I was wondering if there could be a 'general' within the rescue bit, just for people to talk about their experiences or share relevant news stories/articles and discuss ways of getting involved or even starting something if their own area is not served - what's involved, insurance for home fostering/transport public liability on group walks; tips for coping with short stay dogs and introducing them to your own dogs etc. There's probably loads of stuff like this in the archives but it might be useful to have one roof under which to simply chat about rescue. What do you think? It's maybe all a bit old hat for most of you but it might inspire more people to foster or get involved in some way.

edited to add: maybe the rescue page on the main website could be fixed, unless it is just our computers but the text on the lower part of the page doesn't display properly; or maybe there could be a FAQ there? Not there isn't loads of info there already, it's fab, but the forum is a bit more interactive innit.

always open to suggestions, and thats a great idea.
The main site is being a bit arsey but its getting overhauled so all the bugs will be ironed out

To my eyes, the background image is that of a cocker spaniel, not a springer. It is lovely, I just wondered why a cocker is used rather than a springer?

caught out, when I first set the forum up the company that creates those backgrounds had the cocker one for free - you had to pay lots of money for the springer one which I didn't have at the time - maybe with the overhaul I might get round to sorting out a springer one

I have a springer one on Tinsel's blog....I think I have it saved in a larger format and can change colors as well. I know I also have a springer that could be used to make a background too. Here is the one similar to the cocker here

http://rawtinsel.blogspot.com/

Don't know if this qualifies as a "suggestion" as such, but it's about first-time posters.

Most newbies that post have lurked etc and post and introduce themselves and keep within the spirit of ST, and that's fine. But every now and then a "newbie" logs on, doesn't introduce themselves, and just has a rant. We never hear from them again, and I think they misuse the privileges of this site.

The technicalities may be too onerous, but I'd like to suggest that first posts are moderated ie can't just go on the site pronto and use this site to vent/advertise whatever it is they have to say.

In the 'members' section of the forum, the different categories have been changed around and I'm not sure if the current order is quite right. Yes, the Forum Rules should be first, but there are other items where there's been no movement for a few months (Calendar 2007 and Sprufts 2007) in amongst the items that are being added to regularly - Introduce Yourself, Post your Photos, Technical Support and Photo Competition 2007. Perhaps it would be better if the older, now static, items were moved down to the bottom of the list. Just a thought.

pretty impossible to do I'm afraid, we just need to keep moderating, every busy forum tends to attract them - trolls or whatever you like to call them