Blogs, they are a changin'...

We have all been overwhelmed by the amount of support you have given each other through the NRAS.HealthUnlocked site over the last month.

You may already know that NRAS has its own blog where different members of the NRAS team post about once a week to update supporters and members with what’s going on within the charity.

To avoid confusion and to encourage more people to use this new NRAS.HealthUnlocked site, we are going to move our charity’s blogs onto here.

All of your blogs will be under a section called ‘Community Blog’ and our ‘official NRAS’ blogs will be under ‘NRAS Blogs’. In Community Blog everyone will be able to blog – you don’t have to apply for blogger status anymore and hopefully this will encourage even more contributions. Only NRAS staff will be able to blog on the NRAS Blog, but you can still comment – and we would love to hear those comments!

With this change, it’s important for me to recognise that those of you already blogging are what’s made this a success. You’ll always be the pioneers and I hope you’ll continue to welcome new joiners and shape the constructive and supportive feel to this site.

We are seeing a steady increase in both members and bloggers each day. Soon there will be a small army of you here to share your experiences and support each other with your RA.

This change will hopefully be completed by Saturday lunchtime, so do be prepared for the new look, although it may take a little longer to copy over all the historic NRAS blogs to our NRAS.HealthUnlocked site.

Many thanks

Emma

[abednegomonkey]

Can I just ask how this site differs to the NRAS forum? I've been a tad confused!

Also how confidential will these ones here be... Will they be open to anyone or are they just members? I'm guessing anyone on the web can read them. Not that's it a problem, but I just wanted some clarification.

Thanks

[Hidden in reply to abednegomonkey]

Hi there,

I’m glad you asked that question as I’m sure other people are probably thinking the same!

The NRAS Forum is one of the many benefits of membership and is only available to those who are currently a member. The HealthUnlocked site another way for people with RA to share their experiences with each other and support each other online.

Although there is not a huge difference, the HealthUnlocked site is used for blogging (amongst other things) and the Members Forum is essentially a 'chat room'.

The HealthUnlocked site is open for anyone, however, before being able to blog or leave a comment on someone else’s blog, you will have to register with the site.

I hope this makes things a little clearer, if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to contact me!

Thanks

Emma

[Tricia-P]

Hi Emma, if we find we get people who do'nt have RA or related illness's will there be a way of deleting them if they are not appropriate?

Tx

[Hidden in reply to Tricia-P]

Hi, Tricia-P,

I know you are mid your virtual tea party right now (I'm having a macchiato...) but to add to what Emma has said:

This site is for those with RA but also may be used by their families, friends or supporters too as a way of helping to understand the disease or support the people they love with the condition.

As with any website, there can only be a limited number of security checks to verify someone is who they say they are otherwise we'd all need to send off a blood sample to REALLY prove our eligibility. There's no reason why this site over any other should attract fraudsters or people bent on other mischief.

Emma is absolutely right, if you think something seems odd or you ever receive inappropriate emails or emails asking for money, personal information, etc., you should report it immediately to someone with 'Admin' status (click in the Directory and sort by Admins). Or submit feedback to us by the feedback button in the top right of the screen. We'll take the necessary steps on your behalf and we'll do this discreetly.

Katie

[Hidden]

Hi Tricia,

I, along with my colleague Charlotte will be moderating the site to ensure this doesn't happen. This site will continue to be a support network for people with RA, and their friends and family.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any issues that you feel should be raised with admin.

Thank you

Emma

[Hidden]

I hope it works out ok as I was just getting familiar with everyone else on here who as RA and now it feels like I'm starting again with people who may not understand!

mand xx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Mand

Pls see my response to your own blog also. Nothing really has altered other than the page location of where you post your blogspot and that now members don't have to be approved by an Admin to be able to write.

Contributors are still members like you and Tricia-P and LynW and Julie55 and Summer and RA-Fibro and Beeper and Emandemum and in fact all the people you are used to hearing from.

Katie

[Penguin]

Is there any way of linking a blog about RA that I write (and have been writing since early 2008) to the NRAS blog? It seems a good idea to me to publicise the few UK RA bloggers around. Perhaps you could have a 'blog roll' linking to NRAS members (or even non-members) who have a blog of their own? (I'm a member.)