Announcing SAAustralia

[Hendie]

SAAustralia is very excited to present you with this new forum. If you need to ask questions at any point, please feel free to ask your question in the Forum Help. After the huge success that we've had with similar forums in Canada as well as the USA, and being approached by folks in Australia, we have extended the reach to include your beautiful sunny country in the fold as well.

Just to get the ball rolling, here are a few points of interest:

• ONLY MEMBERS CAN POST - Although we try to limit moderation an censorship to the absolute minimum, we have found that there is a need to keep discussions civil and in good order. One of the measures we have found to work exceptionally well is to require membership in order to post.
  
• Privacy - We require that you "register" and provide an email address if you are going to be a regular visitor. You need to be registered in order to post as well as PM (personal message) or email other registered users. The other benefits of registration is covered in a Help article. However we want to assure you in all sincerety that your email address will NOT be abused. It will only be used to notify you of posts that you may have marked as of interest to you, for emails others send you from the forum (see next point), and for announcements we may wish to send out from time to time. This is not a means of building up a list of email addresses for spamming purposes, it will stay private.
  
• Emails - Any emails that forumites send you from the forum is done through a secure form, and the sender never actually sees your email address. Of course when you receive the email you will see the address of the sender (the email address they registered with will be used for that), and may then choose to enter into communications with them should you so wish.
  
• Forums - We have arranged the forums into categories that we have found to be a good mix for the issues and topics one has to deal with in emigrating to another country. However, we will keep an eye on usage and will extend or prune the categories as we see the need arise. You are also free to send us suggestions for other categories which may be considered. This is your board too, and we want you to contribute as much and as freely as possible.
  
• Features!! - In time you will find that the forum offers lots of interesting ways for you to see what's new and to get notifications of interesting topics, etc. Please ask if you don't understand anything. Also the Help pages in the submenu above on the right should answer most of the questions you may have. Do visit the Help system, there is a wealth of information available there to help you enjoy your time with us.
  

Lastly, one of the success factors of a forum of this nature is ownership by the forum community. This forum does not belong to any one individual or group, but to the community. We make all efforts to assure the continued existence of these forums, and establishing a team of hosts (we have found this title to be more acceptable than that of moderator) is key to the success of the forum. We therefore invite you to read about the Host Responsibilities and Powers in the Help section, and consider joining our team. We also listen to the requests of regular members, but as a host, you will have more direct influence on the direction and intent of the forum going forward.

Enjoy!

Hendie