How can we improve the forums? Your suggestions and comments please

[Chris_B]

Hi all, this thread is a running commentary for all members on things for improvements to the forums. This can be anything from how it looks, the categories, to moderation, community rules etc.

While we might not be able to implement everything straightaway, or keep everyone happy all of the time, we'd like to hear about what you think we can do better.

This is not a thread for discussing the moderation or editing of individual posts - if you have questions about this please contact the team offline via email modsupport@beyondblue.org.au

To avoid repeating suggestions already received, below are some results from our last user survey giving an indication of which new features people would like to see on the forums. This survey was answered by 1,597 users:

44% - Email notification when I have a reply on the forum
39% - Access to the forums via an app
27% - Ability to block seeing posts by specific users
25% - Ability to contact users privately
25% - Ability to use emoticons
25% - Ability to follow posts by specific users
24% - Ability to share links
23% - Forum posts visible only to registered users
22% - A profile, viewable by others users, where I can introduce myself
21% - Ability to quickly access all posts by a particular user
15% - Ability to tag users in a conversation
10% - Ability to share images
6% - Ability to share videos
17% - None of these

Update July 2022 - This discussion has now been closed. Please go to the updated version below to share feedback and follow our updates:

How can we improve the Forums?

[Guest_1643]

hi blues, seconded that a section for ppl on the spectrum would be EXCELLENT. on other forums i use i feel like every second post is about finding a good doc to diagnose adhd, or support for those on the spectrum. we should follow the interest, and create a section for this. i think would be super helpful.

Re getting emails when u get a reply, i think that might be a bit hard, it might make me feel self conscious about what i write.

regarding privacy and anonymity on the forums - i think the current status is okay and anonymous but it doesn't hurt to be a little careful, use a pseudonym for urself, ur pet, ur kids names etc just to be on the safe side. one piece of info is safe but if u give too many identifying details, it might be easier to identify u.

I dont know though why the forums are made public to the whole internet, for me it would make sense that only members could see the forums. Is it something really sinister like promotion for beyondblue? if so i feel its just more sensitive to let ppl here feel that there convos are only seen by other members.

[Guest_1643]

hi there, not sure how it works on a phone, but from my laptop,

on left hand side there is a big beyond blue slogan and butterly.... just accross from that on the right hand is alittle search box.

it's a bit terrible and never helps me find what i want! i think it searches more the titles of the thread, so if you want to search for a thread by its name its okay, but if u cant remember the name but only some parts of it, the search doesn't seem to identify it.

[LJpd81]

thamk you. I am on my tablet

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Look for the little magnifying glass in the top right 🙂

[LJpd81]

Thank you. Found it

[Guest9337]

I despair that this one will never happen, despite that I believe it a moral imperative in line with the Community Rules.

A link in the terms and conditions, or Community Rules that leads to the exact words and/or phrases that are not permitted.

One doesn't have to read the content of the link of course, just like all the billion other links in the TOC, but its there for people who need explicit instructions on what is Banned language.

So it'll have all those swear words and abusive words, it'll have all those terms that used to be OK but are now not. It'll be providing direction on what are appropriate terminology by highlighting what isn't explicitly.

That'll help the censorship software too because the software can be directly updated from the document.

Then what BB does is have the community vote upon words that BB considers should enter the banned document, or be dismissed from the banned words document.

Open and transparent language development.

Thanks for considering.

[Guest_1643]

ur really onto something david n goliath. i look a lot on the reach out forums, they are so much more open and transparent. a few examples

guidlines:

"Be kind! We respect and value a range of opinions and experience. We don’t tolerate any form of abusive or aggressive behaviour towards staff or other community members. Swearing generally is okay; swearing AT other people is not. Respectful disagreements are okay; personal attacks are not."

[Guest9337]

Hey Sleepy21, I been doing this a long time mate, a very long time.

For instance. Are you aware that some Australian policy makers have the position that every one who is able to work must work. Then they place vast amount of conditions upon not-being able to work and force people to go through all those processes to prove that they cant work.

But.. and here's a kicker. Other policy makers recognise that an idling work force, of say 10% unemployment, encourages the employed to accept lower income and poorer services from employers, because, hey look, there is a lot of people unemployed who are very hungry for work, and if you don't want my conditions for employment, no worries mate, some one else will.

So the unemployed drive wages down, which keeps particular groups of policy makers very happy!

What does all that have to do with our topic? Ah well it's all about choice, and the perception of it.

[eight]

oh my god we need an nd board 💗

[romantic_thi3f]

Hello,

I love all of these suggestions and the conversation happening here. I am so excited about the new platform although I know that there will be people who love it and people who hate it.

A few thoughts on some things that have come up -

- Notifications: these are coming to the next update.

- Ability to edit posts: This is something that has come up a lot. I think we did have this ability initially but people would edit their posts significantly so the replies to it made no sense and the conversation went haywire quickly. So we are trying to navigate that.

- Medication names: It's true that medication names are not permitted but subgroups are, so saying "taking an SSRI" is appropriate, but not "citalopram" or similar. Unfortunately because there are so many medication names with new ones coming through all the time, it can go through without mod checking. So it relies on people like us (champs) to check and report posts that are either sneaky or misinformed. While it's certainly not on you and not your responsibility, if you do see any a (or any) post that you believe doesn't follow our rules, you can report it.

1/2