Every day i log into the ocf i see the name of yet another new member.then i go to the introduce yourself board,then all the others ,and i very rarely see any posts from the new member.I wonder what happens to all these people who obviously come here for a reason?
Liz - I think they re lurking but they are around. My son registered about the same time I did but didn't feel like posting. He did do the research and very extensively and got a lot of benefit from everyone else's posts - a lot of them being passed on to him by me. I think I can understand because there have definitely been times when I wanted to research something but was afraid of what I would find out. It took me a while to even google "Squamous Cell Cancer" before finding OCF! I am sure that a lot of "non-posting" registered members have been helped tremendously by the comments and experiences shared here. And those who take the time to share a comment or sugestion will never know the true extent of the good they have done or what their words have meant to someone else.
Here's my 2 cents. I know a few relatives that signed on just to "keep up" on things and they never post. Also a lot of new people do not know how to "work" the forum. I see newcomers post in inapproprite places only because they do not know any better. Maybe we could suggest and make up a "READ THIS FIRST" FOR NEWCOMERS. Just a brief "QUICK START" outline of the forum. I usually tell newbees to read the faq, and to put in their signatures. It took me a few days to grasp it. There are no instructions (that I know) of how to do things, It's learn as you go. I was computor literate but had never been in a forum, chat room, blog, etc ect. and I was "lost". I did not know we had two search engines until I suggested for someone to use ask.com and I was informed of ours. One night I just "surfed" the whole sight to see what there was to see. And there is a lot. Almost everything you need to know about oral cancer is on this site. THAT IS WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT IT! I give it a 5-Star rating! Plus the benefit of having "been there, done that" people donating their experiance. It's like they say in AA. IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT!
Liz,
Don't worry they are here. They are busy reading and getting answers to questions. Like peteyB said learning how OCF works as well.
I know that I did a lot of reading before I posted. I tried not to ask questions I could find. Also some people are really not comfortable posting. It may be their first time.
So to all new comers WELCOME to a great place for help.
Take care,
Diane
I have been here a while and still dont know about the tow search engines !
The "search" link at the top of each of these pages (in the center, under the New Topic and Post Reply buttons) goes to a search engine just for the message boards. You can limit your search to a specific forum (i.e., Introduce Yourself or After-Treatment Issues); for maximum results, choose to search All Open Forums.
The "search" link at the bottom of each of these pages (in the dark gray area) goes to a search engine for the main OCF website. Using this, you can research a variety of topics, including many scientific papers on oral cancer, the best hospitals for cancer treatment, explanations of clinical trials, facts about oral cancer, etc. Brian and others (including Sheldon Sax, who keeps the "Oral Cancer in the News" section up to date) work tirelessly to ensure that the information in the main part of the site is the most recent and best available.
-- Leslie
Don't feel bad guys, I've been on this board since July of 2002(notice my membership #) and never knew about the search at the bottom of this page for the main site. Learn something everyday. Thanks, Leslie.
Take care,
Eileen