SF Changes and Upgrades

Hi Folks

I just wanted to drop a note here (a Lu note so - don't expect it to be short!) about changes and upgrades that will be going on over the next 2-3 months.

I want to start by assuring everyone that any upgrades we make will be covered by myself and Ben. Donations to the site running costs by our awesomely kind and generous members will continue to go to hosting, security, backups and all the things that keep the forum running day to day.

The App fund will remain entirely dedicated to the SF app and will be in no way used for any other upgrades or changes. we will be reviewing the App donations total at the start of 2019 and taking a good look at what we can build for the money we have as it seems the original goal may be unattainable. Please rest assured, the app is still very much in the pipeline

So.. why are we changing things?

As many of you have noted, we have had some server crashes over the past 2-3 weeks and the software has been particularly glitchy and clunky of late. SF has been under a series of attacks and attempted hacks over the past 3-4 months and while we do believe we have resolved the crashes (touch wood) this, along with some changes to the Google algorithm, have highlighted the fact that it is time for some changes.

So... what are we changing exactly?

Server Stuff
We will be starting with a bunch of technical server stuff that I won't bore you with, but will fix the issue of people getting logged out when they click links, fix the redirect issues that have plagued us for a couple of years, optimise the site load speeds all over the world, make a bunch of security updates and a host of other things to ensure the site is properly supported.

Google Stuff
Part of the attacks that we have been seeing to the site include thousands of spammy links sending hundreds of bots to non existent pages and sending signals to Google that SF is a 'bad neighbourhood' site. This has affected our traffic and with Google's latest algorithm we need to make some wholesale changes to the front of the site where the articles and resources live. This means taking down some of the compromised articles, rewriting some of the remaining articles and accommodating all of Google's new guidelines with new pages and a whole new structure.

The front of the site will change significantly as we move from an 'articles based' front end to an informational front end with resources, links to practical help in different countries, information for people wanting to understand how to help their suicidal/anxious/depressed friends and relatives etc. This includes a total design refresh so things on the front will "look" a lot different in a couple of months.

Forum Stuff
We will be updating all the forum software to the newest version which will add some functionality to the forum. Including (but not limited to):

• The return of the Facebook login
• Better forum loads and usability for mobile users - including being able to see the latest thread titles in forums without opening the forum etc.
• Member News Feed - based on the people you choose to follow, each member will see a personalised news feed showing posts and content from those people.
• A 'Quick Thread' feature on the front of the forum to write a thread directly from the homepage.
• Enhanced content search with tabs for "your threads", "threads with your posts in", "your watched threads" etc. to make it easier to navigate.
• The return of 'unanswered threads' which was greatly missed from the old software and will make sure that people can locate the threads with no replies quickly and ensure everyone who needs support receives it as quickly as possible.
• Better forum emotes and animated avatars.

The new software also better manages embeds and media and improves post editing.

In addition to this we plan to give the forum a new 'fresh' look - nothing drastic but a new lick of paint to brighten things up. We hope to keep the current 'look' (as near as we can on new software) as a user choice option for people for whom change causes anxiety.

New software means new ways of doing things, so we also intend to replace the current screen shot tutorials with a series of quick access video tutorials which hopefully will make things easier to understand quickly for new members.

So Now What?

Now you just wait a few weeks and wonder if anything is happening at all (it is! Just a lot of it is behind the scenes at least in the beginning) and hopefully feel as excited about the changes as we are. Please be patient if things glitch out - we are doing a lot of this around my full time job so any delays that might happen are largely my fault!

BIG thank you to all you fabulous people who make this community what it is. Nobody would be getting any help at all without you - you're the best!

I'm welcome

Seriously though, thank you for your sterling efforts

Just wanted to add in here -

First - a huge thanks to Lu- who is a web manager and SEO expert in real life and has spent hours and hours and hours in the last month in addition to her far more than full time professional job back tracking links, doing site audits and devising a plan to make us more effective and easier to be found along with the changes google has made. I will say that without her this simply would not get done- the companies that do this (like the one she worked for before she took over the entire internet commerce for a large company on her own) charge £125 / hour and up for this type of work and auditing- which means we would have had to pay thousands of dollars for what she has been doing. If you see her around the site please thank her- we both tend to get lost in background stuff these days and not have as much time to talk on the forum and chat- but it is NOT because we do not care about SF - just the opposite really.

We will announce all changes as they occur and will offer as much help as needed if anybody needs extra help getting used to something, as well as try to integrate changes slowly so you can learn as we go.

As stated above, while there is some fairly substantial costs , we are covering all expenses. All donations to the monthly expenses will continue to go to the standard monthly expenses, all donations to the app will continue to accrue with the savings set aside for app development. I am going to give to year end to make a decision on how to proceed with that based on where we stand- with 100% there being something done for app - we may need to scale back or have other alternatives but will do something substantial and worth while for the mobile users of our community.

There have been many hack ATTEMPTS. There have been ZERO successful hacks. No information from the server has ever been accessed, and more to the point we have no information on any member and all donations go through external secure banking sites, not our servers so even if somebody did hack our server there would be no possibility of any risk to any members. In addition we have a private server and excellent security and firewalls. We are a large traffic site that attracts a lot of attention. The site went down due to an oversight of maintenance on the part of the company that our server is plugged into, plus 2 1/2 years of a lot of traffic and things just need to be tidied up. We pay a lot for our hosting to ensure excellent security and firewalls and uptime- 90 minutes down was a big deal even if first time in over 2 years- compared to the old site when that was a standard day sometimes (not due to any fault- just a matter of resources). Your accounts are completely safe and secure, and as long as you do not volunteer personal information nobody can ever get personal information on any member here from our servers.

Thank you guys for keeping this site running and safe

Wow thanks Lu! That's a lot of work I'm impressed.

I'm also impressed. Thanks Ben and Lu for literally all you do but I am disgusted that someone would try to hack a suicide forum, that is the lowest of the low. I hope one day they will grow up :rolleyes:

Best of luck with the upcoming projects and Lu - thanks for taking so much time out of your life to help us here, it definitely shows what a caring individual you are, you have a heart made of gold

Wow. That's a lot going on there. I want to say thanks to both Lu and Ben for all you do there is so much we don't see.

I love updates and I hate change. I realize those 2 statements don't compliment each other. The nerd vs the anxiety ridden hermit. Welcome to a moment in my brain lol. I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Thank you so much Lu and Ben!! It is awesome what you do for all of us.

This place really does take a lot of hours, talking, phone calls, chat, sleepless nights & money out of pocket and no one really cares because it's meaningful and important.

These two aren't around maybe as much as we might like - hanging around and shooting the shit or responding to threads but behind the scenes they're present. Answering email, calling places, digging information for literal hours on end about how to improve things, dealing with complaints, bickering and troubleshooting.

Everyone here - every person who logs on every day and every person who logs on every 3 months - we all make this place work. But Lu & Ben do provide the backbone for it. The love here at this place is strong, let's keep that up through the changes coming ahead.

You forgot the constant Aldis lamp signalling and bongo drumming.

That's behind the behind the scenes.

I'm in awe @Freya and @JmpMster
When I win the lotto, I'll be sure to let you know. (Now you havta hedge your bets on me)
Luv ya all...

If I had a hat, I’d be taking it off to you @Freya @JmpMster you guys are the best. Thank you for everything you do to keep this place up and running and safe.

Love and hugs x

Thank you @Freya and @JmpMster for everything you do to make SF the awesome place that it is. It is hard for the rest of us to imagine the effort that goes on behind the scenes, so you may not always get the thanks you deserve for keeping things running. You're awesome.

Is a mobile app coming out?

Been raising money for the app for a year. It's about $6k so it's been slow slow slow. We're only a little more than half way there (65% I think) so if you can go donate! It's in the regular donation section.
Otherwise, Ben is saying will regroup at the beginning of the year and try to come up with some other options.

Thanks for the update @Freya and for everything you and @JmpMster do. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it is and how much time you must put into it. I won't pretend I understand what you're talking about with bots, google, algorithms and servers so I'm really happy we have you guys!

The changes sound really useful and am looking forward to playing with them when they come about.

Good luck with it all and thanks again.

Thank you hugely to Lu, Ben and all the staff who keep this place running and constantly look to upgrade / improve etc. It is a lifeline to so many, many folk - and no amount of money can put a price on what it means to those people. Love to all the staff x

I can't imagine how much it takes to actually get this site running the way it is. I know it is a huge job and you guys are awesome at it. If it wasn't for you, things would not be running as smoothly as they are. I thank you very much and truly appreciate all you do.