Getting started on your community
We are excited to welcome you to Scope’s online community, a safe and welcoming space where disabled people and their families can talk about the things that matter most to them. Whether you're here to seek advice, share your experiences, or simply connect with others, you are in the right place.
Our mission is to provide a supportive environment where members can engage in meaningful discussions, ask questions, make friends, and share their experiences. We believe in fostering a community built on respect, understanding, and mutual support.
Joining an online community can feel a bit daunting, and you might not be sure where to begin. To help you out, we've put together some suggestions of things you could do to get you started.
Explore the community
Take a moment to explore the community. Start by browsing our recent discussions, checking out our various discussion categories or searching for topics that interest you.
If you're having trouble getting started, check out at our guides for using the community. Many members use their smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices, while others prefer their laptops or desktop computers. We've created separate user guides to help you based on the device you're using:
Introduce yourself
While it’s fine if you just want to use the online community to read what interests you, everyone is welcome to post. Why not introduce yourself, share a bit about who you are, your interests and what you hope to gain from being here? Many new members make their first posts in our Start here and say hello! category while others will just start posting or asking questions in another category that interests them or is relevant to their lives.
Get involved
Sometimes members prefer to quietly slip in without drawing attention to themselves and that’s fine, too. You don’t have to introduce yourself just yet, instead you could join a discussion that’s already taking place and share your opinions or experiences. Perhaps you could join in with the light-hearted discussions in the Coffee lounge or try our forum games in the Games den? Whoever you are and whatever your interests, you’re welcome to talk about them on the online community.
Make your first post
Want to get started and make your first post? We've put together a quick guide to making your first post on the online community on both mobile or tablet device and your personal computer below:
Making your first post on a mobile device or tablet
To create a post, look for the New Post button (if you're on mobile this will be a circle with a + sign inside it) which is usually in the bottom right of your screen. If you select this button, it will snap open a menu which includes:
Creating a New Discussion
To create a new discussion, Select New discussion from the New Post button menu (a circle with a + sign inside it)
Select a Category
If you selected the New discussion button outside of a category, you will need to Select a Category where you will be posting the discussion. Otherwise, the Category you were in will automatically be selected. Please note: a member of the Online Community Team can always move discussions to different categories, so please don’t worry too much about where you post it!
Discussion title
The Discussion title is what will show at the top of the post once it’s been posted. It helps if discussion titles tell members what the post is about. Sometimes if the Online Community Team may change the discussion title if they think it could help others notice your post.
Text field
The big text field is where you type your post. You can add emojis using your device’s own emoji menu to the post.
Mentions
You can also address a specific member in your post by mentioning them. This is usually a good way to let them know you’re speaking to them.
Depending on the mentioned user’s notification settings, they’ll either:
- see a pop-up directly in the community
- or receive an email telling them that they’ve been mentioned with a link to the post
To mention someone, simply type “@” and then start typing the user’s name. As you type, a list of suggested members will display; continue typing to narrow down this list.
Simple formatting
If you want to change the formatting of some of your text, you can highlight it and a menu will appear with the following text formatting options:
- B - Bold
- I - Italic
S - Strikethrough- {..} - Inline code
- 🔗 -Hyperlink
More formatting options
There are also other buttons at the bottom left of the big text field that allow other formatting options:
- ¶ - Paragraph formatting which allows you to insert:
- Headings
- Lists
- Quotes
- Code blocks
- Spoiler tags
- Upload images – when you’ve uploaded an image, select it and you can choose from the following options:
- Float: choose to float the image left, center, or right
- Size: choose to make the image small, medium, and large
- Alt Text: open the Alt Text menu and add Alt Text to an image to briefly describe it to help with accessibility
- Delete: Remove the image
- Insert media – insert the URL (web address) of the media you want to include, such as a video
- Upload files – you can attach files or images to your post but please be mindful of sharing anything that would breach our community house rules
Add tags to your post
If you want to, you can mark a discussion with tags which are certain keywords which make it easier to search for within the community. If you want to, you can add up to five tags to a post.
If you would like to look at tags other members have used, you can select Show popular tags. Selecting any of these tags will add them to the Tags field. To remove them from the Tags field, select the X button next to the tag.
Save Draft
If you don’t want to post your discussion yet but want to continue creating it later, select Save Draft. You can find your draft posts in My Drafts.
Cancel
If you have decided you don’t want to post your discussion, select Cancel.
Post the discussion
Once the post is ready, select Post Discussion to publish it. The page should reload to show you the published discussion, but if you need to find any discussions you created later, you can find them in My Discussions.
Making your first post on a personal computer
To create a post, click the New Post button at the top right on any page. You'll then be able to choose what type of post to create.
If you select this button, it will snap open a menu which includes:
Creating a New Discussion
To create a new discussion, Select New discussion from the New Post button menu.
Select a Category
If you selected the New discussion button outside of a category, you will need to Select a Category where you will be posting the discussion. Otherwise, the Category you were in will automatically be selected. Please note: a member of the Online Community Team can always move discussions to different categories, so please don’t worry too much about where you post it!
Discussion title
The Discussion title is what will show at the top of the post once it’s been posted. It helps if discussion titles tell members what the post is about. Sometimes if the Online Community Team may change the discussion title if they think it could help others notice your post.
Text field
The big text field is where you type your post.
Mentions
You can also address a specific member in your post by mentioning them. This is usually a good way to let them know you’re speaking to them.
Depending on the mentioned user’s notification settings, they’ll either:
- see a pop-up directly in the community
- or receive an email telling them that they’ve been mentioned with a link to the post
To mention someone, simply type “@” and then start typing the user’s name. As you type, a list of suggested members will display; continue typing to narrow down this list.
Simple formatting
If you want to change the formatting of some of your text, you can highlight it and a menu will appear with the following text formatting options:
- B - Bold
- I - Italic
S - Strikethrough- {..} - Inline code
- 🔗 -Hyperlink
More formatting options
As you type, the ¶ will appear on the left side of the big text field. This is the paragraph formatting tool which allows you to insert:
- Headings
- Lists
- Quotes
- Code blocks
- Spoiler tags
There are also other buttons at the bottom left of the big text field that allow other formatting options:
- Emoji Picker: At the bottom left of big text field is the Emoji Picker, which you can use to add emojis to a post. The emojis are grouped into the following eight categories:
- Smileys & People
- Animals & Nature
- Food & Drink
- Travel & Places
- Activities
- Objects
- Symbols
- Flags
- Upload images – when you’ve uploaded an image, select it and you can choose from the following options:
- Float: choose to float the image left, center, or right
- Size: choose to make the image small, medium, and large
- Alt Text: open the Alt Text menu and add Alt Text to an image to briefly describe it to help with accessibility
- Delete: Remove the image
- Insert media – insert the URL (web address) of the media you want to include, such as a video
- Upload files – you can attach files or images to your post but please be mindful of sharing anything that would breach our community house rules
Add tags to your post
If you want to, you can mark a discussion with tags which are certain keywords which make it easier to search for within the community. If you want to, you can add up to five tags to a post.
If you would like to look at tags other members have used, you can select Show popular tags. Selecting any of these tags will add them to the Tags field. To remove them from the Tags field, select the X button next to the tag.
Save Draft
If you don’t want to post your discussion yet but want to continue creating it later, select Save Draft. You can find your draft posts in My Drafts.
Cancel
If you have decided you don’t want to post your discussion, select Cancel.
Post the discussion
Once the post is ready, select Post Discussion to publish it. The page should reload to show you the published discussion, but if you need to find any discussions you created later, you can find them in My Discussions.
Replying to posts
When you’re reading through the online community you might see a post (a discussion or a poll) you want to reply to.
Each posted discussion includes a comments section where all members can participate and share their thoughts on the topic.
If you want to reply to a discussion, scroll down to the comments section and the Leave a Comment text field.
If you need more information about how to reply to posts, why not check out:
Update your profile picture and signature
If you’d like to make your online community profile more personal to you, why not update your profile picture and signature?
Check out our guides on how to personalise your profile on your mobile device or on your computer.
Read our house rules
While we want discussion to be open and honest, everything on the online community should be civil, supportive and safe. Check out our community house rules for more information about how to make your time with the online community a positive experience. Following these house rules helps us make sure the online community keeps the supportive atmosphere we all cherish.
Sign up to our weekly newsletters
Each week we send out a weekly newsletter to our subscribers sharing some discussions from the online community and information about what Scope’s working on.
If you’d like to receive our weekly newsletters, take a look at our sign up page.
Feedback
We love hearing from our members! Share your feedback and suggestions to help us improve the community with our feedback chatbot. Your ideas are valuable in making Scope’s online community even better.
Last words
We’re so glad you’ve joined us. It might take some time for you to feel comfortable with being on the online community, but what’s important is you’re here. Keep exploring, keep contributing where you can and send us an email if you’re struggling with anything. Thank you for joining us and welcome once again to Scope’s online community!