Registration
Signing in and out
Managing your account
Searching offers
Creating an entry
Transporting items
Accessible use—keyboard shortcuts

Registration

Most MiFaZ functions are available only to signed-in users. Registration is free and straightforward: select "Register" at the top right of the homepage and enter a username, a valid email address and a password. You must also accept the terms of use and privacy information. Registration is available from the age of 18. By registering, you confirm that you meet the minimum age. A consent form for transporting minors is available here.

Username

You can choose your username. It may contain letters, numbers, hyphens and full stops, but no other special characters, spaces or offensive words. You need it to sign in. It is visible to other users and appears above your profile, personal pages and entries.

Email address

We send a registration email to the address provided. Select the link in that email to confirm the address and complete registration. Until the address is confirmed, you cannot contact other users through the system.

Password

Your password should contain at least eight characters, including upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and/or special characters. You must enter it twice to prevent a typing error from blocking a later sign-in.

Terms of use and privacy information

Select the checkbox to confirm that you have read and accepted the terms of use and privacy information.

Completing registration

Once all fields are complete, select "Register" and then confirm your email address.

Signing in and out

Registered users can sign in from the top right of the homepage using either their username or email address and their password. After signing in, the username replaces the sign-in button. Select it to open the personal account menu. Use the corresponding menu item to sign out.

Managing your account

My entries and matches

This area shows both your own entries and matching entries from other users, so you do not need to run a new search on every visit.

A number in a green circle next to one of your entries shows how many matches it has. Select the number to open the match list, then select an entry for its details.

Use the eye icon in an entry header to view details, the pencil icon to edit it and the bin icon to delete it permanently. To deactivate an entry temporarily, move its switch from green to red. If an entry results in a carpool, select the raised-thumb icon to report the success. The entry may then also appear under "Carpools".

Success reports are important feedback for MiFaZ and for the organisations that fund this free service.

Profile

You can describe yourself, your driving style and your behaviour in the car so that other users can get to know you and build trust before making contact.

You can also upload a profile image. Select "Change image", choose a file and then select "Save". Images are reviewed by our team before approval. The following requirements apply:

• You should be clearly recognisable.
• The image must not show other people, animals, avatars, comics, logos, slogans or unrelated content.
• The photo should work in a round or square format.
• Supported formats are .jpg, .jpeg and .png.
• The maximum file size is 2 MB.

Vehicle

This area contains information about your vehicle and lets you upload a photo of your car. Select "Change image", choose a file and then select "Save". Images are reviewed before approval.

• The photo must show your car, not other vehicles, comics, logos, slogans, animals, avatars or people.
• We can approve only images you created yourself.
• The photo should work in a round or square format.
• Supported formats are .jpg, .jpeg and .png.
• The maximum file size is 2 MB.

You may obscure the registration plate if you wish.

Carpools

When MiFaZ helps users find a driver or passenger, the corresponding entry can be shown to all participants as an existing carpool. This happens after a participant reports a successful match. The person who created the entry can manage the carpool and add further passengers. Users can have several carpools and keep the relevant people and contact details together.

The original offer or request remains active after a success report. Reports also provide anonymous statistics for the cities, municipalities, districts and companies that fund regional MiFaZ portals.

Reviews

After contact through the portal, both sides can review each other. Reviews can cover communication and, where applicable, the shared trip. They help other users make decisions, so please leave a review whenever possible.

MiFaZ also works with Trustami, which combines reviews from different accounts to create a trust profile for online interactions. Learn more on the Trustami website.

Account settings

You can change your email address and password and choose whether other users may contact you by email. If you disable email contact, you cannot send email through the system either.

You can select your language, region and—for German—your preferred form of address. Choosing a region is useful because:

• Regional MiFaZ portals provide local defaults and additional points that can be selected as a start or destination.
• Registrations contribute to the usage statistics supplied to the cities, municipalities, districts and companies that fund regional MiFaZ portals.

You can also delete your profile permanently in Account settings. All your data will then be removed from our servers.

Contact details

Each contact detail is visible to other registered users only if you mark it as "visible". Without that setting, only the MiFaZ support team can see it. Unregistered visitors never have access to users' contact details.

Providing several ways to contact you makes it easier for other users. You can enter your first and last name, a mobile number and a landline number. A valid email address is mandatory and is managed in Account settings. The system ensures that every registered user can be contacted in at least one way.

Searching offers

For a quick search on the homepage, enter a start and destination and select them from the suggestions, confirm them with Enter or choose them on the map. Select "Search" to start.

Results appear next to the map and include exact matches, suitable partial routes and routes with a reasonable deviation. Your own entries are not shown while you are signed in; view them in your account or sign out to test a public search. The homepage shows only entries from users with a profile photo.

A form beside the map lets you restrict the search by date and tolerance. Results update automatically. You can also save the search as an entry so that it can be matched against future searches and entries from other users.

Creating an entry

Entry type

An entry can be an offer, a request or both. In regular carpools, participants often take turns driving.

Route

Enter the start and destination or choose them on the map. The direct route is calculated automatically and MiFaZ searches within a corridor around it.

Add stops only when you plan to take a different route or when you already know that passengers can join only at particular places. Matches can include partial routes, so the driver still decides whether a suggested meeting point is practical.

Trip frequency

Choose whether the trip is one-off or recurring. The trip-time form changes to match your choice.

Trip times

For a one-off trip, choose the date from the calendar and select the time. You can specify tolerance ranges or select "Any time". Select "+ Return trip" to add separate return-trip fields.

For recurring trips, choose one of these options:

• weekdays (Mon–Fri)
• daily (Mon–Sun)
• regularly on selected weekdays
• irregularly on different days

The last option lets you keep one entry for recurring trips that do not follow a fixed schedule. Add known dates to the description or agree them directly with interested users. Outbound and return times have separate fields; remove the return fields if they are not needed.

More details

Specify whether the journey is by car, uses a group train ticket or supports both. You can also indicate whether people, items or both will be transported.

Cost contribution

Enter the requested contribution to the costs. The fuel-cost calculator uses the number of people, fuel consumption, fuel price and route length. The calculated route length can be adjusted.

Comments

Use the comments field for details such as exact meeting points, location information, luggage, items, animals or safety arrangements.

Do not enter phone numbers or email addresses in this field. Contact details belong in your profile and can be viewed by registered users according to your visibility settings. Entries and comments are also visible to unregistered visitors.

Transporting items

MiFaZ can also arrange the transport of items. Create an entry and select "Transport items". Describe the item and requirements in the text field. Users can then discuss the details through the messaging system or by phone where a number is available.

Accessible use—keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are particularly useful for people who cannot use a mouse easily and for anyone who prefers keyboard navigation.

• 0—homepage and search
• n—new entry
• 1—help and service
• 9—contact page and imprint

Browser support varies:

• Firefox: Alt+Shift+shortcut
• Internet Explorer: Alt+shortcut+Enter
• Safari on macOS: Ctrl+shortcut

Browser extensions may already use some shortcuts.