We’re currently hard at work updating the technology behind the Online Community site and adding new features to make it easier to use.
We’ve planned our updates to reflect what you all want, based on our latest user survey and other feedback from you. I want to make sure that any updates work as well as possible for all our users, so I’d like to give some of you the chance to test them out before we launch.
This would involve spending an hour on a test version of the site any time between 14 and 23 October and sending me your comments and feedback by email. If you’re interested in being a tester, please let me know before 11 October by replying to this post or emailing me at online.community@sueryder.org.
If you don’t want to get involved in testing, don’t worry, you’ll still get a chance to get a look at the new features, as I’ll be sharing a sneak preview soon.
Hello Jonathan and San. Thanks so much for this, it would be really helpful to your thoughts. The test site will be ready next week, so I will send you both an email then with all the details.
Hi MaryL, Corinna and Philip, thank you so much for offering to test. The test site should be ready later today or tomorrow, so I will send you all an email with some more information.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel you are a technical expert! It is good for us to test it with people of a mixture of levels of technical ability, so that we can try to make sure it is easy to use for everyone.
Hi Priscilla,well I told you I was rubbish,I can’t even log in to the test site!It keeps saying incorrect password or user name even though I am using what you sent me.It’s winding me up now so I’m going to go to the cemetery for a bit then have another try later.Corinna xx
Hi Corinna, Of course, take a break and take your time. I will send you an email to see if I can help with the problem, but you can respond whenever you are ready.
I’ve logged in now but can’t work out how to reply to conversations,there isn’t an obvious ‘reply’ button like the normal site?I think i’ll stick with my carrier pigeon!Worried I won’t be able to use the site at all once it changes.Everything in life is such hard work,I wish it would all end so I could just lie down next to Roy again.Sorry for being so negative but it’s how I feel.C xx
I have emailed you some help with the test site, but I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry it feels so hard. Please don’t feel that you have to do any more testing if it feels like too much at the moment. We are aiming to make changes that overall make the site easier to use (and I hope the testing will help us do this), but I do understand that people get used to doing things a certain way, so it can be hard to get used to changes.
I’m so sorry to hear that you just want it all to end. You don’t have to apologise for saying that here - this site is here for you to share if you need to.There is lots of other support out there, and I would really encourage you to reach out and speak to someone about how you are feeling.
The Samaritans are always there 24/7 if you need to talk about anything that’s bothering you (116 123, or jo@samaritans.org).
You can also make an appointment with your GP and ask to be referred to counselling or other support services in your area.
We offer online bereavement counselling to members of this community. This is a free service and sessions are held via video chat so you can attend from home. There’s more information about this service here: https://support.sueryder.org/bereavement-counselling