Welcome to the new Technical Discussion Forum for the New Zealand Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.
The new Forum is running on new software, prompted partly because it provides a host of new features and benefits for Forum users and forum management, but also because the old Forum software was vulnerable to mischievous hacking, security threats and email hijacking. We hope you enjoy the new Forum experience.
A few important points you need to know:
• The old Forum has not been lost completely, but for various reasons the discussion threads from the previous Forum cannot be easily migrated to the new Forum. Previous Forum content can be accessed from the Chapter website from the ‘Links’ item on the website main menu bar. Look for Forum Archive.
• Forum users now have full control over username and password, so if you forget your password you can reset it yourself. However, this means you must go sign in and create a password to access the new Forum. You can use the same username and password if you wish.
• When you login for the first time, please read the FAQ/Guidelines to refresh yourself on the Forum ‘rules’. The forum discussion is only lightly moderated, expecting that – as professionals – we will show an appropriate level of respect for civilised discussion and sharing of diverse viewpoints. Aim to improve the discussion, make the Forum interesting, offer diverse views if you wish, be agreeable when you disagree.
• The list of users who can post to the Forum is moderated. It is restricted to SFPE NZ Chapter members (Friends of the Chapter and members of SFPE (Int.)), although anyone in the world can view postings.
• There is only one category on this Forum (the General category). All Forum topics are filed here.
• Users can manage their own preferences for notification – for all new posts, for replies to topics they have posted, etc. Go to Settings from the Menu bar on the top right of the Forum page to set your own preferences for email notification, etc.
• Because users are moderated, when you sign in for the first time you won’t be able to post until the Forum admin team gives you permission. This is a one-time setting change, to restrict posting rights to Chapter members. During the first couple of weeks of the new Forum operation, there will be a high demand on the admin team’s time to keep up with all of the new users, and requests for posting permission. Please be patient during this time.
Martin Feeney
NZ Chapter Secretary