About the Wivenhoe Forum
The Wivenhoe Forum is an online message board that was launched in January 2011 to help promote the town of Wivenhoe in North Essex. We have no connection with Wivenhoe in Australia, apart from sharing the same wonderful name.
Below is the closest the Wivenhoe Forum will probably ever come to a Frequently Asked Questions list.
1. A user has posted a message that I disagree with. What can I do?
2. Is the Wivenhoe Forum moderated?
3. Why do I need to register to post on the Wivenhoe Forum?
4. What details are you getting out of me when I register?
5. Do you want me to register with my real name?
6. I am a local Wivenhoe trader. Can I advertise on the Wivenhoe Forum?
7. What is the Wivenhoe Traders board for then?
8. Your category of boards doesn't cover the full scope of Wivenhoe life.
9. What software is used to run the Wivenhoe Forum?
10. The Wivenhoe Forum needs pictures of kittens, wall to wall youtube, Facebook & twitter integration.
11. How can I support the Wivenhoe Forum?
12. Who is this mysterious 'we' that you speak of?
13. I have a question that hasn't been answered. What are you going to do about it?
1. A user has posted a message that I disagree with. What can I do?
Well... Resist the temptation to fire off a quick, angry response. The Wivenhoe Forum is not a place to troll other locals within our community. Put the kettle, have a think (Wivenhoe folk tend to be rather good at thinking) and then post a reasoned reply, stating why you are right. But hopefully it won't come to that. This is a place for sharing and co-operation.
If a post is so blatantly antagonistic that it requires moderation, then please use the flag option and we'll deal with any of the fall out.
Ah yes - about moderation...
2. Is the Wivenhoe Forum moderated?
Yep - we are modded by folk who *cough* have a professional background in this type of work. The Wivenhoe Forum is currently operating under post-moderation. This basically means that all posts appear live, without any prior moderation. This is the way it should remain. Any posts that have been edited will be flagged as so by the moderation team.
The whole point of sharing information online is the ease of instant communication. Let's keep it this way, without any need for a queue of pre-moderated posts. This isn't a place for local gossip. Plenty of gossip take place around the town, but it's probably best left for an informal pub conversation. Instead we welcome news, information and updates that aren't of a personal nature...
3. Why do I need to register to post on the Wivenhoe Forum?
Precisely for the reasons above. Guest users tend to bring out the immature nature that the internet is capable of breeding. Plus we want to build a genuine community of local Wivenhoe users who will be recognisable, if not offline, then certainly online. Guests can read posts, but you will need to register to participate in the community. A ban functionality is in place, but we'd rather not have to talk about that.
4. What details are you getting out of me when I register?
Not a lot. An email address and an IP address that will be displayed, and that's basically it. You can choose to hide your email address to other users when you sign up, and we will never use this address, other than to contact you if a problem arises. The IP address is simply a security measure that identifies which computer a posting has been made from.
5. Do you want me to register with my real name?
That is purely up to you. With such a wide skills base within Wivenhoe, we believe that a real name will only help to build trust and growth within the Wivenhoe Forum. It is entirely fine to have a separate online identity, although please don't hide behind this to make mischief.
6. I am a local Wivenhoe trader. Can I advertise on the Wivenhoe Forum?
To be decided... We're not entirely sure what the response rate will be and so it would be unfair to offer a rate card right now. There's not a great deal of overheads to be honest - forty pounds per year for hosting, and a tenner for the domain name registration. The main investment is the time that it has taken to set up the Wivenhoe Forum, and then the moderation. We may explore the possibility of sponsorship, but certainly not until (or even if) the Wivenhoe Forum finds its feet.
7. What is the Wivenhoe Traders board for then?
We appreciate the benefits of a local economy, and would encourage any local traders to post details of their services here. We are going to be fairly lenient at first, and allow one post per business. Please don't abuse this and start to spam the boards. The one exception to this rule is the Residential Property board. We positively welcome any of our local estate agents to post up details of Wivenhoe based property that they are either selling or letting.
We would welcome feedback and comment from customers as well. Being business, then some of this may not be positive. There is obviously a fine line between honest criticism of a service, and blatant slagging off. The latter we won't allow - we should be supporting local Wivenhoe traders where possible.
"My pint of Guinness pulled in Pub X had a dodgy head," is probably fair game.
"My pint of lager in Pub Y tasted like ****" is perhaps OTT. You shouldn't be drinking lager, anyway. Oh - and please don't say **** or ******. There is a minimum age limit of thirteen to register for this site. Swearing is neither big, nor clever (except in Pub X and Pub Y.)
8. Your category of boards doesn't cover the full scope of Wivenhoe life.
Yes, we would probably agree. If there is a really pressing category that you feel needs to be added, please do let us know.
9. What software is used to run the Wivenhoe Forum?
The main functionality has been supplied by Vanilla, a new OS software for online community management. The hosting is provided by the brilliant 4uhosting. Should you have any further questions or require some help regarding the tech side of the Forum, we would be very happy to help out.
Not here my friend, I'm afraid. This is first and foremost a place for dialogue and conversation. The Vanilla OS is still growing, and there isn't a great deal more to add to the mix right now. We've tried with images, but they look rather rubbish. Plus they take up valuable bandwidth. It's all about the conversation. Facebook and twitter integration (i.e. signing in) were also trialed. We may come back to these, but they just seem like tech for tech sake. We want ALL Wivenhoe locals to benefit from the Wivenhoe Forum, not just the CO7 twitteratti.
11. How can I support the Wivenhoe Forum?
Simply by using it. Please start conversations, no matter how trivial. If you have an event to promote, no matter how small, please add it to our What's on in Wivenhoe section. Please do carry on this conversation around the town as well. We aren't advertising (behave!) so any promotion would be welcome. Tell folk in the pub, at work or at home. Let's see where this takes us...
12. Who is this mysterious 'we' that you speak of?
I am Jason Cobb, and although I'm relatively new to the area (second coming) I have already found much love for Wivenhoe. My paid work involves managing online communities, as well as producing websites for schools. I blog frequently (probably too frequently) over here. I also publish the Colchester Chronicle. I want to promote an online presence for Wivenhoe that will help local people make the most of this wonderful place in which we all live. Plus I want to meet more people personally...
13. I have a question that hasn't been answered. What are you going to do about it?
Email the Wivenhoe Forum and we will be very happy to try and help.
Now then: please go and start a conversation...