Here are a few tips that I hope will help all of you to make the most of the forum and to utilize our moderator service efficiently to help ensure that everyone gets the most out of the forum. Thanks for taking the time to review them.

Tari-Lee

Where to Post Questions:
We check for posted questions in the Q and A sections of the forum in the mornings Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays except on American holidays (Christmas, New Years, Easter, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Rememberance Day etc)

Has Your Question Already Been Answered in the Past?
We encourage you to do a search before posting a question so to prevent us from having to post answers to questions that have already been answered repeatedly. We realize it is hard to know sometimes whether it will be worth doing a search or not and sometimes, you'll just have to check on the search or… ask it anyway and we'll tell you if it would be more appropriate to try a search.

We have an excellent search engine built into the site. You can click on the advanced search option if you’d like to narrow the search down and set it to search by author name or by date or just in a specific forum section.

It can be very helpful to see what’s been discussed on your topic of interest in the past. In some cases you may find all the answers you need within the results of your search. In other cases, you may still feel the need to ask your question but at least you’ll have some background knowledge on the subject and maybe even find greater clarity about what you need to know.

When searching the forums, try different words that may apply to your question. For example: if you would like to read posts about constipation, do a search using the word constipation -and also try other words such as constipated. The search function is very specific and spelling is also very important.

Also make sure that you select to "Search ALL open forums and archives" If using more than one word in your search at a time, make sure you select "Match ANY of the search terms above" for the best results.

Start a Fresh Thread
When posting a question, if it doesn’t relate directly to an open thread, it is much better to start a new thread than to tack it on the bottom of a new thread. This helps a lot when you or other members are searching for a topic in the archives. It can be easily found by searching key words from the topic name or by searching the user name with the name of the originator of the thread. It also ensures that the question gets noticed by the moderators.

Help me Help you
Hi guys. I come online for 90 minutes twice per week and I try to get to everyone's questions within that time. It is really helpful if you can keep your questions clear and direct.

Sometimes you need to give a little background information before posing a question but please help me help [all of] you by outlining your needs specifically. If I spend too long sorting through one person’s questions, others’ questions may go unanswered.

We don’t restrict the number of questions that members can ask but rather ask folks to keep fairness in mind when utilizing the resources here. Everyone needs different levels of support at different times in the program. We just ask that everyone be mindful and fair so that we can help as many people as possible.

I send a heartfelt THANK YOU to those of our wonderful long standing members who actually jump in and respond to some of our “newbies” at the beginning of their programs when the questions are many. Your special brand of help from the "voice of experience" comes with a special flavour of empathy and compassion that is priceless. Your generosity has been particularly helpful since we've had to cut back to three days of moderating a week.

Short Paragraphs
Some of our members have trouble with vision and concentration so it is very helpful if you can space your posts out with small paragraphs for ease of reading.

Reading the Current Discussions
We answer questions with the assumption that most of you have read the educational literature provided on the forum and that you are reading the daily posts on a semi regular basis. If you want to make sure you get to see all of the new posts since the last time you logged onto the forum, you can use the little “globe feature”. At the top left corner of each main page of the forum sections, you can double click on the little tiny globe icon. This will drop down a menu with two options. One is “View all posts since your last visit” and the other is “View today’s active topics”.

Chatting vs. Mutual Support
Although this forum was not really set up as a chat forum, the ability to connect with others online who struggle with similar problems and successes is very important to our members.

Over the time that I’ve been with the forum, I’ve been amazed at the mutual support offered by our members to each other. Your support is much appreciated by myself and all the other members when you do step in to offer some love, wisdom and guidance.

I would never discourage those kinds of contributions! However if you find that your conversation is becoming quite personal and that it is following a topic that is not necessarily of the sort that will benefit other members, you are welcome to exchange emails with each other privately. By double clicking on a member’s name, you will display a drop down menu with the option to view that member’s profile. If they have their email address listed, then this usually means that they are open to communication from other forum members in this way.

“Conversational” Posts vs. Questions for the Moderator
I try to read all of the exchanges on the forum and I often comment on subjects raised on the forum even when the posts do not include a specific query, but sometimes I get pressed for time and need to read through quickly to find those that specifically require a response from me.

With this in mind, if you can post your conversational posts separately from your asking for help posts, it saves me digging the questions out of the post and leaves me more time to answer questions.(Thanks, Tari-Lee)

Please insert your questions clearly at the end of your post.
Once you’ve introduced your question, it’s most efficient if you can clearly state your question at the bottom of your post. We know that sometimes the questions just don't come out clearly, especially when you are feeling overwhelmed or unwell but I appreciate your effort in the direction of listing your questions as clearly and simply as possible.

How to Email your Forum Friends
If you want to get in touch with one of your "forum friends" by private email, you can if they have posted their email address in their profile. Click on their name to the left of a post written by them and in the drop down menu select "view this member's profile". If they included it in their profile information when they registered, you can see it there.

If you want to edit your own profile, click on "My Space" on the blue toolbar and then select "Profile". Here you can also add or change details about your home town, your hobbies etc.

You can send a link to a friend by email if you read something that you think would be helpful to a friend or family member. This is a great way to introduce the site to someone for the first time. Open the thread with the specific message you would like them to see. Then go up to the blue toolbar at the top of each forum section and clicking on "Tools", in the drop down menu will be the option to "Email a friend".

There is a pencil and eraser icon in the bottom right corner of each post that allows you to edit or delete a message that you wrote in case you made a mistake that you don't see until after you've posted. You’ll find a link at the bottom of this post that will take you to some more detailed forum navigation tips.

Thanks to all of you for trying to help us make the most of the resources that we have available so that we can continue to support our members with the highest quality support possible.And thank you for your participation on the Whole Approach Forums!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tarilee,