Commenting Just Got Easier

Since we launched Kingstonist back in February 2008; 517 days ago to be exact, we’ve received a whopping 514 comments.  Needless to say we are pretty pleased with audience participation levels thus far, however we’re always looking for new ways to make the site more interactive, and more user friendly.  Following our most recent contest, we set out to geotag posts on Kingstonist, as well as photos in our Flickr pool.  Although the former has been a bit harder to realise, rest assured we’ll get there eventually.  But why stop there!  To demonstrate our commitment to getting things done, as well as our desire to accommodate and make it easier for our readers to participate, we’re taking yet another step in the right direction.  In that respect, it gives me great pleasure to announce that Kingstonist readers no longer need to login to post a comment.  Under the old system, all audience members had to register, then login with a username and password each and every time they wanted to comment.  Unfortunately, registration deterred some people from participating in the conversation, while the login process took far too long.  With the new and improved system, there is no need to register, and readers need only enter thier username and email address (which isn’t shared with anyone).  From there, you’re free to comment until your heart’s content.

If you’ve noticed that you don’t have a cool photo beside your username and comments, a reminder that you can sign up at gravatar and personalize your very own icon.  Essentially this icon is tied into your email address, so if you comment on other blogs that accommodate gravatar, your icon will follow you.  I timed the sign up process today, and it took less than 2 minutes to register my email address and select an image.

What are you waiting for? Get commenting!  Thanks to premasagar for today’s accompanying photo.