Frequently Asked Questions
About the App
Want2 is completely free to use as someone looking for resources to help them do what they want or as a service provider looking to add their programs and services.
Note for service providers:
Don’t hesitate to contact support@want2.ca for service provider access, allowing you to edit the description of any of your organization’s programs already in the Want2 database or add new ones.
All programs, resources, and supports you would like to include in Want2 must be:
- free or low cost (we generally recommend no more than 15% of what the original price would cost, and list the price in the description);
- located in the city of Vancouver, online or have transportation reimbursed (e.g., offering a bus ticket), and
- must be self-referrable.
You can find over 400 free or low-cost resources.
Our low-cost resources are:
- Generally no more than 15% of what the original price would cost
- Located in the city of Vancouver, online or have transportation reimbursed
No, you do not need to make an account.
If you select ‘Continue Without an Account’ on the log-in screen, you will be asked to choose if you want to work on a specific focus area to create a goal. You can then select ‘Maybe Later’ to see the resources page where you can freely search and browse through over 400 different service providers.
Want2 helps you achieve your goals by first asking what you’d like to focus on, and related questions to your focus to help you create a goal and action plan.
A customizable action plan is then formed for each goal, suggesting specific actions you may want to take to complete your goal. You can add, complete, and delete these to customize your plan.
Want2 sends you reminders to complete the actions for the goals based on the time frame you’ve set for yourself.
You can also keep track of your progress in the app.
Getting Started on the App
To start using the Want2 app, you can:
- Launch the desktop application directly from the Want2 website (want2.ca) by selecting the button “Launch Want2”
- Download the app for your mobile iOS or Android device
After downloading the app, you can choose to ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Continue without an account.’ In both cases, you will have an option of answering a few questions to help you find your best-fit resources, or you can directly access our list of over 400 free resources.
You can ‘Sign Up’ for the app in three ways: Email, Facebook, or Google. If you sign up for the app, you will get additional benefits like saving your goal progress and being recommended resources that are personalized to your preferences.
From signing up to setting up your Want2 profile, the sign-up process takes less than five minutes.
Signing Up
By Email
If you choose to sign up using your email, we will send a confirmation message to your email address; you will need to activate your account by clicking the ‘Activate’ button. After doing so, you will be redirected to Want2, where you will then need to set a password.
By Facebook or Google
If you sign up using Facebook or Google, you will have to accept and verify your account using the respective application. Then you will be redirected back to Want2 to finish setting up your profile.
Setting Up Your Profile
You will be asked to fill in some basic details, including your nickname (this does not need to be your real name) and support preferences. You can click on the Profile tab on the left sidebar to make changes to your profile at any time.
These questions are optional and can be skipped using the ‘Skip’ button at the top right corner of the screen.
By completing the questions around your focus, a goal is automatically added to your Goals tab and gives you a list of first steps and resources.
*We highly recommend that users start by answering a few short questions about their focus to get a customizable action plan based on their unique preferences.
Yes. On Want2, we help you keep track of all your goals and the action items for each in separate cards in the Goals tab. You can start multiple goals at once if you would like. This gives you complete flexibility to finish actions and tasks on your own planned timelines, and lets you add or delete actions as you go.
It usually takes about three minutes. Want2’s interactive bot, Wanna, will ask you questions about what you want to work on and help you identify and prioritize your next steps to achieve your goals successfully.
It is recommended that you focus on one key area at a time so that it’s easier for you to manage and achieve what you want to do.
How to Navigate Through the App Features
There are a few reasons why you may not be able to find your resources.
- You will need to search an organization’s full name. For example, “BYRC” would be “Broadway Youth Resource Centre” instead.
- Try using synonyms of the keyword you are using until you get a result. For example, “AA meetings” can be “support group”
- Instead of searching by keywords like “eyecare” you can filter search results using ‘Resource Preferences’ (the “+ Set” button under the search bar) and selecting the categories you want.
- The resource you are looking for may not be available on our lists. Feel free to check out other resource pages like BC211 and LinkVan.
“Resource Preferences” is where you define your focus area(s) (housing, employment, volunteering etc.) and demographic information (women, men, indigenous, youth, etc.), so you can filter your search results to only display resources for those specified groups.
You can bookmark resources, only if you have a Want2 account.
How to Bookmark Resources:
- Finding the resource you want to bookmark
- Clicking the bookmark icon beside the resource (it should look like a ribbon)
- Once you click the bookmark, the icon will be filled and a text box will pop up notifying you that your bookmark is ‘Saved!’
You can view all of your saved bookmarks by going to your Profile and selecting “My Bookmarks”.
Completing a goal depends on the timeline you select for the goal and the kind of goal.
For example, if you want to find a new job in one month, Want2 will help you track your progress and send you reminders to complete the different actions in your action plan. You must set a date for each step to receive a reminder.
Yes, Want2 tracks your progress for each of your goals. Want2 breaks your goals into smaller actions to create an action plan and keep you on track.
Your progress is shown by the number of actions you have completed under each goal. You can also see your previously completed goals by clicking on the ‘Completed’ option under the goals.
You can choose anyone you want to be your buddy, and it can be a friend, family member, caseworker, or anybody else in your support network. You can chat with them through the app and share your progress whenever you want.
You can invite someone to be a buddy by going to your profile, selecting “My Buddies” and then “Add a Buddy.” You will need to know the email they signed up with. If they haven’t signed up to create a Want2 account yet, you can send an invite, and they can sign up with that email.
You can select ‘share my progress’ in the Goals tab to email your action planner and task progress to another person like a friend, caseworker, or others in your support network.
On mobile, aside from email, you can select from a number of different social sharing options, or copy the text directly to your clipboard. If you copy the text to your clipboard, you can paste it into a chat session with your Want2 Buddies or outside the app.