The following information is for couples who
have registered for Marriage Matters Doncaster and wish to complete the
FOCCUS online.
1. Please do not compare answers while completing FOCCUS online as it
will defeat the object of the exercise. (When you have both finished
the inventory - please discuss your answers as much as you can). You
can do FOCCUS on the same computer one after the other, at the same
time on different computers, or at different times on different
computers.
2. To complete FOCCUS will take you approximately 20 - 40 minutes. It is better if you are able to complete it in one sitting, however if you cannot, the system will store your completed answers and when you go back online, it will take you back to where you left off. Please see below about using a personal password should you need to do this.
3. Connect to
www.foccus.org.uk4. Select a link to choose your facilitator
5. Select your FOCCUS facilitator by name using the alphabetical list of facilitators, or go to the local authority district or county in which he/she resides, or enter the first part of your post code.
6. Click on the '0' button beside the name, not the name itself.
7. In capital letters enter your initials into the boxes (the key for the woman AND the key for the man). If you only have two initials, make up a middle one. When you go on-line please ensure that you both enter the same pair of initials. For example: Debbie Anne Brown and John James Smith would both enter DAB (as the key for the woman) and JJS (as key for the man).
8. Enter the password given to you by your facilitator then 'Continue with FOCCUS'
[then, first member only starts the £10 credit card payment process by following the on-screen instructions. The first member should click on the PayPal link. The second will not be asked for payment.]
9. Fill in your payment details and make the payment with your preferred debit or credit card or your PayPal account, if you have one.
[If you are the person who is paying, click on the Return to Merchant button [Affinities]. If this does NOT take you to the initial FOCCUS screen and you are confronted by an error report saying your payment has not been registered, go back to the last PayPal screen and click the return to Merchant button again. There is sometimes a delay between the acceptance of your payment by PayPal and the acknowledgment by our system that you have paid.]
10. Indicate which one of you is at the keyboard by clicking 'She' is at the keyboard or 'He' is at the keyboard and ensure that BOTH sets of your agreed initials are present.
11. Choose a personal password and enter into the blank boxes. [At this point first member chooses the Abridged version ONLY if this has been agreed with the couple]. This is your new personal password. If you do not finish FOCCUS in this session and have to go back online to complete it at a later stage, you will need to enter this as the password (step 8) rather than the initial password. Click 'Register your personal password here'
12. On the biographical screen, as your optional reference number please enter 6 digits representing the planned wedding date as DDMMYY or any other reference your facilitator has asked you to use .
13. Enter your biographical details and the other information requested
14. Click 'Store and check input'
15. Check that your biographical details are complete and correct; edit if necessary. Once finished select 'Click here to go to the inventory'.
16. Proceed to the FOCCUS statements, click on Agree, Disagree or Uncertain for each statement. Try to answer as honestly as you can. Go for your gut reaction. Try to avoid second guessing what your partner will do or what you perceive to be the best or ideal response. Remember FOCCUS is NOT a pass/fail test; it is a questionnaire designed to promote discussion. At the end of each page click on 'Click here when you have answered these statements'
17. Once you have completed the standard statements and see 'Congratulations' on the screen you can then choose to complete up to three special sections. If none of these are relevant press 'Click here to end'. It is a good idea to agree in advance which of these will be relevant to you, so you should either BOTH complete or BOTH omit them:
i) interfaith statements if you hold different religious beliefs or come from different traditions
ii) remarriage statements if either of you has been married before
iii) cohabitation statements if you are currently cohabiting
Please BOTH complete each section that is relevant to either of you by selecting 'Click here to proceed to the special sections'
18. Once you have finished each section that applies to you - following the instructions on the screen - you have completed the questionnaire. Press 'Click here to end your statements'. This takes you back to your couple selection screen where you can see your entries confirmed for both the biographical and the different categories of statement data.
19. If you do not complete FOCCUS at one sitting and need to revisit
www.foccus.org.uk follow step 3 then select 'Inventory for Users', then at step 8 use your PERSONAL password, NOT the initial password.
The system will normally automatically advise your facilitator and the FOCCUS Scoring Centre when you have each started and when you have both completed FOCCUS.
PLEASE TRY TO START AND COMPLETE FOCCUS WITHIN A FEW HOURS OF EACH OTHER. By all means discuss the issues raised by the process AFTER you have both finished, but please don't do so before.
If you have any questions about taking FOCCUS online, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail your facilitator.
