|
Home
>
Support
>
Tanya's Support Group
Overview
Tanya's Support Group is a group I have set up for people with a
CKD cat to offer support
and hope to each other during the bad times and to
celebrate the good times together. It's been going for over seven years
now, and is a small, friendly supportive place.
There are a lot of different types of groups
available online, and if you are not used to how online groups work, you
may find it a little confusing at first, so this page explains more about
how the group works and how to join it. Don't worry, it's not as
complicated as it might appear!
How Does the Group Work?
Back to Page Index
It is an online group which is completely free
to use. The group is hosted on yahoo!groups, part of yahoo. It has its own
address separate from Tanya's website. You can either click
here or copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/
If you are already familiar with yahoo!groups,
just click on the link and apply to join (and don't forget to complete the
short questionnaire you'll be sent), but if you'd like to know more about
how the group works, read on.
I own and run the group, but I am ably assisted by two moderators, Anne V
and Anne A. They help with membership queries, approve messages, and do
lots of boring admin stuff behind the scenes to help the group run
smoothly for the members.
The group has various sections, including a photos section and a realtime
chat function but for most people the most important part of the group is
its message section. Basically, a member who wants support, vet
recommendations, or to hear how others are coping with a particular
problem, sends a message to the rest of the group. Other members
then respond if they can. All messages sent to the group are stored in a
message archive which members can search if they wish.
The group is private, i.e. messages sent to it are only visible to
members, so people are not posting to the internet at large. The names of
group members are also private, so nobody will know you are a member
unless you choose to send messages to the group.
Joining the Group
Back to Page Index
There are two ways to join the group, via the
group's website or via e-mail:
How to Join the
Group via E-mail
Just send an
e-mail to
tanyas-ckd-support-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You should then receive an e-mail in response asking you to confirm that you definitely
want to join the group. Just click Reply and send.
If you join the group via e-mail, you will be able to send and
receive e-mails to the group, but you will not be able to access the group
website and read the message archives or look at the photos. If you wish
to do that, you will need to set up a yahoo! ID by visiting the group
website.
How to Join the
Group via the Web
You can visit the
group's homepage and follow the instructions.
If you do this, yahoo!groups will help you set up your yahoo! ID, which
gives you access to the group message archive etc. A yahoo! ID is not the
same thing as an e-mail address.
Here are the steps to follow. Don't worry, this
all sounds far worse than it is! You should find
that in practice it all works more smoothly than it sounds when you're
trying to explain it in writing:
Existing yahoo! ID
Go to the group website:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/
Click on the Join this Group button and you'll
be taken to a Sign In to Yahoo! page.
Sign in and link Tanya's Support Group to your existing
account.
Choose the e-mail address you wish to use for the group (see
below).
There is a little box for you to tell me why you would like to join the group. You don't need to be inventive
or fancy, it's not a competition, it's just an extra check by yahoo!groups
to keep spammers out.
Choose your message delivery options (see below).
Scroll down and click on the blue Join button at the bottom right of the
page.
New yahoo! ID
Go to the group website:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/
Click on the Join this Group button and you'll
be taken to a Sign In to Yahoo! page.
Scroll down a little and click on
the Create New Account button.
On the next page you can create your new
account. Some people are somewhat inventive in their responses, but in such cases
it is important to remember what responses have been given in case the
information is needed later to access the account. I can't see any of this
stuff, it's entirely private between you and yahoo!groups, so I cannot
help in case of later queries.
Once the account is successfully set up, you'll
be taken to a Congratulations! page.
Before you click on the Continue button on the
Congratulations! page, untick the box that makes yahoo! your homepage
(unless that is what you want).
Also click on the Edit Marketing Preferences
link below the Continue button. This takes you to another page where they
helpfully opt you in to everything, so go through and set it as you wish.
Then on the same separate page click on Account
Info at the top of the page. You will be asked for your password again and
taken to the Account Info page. Click on Profile and opt out of the
various choices as you wish. The key thing is, you do have choices here,
you can make things as public or private as you wish.
Now click on the Continue button on the
original page. You will be taken back to the group page to choose your
membership settings.
Choose the e-mail address you wish to use for the group (see
below).
There is a little box for you to tell me why you would like to join the group. You don't need to be inventive
or fancy, it's not a competition, it's just an extra check by yahoo!groups
to keep spammers out.
Choose your message delivery options (see below).
Scroll down and click on the blue Join button at the bottom right of the
page.
Membership Settings
Back to Page Index
There are various choices you need to make regarding
your membership of the group. The most important are which e-mail address
to use, and which way you read messages sent to the group by group
members.
Membership Settings:
Your E-mail Address
You need to decide which
e-mail address you wish to use for the group. If you have created a yahoo!
ID, yahoo!groups will normally
have also set up a free yahoo!
e-mail account for you based on your new yahoo ID. You can use this e-mail
address to access the group if you wish, but it's not essential, you
can use any e-mail address you wish. Since yahoo! is now scanning messages
for advertising purposes (similar to gmail), I would recommend not using
yahoo! e-mail if possible (though it would probably be better than using
your work address for private stuff).
If you do not want to use your free yahoo! e-mail
address, click on Add e-mail address to add a different one. Be aware, if
you don't add a new address here, yahoo! will use the yahoo! e-mail
address as a default address. So if you don't receive the
membership
questionnaire, it may well be because it's gone to your new yahoo!
e-mail address.
If you ever wish to change the e-mail address you are
using for the group, you can do that here:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/join
Membership
Settings: Message Delivery
This sets up how you will access
messages that are sent to the group.
This is a pretty active group. If you're looking after your
CKD cat, you
want support but you probably don't want a full inbox all the time. To
help you manage this issue, you have three options for messages, and you
can switch between them all as you wish:
Individual E-mails
Daily Digest
Web Only (No e-mail)
Individual E-mails
This is the default setting. If you apply to join the
group via e-mail, you will end up with this setting. If you apply to join
the group via the group's webpage, if you don't
choose one of the other settings, this is the one you will end up with.
This setting means that as soon as somebody
sends a message to the group, it is sent directly to your inbox. It's a
good choice if you might want to know immediately if somebody has
responded to you, or if you would like to store some of the group messages
for your reference. It's also good for being able to quickly delete
messages which don't interest you.
The downside is that this is a busy group,
averaging 50-100 group messages each day, so your inbox can quickly get
full. One solution is to create a folder to use for group messages. All
messages sent to the group have a tag in the subject line [tanya-crf] so
you can filter all messages from the group to a new folder using this tag
if you wish.
With both individual e-mail and message digest
options, you can also choose the format of messages sent to you (Display
Format), either Fully Featured (html, pretty colours etc.) or Traditional
(plain text).
Message
Digest
This means that you receive e-mails from the
group, but yahoo!groups waits until there are about 25 messages available
and sends them to you all in one go. With this option, you would therefore
only receive 2-4 e-mails a day from the group, but it means you have to
wait for responses (though you can still check on the group website for
messages) and it can be more difficult to find what you are looking for
within each digest.
With both individual e-mail and message digest
options, you can also choose the format of messages sent to you (Display
Format), either Fully Featured (html, pretty colours etc.) or Traditional
(plain text).
Web Only (No
Mail)
This means that you receive no messages at all
from the group. This is a wise choice if you are using a work e-mail
address, or if you cannot cope with the group's message volume. With this
system you simply go to the group's website and read the messages that
interest you there. Even if this is not your usual choice, it can be
helpful to use this option if you are going on holiday.
So make your choices, then click the Join
button at the bottom right of the page.
Important: Membership Questionnaire
Back to Page Index
OK, so you've successfully applied to join the
group. However, there is one more thing you need to do in order to join. I want to protect the group members from spammers, so whichever way you apply to join the group, you will receive a
short questionnaire asking:
-
Your first name
-
The country where you live
-
Your CKD cat's name and age
You need to respond to this before your membership
will be approved.
Please don't worry about saying "the right thing." This is
not a test to see if you are "good enough" for the group, everybody is welcome
here, whoever they are or wherever they come from, as long as they want to help
their cat. This questionnaire is basically just to reassure us that you are a real
person applying to join rather than somebody trying to sell stuff and spam the
group, but it also enables us to tailor our responses to your
group messages e.g. if we moderators know where you live, we will not suggest
treatments not available there.
Please note, only the two Annes and I can see
your responses to these questions. The group will not know anything about you
unless you choose to introduce yourself.
Once you respond to the questionnaire, your
membership application should be approved very quickly (most people are
approved within two hours or less).
Occasionally the questionnaire goes missing.
You think we haven't sent it, and we think you haven't responded! If we
haven't heard from you five days after you apply to join, we will send you
a reminder. Unfortunately, we can only use the address you've used to sign
up for the group, so if you've accidentally used your new yahoo e-mail
address without realising it (see
above), you won't see
either the questionnaire or our reminder. If you don't hear from us, please simply
write to us at
tanyas-ckd-support-owner@yahoogroups.com and let us know. Please
respond to the three questions in your response and we will either approve
you (if your membership is pending) or send you a personal invitation to
join the group (if your membership application has disappeared into a
black hole).
Messages
Back to Page Index
Message Options: Sending Messages
You don't have to post, you can just lurk if you
prefer.
If you wish to change the name that appears on messages
you send to the group,
Yahoo! explains how you can do that.
Starting a Thread
-
You can simply send an e-mail to ask your question by sending it to
tanyas-ckd-support@yahoogroups.com.
-
You can go to the group website, click on Post
Message in the sidebar on the left, and then write your message there.
Replying to an Existing Message
Messages sent in response to another message on the
group also go directly to the group, not to the individual to whom you are
replying. Therefore if you wish to respond to a message somebody else
has sent, you can simply click reply on your e-mail programme. If you reply via
the group website, you can click on the message in the group archives, then
click reply which is top left above the message.
If you're changing the subject, or replying to a
Digest (which have the subject line of Digest No. xxx), please change the
subject line appropriately to something more meaningful. And please remove
everything except that to which you are replying.
If you wish to reply privately to somebody, you will
need to press reply, then delete the group e-mail address and paste their
personal e-mail address into the To: line if you are using e-mail. If you are
replying via the group website, you will see a little envelope over on the
right under the person's name. If you click on that, your message will go to
that person.
Message Content
You are welcome to discuss anything relating to
care of your CKD cat. We do have a few guidelines we ask people to follow
though:
Please do not refer to vets or vet clinics by
name for legal reasons. Just say "my vet" or "Dr J".
Please do not ask for money or other donations.
Since this is a very busy group, we ask that
condolences are sent privately to the bereaved group member. Certain
other messages should also be sent privately e.g. short "me too"
messages, off topic posts etc.
Please trim your posts.
Moderation of
Messages
When you first join the group, your messages
will be moderated for a short while. This means that they will not reach
the group immediately, but will first be read and approved by one of the
moderators. We do this to ensure that:
you are not a spammer;
you are keeping to other group guidelines
(e.g. not naming your vet publicly);
you are trimming your messages appropriately.
If you comply with the group guidelines sent to
you when you join the group, you will be taken off moderation quickly. The
main reason people stay on moderation is because they do not trim their
posts. So please read up on this in the group guidelines. If you get
stuck, just ask for help.
Leaving the
Group
Back to Page Index
Some people decide to leave the group. Their
cat may have died, or they may find the message volume is too much, or
they simply decide it's not the place for them. Leaving is fine, but if
you're thinking of leaving simply because you cannot cope with message
volume, please consider changing your message options first, such as by
going no mail. This
means your inbox will not be full, but you can still reach out for support
quickly when you need it.
If you are leaving because your cat has died,
please consider joining our sister group, Tanya's Feline Loss Support:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-feline-loss/
Conclusion
Back to Page Index
I do hope you've decided to join Tanya's CKD Support Group! It can give you support, it can give you hope. It can make
you smile too - where else would people share your thrill at hearing that
your constipated cat has pooped? (Believe me, when you've been dealing
with CKD for a while, things like this are real triumphs which can
absolutely make your day).
I personally read every message sent to the
group. I don't respond to every post (my priority is running this website)
but I do keep an eye on things and post occasionally if I can add to what
has already been said.
Group Quick
Links
Back to Page Index
Some of these only work if you are already a
member of the group.
Weblinks
Group homepage:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/
Managing your membership options:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/join
Messages archive
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-ckd-support/messages
E-mail
Addresses
Sending a message to the group via e-mail:
tanyas-ckd-support@yahoogroups.com
Group owner e-mail address:
tanyas-ckd-support-owner@yahoogroups.com
Joining the group via e-mail:
tanyas-ckd-support-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Leaving the group via e-mail:
tanyas-ckd-support-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Back to Page Index
This page last updated: 16 June 2013 |
