Hello Susan. Thank you for joining me today to talk about The World According to the Knock forum. I’m sure that our readers would love to know, what inspired the creation of the forum?
I’ve been supporting family members since 2019, and it became apparent that people wanted a forum-based format, in a private space, which is easily accessible. I thought about how we could achieve this. The decision to create a forum was not a quick one; it took months of thinking, planning, consulting, until we finally reached the place we are at now.
Of course, things grow and change over time and we welcome feedback from the community. This is a community space, it belongs to us all. The forum is a private space and members will need to sign up in order to join.
Thanks Susan. Who is the forum designed for?
The forum is for family members affected by a loved one’s offending, which resulted in ‘the Knock’ relating to a sexual offence. It’s not about the offences but it’s about the journey we have to go through and what we experience as family members. It’s a non-judgmental space.
The forum has a unique layout. Can you explain more about this?
There are eleven different sections. The sections, (which follow The Wizard of Oz theme of season one of our podcast) have been based on community feedback, and represent different topics, and different parts of our journey. This is designed to create a safe space for people going through different elements of the Knock, and to try and minimise forum users being triggered.
1) We’re not in Kansas any more (general discussion)
2) Dorothy’s Story (your own story)
3) The Tin Man (legal section)
4) The Scarecrow (social services/ children)
5) There’s no place like home (partners remaining in a relationship or undecided)
6) Click 3 times (partners no longer in a relationship)
7) Aunty Em & Uncle Henry (parents’ section)
8) Dorothy’s Family (siblings, aunts, uncles, friends)
9) House of a different colour (neurodiversity & mental health)
10) End of the yellow brick road (after sentencing)
11) The Wicked Witch’s Castle (custodial sentences)
To register as a forum user, you will need to sign up. People will be manually approved. This process may take a little time as the site is run on a voluntary basis. Once you have been approved, you can post on the forum.
Only members can see the forum; it’s private in order to protect you, and so that you will feel able to post safely.
Can you take me through the sign up process?
Go to the website https://theworldaccordingt86.wixsite.com/theknock
From the menu at the top right, select Log in
Then select ‘Sign Up’
which will take you to this screen.
Choose a password and enter your email address and enter something into the spaces where it asks for your first and last name. We recommend that you just enter your initials here and not your full name but if you forget, don’t worry it can be changed after you have been approved. You can sign up using Facebook or Google on the previous screens but please note that the system will automatically use whatever first name and surname you are using on those accounts already, so you may prefer to sign up by email address.
You will then be asked three screening questions. This is necessary for security on our site, but more than that, to get to know what you need from the forum.
You will then receive a code by email. Please activate this code within 15 minutes or it will expire. You will need to go to the website and enter this code. This step has been included in order to prevent porn, spam and bot accounts from accessing our forum.
Once you have entered the code, one of our admins will approve you. You will be notified by email once you have been approved,so leave the website at this point and wait for your email.
Whilst the site is manned out of hours, if you sign up during the night time you might need to wait a few hours before you can access the forum. You will receive an email once you have been approved. Once you have received a confirmation email, you can access the forum by logging in.
Please note, you can change your profile settings, name, profile picture as you wish once you’re logged in to the website. It was an important element for us to have a customisable profile feature so that you can personalise your experience. You can also follow other users to receive updates.
You will receive updates by email around daily forum activity or if someone replies to your post.
There is also the Wix Spaces app which you can download on most devices and which makes it easy to create forum posts, reply to others, receive notifications to your phone, and keep up to date with activity on the forum.
What can people expect from the forum?
Support and understanding, solidarity, advice, community and safety.
It’s really important that people feel safe.
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