We finally, really did it: Engadget gets a new commenting system

Some things look like they could never happen: man traveling at light-speed, AI that’s truly sentient, a vertically striped shirt that doesn’t make you look fat… and a decent Engadget commenting system. Well folks, today that you would be able to cross a type of lofty goals off of the bucket list. Yes, you read that right. Starting today — at once — Engadget has a brand-spanking-new comment system powered by the dynamic and insanely flexible Disqus architecture. No matter if you don’t know the name, you’ve probably seen Disqus in one form or another — it’s used on CNN, Mashable, All Things Digital, and a slew of alternative sites you likely frequent.

So what’s new with Engadget comments? Almost always everything. For starters, the internal and outer workings of our system have changed substantially — for the easier. We’ve added multiple, threaded reply levels (hello 1998!), real-time updating of latest comments, image and video attachments inline, and yes… comment editing. That implies next time you write ” dandroid” rather than ” fandroid,” you can make the fix (unless you were nicknaming your friend Dan — then keep it up). Using Disqus also allows us to make commenting on Engadget easier than ever before (for brand spanking new and old users alike) by providing login connectivity with Facebook, Twitter, and OpenID. That also permits you to tweet or post in your wall when commenting, and we’ve got future plans for all types of funky integration with the services you know and love. In case you don’t like to use those pesky social networking services, which you can create a Disqus account in addition (you’ll be ready to comment on other Disqus sites using that account too). We’re also scrapping the down- and up-ranking scheme we’ve had for voting on comments. In case you like something, give it the +1 you’ve been talking about for years. And in fact, if something is offensive or out of line, report it to us so that it will cope with it properly. Which brings us to… moderation.

Switching over to Disqus in comments also signifies that our ability to moderate is dramatically and drastically upgraded, that is bad, bad news for the trolls and spammers who have made commenting life on Engadget a royal pain inside the backside now and again. Because of a hard and fast of pretty powerful tools we’ll be deploying, we’ll be better equipped than ever before to accommodate rogue commenters — from minor pains to major trollbursts. From here on out, the editors’ and moderators’ ability to track, control, delete, and ban inside and out of comments will probably be markedly improved, meaning that we’ll act quicker and more precisely to scrap the bad eggs and keep the conversation civil. Fanboys, you’re officially on notice. For those of you who love Engadget and are responsible commenters, keep up the coolest work, because we’re toying with moderator promotions for those of you who have what it takes to keep the troublemakers in check.

Active commenters — you must know that the single thing we leave behind at the side of our commenting system is your Engadget account. Starting with this post, you’ll must either create a Disqus account, or use one of the vital aforementioned services to login and comment. Older comments and accounts won’t depart, but the facility to comment on older posts will cease after a short time. We predict it is a minor tradeoff considering the advantages , and we know that numerous readers who have had some trepidation about stepping into the Engadget commenting pool will finally have a big gamble to get their feet wet. We know individuals are going to take some time adjusting, but we’ll be on-hand to take a look at and answer questions, and we’ll also be keeping a close watch on comments for rising stars and early abusers.

So, with that said, we predict it’s an excellent time to remind everyone of what we predict commenting needs to be like on the positioning, so we’re including our Human’s Guide to Commenting on Engadget below. Enjoy… and get writing!

Update: Just a note, whenever you see weirdness, don’t panic! We’re still figuring out a couple of kinks and tweaking stuff like the comment count and mobile app implementation.

Commenting on Engadget: a human’s guide

Mostly: The Engadget comments section is a place for our readers to have interaction in discussion concerning the posts — it’s really that straightforward. We encourage that discussion, and we’ll be the first to admit that loads of times our readers offer insights that lead us to update our posts, or direct us to thoroughly new angles and stories. We like that, and we adore our readers. We seriously do.

Some basic ideas on commenting here. We expect that comments must always be on topic. We encourage and welcome debate, even though it’s fervent, because we know the way much you care about these things — we care about it, too! However, your comments have to be reasonably polite and wherever possible, lighthearted. Making personal attacks against other commenters, publications, or our own editors seriously degrades the community and quality of the discussion, and it won’t be tolerated.

While we’re fine with disagreements, we’re not that crazy about being the battleground for epic fanboy wars. We wish you to debate, but when that debate devolves into name calling and / or cyclical fanaticism (especially once you’ve moved way off topic), it’s not a fair use of anyone’s brainpower. Also, in the event you’ve come to Engadget for the specific purpose of whipping people into a frenzy (or whipping yourself into a frenzy), don’t expect to stick around very long. It’s easy to spot the folk who wish to have a healthy debate and the oldsters who just need to troll. On that note, we encourage our readers and commenters to achieve out to us personally and report other commenters who seem like acting inhuman… or inhumane. Together, we believe we will be able to improve the quality of comments on the positioning. We are familiar with the undeniable fact that any system like ours may be gamed — and we’re conversant in the indisputable fact that people actually do things like make multiple profiles and argue with themselves to only cause problems. Just remember we’ll delete and ban you for that, too!

Comment deletion: There are lots of reasons your comment may be deleted, but listed here are a few of the commonest ones. Spamming of any type, be it human or robot-generated, is usually deleted. In the event you’re seeking to sell something in comments, you’re a spammer. Trolling can be unacceptable — we recognize that lots of you trolls don’t even realize that you simply’re trolls, but believe us — you might be. We’ll delete your comments if we feel they’re disruptive or annoying. We also delete comments which are racist, sexist, overly obscene, or offensive in anyway. We delete comments which can be personal attacks — whether directed at an editor or another commenter. Finally, we reserve the precise to delete any comment at our discretion (please see below).

When you create a history of trolling or other offensive behavior, we’ll just ban your account. That implies that your username, email, Twitter name, Facebook account, OpenID login, and potentially IP address shall be barred from our system, and you’ll not have the ability to comment.

You deleted my comment. Isn’t that censorship? No. Engadget, inclusive of its parent company AOL allow comments with a view to further the discussion, engage our readers, and to let interested parties have fun (and maybe learn something)! Engadget’s commenting sections don’t seem to be open forums where that you would be able to say whatever you please, and commenting on Engadget is just not a right of law passed right down to you within the Constitution. Engadget is a news site and a business. The editorial staff doesn’t delete comments without good reason, but deletions are always at the discretion of the editors. There are millions of active commenters on Engadget, and we strive to keep the comment sections a fun, engaging experience for all of its readers.

There’s a comment that’s offensive to me. What can I do about it? There’s a ” report” button on all comments so that you can alert our staff that the comment has been flagged. We do have a look at reported comments, and delete where we deem appropriate. Have in mind, however, that we know who is reporting what comments, so think before you report — you don’t would like to be on our watchlist for reporting a comment for no reason at all, because that doesn’t help anybody, does it?

Finally, we realize that we’re ultimately answerable for the tone of comments here, and moving forward, we’re going to be more vigilant about watching out for problems. We adore Engadget, and we take full responsibility for its quality. We also love our readers, and need to make it a safe, enjoyable place for all who would like to participate. Now say something hilarious!

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This post is tagged: commenting, DID, Finally, gets, system