Talkabouts and Bricks

By clicking ‘Community’ on the Togetherall homepage you will be able to see all posts that have been made by our members on Togetherall in a scrolling feed. Posts are sorted from newest to oldest and so the most recent posts will be displayed at the top of the feed. The community tab has both Talkabouts (our text-based posts) and bricks (our drawing-based posts) all in the same place with a rounded square icon for a brick and circle icon for a Talkabout.

To create a new post yourself you can click the ‘Create post’ button on the right of the page.

Posts can be sorted by a few variables. If you would like to view only bricks or only Talkabouts you can change the type of posts being displayed by filtering using the ‘type of post’ option and selecting an item in the drop-down menu. You can also search posts by categories using a similar drop-down menu when you filter using the ‘categories’ option.

To view more than the popular categories simply click show all. Multiple categories can be selected, and the posts displayed are still sorted with the most recent at the top. If you feel a post has been miscategorised, then please contact a member of our Wall Guide Team by clicking ‘Ask a Wall Guide’ and they should be able to change this for you. Finally, the community page can also display posts that are personal to you.

When you first load the Community tab all posts are displayed. If you click on ‘My posts’ then you can see only posts that you have created, if you click on ‘Groups’ you can see Group Talkabouts you are part of and if you click on ‘Starred’ you can see any posts you have saved by starring them. You can no longer view all of our bricks in ‘The Wall’ format.

If you click a post then you can view it in full, add a comment to it and find out who the creator was.

Comments on regular Talkabouts and bricks can be viewed by the whole community and so any comments you make are public. You have the option to star, toggle notifications or report a post. When you select any of these options no public notification is generated and only you and our Wall Guides can monitor these activities.

You can create a brick by clicking on 'Community' on the Togetherall homepage. Click the 'Create Post' button on the right of the page and click ‘Create Brick’ open the brick drawing tool. First, give your brick a title and then, you have three ways to express what you want to say.

Click on the ‘Text’ option on the left-hand menu. You can select your font, size, alignment and colour for typing. Type in the text you want in the box that appears and edit the text formatting using the toolbar on the bottom of the screen and the colours on the right-hand side. For the option of a white colour, you can scroll down on the colours toolbar.

After writing you can click off of your text. When you click back on you will be given the option to move, scale and rotate. Double click on the text box to edit the text further. Once you are happy with your text you can click the tick in the bottom right to save it. If you would like to delete a text box, ensure it is selected and click the bin icon.

When editing a brick, click on the paint brush or ‘shape’ icon on the left-hand menu. You can change the brush you are using with the buttons on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen and change the brush size with the slider. You can change the colour using the buttons on the right-hand side of the screen.

For the option of a white colour, you can scroll down on the colours toolbar (this is useful for erasing mistakes). When you are happy with your drawing you can click the tick in the bottom right to ‘lock in’ your shape. If you would like to delete everything in your current session of drawing, then click the bin icon.

Upload a photo or image of your choice, ensuring that you or others cannot be identified from it. Click on the ‘Image’ icon on the left-hand menu and pick the picture you would like to upload from your own files. Your picture will now appear on the brick. You can now move, scale and rotate your image. Once you are happy with your image you can click the tick in the bottom right to save it. If you would like to delete the image, ensure it is selected and click the bin icon.

When you are happy with your brick there are few more things you need to do before you can publish the brick to the community. If you have not done so already then you need to give your brick a title.

Select a category for your brick so other members can find it alongside other similar bricks. To find categories beyond the popular options select ‘Show All’. If you cannot find a category appropriate to your TA, there is a ‘General Chat’ option. In the ‘Tell us about your Brick section’ type in any text related to the brick. Sometimes it is an explanation of the image, a question and so on.

This information is displayed publicly beneath your brick once it has been published. When you are ready click on ‘Post’ to publish your brick. All bricks are posted to the entire community on Togetherall, and this cannot be done so anonymously. Once a brick is posted other members can comment on your brick.

Have you got issues or concerns that you want to share with others? You can express yourself using our Talkabout (TA) feature. You can view and join an existing conversation by clicking 'Community' on the Togetherall homepage, then browsing through ongoing TAs. Or if none of the existing subjects seem to cover what you want to talk about click on the 'Create Post' button and start your own. Your Post Title should indicate what the TA will concentrate on. You can start a TA about a subject specific to your situation if you need objective points of view or just an empathetic ear to listen; for example, "Can anybody suggest coping strategies for anxiety?" You must add at least one ‘Category’ to the TA in the 'Categories’ menu. This means that members who are interested in similar subjects will be more aware of the new TA.

If you cannot find a category appropriate to your TA, there is a ‘General Chat’ option. You can ‘show all’ to display a wider range of options. When you are satisfied with your TA, simply press the 'Post' button and you are all set. You can stay up to date with Talkabouts you are interested or involved in by opening the TA and clicking 'Turn on notifications'. These will then generate a notification in your toolbar whenever another member leaves a comment on the TA.

Group Talkabout (GTA) To invite only specific members to participate in your Talkabout, click on the ’Community' button on the Togetherall homepage which will give you the option to post a Group Talkabout.

Group Talkabouts are only visible to those members invited by the creator. New members can be added once you've started your Group Talkabout.

If the Talkabout or Brick is your own, you may view it at any time. From the homepage, click on your Togetherall profile picture / username. You can then select ‘My profile’ from the options. Here, you may view any Bricks or Talkabouts that you have created in the past. It’s possible to change the ‘view’ using the options at the top of this page, in order to view your content from the perspective of other members.

The option to ‘star’ a post is displayed on all Bricks and Talkabouts. This will save the content so that you can access it later. To view all your ‘starred’ posts, choose ‘Community’ from the homepage and select the ‘Starred’ option from the tabs at the top of this page. Other members cannot see which posts you’ve starred.

The option to ‘turn on notifications’ is also displayed on all Bricks and Talkabouts. This will allow you to receive an in-site notification each time another member makes a comment on this content. You may view these notifications by selecting the bell icon on your main menu. You may turn off notifications for any post at will - just choose ‘turn off notifications.

Currently we do not have an ‘undo’ feature for our ‘Create Brick’ tool. We are currently building more options for members to edit their bricks, which will include this undo function. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience caused. Some content such as text boxes and images can be clicked on and deleted but others such as the paint tool cannot be. The option of painting in a white colour is available in the colours toolbar - this is useful for erasing mistakes made with the paint tool.

Currently we do not have an option to post bricks anonymously to our community. We are currently working to build this option, and it will be available soon. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience caused.

You cannot send a brick to a specific member or groups of members as you can do in Talkabouts. All bricks are posted publicly, and all members can see them.

Currently we do not have an option to add more members to a Group Talkabout. We are currently working to build this option, and it will be available soon. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Categories are tags or keywords which you add to your bricks and Talkabouts. These categories make it easier for others to find content relevant to them. When filters are used on the community page, your brick or TA will appear in the content displayed, alongside all other content with the same category. We have provided several categories for members to use.

To find categories beyond the popular options, you may select ‘Show All’. If you cannot find a category appropriate to your TA, there is a ‘General Chat’ option. Currently there is no option available for members to add categories on Togetherall, however if you have any suggestions for categories you’d like to see added, please contact us at theteam@togetherall.com.

Togetherall is not a crisis service, if you require urgent mental health support, please visit our ‘In Crisis’. If you require additional local support outside of Togetherall this information can also be found here.

Togetherall is a digital mental health service, safe and anonymous, giving members access to a supportive community and a wealth of materials at any time of day or night. Access to Togetherall may depend on whether this part of our service is funded by your local health service, or your institution or organisation – check your eligibility by clicking register in the top right corner of the page.