Welcome to the autonomous virtual space on ‘Crabgrass’ of the ‘London Peace and Nonviolence Group’ (interim name only), formed in January 2011.

Here’s some info on how this tool works:

• To view non-public content, you first need to log in with your username and password.

There are lots of functions available. Once logged in, if you click ‘Create Page’ in green on the top left of the page, you can choose from several options. For example, we can:

• Start a discussion on any topic;

• Work on joint documents, using the wiki function;

• Upload documents, photos and videos;

• Use the ‘ranked vote’ function to create criteria and vote on them individually;

• Make use of the secure chat-room facility.

This can be a really useful tool. Here are a few ideas on how to keep it functioning:

• People need to remember to check the site regularly, or let people know when they’ve posted something important;

• Post your name on wiki documents so we know who has said what;

• If your message or uploaded file is no longer useful, delete it. This saves memory space for the lovely people at Riseup;

• Spend a bit of time familiarising yourself with the site. Just 20 minutes’ practice and it can become an accessible and useful tool;

• Be conscious of what you’re posting: this is not an ultra-secure space (but is more secure than Facebook, most online forums, etc). Most pages are private, but some are public – once you are logged in, you can check on the right hand side of the page to see whether or not the “public” box has been ticked. If not, the page is only visible to those subscribed to the group. If yes, anyone can view the page.