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This site has recently been updated. If you encounter any problems, please let us know.
What's this site for? back to top
MakingContact.org is designed to be a place where families of disabled children or adults, their friends or disabled adults themselves can find and contact others affected by similar disabilities or contact other disabled people from the same area.
Do you monitor what people say on MakingContact.org? back to top
We don't have the resources to monitor everything that passes through this service but we do have systems that check for and block certain types of words and phrases. Anything posted on or sent through this service is subject to our terms of use. The forums are moderated so that the first six posts by a user will need to be approved by us before publication. After that, posts are moderated after publication. If you see something you feel contravenes our terms of use then please
let us know
What if you don't list my condition? back to top
Firstly, make sure you have spelled the condition name correctly or try widening your search by entering fewer characters. We not only search for an exact match of your search terms but also for conditions that may sound like it, so if you enter 'bronk' we will search for 'bronch' as well. Checking with your doctor for other names for the condition may also help. If you still can't find it on this site then please e-mail us at info [AT] makingcontact [DOT] org
Will this site remember who I am? back to top
Yes, if you want it to. From your member homepage you can ask the site to remember you. If you do, a cookie will be stored on your PC so that we'll remember you next time. If you have such a cookie you will see a new menu option 'homepage for...', Clicking this will take you directly to your details page. Note that even in this case you will be asked to login each visit for some features (like posting to the forums or contacting other members). We do this to ensure it really is you and not somebody who is using your PC.
How will you protect my privacy / Will anyone ever see my e-mail address or name? back to top
Nobody using this site will ever see your real name or e-mail address - only your username. Contact a Family staff members also use this site to help families without web access. Our staff will see your real name and e-mail address but we will never use it for anything other than this service or for any other service you have requested. We will never give or sell your address to anybody. We also strongly recommend you do not include any personal information in your profile.
What exactly do you mean by the term disabled? back to top
Throughout this site we use the term disabled to describe someone who is physically or otherwise disabled or has a special need or a medical condition. We do appreciate that not everyone would classify themselves as disabled nor wants to be and we would like to reassure you that we use this term in this way purely to save room on the page and for no other reason.
How do I contact you? back to top
If you have any questions or comments regarding this site and it's operation, you can contact us at info [AT] makingcontact [DOT] org
Our address is : Contact a Family, 209-211 City Road, London EC1V 1JN. Tel: +44 (0)20 7608 8700
To contact us about abuse of our terms of service - send a message to : report [DOT] abuse [AT] cafamily [DOT] org [DOT] uk
Is this site available in other languages? back to top
Initially, we had some funding to offer the site in a number of languages. However, this feature is no longer available. There are some free translation tools available online although the translations may not be 100% accurate.
How do I join? back to top
To register with us simply use our registration form.
How much does it cost? back to top
Searching for people to contact is free of charge and you don't need to join. Bronze membership will allow you to post messages to the forums and is free of charge. Silver membership is also free and allows you to post and edit your details. Other users can find you and email you, and you can reply to them without charge. To initiate contact with others we ask you to upgrade to gold membership. There is a charge for Gold membership. See the next question for more details on the membership grades.
What's the difference between a gold, silver and bronze member? back to top
All visitors can read messages posted on the forums and read the profiles of silver or gold members. In addition to this there are three levels of membership on MakingContact.org:
Bronze: By providing your email address and real name, you can register for bronze membership which allows you to post messages on the forums and respond to messages posted by others.
Silver: Completion of a profile and provision of a brief story will allow you to register against the condition(s) that affect your child/children. In this way other users of MakingContact.org will be able to find you and email you. This was formerly known as Basic membership.
Gold: If you wish to proactively email other members registered against a specific condition you must upgrade your account to gold membership. This requires a payment of five pounds (valid for one year) and provides a level of security ensuring that those using the service are genuine about their desire to contact other parents and share their experiences.
Bronze and silver membership is free of charge.
Bronze members cannot send or receive emails or link to conditions.
How do I log out? back to top
There is no need to log out of MakingContact.org. Your login will expire when you close your web browser. If you have chosen to have the site remember you when you next return then you will be logged in at that time automatically. If this is not what you want to happen, go to your homepage and click the link clearly labelled to stop the site remembering you.
How do I alter my details? back to top
On the left menu you should see either a login button or a link to your member homepage. Login if required and go to your homepage. From there you can edit your details.
How do I remove myself from the site completely? back to top
Login and go to your member homepage (see above). One of the links at the top of that page is clearly labelled 'remove yourself from this site' - click that to unregister. Note that for security reasons, usernames must be unique. Thus if you unregister and, later, re-register you will be unable to use the same username again.
Why can't I log in? back to top
There are a number of reasons why you might be unable to login. Including:
Why do I keep getting logged out? back to top
For security reasons our logins expire after a period of inactivity (about half hour) unless you have opted to have the site remember you when you come back. So if you are logged in but don't move around the site within half hour, your login will expire. Simply log back and you will be able to continue as normal.
Why do I need to login twice sometimes? back to top
Although this site can remember who you are when you come back, for extra security we ask you to login each time you visit if you want to post a message on the forums or send an e-mail to another member. This is to guard against somebody abusing your login while you are not at your PC. You can click Cancel when you are asked to login if you just want to read the forums. This will disable the ability to post a message until you do login.
I've lost my password! back to top
Don't panic. You can recover your password and/or username by using the form on our login form. If that doesn't work, just contact us
How do I upgrade to gold membership? back to top
Once registered as a silver member you can upgrade by logging in and viewing your member homepage. From there you will be able to upgrade to Gold membership.
Will you let me know if someone adds themselves to one of my conditions? back to top
Yes. In your conditions management page you can request to be notified for any of your associated conditions.
How do I find someone affected by my condition? back to top
Using the quick search box at the left of the page you can search for a disability or condition. The system will try to match a condition to your search and return a list of people associated with it who are looking for contact. If more than one condition matches your search then you will see a list of potential matching conditions to choose from. Clicking on a condition will bring up a list of people registered under it. If there are more than 25 people you can filter the results by things like age, gender or family size. Alternatively you can use our advanced search option which enables you to search by criteria other than conditions.
How do I find someone (regardless of condition) in my town/country? back to top
Using the advanced search option, you can search for people by location or by other criteria such as whether they are a father or whether they are a disabled adult. The results of searches will be grouped into conditions.
How do I add myself to a condition? back to top
Once you are registered you can either manage your conditions from your details page or you can search for a condition in the normal way and click the button on the page listing the people associated with it.
How do I email other members? back to top
If you wish to email someone they must be registered as a silver member and you must be registered as a gold member. See What's the differences between a gold, silver and bronze member?, for full details of the different memberships.
Has my message been sent? back to top
You can see whether emails have been delivered by going to the message status section of your profilie. Please note you must be registered as a Gold member to view this feature.
Messages are initially received by MakingContact, and then forwarded onto the intended recipient in two separate processes. If your message status indicates the latter has not happened, please contact us to let us know.
Why do you charge for contacting someone? back to top
We make a small charge for gold membership which is needed if you want to start conversations with people. If you have silver membership and someone contacts you, you can reply without incurring any charge.
There are a few reasons why we decided to charge a small annual fee for gold membership.
There is no charge for using the forums (Bronze membership) but obviously messages posted on there are viewable by all and therefore less personal.
Why can I only contact five people per day? back to top
The limitation on the number of people you can contact was also introduced to protect members from people doing general emails to large numbers of people. In this way we ensure that those contacting others are genuinely wanting to make contact with a person who is in the same situation as themselves and looking for support/wanting to give support to others.
Once I have found someone, how do I contact them? back to top
When you see a list of people you can click the envelope icon next to their name to contact them. Initiating contact with other members is limited to gold members and you can only start five 'conversations' per day. To start a conversation you click the envelope next to their name and fill in the form on this site.
How does someone contact me? back to top
When you register with us, you post your details on this site for others to find. By associating yourself with up to five conditions, you enable others searching to find and contact you. For example your child may have Cerebral Palsy and Visual Impairment and you could list yourself under both. When someone
How do I receive the messages? back to top
Messages sent from this site are sent to your e-mail address. Your e-mail address is hidden from the sender unless you choose to reveal it within any reply you give. When you reply your message is sent back through our systems to them. In this way the sender and receiver never see any more than each others usernames unless they choose to reveal them. After you have sent a few messages back and forth to each other we will suggest that one of you reveal your address in order to continue the conversation outside of our systems. This is simply to reduce our overheads and because we have found that after a few messages people are generally able to decide whether they want to trust the other person or not.
Can I send to more than one person in a single message back to top
No. Because we use the concept of e-mail conversations, in order to protect our members privacy, you can only respond to the person who sent you the message. If you know another members e-mail address you can of course put that in the CC: box but remember that the member you are contacting anonymously will see that e-mail address so we recommend you do NOT give away any members e-mail address without their permission first.
I have received a spamming or abusive email from someone registered on MakingContact.org back to top
If you have any concerns about posts on the forums or emails from other members do let us know as soon as possible by email info [AT] makingcontact [DOT] org or telephone 020 7608 8700 and ask for the MakingContact.org Administrator. When contacting the Administrator by email you should send a full copy of the email you received as an attachment rathern than by forwarding. This is because it is very important to include the headers as these list details of the user that sent the email.
How do I post a topic in a forum? back to top
Once you are logged in you need only click the "Post a new topic" button. A topic is simply a set of message on a single subject. So if you create a new topic you are essentially asking a question for others to respond to. Your question and any responses are kept together as a "topic".
How do I edit or delete a post? back to top
Unless you are the MakingContact.org Administrator you can only edit your own posts. You can edit a post by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic that shows it has been edited. This will not appear if nobody has replied to the orginal or if the MakingContact.org Administrator has edited the post (they should leave a message saying what was altered and why). Only the MakingContact.org Administrator can delete posts.
What is "BBCode"? back to top
BBCode is a special set of codes that you can use to format (bold, underline, colour etc.) your forum posts. Tags are enclosed in square brackets ([b] = bold for example) but it will be quicker to use the formatting buttons at the top of the form you use when creating a post. These buttons will wrap any selected text with the appropriate BBCode. You don't have to format your posts, BBCode is just there if you want to.
Can I use HTML? back to top
HTML cannot be used on the forums. Formatting can be achieved using BBCode. Web links within your post will be made "live" automatically.
What are Smileys? back to top
Smileys (or Emoticons) are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, for example :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen on the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they can quickly render a post unreadable and the MakingContact.org Administrator may decide to edit them out.
Can I post images? back to top
Contact a Family are currently not offering the ability to post images on the message boards.
What are announcements? back to top
Announcements often contain important information and you should read them as soon as possible. Announcements appear at the top of every page in the forum to which they are posted. Announcements can only be created by the MakingContact.org Administrator.
What are sticky topics? back to top
Sticky topics are normal topics that the MakingContact.org Administrator thinks are of special interest. They are called "sticky" because they are always shown at the top of the message board above any topics that may have been created afterwards.
What are locked topics? back to top
Locked topics are ones that cannot be replied to. Topics are locked by the MakingContact.org Administrator. Topics may be locked for many reasons.
Who is the MakingContact.org Adminstrator/Moderator? back to top
Administrators/Moderators are Contact a Family staff members whose job it is to look after the running of MakingContact.org from day to day. They have the power to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally administrators/moderators are there to prevent people going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.
What software is used to run the forums? back to top
Contact a Family use PhpBB v3 for its forums. This is free/open source software and is very popular for web-based forums.
Why isn't a particular favourite feature available on the forums? back to top
For reasons of security and to keep the forums simple to use, some optional features of PhpBB are disabled on these forums.
