Eating disorder forum & replacing online/offline buttons?

[uk23]

Since anxiety can contribute to eating, self image and general eating disorders - would it be a good idea to trail an eating disorder sub forum?

On a seperate note, the online/offline buttons have been annoying me on here, I don't think they stand out. So what do you think of these instead?

If any of the admins would like to use them instead let me know and I can provide the psd and transparent gif.

[Vixxy]

I think a specific section for eating disorders might be a good idea. It would be useful for people that over eat (comfort eating) and under eating due to anxiety.

[Vixxy]

Adding to that. There is a thread with people trying to lose weight on here. It might be a good idea if the site has a section specifically for them. A bit like an online weigh****chers

[Nigel]

Hmm...
It’ll be interesting to see what the others think about it, but I can hazard a guess.

I think a general eating disorder section would be OK, but where to draw the line
I had a good friend who was a member here and she suffered with anorexia. There were times when feeling particularly distressed where she wrote quite graphic posts about the things she was doing and the ways she was feeling. Some of those posts did upset some members, as you can imagine, considering the nature of this forum. Some had to be edited/removed, and that caused her even more distress.

So it’s rather a tricky one because you can’t really have an ED section then limit what’s posted in it. Another consideration is that NMP isn’t really geared up to deal with the complications of EDs.

I believe there have been various weight loss threads here in the past, and they tended to be in the ‘Misc’ or ‘Natural Remedies’ sections. That did make me smile because I remember my friend whenever such threads were running. They drove her to despair because she so dearly wanted to join them but nobody would let her because, obviously, in her case it was for all the wrong reasons

Nigel

[uk23]

I do think it would be a good idea, but if you like make it clear to posters that the same rules apply in all nmp forums and if the content might be triggering or offensive to put a little warning at the top.

How about my nice looking buttons? Any comments?

[nomorepanic]

Piers - I like the buttons. Will have to ask Alex about using them. Where did you get them from ?

I am not happy about a separate forum for Eating Disorders and won't be creating one - sorry. I do not feel that we are equipped to deal with such issues as anorexia and we have had problems with this is in the past as Nigel implied.

[Nigel]

Hi Piers,

I deliberately didn’t comment about your buttons because I have no idea how technically feasible it would be to change just one small element of the forum.

Yes, the disclaimer idea is one solution, but you know how well that seems to work
Lets see what the others think.

BTW, any chance of making your screen shots a little narrower? I’m using a 15” monitor and they force this thread to have massive scroll bars.

Thanks
Nigel

[uk23]

Hi, I made the buttons (I am/used to be when I had motivation a UI Designer and Developer.)

They are very easy to change and just need 2 files changed by ftp.

[KK77]

What's happened to this page? Hope there are no viruses bugging the NMP Control Panel lol

I think the buttons look good personally.

I also think that this forum is at risk of becoming too complex for newbies to navigate. I think there are enough sub-forums as it is and anything more specific can be covered in the General Anxiety or Misc sections.

[uk23]

Btw, how about instead of a proper eating disorder forum, how about a place whos eating habits have changed due to anxiety or something along those lines.

edit: changed the picture size for you Nigel. Sorry using a 26" monitor!