We are going to start the process of building the SF mobile app by getting competitive quotes based on scoped design, and initiate development SF app. Overall this process is expected to take 3- 6 months from start to completing beta launch/ available for use. Obviously the app will be free for use for all members. Initial costs if up to $1500 are available to start development however we will need to rely on further donations to complete payment. We may start a fundraising campaign specifically for building this app, or simply just using any extra we receive in monthly donations towards it. A successful campaign would obviously speed the development, if there is adequate interest.
We may be able to recoup some costs of development after itis completed by selling or licensing the app to other xenforo platform websites (there are a lot of them). It is really unclear how many would want or be interested in a mobile app with similar features if it allows for custom branding to other sites or how much we could realistically charge for this and still attract customers. Any money made would be used for other site improvements and for future app revisions and updates as well as to pay for any additional bandwidth app usage incurs.
The app will be branded simply as “SF” and in appearance on device the app will have something like the sf logo without “We Care” wording. No place will the app itself visibly show “Suicide Forum”
Primary features – will work similar to the “alerts” box on the forum home page-
The app will initiate a notification on the display screen of your device if you get new private messages in your forum conversations, if somebody replies to one of your threads or to a thread or forum you are “watching”, if somebody likes a comment or post of yours, or if you get a new profile post/message on your profile wall.
The notifications may be set to only when you open the app (use of pin/security feature will be required at all times to open actual app), or to always send push notifications to your device display in real time – for example to tell you “You have a new alert on SF” or if more than one, “You have 4 new alerts on SF”.
To open app or see alerts user will need to use pin number or other device security feature so somebody picking up your device cannot go and look at alerts/ read messages. When you have opened the app the message displayed will be the same message as currently listed on the alerts screen, as if you signed into SF.
To read the actual full message or go to the reply (or whatever feature that that alert was about) selecting that notification within the app will open the sf mobile website on the default browser in mobile device and go directly to that area of forum. If you are not logged into the forum then you will need to enter your login details to enter the forum area where you can see/ read the messages or post.
Will list 10 post most recent post titles in “what’s new” area
Will list your last 5-10 threads started or posts to enable easy access/ easier to find your other posts and threads to update them.
Will allow you update your profile status message (when select this it will open mobile site on profile page to update status)
Will allow to see “who’s online” from app (of members that have “show online status” turned “on” in their own preferences)
Will have an area to self-define a safety plan for yourself
Will have an area for listing distractions for self
Initially at least WILL NOT include separate chat function. The chat we use you can use independently on a mobile device. It does have the occasional hiccup, but chat programs in general are either not very good or insanely expensive. We are using the best we can afford and adding a chat function would in fact mean development of a brand new mobile chat/online chat- which is unaffordable and duplicates what we have. We have had a lot of custom work done to improve the chat and still have another upgrade option for the current chat if needed which is letting chat run in a different manner on a different individual serve on pay per usage basis. That is the only real upgrade we can consider at this point to chat and are still trying to determine if needed or if cost effective.
The purpose of the app is to allow timely notification when you receive messages or replies on the forum so you do not need to log into SF repeatedly to check if there are replies to your threads or if you have new private messages, allow members to see if other members they have made friends with are online/ available to chat with or just check up on friends, and to be more responsive to other members in their threads and thread replies. Hopefully it will alleviate the need to sit and watch SF waiting for replies to threads or conversations. In addition, it will include a small number of extra features like safety plans and distractions which may be helpful on particularly hard days.
I am happy to consider / discuss any other features that members believe would increase the usability or effectiveness of the app. The key thigs that are “musts” are it must offer privacy and discretion of content from the casual observer and include safety features to prevent access of your SF account by just anybody that has or gets access to your mobile device.
We may be able to recoup some costs of development after itis completed by selling or licensing the app to other xenforo platform websites (there are a lot of them). It is really unclear how many would want or be interested in a mobile app with similar features if it allows for custom branding to other sites or how much we could realistically charge for this and still attract customers. Any money made would be used for other site improvements and for future app revisions and updates as well as to pay for any additional bandwidth app usage incurs.
The app will be branded simply as “SF” and in appearance on device the app will have something like the sf logo without “We Care” wording. No place will the app itself visibly show “Suicide Forum”
Primary features – will work similar to the “alerts” box on the forum home page-
The app will initiate a notification on the display screen of your device if you get new private messages in your forum conversations, if somebody replies to one of your threads or to a thread or forum you are “watching”, if somebody likes a comment or post of yours, or if you get a new profile post/message on your profile wall.
The notifications may be set to only when you open the app (use of pin/security feature will be required at all times to open actual app), or to always send push notifications to your device display in real time – for example to tell you “You have a new alert on SF” or if more than one, “You have 4 new alerts on SF”.
To open app or see alerts user will need to use pin number or other device security feature so somebody picking up your device cannot go and look at alerts/ read messages. When you have opened the app the message displayed will be the same message as currently listed on the alerts screen, as if you signed into SF.
To read the actual full message or go to the reply (or whatever feature that that alert was about) selecting that notification within the app will open the sf mobile website on the default browser in mobile device and go directly to that area of forum. If you are not logged into the forum then you will need to enter your login details to enter the forum area where you can see/ read the messages or post.
Will list 10 post most recent post titles in “what’s new” area
Will list your last 5-10 threads started or posts to enable easy access/ easier to find your other posts and threads to update them.
Will allow you update your profile status message (when select this it will open mobile site on profile page to update status)
Will allow to see “who’s online” from app (of members that have “show online status” turned “on” in their own preferences)
Will have an area to self-define a safety plan for yourself
Will have an area for listing distractions for self
Initially at least WILL NOT include separate chat function. The chat we use you can use independently on a mobile device. It does have the occasional hiccup, but chat programs in general are either not very good or insanely expensive. We are using the best we can afford and adding a chat function would in fact mean development of a brand new mobile chat/online chat- which is unaffordable and duplicates what we have. We have had a lot of custom work done to improve the chat and still have another upgrade option for the current chat if needed which is letting chat run in a different manner on a different individual serve on pay per usage basis. That is the only real upgrade we can consider at this point to chat and are still trying to determine if needed or if cost effective.
The purpose of the app is to allow timely notification when you receive messages or replies on the forum so you do not need to log into SF repeatedly to check if there are replies to your threads or if you have new private messages, allow members to see if other members they have made friends with are online/ available to chat with or just check up on friends, and to be more responsive to other members in their threads and thread replies. Hopefully it will alleviate the need to sit and watch SF waiting for replies to threads or conversations. In addition, it will include a small number of extra features like safety plans and distractions which may be helpful on particularly hard days.
I am happy to consider / discuss any other features that members believe would increase the usability or effectiveness of the app. The key thigs that are “musts” are it must offer privacy and discretion of content from the casual observer and include safety features to prevent access of your SF account by just anybody that has or gets access to your mobile device.
Will donate towards this goal for sure, let me know when fundraising option is set up. Also place a notice maybe on the main forum or front page regarding this thread and idea? 
No worries though, I just donated anyway. 
