OCD Action

Nimrod
Key Master

On Monday 9th November we will be launching the new OCD Action website. The new site aims to be more dynamic, interactive and user friendly. As part of this process, this on-line forum will also be changing.

We believe that the forum is one of the best services that we provide and that the supportive atmosphere that forum members have established is second to none. Once we have made the changeover, the forum will become part of the main site and visitors will be able to register and make posts more easily. We hope to be able to keep all that is good about the forum (that's you) whilst getting more people involved.

Technical stuff..

If you have already signed up to the OCD Action Online Forum, then your account will be transferred to the new website automatically.

Once we have made the changes...

1. All users will unfortunately need to reset their password. This is because of the new encryption method used to store passwords. A notice will be placed on the login screen to remind existing users to reset their passwords. The process is simple, just type in the email address you used to register for the forum and you will be sent a randomly generated password, you can then log in with this and change it to something new or more memorable.

2. Some pages may change slightly as requests are made for alterations where necessary. If at any time you are having trouble with the site then please send an email to info@ocdaction.org.uk and we will look in to the problem for you.

3. Components (friendships, wire, private messages) will be disabled at first by the administrator & moderators. OCD Action will launch with a bare system, and slowly turn on various components as users become more used to the surroundings.

Before we switch over, users may be aware that the OCD Week website has been launched on http://www.ocdweek.org. The new OCD Action website will be based on this design, so users who wish to get a feel for how it works may want to browse around OCD Week, register on the forum there and post comments.

As with any complex technical matter there is always the possibility of snags and while the changeover is happening there may be a short time when the forum is not available but we will do our best to keep any disruption to the minimum.

Once again, if you have any questions then please feel free to contact a member of our team and we will be happy to help.

Best wishes,
Caps

Fri Oct 30 2009 12:46:26 #
Wombat140
Member

I've joined the OCD Week site - it's very swish. I did have a bit of trouble finding my way around - it's hard to tell whether you've seen everything or not. The home page doesn't seem to have a comprehensive "index" of sections, only links to a few "featured" pages. Or perhaps there is an "index" but it doesn't look like one. Maybe when you do this site you could put in one of those "site map" pages. They do make it easier to work out where to look for things.

On the new site could you please keep the animations to a minimum? Or at least have some kind of option to turn them off, without it interfering with the content? I'm slightly autistic-spectrum-something and animations drive me crackers. I've noticed several other people on the forum who are on the autistic spectrum (a lot of OCD sufferers are), and I expect many of them will have the same problem - it's very common. I'm always finding that my favourite sites have had an "upgrade" and put in so many pointless animations that I can't read the site at all because I'm distracted by all the things bouncing up and down in the corners. So far this site has always been blessedly free of animations and other twiddly bits, but I had a bit of trouble reading the OCD Week one. It would be a pity if the OCDAction site were to go the same way.

All this is NOT to say that I don't like the new design. It looks great and works perfectly. I can see a lot of work has gone into it - well done everyone! But it would be a shame if it was spoiled by little glitches like these.
All the best,
Wombat140

Sun Nov 1 2009 17:55:17 #
Nimrod
Key Master

Many thanks for your comments they are very much appreciated and we are keen to have views from everyone so that we can make the website how you want it to be.

Please everyone, do let us have your comments.

Best wishes,
Caps

Sun Nov 1 2009 20:17:13 #
Nimrod
Key Master

The new forum and new website will be going live on Monday 9th November. This will mean that the forum and website will be unavailable from about 10.00 am to 12.00 midday to allow us to make the changeover.

The new software enables us to have a more flexible and comprehensive forum. It will have more facilities than the current forum but at first we will only be running a fairly basic system and we will switch on other facilities over the coming weeks. This is to make it simpler for everyone who is not a computer expert, and that most certainly includes us, (but don't worry we have got some experienced professionals to do the technical stuff for us) to become familiar with the new set up at a reasonable pace rather than throwing us all in at the deep end.

As mentioned before, all users will need to reset their password. This is because of the new encryption method used to store passwords. A notice will be placed on the login screen to remind existing users to reset their passwords. The process is simple, just type in the email address you used to register for the forum and you will be sent a randomly generated password, you can then log in with this and change it to something new or more memorable.

If you have any Private Messages (PMs) stored on the current forum and if you wish to keep them then you will need to copy and save them on your own computer as they will not be transferred to the new forum. The new forum will have a private message facility but it will not be turned on initially.

Similarly if you have other users saved under the Friendships facility you will need to make a note of the details and save it on your own computer as the details will not be transferred to the new forum. The new forum will have a similar feature which will be turned on in due course.

If you have any questions or if at any time you are having trouble with the website or the new forum then please send an email to info@ocdaction.org.uk and we will look in to the problem. We would also like to hear your views about it so please do tell what you like, what you don't like and what changes or improvements you would like to see.

Finally, this is as new to us as it is to you so please bear with us if there are some "technical hitches".

Best wishes,
Caps

Wed Nov 4 2009 21:11:27 #
Nimrod
Key Master

Don't forget, we change over to the new forum on Monday, so this weekend is your last chance to save any private messages from this forum.

Caps

Sat Nov 7 2009 11:14:04 #