This section contains information and announcements about the Parkinson's UK forum. If you have a question about the use of the forum please also check:
Forum terms and conditions: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/forum_policy.aspx
Forum guidelines:
http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/forum-terms-and-conditions/forum-help/forum-user-guidelines.aspx
or contact one of the community team at [email protected]. You can meet the team here: http://bit.ly/zRiAth
If you have a question or concern, you can also email a moderator at [email protected]
UPDATED: The social club is currently unavailable while we investigage the technical problems in this part of the forum.
The errors appear to be due to the massive amount of content in this area and we are currently looking at options to get it back to a usable state.
We're sorry for the inconvenience.
The errors appear to be due to the massive amount of content in this area and we are currently looking at options to get it back to a usable state.
We're sorry for the inconvenience.
Hi everyone
The problems we have had in the social club this week causing the website to time out and display error messages, are due to the massive amount of content in this area. Many threads here have reached capacity limit of 999 posts which is the equivalent of 100 web pages each!
We’re having to archive lots of data from the social club and moving forward will just display the past 6 months of threads. This applies in the social club area only. And, across the forum we’ll limit the maximum number of posts in a topic to 500. The limit won't be applied immediately but please keep this in mind over the next few days and if you are having an exceptionally long word game consider starting a new thread at some point!
While these changes will enable us to reopen the social club, realistically they won't deliver major improvements to the speed. You are all aware that the forum is running at near capacity and creaking at the seams.
We're looking at possible replacements for the forum and should have a clearer timetable for this in the next few weeks to share with you. Many thanks for your patience.
Liz
The problems we have had in the social club this week causing the website to time out and display error messages, are due to the massive amount of content in this area. Many threads here have reached capacity limit of 999 posts which is the equivalent of 100 web pages each!
We’re having to archive lots of data from the social club and moving forward will just display the past 6 months of threads. This applies in the social club area only. And, across the forum we’ll limit the maximum number of posts in a topic to 500. The limit won't be applied immediately but please keep this in mind over the next few days and if you are having an exceptionally long word game consider starting a new thread at some point!
While these changes will enable us to reopen the social club, realistically they won't deliver major improvements to the speed. You are all aware that the forum is running at near capacity and creaking at the seams.
We're looking at possible replacements for the forum and should have a clearer timetable for this in the next few weeks to share with you. Many thanks for your patience.
Liz
All
I wanted to let you know that our website and discussion forum will not be available on Thursday 8 March, from 10am-2pm due to essential maintenance work.
The work involves moving the website and forum database onto a new server and should help fix some of the performance problems we have experienced in recent months due to the continued growth and demands on the site.
For information and support during this time you can call our helpline 0808 800 0303 or email [email protected]
We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Thanks, Liz
Parkinson's UK Digital team
I wanted to let you know that our website and discussion forum will not be available on Thursday 8 March, from 10am-2pm due to essential maintenance work.
The work involves moving the website and forum database onto a new server and should help fix some of the performance problems we have experienced in recent months due to the continued growth and demands on the site.
For information and support during this time you can call our helpline 0808 800 0303 or email [email protected]
We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Thanks, Liz
Parkinson's UK Digital team
Hello all.
I wanted to give you an update on our plans for the forum.
Many of you will be aware we’ve been planning to upgrade the discussion forum. You’ll also know we’ve recently carried out a lot of research to find out what people want from the next version of our website.
Our original plan was to improve our forum software early this year. However, following the findings of our research it has become clear that the new online community has to be developed as a central part of our new website – not separately as we originally envisaged. We want the community to be right at the heart of our website – not off in a silo as it’s currently placed.
The time frame for creating and launching our new website and community is 12 months. If we can launch any features earlier we will, however the project is a big one. And we want to get it right. That’s why we have been taking a lot of time and effort to find out what people want from our website.
I know it will be frustrating for those of you who’ve been waiting for improvements to forum features, however this approach makes much more sense technically and financially, and even more importantly enables us to deliver a website which brings together Parkinson’s information - with your experiences and stories of living with Parkinson’s, in a cohesive way, which is what people have told us they want.
What research did we do?
Over several months we carried out a huge amount of research hearing from almost 3,000 people – a great response! (I talked a bit about this in a recent post http://bit.ly/GBjuEW) Our aim was to find out what was working well with our current site, where we could improve and what people affected by Parkinson’s need from our future website.
People we heard from included the newly diagnosed, those who have had Parkinson’s for years, carers, researchers, fundraisers, campaigners and healthcare professionals. Some respondents were active users of the forum and/or the website – others rarely or never used it. And all this feedback is helping us understand how we can better meet people’s varied needs when they come to our website.
What people told us
83% of those respondents who used the forum told us they found it to be an important source of support and information, and said it was invaluable to hear how others coped day to day living with Parkinson’s. That was powerful to hear.
However – the majority of the people we surveyed did not use the forum and many weren’t even aware that it existed. Some of those who did visit didn’t feel confident or supported enough to contribute and get more involved in the community. From the opposite side, sometimes forum members were unaware where there were resources available to quickly answer their questions because forum discussions are so separate from other content.
Yet consistently people told us how important it was for them to hear about other people’s experiences of Parkinson’s and share their own stories. So there’s a lot we need to do to raise awareness and bring together our community discussions, people’s stories and our information content - as well as improve people’s experiences of being in the community.
From the website in general people told us that they wanted to see information relevant to their own circumstances. We need to make it easier for people to see news, events and support services relevant to where they live. We saw a contrast in the amount of information sought by someone recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s to someone who’d been living with the condition for longer. There was also a clear difference in the type of information needed by carers and professionals.
This provides a lot of challenges for how we build the website – but it is exciting too. The evidence we have from all this research means we have a solid base to design something which is much better placed to meet the needs of different groups affected by Parkinson’s. And it places our community firmly at its heart.
What happens now?
Many of you will know that a few weeks ago we moved the forum onto a new server and we also carried out maintenance to fix some issues affecting the social club. This will help keep the current forum running while we work on the new website.
But building the new community is not simply about replacing technology. It’s about the people. And at the same time as we are developing our new website we will continue the work Ezinda and the forum team have begun, looking at how we moderate, talking with you about how we can make sure the community is a welcoming place for all people affected by Parkinson’s. One part of this work will be putting together a group of community champions as Ezinda mentioned here: http://bit.ly/GAFpd9
We’ve opened this thread to keep you updated on what is happening with the project and we’ll post opportunities for getting involved as they become available. If you have any questions or comments about the project, this is also the place to post them.
If you've made it right to the end of this very long post - thanks for listening! We're looking forward to working together with you on this in coming months.
Best, Liz
Head of Digital, Parkinson’s UK
I wanted to give you an update on our plans for the forum.
Many of you will be aware we’ve been planning to upgrade the discussion forum. You’ll also know we’ve recently carried out a lot of research to find out what people want from the next version of our website.
Our original plan was to improve our forum software early this year. However, following the findings of our research it has become clear that the new online community has to be developed as a central part of our new website – not separately as we originally envisaged. We want the community to be right at the heart of our website – not off in a silo as it’s currently placed.
The time frame for creating and launching our new website and community is 12 months. If we can launch any features earlier we will, however the project is a big one. And we want to get it right. That’s why we have been taking a lot of time and effort to find out what people want from our website.
I know it will be frustrating for those of you who’ve been waiting for improvements to forum features, however this approach makes much more sense technically and financially, and even more importantly enables us to deliver a website which brings together Parkinson’s information - with your experiences and stories of living with Parkinson’s, in a cohesive way, which is what people have told us they want.
What research did we do?
Over several months we carried out a huge amount of research hearing from almost 3,000 people – a great response! (I talked a bit about this in a recent post http://bit.ly/GBjuEW) Our aim was to find out what was working well with our current site, where we could improve and what people affected by Parkinson’s need from our future website.
People we heard from included the newly diagnosed, those who have had Parkinson’s for years, carers, researchers, fundraisers, campaigners and healthcare professionals. Some respondents were active users of the forum and/or the website – others rarely or never used it. And all this feedback is helping us understand how we can better meet people’s varied needs when they come to our website.
What people told us
83% of those respondents who used the forum told us they found it to be an important source of support and information, and said it was invaluable to hear how others coped day to day living with Parkinson’s. That was powerful to hear.
However – the majority of the people we surveyed did not use the forum and many weren’t even aware that it existed. Some of those who did visit didn’t feel confident or supported enough to contribute and get more involved in the community. From the opposite side, sometimes forum members were unaware where there were resources available to quickly answer their questions because forum discussions are so separate from other content.
Yet consistently people told us how important it was for them to hear about other people’s experiences of Parkinson’s and share their own stories. So there’s a lot we need to do to raise awareness and bring together our community discussions, people’s stories and our information content - as well as improve people’s experiences of being in the community.
From the website in general people told us that they wanted to see information relevant to their own circumstances. We need to make it easier for people to see news, events and support services relevant to where they live. We saw a contrast in the amount of information sought by someone recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s to someone who’d been living with the condition for longer. There was also a clear difference in the type of information needed by carers and professionals.
This provides a lot of challenges for how we build the website – but it is exciting too. The evidence we have from all this research means we have a solid base to design something which is much better placed to meet the needs of different groups affected by Parkinson’s. And it places our community firmly at its heart.
What happens now?
Many of you will know that a few weeks ago we moved the forum onto a new server and we also carried out maintenance to fix some issues affecting the social club. This will help keep the current forum running while we work on the new website.
But building the new community is not simply about replacing technology. It’s about the people. And at the same time as we are developing our new website we will continue the work Ezinda and the forum team have begun, looking at how we moderate, talking with you about how we can make sure the community is a welcoming place for all people affected by Parkinson’s. One part of this work will be putting together a group of community champions as Ezinda mentioned here: http://bit.ly/GAFpd9
We’ve opened this thread to keep you updated on what is happening with the project and we’ll post opportunities for getting involved as they become available. If you have any questions or comments about the project, this is also the place to post them.
If you've made it right to the end of this very long post - thanks for listening! We're looking forward to working together with you on this in coming months.
Best, Liz
Head of Digital, Parkinson’s UK
This will help keep the current forum running while we work on the new website.
For another year ?
Thats certainly NOT GOOD NEWS!
One can accept all that you say about about the website as a whole but the forum software could be be upgraded seperately and easily linked to the main website.
So all the promises that the forum itself would be ugraded soon are not now taking place for at least a year ?
I'm left speechless, angry, frustrated, and wondering what on earth PDUK hopes to achieve by dragging its feet on such an important aspect
For another year ?
Thats certainly NOT GOOD NEWS!
One can accept all that you say about about the website as a whole but the forum software could be be upgraded seperately and easily linked to the main website.
So all the promises that the forum itself would be ugraded soon are not now taking place for at least a year ?
I'm left speechless, angry, frustrated, and wondering what on earth PDUK hopes to achieve by dragging its feet on such an important aspect
It is good to know that we now have an ETA for a brave new PUK site. It does not bother me if it does take a year because as you say, "you want to get it right" but at this stage we do not know what exactly right means.
I appreciate the openness with which you are approaching this but I think after 3000 comments we could see a bullet point description telling us precisely what is on the agenda.Is the list still open and if so when will it close.Are you still accepting ideas and suggestions?
The last rewrite created much confusion in the Forum and although in the end with some initiative from the posters we found a way to make it workable. It is still not as easy to navigate as when I first joined and I hope that this will not be the case in a years time.
I appreciate the cost of doing this with our hard earned funds ( as an active fund-raiser) and I truly hope that the consensus on completion is a positive one.
I appreciate the openness with which you are approaching this but I think after 3000 comments we could see a bullet point description telling us precisely what is on the agenda.Is the list still open and if so when will it close.Are you still accepting ideas and suggestions?
The last rewrite created much confusion in the Forum and although in the end with some initiative from the posters we found a way to make it workable. It is still not as easy to navigate as when I first joined and I hope that this will not be the case in a years time.
I appreciate the cost of doing this with our hard earned funds ( as an active fund-raiser) and I truly hope that the consensus on completion is a positive one.
Hi Kyloe - We actually did start out looking into different forum software and plugging it into our current site as you describe, but it became obvious that this would not fix the silo issue that our research uncovered or allow us to create the comunity-based website our research told us people wanted.
Technically if we had continued to do it that way, there would be a very high risk we might buy forum software that would not work with the technology we select to run the new website. It also became obvious were we to continue tackling this as 2 separate projects it would not be cost effective at all eg we would pay twice: getting the forum designed and installed into the current site - and then do this again within the year into the new site. As Bogman will appreciate as a fundraiser - we need to think real hard about how we spend our money.
I know it's frustrating (as a forum adminstrator we use very limited tools ourselves!) - but this isn't about dragging feet. It's about looking at what we offer online cohesively and in the most cost-effective way.
Bogman - They are good points about considering the transition to a new forum. Having been involved in the last forum launch I know that we are now starting to work in a different way with our community and will be looking to involve forum members in the time leading up to the change in a way that we woudn't have back in 2008.
I can't give you a list of exactly what will be a new forum is as we don't have this information yet. We're looking at technology requirements for the whole site and will need to prioritise these and look at costs etc so it'll be further down the track when we are able to confirm details of specific features. We do have a lot of feedback on what people do and don't like or find difficult to use about the existing site and addressing this will be a big part of our work.
If you want to discuss in more detail, or have suggestions you want to pass onto me please drop me an email as am always happy to discuss in more detail [email protected]
Best, Liz
Technically if we had continued to do it that way, there would be a very high risk we might buy forum software that would not work with the technology we select to run the new website. It also became obvious were we to continue tackling this as 2 separate projects it would not be cost effective at all eg we would pay twice: getting the forum designed and installed into the current site - and then do this again within the year into the new site. As Bogman will appreciate as a fundraiser - we need to think real hard about how we spend our money.
I know it's frustrating (as a forum adminstrator we use very limited tools ourselves!) - but this isn't about dragging feet. It's about looking at what we offer online cohesively and in the most cost-effective way.
Bogman - They are good points about considering the transition to a new forum. Having been involved in the last forum launch I know that we are now starting to work in a different way with our community and will be looking to involve forum members in the time leading up to the change in a way that we woudn't have back in 2008.
I can't give you a list of exactly what will be a new forum is as we don't have this information yet. We're looking at technology requirements for the whole site and will need to prioritise these and look at costs etc so it'll be further down the track when we are able to confirm details of specific features. We do have a lot of feedback on what people do and don't like or find difficult to use about the existing site and addressing this will be a big part of our work.
If you want to discuss in more detail, or have suggestions you want to pass onto me please drop me an email as am always happy to discuss in more detail [email protected]
Best, Liz
Anyone else given up on a new format to the forum anytime within the next 10 years or so?
Maybe a cure will be found before the forum reinvents iteself which will include many of the suggestions put forward over the last year!!! Yes, a year!
FGS, how long does it take?? It really does PUK no favours whereby new members are presented with seeing a forum that does not even have the basic functions of many other forums.
I am a member of a forum that was set up 2 years ago with a free package easily obtainable on the internet and it has many more features that this site does at present.
Don't waste money on buying an expensive IT package that works no better than this,just get on on there and see what is freely available.
Maybe a cure will be found before the forum reinvents iteself which will include many of the suggestions put forward over the last year!!! Yes, a year!
FGS, how long does it take?? It really does PUK no favours whereby new members are presented with seeing a forum that does not even have the basic functions of many other forums.
I am a member of a forum that was set up 2 years ago with a free package easily obtainable on the internet and it has many more features that this site does at present.
Don't waste money on buying an expensive IT package that works no better than this,just get on on there and see what is freely available.
A strong feeling of déjà vu just swept over me! The last time this forum changed its format, most of the archives went on walk-a-bout never to be seen again!
Hi Leyther,
I've moved your message to the section for questions on the new website and forum below http://bit.ly/XAhz7i
We're placing questions and answers on this topic there so that all the answers are together and easy to find.
There will be a bit of a delay before we can answer. We explain why there.
Thanks,
Ezinda
I've moved your message to the section for questions on the new website and forum below http://bit.ly/XAhz7i
We're placing questions and answers on this topic there so that all the answers are together and easy to find.
There will be a bit of a delay before we can answer. We explain why there.
Thanks,
Ezinda