Hi all,
Yesterday we mentioned that we would make new users aware of the stickies in our introduction email. Many of you may not be familiar with this as it is something new we've been trying.
It would be great to know what you think about the email text.
For example, does this give users the information they need when coming to the forum for the first time? Would this have been helpful to you when you joined the forum. Does it make sense?
The text follows:
Welcome to the Parkinson’s UK forum. Users of the forum are people affected by Parkinson’s. This means people with Parkinson’s, friends, carers, families and others. Forum users share experiences, information, experiences…and sometimes a virtual cup of tea.
First things first
By signing up to the Forum, you agree to our Terms and conditions: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/forum_policy.aspx These set out the legal obligations that we all must abide by. Take a few minutes to read them before you begin. If there are rules that you do not understand, ask us and we'll explain them.
Now that you’ve read the legalese, be sure to review the forum guidelines: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/default.aspx?page=8686
This sets out how we relate to each other on the forum. It is also a guide to how you can expect to be treated here. If you see a post that you feel breaches our rules, report it to a moderator. You can do this either by sending a message to: [email protected] or by clicking on the blue ‘Report this post’ button at the upper-right hand corner of each message.
Next, see what others are talking about
You can see the ongoing conversations in a number of ways:
Click on ‘Forum home’. From here you can see all the sections of the forum.
Click on ‘Latest activity’. From here, you can see conversations which have been posted in the last 12 hours. In the upper right hand corner, you can change this time frame to a range of times from 1 hour to 48 hours.
If you have a particular question or an interested in a specific topic, try ‘search the forum’ on the upper left hand side.
Is there a topic you're interested in?
Use the 'search the forum' facility to find previous conversations about your topic.
Introduce yourself! We’re waiting to meet you
The ‘Meet and greet’ section gives new users an opportunity to introduce themselves and meet the other users. You can write a little about yourself and why you’re here.
To post a message, click on the "post reply" link in the upper right-hand corner of any post.
Ready to post more?
There are a number of forums including:
• About the Forum
• Daily life
• Treatments
• Carer’s, friends and family
and more.
It is worth taking a look at the stickies about each section. You can do this by going to the main forum page: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/ and clicking on any section.
At the top, you will see a post with “sticky” before it. Stickies provide important information about the various sections and where you can go for additional help.
Abbreviations
To help you get started, here are some abbreviations which are commonly used on the forum:
OH…other half (partner or spouse)
PK....Parkinson's
PwP...People with Parkinson's
ASAP..As soon as possible
pls...Please
meds..Medicines, medication
DA....Dopamine agonist
neuro.Neurologist
GP....General Practitioner
OCD...Obsessive compulsive disorder
dx....Diagnosed
thnx -- thanks.
If you ever have a question or want to contact us, you can use this email address or 'Contact a moderator' from the forum.
Best regards,
Ezinda
Moderator
Looks good to me but I still don't know what a "sticky" is
Nor do I.
and me makes 3
A sticky is supposed to act like a "post it note". In other words a constant reminder or an alert to draw attention to important information.
Thanks all. Blueeyes is right that a sticky is like a post-it note.
If you go to the main forum home page: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/default.aspx you'll see the various forums listed (eg About the forum, Meet and greet, Daily life, etc.) If you click on any one of those, at the top before any posts, you'll see a first post that says "Sticky: xxxx".
That post will always be at the top and gives important information about using the forum, contact details for the helpline and the purpose of each of the individual sections. In the case of Treatments, there is now information added about impulsive and compulsive behaviours.
Does that help?
Ezinda
If you go to the main forum home page: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/default.aspx you'll see the various forums listed (eg About the forum, Meet and greet, Daily life, etc.) If you click on any one of those, at the top before any posts, you'll see a first post that says "Sticky: xxxx".
That post will always be at the top and gives important information about using the forum, contact details for the helpline and the purpose of each of the individual sections. In the case of Treatments, there is now information added about impulsive and compulsive behaviours.
Does that help?
Ezinda
I've just found the 'Stickies' 
But i'm not sure how people clicking on the website for the first time and click on forum will receive the just said e-mail for the relevant information to get them started? I don't remember getting one? I just remember clicking around trial and error fashion and am still uncovering things! Must admit, i was looking for a little yellow piece of paper 
Maybe you could replace the word 'Sticky' with a flashing symbol saying 'Read Me' ? Otherwise all looks good.
Diane
But i'm not sure how people clicking on the website for the first time and click on forum will receive the just said e-mail for the relevant information to get them started? I don't remember getting one? I just remember clicking around trial and error fashion and am still uncovering things! Must admit, i was looking for a little yellow piece of paper Maybe you could replace the word 'Sticky' with a flashing symbol saying 'Read Me' ? Otherwise all looks good. Diane
yes - the email makes perfect sense to me. I'm not sure if I got it or not (registered 24 August). I do remember that my registration confirmation email got stuck in a spam filter so there was a delay before I could join in
Thanks for your letter of 7th sept i found it very helpful as i have realy just been struggling round the forum. Chris
I'm a new user of the forum, and i found the stickies good. I think the main problem is not the sticky itself, its that some people don't know what a stickie is, so don't click on it.
Hi all, I am being very thick here and cannot see where to click in order to bring up the 'sticky' sign!
Chrissie, the Sticky is at th top of each topic pagE of the forum. For example if you click on treatments you will see the sticky at the top of the first page. The sticky for treatments will always contain up to date info about OCD side effects.
I think the issue here is the word "sticky". it is a term used by the younger generation or by forum geeks? I'm not implying for one minute the Moderators are "geeks" however they are generally a wee bit younger than most of us, bless them!
My suggestion would be to replace the phrase "sticky" at the top of each section with the phrase "important information" highlighted in bold type?
I think the issue here is the word "sticky". it is a term used by the younger generation or by forum geeks? I'm not implying for one minute the Moderators are "geeks" however they are generally a wee bit younger than most of us, bless them!
My suggestion would be to replace the phrase "sticky" at the top of each section with the phrase "important information" highlighted in bold type?
Hi all,
Thanks for the suggestion blueeyes47.
In fact, the term “sticky” is a pretty commonly used one on websites, forums etc. It’s not something that us “geeks” came up with on our own! It should bring to mind something like a sticky note that stays where it is placed.
Unfortunately, this is a part of the system that we are using so we would not be able to change it from here. However, I am happy to answer any questions about stickies as I’m sure the more experienced members of the forum are.
They are the first post on each of the sections and they give information about what that section is for. As an example, click here
http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/topics.aspx?forum=treatments
for the treatment forum and the sticky will be the first message you see. I hope this helps.
Oh, and the age range of our moderators might surprise you!
Ezinda
Thanks for the suggestion blueeyes47.
In fact, the term “sticky” is a pretty commonly used one on websites, forums etc. It’s not something that us “geeks” came up with on our own! It should bring to mind something like a sticky note that stays where it is placed.
Unfortunately, this is a part of the system that we are using so we would not be able to change it from here. However, I am happy to answer any questions about stickies as I’m sure the more experienced members of the forum are.
They are the first post on each of the sections and they give information about what that section is for. As an example, click here
http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/topics.aspx?forum=treatments
for the treatment forum and the sticky will be the first message you see. I hope this helps.
Oh, and the age range of our moderators might surprise you!
Ezinda
.
Hi.
I think some of our members may be new to computers completely, and won't even know what all the keyboard buttons do. Perhaps a well meaning PD Nurse has suggested they get a laptop in order to browse this site, and maybe make friends here. But when the baffled new user feels lost in technology he/she is often too embarrassed to say so, and therefore never gets the full benefit.
Perhaps we need a help/advice section for computer virgins?
E.g.
Learning to use WordPad, etc:
Click START
Click HELP AND SUPPORT
Enter USING WORDPAD into the "Search Help" box & click the magnifying glass.
You'll be presented with about 2 dozen learning topics, all of which will be useful. However unless you have some emergency, start with learning about WordPad, as these instructions are presented to us in a logical sequence.
And so on.
Hi.
I think some of our members may be new to computers completely, and won't even know what all the keyboard buttons do. Perhaps a well meaning PD Nurse has suggested they get a laptop in order to browse this site, and maybe make friends here. But when the baffled new user feels lost in technology he/she is often too embarrassed to say so, and therefore never gets the full benefit.
Perhaps we need a help/advice section for computer virgins?
E.g.
Learning to use WordPad, etc:
Click START
Click HELP AND SUPPORT
Enter USING WORDPAD into the "Search Help" box & click the magnifying glass.
You'll be presented with about 2 dozen learning topics, all of which will be useful. However unless you have some emergency, start with learning about WordPad, as these instructions are presented to us in a logical sequence.
And so on.
Very helpful......thanks 
Hello all,
Here is an updated version of the welcome message we send to new members who join the community.
Ezinda
Welcome to the Parkinson’s UK forum community. Members of the forum are people affected by Parkinson’s. This means people with Parkinson’s, friends, carers, families and others. Community members share experiences, information, experiences…and sometimes a virtual cup of tea.
Have you signed up to receive private messages?
If you’ve signed up to receive private messages, please be aware that this operates through email. This means that when you send a private message to another community member, your email address will be visible to them. If you would prefer not to share your email address, you can stop receiving private messages by changing the setting under ‘my account’. Alternatively, you can create an email address specifically for use on the forum. Parkinson’s UK cannot be responsible for the content of private messages sent between community members.
First things first
By signing up to the Forum, you agree to our Terms and Conditions (http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/forum_policy.aspx). These set out the legal obligations that we all must abide by. Take a few minutes to read them before you begin. If there are rules that you do not understand, ask us and we'll explain them.
Now that you’ve read the legalese, be sure to review the forum guidelines (http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/default.aspx?page=8686) This sets out how we relate to each other on the forum. It is also a guide to how you can expect to be treated here. If you see a post that you feel breaches our rules, report it to a moderator. You can do this either by sending a message to: [email protected] or by clicking on the blue ‘Report this post’ button at the upper-right hand corner of each message.
Next, see what others are talking about
You can see the ongoing conversations in a number of ways:
Click on ‘Forum home’. From here you can see all the sections of the forum.
Click on ‘Latest activity’. From here, you can see conversations which have been posted in the last 12 hours. In the upper right hand corner, you can change this time frame to a range of times from 1 hour to 48 hours.
If you have a particular question or an interested in a specific topic, try ‘search the forum’ on the upper left hand side.
Is there a topic you're interested in?
Use the 'search the forum' facility to find previous conversations about your topic.
Introduce yourself! We’re waiting to meet you.
The ‘Meet and greet’ section gives new users an opportunity to introduce themselves and meet the other users. You can write a little about yourself and why you’re here.
To post a message, click on the "post reply" link in the upper right-hand corner of any post. You can also find out more about your hosts, the Parkinson’s UK community team here: http://bit.ly/zRiAth
Ready to post more?
There are a number of forums including About the Forum, Daily life, Treatments, Carer’s, friends and family and more.
It is worth taking a look at the stickies about each section. You can do this by going to the main forum page: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/ and clicking on any section. At the top, you will see a post with “sticky” before it. Stickies provide important information about the various sections and where you can go for additional help.
Abbreviations
To help you get started, here are some abbreviations which are commonly used on the forum:
OH…other half (partner or spouse)
PK....Parkinson's
PwP...People with Parkinson's
ASAP..As soon as possible
pls...Please
meds..Medicines, medication
DA....Dopamine agonist
neuro.Neurologist
GP....General Practitioner
ICB…impulsive and compulsive behaviour
dx....Diagnosed
thnx -- thanks.
If you ever have a question or want to contact us, you can use this email address or 'Contact a moderator' from the forum.
Here is an updated version of the welcome message we send to new members who join the community.
Ezinda
Welcome to the Parkinson’s UK forum community. Members of the forum are people affected by Parkinson’s. This means people with Parkinson’s, friends, carers, families and others. Community members share experiences, information, experiences…and sometimes a virtual cup of tea.
Have you signed up to receive private messages?
If you’ve signed up to receive private messages, please be aware that this operates through email. This means that when you send a private message to another community member, your email address will be visible to them. If you would prefer not to share your email address, you can stop receiving private messages by changing the setting under ‘my account’. Alternatively, you can create an email address specifically for use on the forum. Parkinson’s UK cannot be responsible for the content of private messages sent between community members.
First things first
By signing up to the Forum, you agree to our Terms and Conditions (http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/forum_policy.aspx). These set out the legal obligations that we all must abide by. Take a few minutes to read them before you begin. If there are rules that you do not understand, ask us and we'll explain them.
Now that you’ve read the legalese, be sure to review the forum guidelines (http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/default.aspx?page=8686) This sets out how we relate to each other on the forum. It is also a guide to how you can expect to be treated here. If you see a post that you feel breaches our rules, report it to a moderator. You can do this either by sending a message to: [email protected] or by clicking on the blue ‘Report this post’ button at the upper-right hand corner of each message.
Next, see what others are talking about
You can see the ongoing conversations in a number of ways:
Click on ‘Forum home’. From here you can see all the sections of the forum.
Click on ‘Latest activity’. From here, you can see conversations which have been posted in the last 12 hours. In the upper right hand corner, you can change this time frame to a range of times from 1 hour to 48 hours.
If you have a particular question or an interested in a specific topic, try ‘search the forum’ on the upper left hand side.
Is there a topic you're interested in?
Use the 'search the forum' facility to find previous conversations about your topic.
Introduce yourself! We’re waiting to meet you.
The ‘Meet and greet’ section gives new users an opportunity to introduce themselves and meet the other users. You can write a little about yourself and why you’re here.
To post a message, click on the "post reply" link in the upper right-hand corner of any post. You can also find out more about your hosts, the Parkinson’s UK community team here: http://bit.ly/zRiAth
Ready to post more?
There are a number of forums including About the Forum, Daily life, Treatments, Carer’s, friends and family and more.
It is worth taking a look at the stickies about each section. You can do this by going to the main forum page: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforum/ and clicking on any section. At the top, you will see a post with “sticky” before it. Stickies provide important information about the various sections and where you can go for additional help.
Abbreviations
To help you get started, here are some abbreviations which are commonly used on the forum:
OH…other half (partner or spouse)
PK....Parkinson's
PwP...People with Parkinson's
ASAP..As soon as possible
pls...Please
meds..Medicines, medication
DA....Dopamine agonist
neuro.Neurologist
GP....General Practitioner
ICB…impulsive and compulsive behaviour
dx....Diagnosed
thnx -- thanks.
If you ever have a question or want to contact us, you can use this email address or 'Contact a moderator' from the forum.