If there's anything we hate more than broccoli, it's comment spam. And as any blog server administrator can tell you, a disproportionate amount of time and expensive equipment is spent weeding-out ads for penis pills, "discount" software and barely legal teenage dorm girls who go by unlikely, computer-generated names like "Concepción Anderson."
So: we're doing something about it. In the effort to help prevent spammers from hijacking our comments and to provide a more streamlined and informative personal profile for registered users, we've rolled-out a new comment system. Don't worry, fraidy cats—you can still comment anonymously, though you'll all be listed as "Guest," because we're polite like that.
To register, trot on over here and fill out your stats, which is fast and easy but does require a valid email address. This will give you your very own profile page with links to your recent comments as well as other people's responses. The profiles of Torontoist writers will also include a list of their recent articles (here's mine, for example). Though we don't require you to register or post with your real name, we don't sell or share your email address, so there isn't reason to worry.
For the more clandestine readers, simply log-in as "Guest" (as both the username and password) to post anonymously, though we like to see who you are! When visiting a page where comments are allowed, readers can also sign in and out with the links that appear above our logo at the top left of the page. For other questions about how our comments are administered and sometimes moderated, you can bone up on our comment policy.
This new profile system may cause a few glitches here and there, so let us know if you see anything amiss. We've also got a number of new features to come over the next few months based on this system, so stay tuned and keep on talking!
Photo by the mkt from the Torontoist Flickr Pool
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It works!
It works?!
It also works this way!
I really don't like being forced into this.
*sigh* Someone's already taken the name I've been using here for over a year. Except they don't post at Torontoist, isn't that fun?
Email David and me about your username problem in case it still exists and is just a migration issue. You didn't mention which username that was that seems to be taken, but we can look into it if you let us know.
Yeah guys, we're really doing our best to make this new system work. Please let us know so we can help.
Mine's taken too. I went by 'rek' but didn't have a Blogger account or whatever it was, so there's nothing to migrate. Boo, change is bad.
For those of you who are having trouble registering accounts, I'd suggest -- for now -- registering as "toronto_rek" or "toronto_whatever."
There's a decent chance that you'll be able to set your own display name at some point in the future and that your username won't matter as much. Don't hold me to that, but it's a temporary solution for now!
Is it just me, or has this made Torontoist a little bit kinder and gentler, like, overnight?
It's amazing what asking for a little effort in return for publishing angry anonymous comments will do.
If by kinder and gentler you mean noticeably fewer comments.
... and thriving discussions, both new and over a week old, suddenly killed.
I think that it's really beneficial to just take the five seconds and register an account. Pretty please? The system remembers you, you get a page for your profile that lists your most recent comments, etc. Frankly, I think it's better than one of those "enter the numbers that you see in this box" thing because you have to do that every time you want to post on most sites that have it.
Just do this one thing, once, and you can comment on Torontoist and every other -ist site with it forever.
Our "thriving discussions" may have slowed down, but they haven't ground to a halt; I bet you that as the week goes on and as more and more people realize that it's totally worth it to have an account, we'll start to regain the momentum we may have lost.
I sold my soul; now some Yankee LLC has my email address. I'll have to post at BlogTO more to compensate.