All

When I started this forum I never ever imagined it would take off like it has and it has gone from being a few posts a day to nearly 90 new/updated topics each day! I used to sit here at night and want more posts to come in that I could reply to and now I am overwhelmed at the number we are getting. What a fab situation to be in.

We have a range of people on here from those that work full-time and can only come on at night to those that are at home all day and waiting patiently for some advice or equally waiting to advise others. We also have all our overseas visitors which is great because they wake up and post when we in the UK are in bed sleeping!

I try to read (if not reply) to all posts so I can keep up with all the new members and updates on existing ones but it is hard work when I work full-time and spend all night on here.

Anyway the point of this post is as follows ...

Please bear with us. It takes a while for people to read all the new posts so sometimes you won't get an instant reply.

The best way to keep up is to use "active topics" as you can look at all posts since your last visit, since yesterday, since an hour ago etc. Most of us use this to find the new posts.

Firstly please be patient. People will reply as and when they can and this can sometimes take a few days. Make sure you keep revisiting your original posts to ensure that you didn't miss any replies. If you have additional info to add then add to the ORIGINAL post and don't start a new one because it is so hard to keep up and follow the original thread.

If you don't get a reply after a few days then please make the topic active again by replying to the original post asking for any help. Sometimes people do miss posts.

Please take the time to acknowledge any help you have been offered - a simple "Thanks" will do. People respond to a little thanks for their help. Remember that we all do this for free and no-one gets paid to reply and they do it in their own time and for the benefit of the forum.

Meg and I constantly post links to previous posts and this is not because we are "fobbing" you off or can't be bothered to reply. It is because we know that reading previous posts will really help you and you will get so much information just by reading them.

This document has always been between me and Meg but I am thinking that maybe I could do one with common issues on it and make it available to you all. In this way you can refer to it when you have an issue and then read previous posts. Of course you are then welcome to add to those posts to increase the information on it. If this is of interest then I will get it arranged.

The idea is not to distract from posting on here but to offer immediate help and advice to common problems that are posted about every day.

I hope this post has been of some help and thanks to everyone that takes time to post and reply - it is what makes this forum what it is. I am just trying to make it even better for everyone.

Thanks for reading!

Nicola