New Comment System Is Live

Comments are back and yes, they are different, but should offer a better experience for everyone except those who habitually abuse the privilege of expressing their opinions. As part of our platform update, we've added the Discourse forum hosting platform to handle comments. A full explanation of using the system and customizing your account is here. Those who want to comment on stories and blogs will have to reregister. Just click on the login button and "I forgot my password" to get going.

For readers, the big change is that commenters will slowly gain more flexibility and privileges within the system as they build credibility and respect. This, of course, is done by avoiding having your posts flagged by AVweb or other readers as inappropriate. It's worth noting that the feature has been turned on since last Thursday and we've already had to delete two comments for callousness. Another big change is that comments for each story will be available for one week only. This will give staff a better chance to stay on top of moderation. We're still getting used to the new setup and we're hoping readers will point out any issues so we can address them right away.