information is not live inventory. Product range, availability and opening information can change, so contact the store before making a special trip.

Some stores are added only so customers can find a particular brand. These stockist-only places may not appear in the general FarmGateRun directory unless the retailer claims the listing or FarmGateRun separately approves wider discovery.

If the producer has no farm shop and does not allow customer visits, pickup or direct delivery, its producer listing should use Producer / Brand only. FarmGateRun keeps that producer location out of ordinary place discovery, maps and traveller routes while allowing an approved Brand profile to direct customers to its approved stockists.

Create and register a brand as a producer#

1. Have an active Business/Producer account with a verified email.
2. Own an approved and published producer listing in the pilot country—currently Australia.
3. Go to Business Dashboard → Brand Locations.
4. Select the producer listing that owns the brand.
5. Enter the brand name and optional tagline, website, description and availability note.
6. Confirm you are authorised to represent the brand and accept the stockist terms.
7. Select Create private draft.
8. On the Brand Profile, optionally select approved products and a published image/logo from the producer listing.
9. Save it, then select Submit current revision for review.
10. An administrator approves, requests changes or rejects it through Admin → Brand Stockists.

Add a stockist as a producer#

1. Sign in and open Business Dashboard → Brand Locations.
2. Create and submit the brand profile if required.
3. Select Add location and search FarmGateRun for the store first.
4. Link the existing shared place where possible. If it is genuinely missing, submit an authorised, customer-accessible shop, market or collection venue for review.
5. Add broad product/range information and the date the relationship was last confirmed.
6. Add optional private delivery information only when it is necessary for your business.
7. Submit the relationship for review and reconfirm it when FarmGateRun reminds you.

The retailer may claim its listing, correct its business details, confirm or dispute a relationship, or opt out of displaying brand relationships.

Market schedules and collection points#

##### Can a delivery business advertise market pickup locations?

Yes. An approved delivery business can use Brand Locations to add public markets and collection points. Its operating address stays private. Customers can find the business through Delivery Only and its Where to Buy or Collect page.

##### How do I add weekly market and collection times?

Open Business Dashboard → Brand Locations, manage your brand and choose Add location. Search for the venue first, then select Regular market or Order collection point. Add the first date, weekly or fortnightly recurrence, collection times and venue time zone. You can also add a single date. Save the draft and submit it for review.

##### Can customers order ahead for free collection?

Businesses can mark collection as free, say whether ordering ahead is available or required, and provide an ordering link, order cutoff and collection instructions. Customers order and pay directly with the business. FarmGateRun does not take orders or reserve products.

##### How do I cancel a market date or change a pickup schedule?

Edit the location and add a skipped date in YYYY-MM-DD format for each cancelled visit. Add a single-date schedule for a replacement visit, or change the recurring schedule and submit it for review. Approved details stay visible while edits are reviewed. Use Pause now to hide the whole relationship immediately when customers should not travel.

##### Can I add a market collection point to my route?

A published customer venue can be added from its brand page when it has an upcoming schedule. Check the advertised date, collection hours and order cutoff before travelling. Adding a route stop does not place an order, book a time or reserve a collection.

Use the venue name and address, not your private dispatch address. Choose the first attendance date to anchor weekly or fortnightly schedules, and set a last date for seasonal attendance. Each location supports up to 12 schedules. A skipped date removes that visit; a replacement visit needs its own single-date schedule. Use the business ordering link to buy directly. Collection fees must be described accurately, including currency when a fee applies.

Find Where to Buy#

Travellers can open an approved brand's Where to Buy or Collect page, search nearby, filter by location type or product and add a public customer venue to a FarmGateRun route. Markets and collection points show their schedules, order cutoffs and any free collection option. Confirm the date and time with the business before travelling. A brand relationship does not guarantee current stock, price, opening hours or an ongoing commercial supply arrangement.

Respond as a retailer#

1. Claim or open the store listing you manage.
2. Select Brands Linked to This Store.
3. Confirm accurate relationships.
4. Dispute an incorrect or ended relationship. A dispute hides the relationship from public view immediately while FarmGateRun reviews it.
5. Use the location opt-out control if the store does not want brand relationships displayed.

Private Delivery Runs#

Authorised business managers can plan private drop-off routes from their stockist list. Delivery Runs cannot be published or shared as traveller routes and do not create orders, invoices, delivery contracts or proof of delivery. Confirm quantities, receiving arrangements, vehicle access, road conditions and directions with each retailer. Private contacts, entrances, quantities and notes are not public. Read the Business and Listing Operator Terms, Listing Content Policy, Privacy Policy and Disclaimer before using these tools.

Upload listing media#

1. Open a managed listing.
2. Select Manage Photos and Videos.
3. Upload supported images/videos or add permitted YouTube/Vimeo links.
4. Add title, caption, alternative text and credit.
5. Classify images where available.
6. Submit or publish according to the approval setting.

Only upload content you own or have permission to use.

Manage media#

The media manager can:

• Reorder items by drag-and-drop or move earlier/later.
• Make a published image primary.
• Rotate left/right or reset image rotation.
• Replace media.
• Add a poster image to a video.
• Edit metadata and credits.
• Hide, restore or remove an item.
• Publish eligible pending media.

Alternative text should describe the image’s useful content, not repeat the filename.

Add products#

From the listing editor:

1. Enter product name and category.
2. Add price, short/full description, seasonal availability and pickup notes.
3. Choose preorder and featured options where relevant.
4. Add a product photo.
5. Submit for approval.

FarmGateRun applies the same site-wide media and product limits to every Business Account. Existing approved content is not hidden merely because a configured site-wide limit later changes.

The current limits are:

• 10 photos per listing.
• 10 videos per listing, including uploaded videos and supported external video links.
• 25 products per listing.
• 5 photos per product.

---

Eligibility normally requires an approved, published, claimed listing managed by an active account with verified email.

Open the toolkit#

Use My Listings → QR Codes or Open Free QR Toolkit from the Business Dashboard.

Listing QR code#

The permanent listing QR opens the current FarmGateRun listing. Download the offered SVG, web PNG, print PNG or printable card.

Other generated QR codes#

When enabled, the toolkit can include:

• Traveller Reward QR
• Private-event-offer QR codes
• Custom direct QR codes

Create a custom direct QR code#

1. Enter a name and purpose.
2. Enter the exact secure https:// destination.
3. Add optional public call-to-action and internal notes.
4. Select Create Custom QR Code.
5. Download and test a proof.

Custom QR codes contain the destination directly and do not pass through a FarmGateRun redirect. Replacing a destination creates a new version; old printed codes continue to open the old destination. Archive unused versions.

Test every proof on more than one phone before printing. Preserve the white margin and do not crop, stretch or recolour the functional code.

---

Traveller/customer enquiry#

Claimed listings can receive enquiries.

1. Open the listing.
2. Enter name, email, phone and message.
3. Complete any accommodation-specific fields.
4. Complete security verification.
5. Select Send Enquiry.

Your supplied contact details are shared with the relevant business so it can respond.

Business enquiry inbox#

Open Business Dashboard → Enquiries to view the date, listing, sender contact details and message. Respond using the supplied contact channel unless a feature-specific private conversation is available.

---

FarmGateRun's standard Traveller and Business Accounts are free.

Free core#

• No payment card.
• No subscription.
• No expiry.
• No plan-selection or billing step.
• There is no plan-specific count limit on legitimate business locations; ownership verification, moderation and fair-use controls still apply.
• Core tools include normal listing visibility, approved website/social/booking/enquiry links, Produce Alerts, Hiring, QR tools and basic statistics.

Create a Business Account, verify the email, then add a new listing or claim an existing one. Traveller Add a Place remains a separate community-contribution flow and never requires a Business Account.

FarmGateRun does not charge businesses to create, claim or manage standard listings. Standard listings have no charge or checkout step. Historical billing and promotion records may be retained for audit purposes, but they do not control listing access, limits or public ranking.

FarmGateRun applies equal site-wide content limits to new uploads and products: 40 listing photos, 10 videos, 25 products per listing and 5 photos per product. Every published listing-gallery item is displayed. Existing approved content above a newly configured limit is not hidden merely because the limit changed.

---

Report a listing#

Use Report a Problem for inaccurate, unsafe, misleading or unsuitable information. Provide enough detail for moderation without including unnecessary personal information.

Report media#

Signed-in users can report media when reporting is enabled. Use this for copyright, privacy, inappropriate or misleading content.

Report a shared route#

Use the route’s report form for incorrect/outdated information, safety, privacy, copyright, misleading association, broken routes, spam or other concerns.

Contact FarmGateRun#

Use the Contact page for general help. Review Help, Privacy Policy, Terms, Disclaimer, Food Safety, Business and Listing Operator Terms, Listing Content Policy and correction/removal policies in the footer.

For immediate danger, food-safety incidents or unlawful conduct, contact the appropriate emergency, health, council or enforcement authority rather than relying only on a website report.

---

FarmGateRun administrators moderate listings, reports, public content and optional features. They also manage site configuration and operational health.

Restricted administrator access#

Administrator access is limited to authorised accounts. Detailed instructions for imports, backups, logs, cron jobs, retry operations and production recovery are available only after an administrator signs in. Subscription and advertising controls are parked in code and cannot be enabled through Admin.

Administrators should use individual accounts, verified email, strong passwords and least-privilege practices. Public approval does not mean FarmGateRun guarantees a business, product, availability or safety.

Region list does not load#

• Choose a state first.
• Retry after changing the state.
• Search at state level if the region service is temporarily unavailable.

Location permission was denied#

• Enter a suburb, postcode or address manually.
• Change browser site permissions only if you want location-based sorting.

A route stop has no map pin#

The listing may lack coordinates. Google Maps may still use its address. Report incorrect or incomplete location data.

Too many route stops#

Split the route into days or separate routes. Google Maps URL/waypoint limits can make very long routes unreliable.

Verification email did not arrive#

• Check spam/junk.
• Wait for the resend cooldown.
• Use Resend verification email.
• Confirm the address or use Change email.

Listing edit is not visible#

It may be pending approval. Existing approved content can remain public until moderation. Check My Listings for status.

Enquiry button is unavailable#

Direct enquiries require a claimed/eligible listing. Use public contact information or report outdated details instead.

Produce Alert email did not arrive#

• Confirm the account email is verified.
• Check notification preference and spam/junk.
• Confirm the interest was not withdrawn.
• The farmer must confirm Available Now and choose to notify eligible followers.

Shared route changes are missing#

Private edits are not published automatically. Open Manage sharing → Publish Route Changes.

QR code opens an old destination#

Custom direct QR codes are permanent snapshots. Replacing a destination creates a new code/version; previously printed copies still contain the old URL.

Permission denied in a Hostinger cron#

Delete the incorrectly configured direct executable job and recreate it with Type: PHP, the website’s PHP version and only the full PHP file path.

Emergency rollback for an optional feature#

1. Disable the relevant feature flag.
2. Disable its cron jobs if applicable.
3. Preserve data and logs.
4. Restore backed-up application files.
5. Diagnose before re-enabling.

Do not drop tables or delete production data as an ordinary rollback step.

---

Quick links#

• Home: https://farmgaterun.com/
• Search: https://farmgaterun.com/listings.php
• Route planner: https://farmgaterun.com/route.php
• Community Routes: https://farmgaterun.com/community-routes.php
• Produce Alerts: https://farmgaterun.com/produce-alerts.php
• Saved Routes: https://farmgaterun.com/saved-routes.php
• Dashboard: https://farmgaterun.com/dashboard.php
• My Listings: https://farmgaterun.com/my-listings.php
• Add a Place: https://farmgaterun.com/add-place.php
• Help: https://farmgaterun.com/help.php
• Contact: https://farmgaterun.com/contact.php
• Privacy: https://farmgaterun.com/privacy.php
• Terms: https://farmgaterun.com/terms.php
• Disclaimer: https://farmgaterun.com/disclaimer.php

This manual should be reviewed after every major feature, navigation, legal or billing change.

FarmGateRun Country Kitchen preserves old-fashioned farm and country recipes, their family stories and practical modern versions. Browsing, sharing, saving recipes and submitting an I Made This contribution are free. There is no plan, subscription or payment requirement.

Find a Country Kitchen recipe#

Open Recipes from Explore. Search approved titles, ingredients, stories, people, towns or collections, then filter by primary category or Country Kitchen collection. Only approved recipe versions, original material and media appear publicly.

The recipe view offers Metric and US / Imperial. Metric is the modern default. When approved original wording is available, Original Recipe appears as a separate per-recipe view. It preserves expressions such as “a teacup” or “slow oven” and does not invent an exact conversion. Original Recipe does not replace your saved Metric or US preference.

Preserve and share a recipe#

A signed-in Traveller or Business user with a verified email can open My Recipes and choose Share a Recipe.

1. Enter the title, primary category and up to five optional Country Kitchen collections.
2. If it is a heritage recipe, add the story, person or family, relationship, approximate era and broad place details you have permission to share.
3. Preserve any Original Recipe transcription separately from the modern structured recipe. Do not copy a protected cookbook page or another creator's distinctive wording without permission.
4. Add structured modern ingredients, method steps and temperatures in Metric or US / Imperial.
5. Optionally map an ingredient to an approved FarmGateRun category. This creates a discovery link; it never claims that a business has stock.
6. Add photos, videos or original recipe documents with the correct media role, alternative text and credit.
7. Keep Source or inspiration for attribution to material that inspired your version. It is separate from the optional official Recipe link and is never counted as an official-link open.
8. Accept the declaration and submit for administrator review. The reviewer sees the recipe's photos and videos on the same review card; approving the recipe approves its ordinary pending media at the same time.

Each recipe can have up to 40 active images. You can select several images at once; FarmGateRun uploads them one at a time and shows per-file progress. FarmGateRun corrects phone-camera orientation, removes embedded metadata, converts each accepted format to WebP, and creates appropriately sized display and thumbnail copies. HEIC or HEIF appears as an option only when the server can safely convert it; otherwise export the phone photo as JPG, PNG or WebP. In Manage Photos, Videos and Original Documents, you can hide media temporarily or permanently remove an item you own. Permanent removal cannot be undone.

New recipe content is not displayed publicly before approval. If you edit an approved recipe, the previous approved version remains public while the revision is reviewed. Every newly uploaded photo or video enters media moderation, even when the recipe is already approved. Original recipe documents also require a separate privacy and copyright review. Pending upload addresses are not advertised on public pages, but this upload area is not a private document vault: remove personal or sensitive details before uploading.

Profile photo beside your recipes#

Open My Account and use Profile photo to upload a JPG, PNG or WebP image. FarmGateRun corrects camera orientation, centre-crops a square, removes embedded metadata and creates fast WebP avatar sizes. A new photo is held privately for review, while your existing approved photo remains visible. After approval it appears beside all of your approved recipes; you do not upload it separately for every recipe. If you have no approved photo, FarmGateRun shows initials. Removing the current photo returns your recipes to that initials fallback.

Optional creator or channel name and official Recipe link#

Where this optional feature is enabled, an existing Recipe contributor with an active account and verified email may add an external attribution to a Recipe they own. It does not create a Chef profile, creator application, channel directory, verification badge, special account role or transfer process.

1. While sharing or editing your Recipe, enter the public creator or channel name used for that Recipe.
2. Paste the direct HTTPS page where visitors can read, watch or view that specific Recipe. Link shorteners, redirect services, IP addresses, credentials, fragments and custom ports are not accepted.
3. Choose the most accurate link label. If payment, gifts, affiliate commission or another commercial relationship applies, choose the relationship and provide a clear disclosure.
4. Submit the Recipe normally. The attribution, official destination and disclosure belong to that immutable Recipe version and are reviewed in the same administrator decision as the Recipe. A later edit remains private while the currently approved version stays public.

There is no separate profile or channel approval. Recipe approval means only that FarmGateRun accepted that Recipe version for publication; it does not verify the contributor's qualifications, identity, employment, control of a wider channel, recipe results or endorsement. Only the active Recipe owner can add or change the optional link, and the owner must still have an active account with a verified email when the linked version is approved and opened.

Source or inspiration remains separate. Use it to credit a person, book, website or other material that inspired the FarmGateRun Recipe. The optional official link instead points visitors to the contributor's named external page for that Recipe. One does not replace the other.

Official recipe link statistics#

An approved official Recipe button first uses a safe FarmGateRun redirect that resolves the destination stored in the current approved Recipe version. The public request identifies the Recipe, not an arbitrary destination. If the stored URL, hash, host, owner or current approval state no longer passes validation, FarmGateRun does not redirect.

Where aggregate statistics are enabled, a valid button choice may add one privacy-minimised daily link open against the approved Recipe version, using Australia/Brisbane reporting dates. Open My Recipes to view available 7, 30, 90-day or all-time totals by Recipe, the most recent aggregate day, and lifetime Recipe-view and link-open context.

• Total link opens can include repeat choices by the same visitor.
• Rapid repeat choices within five seconds may be omitted when the browser already has a FarmGateRun session; opening a link does not create an analytics identifier.
• FarmGateRun excludes the Recipe owner, administrators, recognised automated requests and test activity where supported.
• The daily aggregate does not store a visitor identifier, raw IP address, referrer, user-agent string, account identity, destination URL or destination browsing activity.
• A link open does not prove that the external page finished loading, that the visitor was unique, or that a person read the Recipe, followed, subscribed, purchased or took any other action.

The destination website or social platform is operated by a third party and may apply its own privacy, cookie, advertising and tracking practices. Review that service before continuing. Official-link statistics are operational guidance, not a list of identifiable visitors or a guaranteed audience count. They are updated during the safe redirect and do not require a cron job.

Basic and Expert recipe entry#

New recipes start in Basic mode. Enter the ingredients in one large text box and the steps or method in another. FarmGateRun displays that approved wording clearly without inventing quantities or measurement conversions.

Choose Expert when you need structured quantities, Metric and US / Imperial conversion, individual method steps, temperatures, ingredient discovery links, detailed timing, heritage provenance or other advanced fields. Existing structured recipes remain Expert. The saved mode determines how the recipe is validated, reviewed, previewed, printed and displayed publicly.

Original documents, privacy and safety#

Before uploading a handwritten card, book page or family photograph, check for private addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, signatures, account numbers and unrelated personal notes. You must have permission to share the document and any identifiable living person. FarmGateRun separately reviews original documents for privacy and copyright.

Older preserving, bottling, raw-food, storage or cooking directions may not reflect current food-safety recommendations. The historical wording remains separate from any modern safety note. A heritage notice may appear after review.

My Cookbook and I Made This#

Use Save to My Cookbook on an approved recipe. Your cookbook is private and saving a recipe never grants access to a pending version. If a saved recipe becomes unavailable, the cookbook shows a safe unavailable message and lets you remove it.

A verified user may submit one I Made This note and optional photo per recipe. It is not displayed on FarmGateRun's public pages until administrator approval. There are no replies, star ratings, arbitrary links or private messages. Editing an approved contribution does not expose the pending edit.

Would you make this again?#

Every approved recipe lets cooks choose Yes, I'd make it again or Not for me. A logged-in user with a verified email address may cast one private vote per recipe. Choose the other option to change your vote, or choose your selected option again to remove it. FarmGateRun displays only the totals and never shows who voted.

Find Local Ingredients#

An approved mapped ingredient may provide a Find near me link or Build an Ingredient FarmGateRun action using the existing listing and route tools. FarmGateRun does not infer stock from recipe text, auto-add businesses to a route or expose your precise location. Listings and availability can change, so check the business listing or contact the business before travelling.

Reports and responsibility#

Country Kitchen recipes are community contributions, not individual health, allergy, food-safety or medical advice. Check ingredients, storage, cooking temperatures and suitability for your circumstances. Use Report this recipe or contribution for inaccurate, unsafe, copied, spam or inappropriate material.

Farm Experiences are approved activities that travellers can do at a FarmGateRun place. They help distinguish an activity from the listing’s ordinary products, shop or accommodation information.

What qualifies#

Examples include Pick Your Own, Farm Tour, Feed the Animals, Animal Encounter, Meet the Farmer, Food Tasting, Workshop, Cooking Class, Farm Stay, Private Camping and seasonal farm events. An experience should be selected only when visitors can genuinely participate at that location.

Find and route experiences#

Open Explore → Farm Experiences, choose an experience type or location, or use the Things to do filter in Search All Places and the map route planner. Open a listing to read its Things To Do Here information, then use Add to My Route like any other FarmGateRun stop.

Add or edit an experience#

An authorised business can edit its listing and open Farm Experiences & Things To Do. Select each activity that applies and optionally provide:

• A visitor-focused description.
• Whether advance booking is required.
• A secure business or booking-information link.
• Price and availability notes.
• Whether the activity is seasonal.
• Relevant age, accessibility, supervision or safety information in the description.

Traveller-added places may suggest experiences through the normal moderated contribution workflow. New associations and later changes are not public until an administrator approves them.

Approval and accuracy#

FarmGateRun reviews experience associations for relevance and public suitability. Approval does not certify availability, safety, accessibility, insurance or regulatory compliance. Businesses should remove or update activities that are no longer offered, and travellers should confirm important details before making a special trip.

Bookings, payments and cancellations#

FarmGateRun currently provides discovery and route planning only. Unless a future screen explicitly says otherwise:

• Book and pay directly with the business.
• The business controls availability, prices, deposits and booking confirmation.
• Changes, cancellations and refunds are handled directly with the business.
• Adding a place to a route is not a booking or reservation.

Seasonal, age and safety requirements#

Activities may operate only on certain days, seasons or weather conditions. They may require advance booking, minimum group sizes, adult supervision, closed footwear, accessibility planning or other safety precautions. Read the listing, follow the operator’s instructions and contact the business when a requirement is important to your visit.

---

Food & Farm Trails are moderated, themed collections of current FarmGateRun places curated by approved councils, tourism organisations, cooperatives, associations and other eligible organisations. They use the existing route planner; they are not a new navigation service and do not certify a business, road, booking, food, safety or accessibility information.

The feature is released in stages. If a trail or partner control described here is unavailable, its feature flag or pilot access may still be off.

Food & Farm Trails and Community Routes are different#

A Food & Farm Trail belongs to a verified Trail Partner organisation. Its submitted revisions are reviewed by FarmGateRun and each public version is an immutable approved snapshot.

A Community Route is a traveller-created route shared through the existing Community Routes workflow. Becoming a Trail Partner does not convert, claim or relabel a Community Route, and organisation membership does not change anyone's ordinary Traveller or Business permissions.

Explore and use a trail privately#

Open Explore → Food & Farm Trails, then choose a published trail. The page shows approved trail text and attribution from the current publication, while business names, visibility, locations, opening information, links and route eligibility are checked against each current listing.

You can add one available stop or all available stops to My Route, save a permitted private copy while signed in, or open the available stops in Google Maps. Those actions change only your private route. Duplicate, unavailable, delivery-only, opted-out or held stops are not added. A public start is general guidance; your private starting address or current location is never published to the trail.

Always check opening hours, bookings, access, road conditions, seasonal availability, safety and accessibility directly before travelling. A place may become unavailable after a trail version is published.

Who can apply as a Trail Partner#

Eligible applicants include councils and local governments, tourism organisations, cooperatives, incorporated regional, producer, industry or community associations, and other organisations FarmGateRun accepts after review. Eligibility is not automatic. An applicant uses a normal FarmGateRun account with an active, verified email; there is no separate account type.

The application asks for the legal and display names, official website and work contact, service area, public profile information, authority evidence, and current terms, privacy and content declarations. Evidence, applicant details, private phone numbers and administrator notes stay private. Applications can be draft, pending review, changes requested, approved, rejected or withdrawn. Approval creates or links one organisation and makes the applicant its first Owner. A rejected or withdrawn record is not reopened; a later attempt is a linked new application.

Organisation roles#

• Viewer: reads its organisation dashboard, private trail statuses, contribution statuses and aggregate organisation statistics where enabled.
• Editor: also creates and edits drafts and submits missing-place contributions, but cannot submit a trail revision or manage the team.
• Manager: also submits, withdraws and resubmits trail revisions; manages Viewer and Editor invitations and memberships; and edits non-identity profile fields.
• Owner: also manages Managers, transfers ownership through the explicit transfer action, and may request organisation closure. An ordinary invitation can never grant Owner.

No organisation role can publish its own trail or bypass FarmGateRun moderation. The final active Owner cannot be removed or demoted.

Open Organisation Profile from the private Trail Partner Dashboard to review the currently approved public organisation details. A Manager or Owner may submit a moderated public-profile, contact or service-area update. Only the Owner may request changes to the legal name, public name, organisation type, official identifier or official website, or request organisation archive. Approved public values stay unchanged while a request is under review or changes are requested. A permitted member may withdraw an active request. Logo changes are not available until the separate immutable approved-media moderation workflow is deployed and tested.

Create and submit a trail#

Editors, Managers and Owners can build an editable draft from eligible approved listings. Add factual trail text, an area, style, themes, duration, safe public start guidance, stop order and trail-specific notes. Use Move Up and Move Down as the keyboard alternative to any visual ordering control.

Only a Manager or Owner can submit, withdraw or resubmit a trail revision. A pending-review revision is frozen. If FarmGateRun requests changes, it becomes editable again. Rejected revisions are final, but a permitted new draft can copy suitable content. Publishing creates an immutable version; later draft work does not replace the current public version until a new revision is approved.

Submit a missing place#

An Editor, Manager or Owner may submit a missing place through the existing listing-contribution moderation workflow. Pending places stay private and do not count toward the two eligible stops required for publication. Approval or merge replaces the placeholder only through the recorded moderation result.

Submitting a place does not give the Trail Partner ownership or business-management rights. A business claim follows the normal separate verification process.

Rights, media and attribution#

Submit only text, logos, photographs, links and attribution that the organisation is authorised to publish. Record the requested credit and source, use approved public media, and accept the current declarations at final submission. A partner displayed on a trail is attribution only and receives no organisation-management authority.

Reports, corrections and removal#

Use the trail report action for inaccurate, unsafe, inaccessible, copied or otherwise unsuitable trail information. A verified owner or manager of a claimed listing can request removal from one trail or all Food & Farm Trails. A verified business request can create an immediate temporary hold; an unverified request requires verification before it can hide a place.

Privacy, legal and business opt-out holds hide the place's identity, address, image and coordinates from trail surfaces. An approved removal produces a new administrative publication with the stop removed and preserves the earlier version for audit. Rejecting or withdrawing a request restores the existing current publication only when no separate hold remains.

Review freshness and statistics#

Trail Partners should review trails when prompted and update material changes through moderation. A hold or unavailable stop may remove a trail from directory discovery without deleting its permanent page or changing its state during a visit.

Where trail statistics and a compatible analytics-consent mechanism are enabled, organisation members see only their own organisation's aggregate results using Australia/Brisbane reporting dates. Reports exclude recognised bots and FarmGateRun administrators and do not expose visitor identity, email, raw IP, private starts or raw session identifiers. Declining or not granting trail analytics consent creates no raw trail analytics event or new analytics session identifier.

Administrator moderation#

Trail administration uses separate view, moderation and settings capabilities. Moderators review applications, organisations, trail revisions, current stop eligibility, warnings, reports, rights and public previews. A moderator cannot approve a trail they submitted or one belonging to an organisation where they are an active member. Trail moderation does not grant canonical listing-moderation rights, and listing moderation does not grant trail-moderation rights.

---

# Public Events

FarmGateRun Public Events are dated farm, food, market, festival, workshop, field-day and other relevant regional visitor events. They are separate from ongoing business listings, Farm Experiences and private-event or group-booking offers.

Find an event#

1. Open Explore → Events.
2. Enter an optional keyword and choose a date range or custom dates.
3. Choose an Event Category if you want to narrow the results.
4. Choose a State or territory. You can then choose a FarmGateRun Region within it.
5. To search nearby, enter a suburb, postcode or address and choose a Google suggestion, or deliberately select Use My Current Location and respond to your browser's permission request.
6. Move the distance slider to narrow or widen the search. Choose the country-wide option to retain every matching event, including an event whose distance cannot be calculated.
7. Select Find events, then open an event for its full dates, venue and official visitor links.

The starting point is sent to FarmGateRun to perform the search. It is not displayed on public event results or provided to the event owner. Distances are approximate planning aids, not route or travel-time estimates.

Only approved events inside their configured discovery period appear publicly. An event disappears after its stated local end time or if it is cancelled, disabled, rejected or removed. Always confirm current times, ticket availability, access, weather impacts and cancellation terms with the official organiser before travelling.

Add or manage an event#

A signed-in user with an active account and verified email can open My Account → My Events / Add Event, then choose Add an Event.

Provide the event title, alphabetically listed category, visitor description, local start and end, timezone, venue and official visitor information. You can link the event to an approved business listing you manage or submit a standalone venue. Linking an event does not transfer ownership of the venue listing.

For a standalone venue:

• start typing the address and choose a Google suggestion; or
• deliberately use your current location and review the filled address; or
• enter both latitude and longitude or set the exact point on the map.

Review the populated Country, State or territory, Region, suburb and postcode before submitting. Latitude and longitude must be supplied as a pair and must match the selected country. Every new or edited event returns to moderation, including one entered by an administrator. It cannot appear publicly until an administrator explicitly approves it in Admin → Events.

You may associate published images from a linked listing without copying them, or upload an event image you have permission to use. An event image and its description remain subject to moderation.

Claim an official event listing#

If an event already exists and you are its official owner or authorised organiser, open the event and choose the claim action. Sign in with a verified account, provide the requested evidence and submit the claim for administrator review. Approval transfers management of that event only. It does not transfer the linked business or venue listing.

Renewing an annual event#

An eligible annual event can send its owner a private renewal reminder. The renewal link creates the next occurrence for review; it never republishes last year's dates automatically. The renewed details must be checked and approved before becoming public.

Events, bookings and payments#

FarmGateRun publishes approved discovery information and official external links. It does not sell event tickets, take event payments, confirm availability, control refunds or become a party to the organiser's terms. Contact the organiser directly about bookings, accessibility, children, animals, food requirements, cancellations and refunds.