New group member

[Dell66]

Hi

I am new to this forum and was wondering how it all works... can you tell me how I can get the best out of the forum? Any tips?

[Ru-bee]

Hi @Dell66 and welcome!

That's such a good question. I guess it does depend a little on what you're hoping to get out of the forum. Is there something in particular you're wanting to talk about? Are you wanting to receive some guidance, hear about other's experiences, find resources, have a space just to express yourself or vent, or are you just wanting to connect? People use the forums in all different ways 😊

If you're not quite sure yet (or if you're just thinking 'hey you gave me a bunch of questions and no answers!') then I'd recommend you taking a look at this How To Guide where we've compiled a whol bunch of tips and guides for the forums in one space 

[MJG017]

Hi @Dell66, welcome to the forum.

I guess it's a bit difficult to say how you can get the best out of it because we're all different and need different things.  But i think like most things, the more you put in, the more you will get out.

For me when i first joined, i just started reading posts I felt like I identified with started giving some replies.  It took me a little while to feel like I felt comfortable really opening up about myself.  I've always struggled with this, so maybe I just needed a bit more time that you might.  Once I got to know some of the people here and how understanding and supportive they were, I felt a lot more able to open up and found it very helpful.  So I guess my tips would be to just spend a little bit of time browsing to get the feel of the forum, the support discussions and the more social ones, and just participate as much as you feel comfortable with.  You may be like me and it takes a bit of time, or you just jump right in... there's no right or wrong.  Some people do seem to find it easier just to start with replying to existing posts rather than starting a new one about themselves.  It's all up to you.