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Moderation Rules

Last updated: 18/08/2022

Our forum is moderated to make sure that we maintain a safe space for users. 

When do we moderate? 

  • Our forum is moderated by OPFS staff during office hours. 
  • Our forum is not moderated outside of office hours. This includes evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

Moderator Hours

This forum is moderated from:

9:00AM to 5PM Monday-Friday

What do moderators do?

Our moderators will:

  • Try to be fair.
    Sometimes we remove posts from the forum if people don’t follow guidelines. This doesn’t happen often, but we’ll always explain why we’ve removed something.
  • Resolve any technical problems you are having. You can simply email us at forum@opfs.org.uk.
  • Temporarily or permanently suspend accounts if behaviour and/or comments are not in line with the forum guidelines.
  • Try to respond to users if they haven’t received a response from other parents on the forum. Responses won’t necessarily be answered in the order that they are received, some will need to wait for a moderator with the required knowledge to be available.
  • Take any safeguarding concern seriously.
  • We may contact emergency services if you tell us that you’re unsafe and you give us sufficient details to locate you.
  • If your question requires a specific and detailed response forum moderators may not be able to reply to it straight away

Our moderators will not:

  • Give advice and information -– this can be found on our website 24/7 or you can talk to us during the advice and information helpline and live chat opening hours.
  • Take part in topic discussions. The forum is for single parents to engage with each other.

 

What does it mean if a word is blocked out in a post?

Our forum blocks out certain words in posts, including extreme swearing and discriminatory language. This makes sure it’s a safe, welcoming and respectful environment for all users. We aim to capture all extreme or discriminatory language this way, but sometimes words will unfortunately slip through. We will continually review this should words be missed.

How do I report something or speak to OPFS about the forum?

If you’re concerned about a post or user, you can click the ‘Report abuse’ link on posts and replies to posts. Moderators then receive a notification. We deal with reports during office hours as quickly as possible. We’ll assess whether something has broken the rules or is a safeguarding concern. We always write to you to let you know the outcome of your report. You should not wait more than 5 working days to have your report dealt with.

If you’d like to speak to someone about the forum, drop us an email. This email account is monitored during office hours only.

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Covering your tracks

You may not want other people to know that you’ve been searching for information or help from OPFS.

When browsing the internet whether on a mobile phone, tablet or computer, you leave a ‘history’ trail of pages and sites you’ve visited.

It’s impossible to completely avoid being tracked online but if you’re worried about someone knowing which sites you’ve been looking at, there are some things you can do to help cover your tracks.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, try keeping another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch to another window or tab.

Deleting browsing history

You can delete the history of websites you’ve visited, but it’s important to know that if you delete your browsing history, someone else using the same device may notice.

If you share a tablet, mobile phone, laptop or computer with someone, they might notice that passwords or website addresses have disappeared from their history.

Find out how to remove your browsing history and other data from some of the most commonly used browsers:

Browsing in Private mode (incognito)

When browsing ‘incognito’, the internet browser won’t store cookies or record your browsing history on the computer, mobile or tablet.

This option is available on popular web browsers i.e. -

Toolbars

If you use a search toolbar in your web browser, remember that your searched items can be saved as part of your history. Find out how to delete your searched items from the following search engines: