Thank you so much to everyone who attended the Town Hall Meeting and to everyone who could not make it but has offered ideas and suggestions by PM or on the forum.
Please find below a summary of the meeting:
How Far SF Has Come:
In September 2015 SF made the decision to move from the old Vbulletin platform which had been its home for over a decade. Old technology and multiple software bugs had left us with too many 'black marks' in the eyes of Google and we were only getting one or two members finding us for support each day.
We decided to move the forum to Xenforo and to install a different chat software, as the old chat software was based on Java and over half the people who wanted to use it no longer could. Thanks to some phenomenal fund raising efforts by our wonderful members we were able to buy new forum software, new chat software and get the entire forum updated.
After a major hack in February 2016 that left us with no site for 3 days, we invested in a more secure server with 24/7 support and daily backups so we can be sure that even if the worst happens, SF will be back up and running in under an hour. Since then we have also;
Member Q&A:
Q: "Will you be accepting article submissions from members?"
A: Absolutely!! We welcome anyone who wants to write an article for the forum, as long as it has not been published anywhere else. We are very happy to set anyone up as an SF Author.
Q: Can you help with ideas of what kind of things are permissible to write about?
A: We will accept any articles that fit within the site rules and are Pro-life, but if you want ideas of what would help/what people are searching for in Google we can help with that for sure - just drop Freya or NYJmpMaster a PM or write an LTA.
Q: Is there any way we can have a "Premium membership" option with areas only premium members can see for more privacy?
A: This is not something we are willing to do - every single member here deserves the same help and support regardless of their resources. We will not exclude anyone who needs help. We do not hold any personal information on anyone here at all so privacy is assured as long as you do not share personal details yourself.
Q: Can we do some sort of filter check for members so people who just want to have fun and troll cannot join?
A: Unfortunately even if we had some sort of questionaire, people would like if they just wanted to troll, plus it would put off people who need genuine help. The best thing anyone can do if they think people are trolling is to report that person - mods review 100% of all reports so if we work together we can stop people from trolling and making people unsafe.
Q: Is there a way to set up an automated ban system or warning system when people are talking about something they should not be?
A: Unfortunately this is not a feature of the software
Q: If you block or ignore someone, do they know?
A: No - someone will never know you blocked them unless you tell them
Q: Can we have a "one click" way to change nicknames
A: This is not supported by the software but Admin are happy to change names for anyone who needs it for security reasons at any time, or every 6 months for anyone who just wants a change.
Q: Can we have a help guide for new people who come to the site and don't know how to get help or use the site?
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
Q: Can this be added to the automatic welcome message?
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
Q: Can we update the crisis lines and helplines for people who need more than peer support?
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
Q: Is there a possibility for an SF App?
A: We will definitely look into what this would involve and what it would cost, and report back.
Q: Can the member edit function on posts be increased to 10 minutes instead of 5
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
There was also discussion of a faith based support forum which will be created on a trial basis - full details to follow.
Information On Volunteer Roles:
Members asked how they could help SF and therefore help more people get support. The volunteer positions 'available' are:
Thank you so much for everyone's time and help - you make this forum what it is.
Please find below a summary of the meeting:
How Far SF Has Come:
In September 2015 SF made the decision to move from the old Vbulletin platform which had been its home for over a decade. Old technology and multiple software bugs had left us with too many 'black marks' in the eyes of Google and we were only getting one or two members finding us for support each day.
We decided to move the forum to Xenforo and to install a different chat software, as the old chat software was based on Java and over half the people who wanted to use it no longer could. Thanks to some phenomenal fund raising efforts by our wonderful members we were able to buy new forum software, new chat software and get the entire forum updated.
After a major hack in February 2016 that left us with no site for 3 days, we invested in a more secure server with 24/7 support and daily backups so we can be sure that even if the worst happens, SF will be back up and running in under an hour. Since then we have also;
- Added an articles and resources section to the front of the site that is visited by more than 11,000 people a day, with some articles reaching over 400,000 people looking for help. (Many thanks to everyone who has contributed articles)
- Made changes and improvements to chat - making the chat box larger, enabling gif emotes and adding font colours for members (thank you VERY much to @Tim. )
- Improved site rankings in Google so that anyone searching for Suicide Methods in most countries now finds help here instead of toxic sites.
Member Q&A:
Q: "Will you be accepting article submissions from members?"
A: Absolutely!! We welcome anyone who wants to write an article for the forum, as long as it has not been published anywhere else. We are very happy to set anyone up as an SF Author.
Q: Can you help with ideas of what kind of things are permissible to write about?
A: We will accept any articles that fit within the site rules and are Pro-life, but if you want ideas of what would help/what people are searching for in Google we can help with that for sure - just drop Freya or NYJmpMaster a PM or write an LTA.
Q: Is there any way we can have a "Premium membership" option with areas only premium members can see for more privacy?
A: This is not something we are willing to do - every single member here deserves the same help and support regardless of their resources. We will not exclude anyone who needs help. We do not hold any personal information on anyone here at all so privacy is assured as long as you do not share personal details yourself.
Q: Can we do some sort of filter check for members so people who just want to have fun and troll cannot join?
A: Unfortunately even if we had some sort of questionaire, people would like if they just wanted to troll, plus it would put off people who need genuine help. The best thing anyone can do if they think people are trolling is to report that person - mods review 100% of all reports so if we work together we can stop people from trolling and making people unsafe.
Q: Is there a way to set up an automated ban system or warning system when people are talking about something they should not be?
A: Unfortunately this is not a feature of the software
Q: If you block or ignore someone, do they know?
A: No - someone will never know you blocked them unless you tell them
Q: Can we have a "one click" way to change nicknames
A: This is not supported by the software but Admin are happy to change names for anyone who needs it for security reasons at any time, or every 6 months for anyone who just wants a change.
Q: Can we have a help guide for new people who come to the site and don't know how to get help or use the site?
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
Q: Can this be added to the automatic welcome message?
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
Q: Can we update the crisis lines and helplines for people who need more than peer support?
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
Q: Is there a possibility for an SF App?
A: We will definitely look into what this would involve and what it would cost, and report back.
Q: Can the member edit function on posts be increased to 10 minutes instead of 5
A: Yes - Admin will work on this.
There was also discussion of a faith based support forum which will be created on a trial basis - full details to follow.
Information On Volunteer Roles:
Members asked how they could help SF and therefore help more people get support. The volunteer positions 'available' are:
- SF Authors - writing articles and posts for the front of the site
- SF Artists - creating image quotes and memes for the image gallery and for social media
- SF Social Media Gurus - posting on twitter and facebook 'as SF' to reach more people
- SF Pros - Talking to and offering extra support and engagement with members to make them feel included and supported, as well as keeping people safe
- SF Study Facilitators - People willing to organise and run guided self study threads etc to help people
Thank you so much for everyone's time and help - you make this forum what it is.
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