What's the difference between...

Moderators are here to make sure posts do not breach the community guidelines and to help keep the forum a safe and respectful place for all members.

Community Managers oversee the running of the forum and help devise the policies and procedures which govern the forum. They also run events for the community such as Topic Tuesday and organise guest 'speakers' for these events.

Community Guides are members that take on additional roles within the community such as welcoming new members and keeping threads on track.

Community Elders are members that have previously been Community Guides and are longer term members of the fourm.

I hope that helps @Mulgajane ... @Former-Member @Former-Member may be able to further add their voices here

Hi Mulga-Jane

Our former Community Manager, NikNik has explained the difference between a Community Manager and a Moderator here. I would describe the main difference as the community managers being around community building and the moderators being focused around reviewing posts.

And to borrow from NikNik's post about Community Guides here:

Community Guides are long term members of the community, who help others feel heard, feel welcome and less alone. You may seem them around getting involved in things like:

• Encouraging members to participate in discussions
• Welcoming new members
• Helping members feel less alone, whether it be through sharing on their own experience or through connecting members with similar experiences
• Starting new and engaging discussions
• Special events, such as Topic Tuesday
• Answering 'How-to' questions from other members

Community Elders are "retired" Community Guides i.e. former Community Guides who are still forum members but no longer Community Guides.

I hope that makes sense!

Thanks @Former-Member and @Zoe7

that helps a great deal 🙂

I do have one more question @Former-Member and @Zoe7

If a member mentions a desire to self harm and nobody else has noticed, what is an apropriate response in order to notify the moderator without alarming the person in danger?

There are several things you can do @Mulgajane

You can use the @Moderator tag - if that is too obvious and you do not wish to be identified as the one seeking help for someone you can also use the Report Post option under Post Options at the top right hand corner of each post. Alternatively you can send an email to team@saneforums.org with your concerns.

Thanks Zoe7 🙂

You are most welcome @Mulgajane

How are you travelling?

Thank you @Zoe7 🙂

@Mulgajane, you can use any of the options that @Zoe7 has mentioned. All posts are read by moderators and there are processes in place to manage risk, so please be assured that a moderator will follow up if there is concern about a member's safety.

Moderators will often keep a low profile to ensure that the forums remain a place of peer support, but if you ever feel concerned about a member's safety, please use the @Former-Member tag or the "report post" notification. You can also email. And feel free to email with any other concerns too.

Thanks @Former-Member

I am traveling well thank you @Zoe7 Sometimes I feel like a little duck, with my exterior appearing calm and underneath my feet are paddling so hard to keep myself afloat, but i am mostly well and extremely grateful for it 🙂

I think most of us feel like a duck here @Mulgajane but it is lovely to hear you are doing well.