Forum
Our forum is a place where you can share and discuss your experiences with other members, or ask for help and advice. We only allow RAFWA members to have access to the forum so you can feel confident that there is a level of confidentiality and sensitivity, and know your remarks will not be readable by the public.
To join the forum:
- Go to www.rafwidowsassociation.org.uk/rafwaforum or click the red tab ‘RAFWA forum’ in the top right corner of the screen. This will take you to the forum website.
- Once on the forum website, click “Register”. You will be asked to agree to our forum rules and to enter a username (please use your full name), an email address and a password.
- Our forum moderators will then be notified of your request to join. Please be patient because our moderators will manually check your name against our membership records. Your membership will normally be approved in a couple of days.
When using the forum, please adhere to the guidelines below.
General guidance for good practice in using the RAFWA forum
1. Be thoughtful and sensitive in your response to other people’s messages even if you disagree with them. Never be rude or dismissive about someone’s messages – if you have any complaints about other people’s behaviour take it up with the forum manager rather than trying to deal with it yourself.
2. Keep your messages short – if you want to write an essay put it on a web page or somewhere else where people can look at it if they choose, then send a short message to the forum announcing it.
3. Only reply if you have something new to add – don’t send messages saying “I agree with X” or similar – unless X is isolated and needs support. Silence is generally taken to imply agreement.
4. Reply to the forum and not to the sender of the message – messages to a discussion forum are intended for public discussion. Your email package should pick up the “Reply to:” line in the message header or you may need to change the reply address, but you should always reply to the forum unless you have something personal and private to say to the sender.
Note: Please don’t use “Reply to all”. This will send a copy to the forum plus a copy to the sender. The sender will get two copies. If the sender also uses “Reply to all”, you will get two copies: this can escalate and be a real nuisance to everyone concerned. Post messages only to the forum unless you have a good reason to copy someone else!
5. Keep your messages within the general topic area of the forum
6. Announcements of local and national events etc. are welcome but please place them in ‘fundraising & events’ section and keep them short.
7. When replying to a message please use the same “subject” line so that people will find it easy to follow the “thread” of a topic.
8. If you are introducing a new topic choose a new subject line that makes the subject of your message clear to all.
9. Always choose a new subject line when your reply moves the topic away from what most people would expect from the existing subject line. Don’t be afraid to change the subject line to something more suitable when topic drift has taken place, even if you are not the first person to write about the new topic.
10. Always sign your messages – please add your name at the end of your message, in the way you would normally introduce yourself, for example, “Best wishes, Jane Smith” or simply “Jane Smith”. This helps to make the discussion friendly, since people can then say “I agree with Jane that . . . ” or “Hi Jane, thanks for your useful comment. My own view is that . . .” This is particularly important if your name isn’t clear from your email address. The forum is not an appropriate place for anonymous debate.
11. Please do not use the forum for sending attached files, questionnaires or forwarding messages or announcements you receive from other people or lists.
12. If you quote (include part of the previous person’s message and then reply to it) please only do so where necessary and don’t quote the whole message.