Welcome to the Basingstoke & Deane Neighbourhood Watch web site. Our simple aim is to help co-ordinators and members of schemes get the best out of the organisation.

The website has several parts to it and includes a document library with a large number of useful documents on all aspects of NW (accessed via the FAQ menu), a list of links to appropriate web sites, a photo library (including graffiti documentation), police notices and appeals, a forum for open and controlled discussion between members, an events system, a contacts section and even a shopping cart for NW items.

To get the most out of the site you should become a registered user.

The Registration process is as follows:

• Click on the home link to take you to the frontpage of the site
• Down at the bottom on the left you will see a Login Form and below that a link with the words 'Create an Account'
• Click on this and follow the instructions (fill in all the fields, choose your password etc) and then wait!
• You will receive an email - normally within minutes - with a link on how to activate your account.
• Follow that link - and hey presto!  you will have registered yourself for the site

To login to the site in future enter your userid (not your email) and password. That will allow you then to use the forum and many other items on the site that are not available to the public or un-registered users.

Please note: Your browser must have cookies enabled 

The Home page: (Everyone)

If you ever need to get back to the 'front' of the website just press the Home menu item - which is available on all pages on the website. From the home page you have access to all the menus and functions and also can see the latest news items and the most popular items.

All pages also have a simple Search function. There is a box in the top right of every page which allows you to search the entire site for anything of interest (eg Smart Water)

FAQ: (Everyone)

FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions and this menu item is perhaps your best friend when seeking detailed information.

• The first section takes you to a sub-menu which has three main sources of information. The first is a set of training materials for scheme co-ordinators which are grouped under three further catgeories of Crime Reduction, Security & Safety and Starting & Running schemes.
• The second section is mainly for New users and gives basic information on how to register on this site, useful contact numbers etc.
• The third section consists of a document library with a number of documents grouped under  the following headings - Protecting Your Home, Scams and avoiding them, NW Fact sheets, Know Your Rights and finally Dealing with Neighbours.

Web Links: (Everyone)

This menu item takes you to a simple sub menu which has links to a number of useful websites. These include Police sites (including the CADDIE system and crime statistics system) and links to specific Neighbourhood Watch scheme websites. Please note that Registered users can submit their website for inclusion in this list under the User Menu, Submit a Web link

Newsfeeds: (Everyone)

The newsfeeds menu item takes you to a number of useful dynamically updated news feeds from various sources. These include the Police & Emergency services as well as local headlines / news stories in the area.

Forum: (It depends!)

The forum is at the heart of the website and is there for all to use (though you do need to be a registered user to create forum entries). The forum comes in two main sections.

• The Public forum is viewable by anyone - registered or not. It contains threads for Setting up a Scheme, Events, Police Notices, Useful Documents, Smart Water and a Suggestions thread.
• The Registered users forum is for Scheme members and is only viewable by those signed in. There are main threads for each group of Police Beats. Please use these fora for anything that you wish to discuss concerning your own scheme.

Registered users can reply to any post (view the post and then click on the Reply button at the bottom). If you wish to create a New Thread within any one of the categories then use the New Thread button which you will find at the top of each main forum section.

Photo Gallery: (Everyone)

The photo gallery has a number of different albums available for you to view. They are broken down into several categories such as Area Schemes, BDNW Events., Graffiti etc. Registered users can comment on the photos as well as rate them. Selected users may also be able to upload photos to the gallery.

The menu has six basic options. 

• The first is there to be able to edit any or all of your personal details shown on the website. Simply complete or edit any of the fields available to you.
• If you wish to Submit an article for inclusion on the website then please use this option. Once submitted your article will be reviewed by the administrators and published as appropriate. The submission process is to prevent spurious articles from unwanted sources.
• If you wish to Submit a website that you think would be useful to others then please use the Submit a Web Link menu item. As with the article submission mechanism this too will be reviewed by the administrators prior to be being activated. Any links you submit that are successful will then be shown under the Web Links main menu option.
• If you would like to order any Neighbourhood Watch items (such as booklets, signs etc) then the Order Products option is for you. This uses a very simple shopping cart (simplecaddy) approach. Simply click on the checkboxes for the items you want.
• There is an experimental Chat Room function recently added. We hope to use this for online / virtual Beat Surgeries.
• Finally, when you have finished with the website and wish to exit securely then please use the Logout button to close your session. 

Contacts Menu: (Everyone)

This is a simple list of contacts by various groupings and includes the Committee Members, Police Officers, Scheme co-ordinators and council officials. You can send these contacts an email through the website without having to know their email address. This is especially useful if you want to contact your local scheme co-ordinator or area co-ordinator or your local beat officer etc. If you see errors or omissions then please report them to the webmaster using the Contact Webmaster option under the Contacts menu. Please note that only those coordinators who have registered accounts on the website will show up in the list.

Events Menu: (Everyone)

The events menu shows a list of upcoming events as well as a list of venues. Simply click on any event for further details of that event. Registered users may also optionally confirm their attendance at selected events.

Registered users can add their own event using the Propose Event and Propose Venue options - these latter are only visible to and available to registered users.

Login Form: (Everyone)

If you are a registered user then please enter your userid and password into the relevant boxes and then press the Login button. If you just wish to browse the publicly-viewable parts of the website then you do not need to login.

Other:

If you have forgotten your login details (eg password or username) then these options are for you! There is no need to re-register assuming your email address remains the same as when you first registered. You will receive an email from the webiste giving the information you require to access the website. Please note that this process now requires the use of a 'captcha' system where you have to enter the letters displayed in the small box at the bottom of the form. This mechanism is required to deter automated account creation systems / hacking attempts / spam attacks.