While we make this update, readers will not be able to post comments. This downtime will last for four to six hours, and we will keep users updated in a message at the top of the comments box. Once our work is complete, you will be able to read and post comments as usual.
Here’s what you can expect to see.
What’s new
A faster-loading, more stable experience.
In our new system, comments will load faster and will be far more stable. We know that technical issues have been a source of frustration for many of our commenters, and this update will resolve many of them. You’ll also notice a slightly different look and feel to the comments, which better align with the style of our website.
The ability to collapse and expand comment replies.
You’ll now be able to expand and collapse comment threads by clicking on arrow buttons next to a comment. This will give you more control over which comments and conversations you read. The first few replies to a comment will still display.
You’ll be able to see when a user first signed up for their commenting account.
Do this by hovering over their username. A box will appear showing the date they first signed up to comment.
You can now download your commenting history.
If you want a copy of all the comments you have posted, you can download them via the “My profile” tab.
You’ll have more ways to know when others are engaging with your comment.
You can opt to receive specific email notifications, including:
- When a staff member replies to your comment
- When your comment is featured
- When your comment receives a reply
- A pending comment has been reviewed
Sign up for these notifications in the “My profile” tab on any comment section. If you currently already receive email notifications, please note that these new notifications will look different.
In your comment history, you’ll also be able to see who liked your comment.
Simpler options for reporting a comment.
Currently, when you flag a comment, you can choose to report the comment itself or report the username. We’ve simplified this so that all you need to do is report the comment.
What’s going away
Avatars will no longer be displayed as a part of user profiles.
While avatars were a key part of some commenter profiles, our research found that they were not widely used, with less than a quarter of readers taking advantage of the feature. We also conducted a user survey and the majority of respondents did not show a strong preference for keeping avatars. As a result, we have decided to stop supporting this feature.
The off-topic button will no longer be available, and you can no longer hide off-topic comments.
We first introduced the off-topic button for some active communities that wanted the ability to mark their own comments as off-topic, as well as hide those comments. Our new software no longer supports this functionality.
We know that there are still many commenters who have a vibrant community and want to continue having conversations. For those who frequently use the off-topic button, we suggest you mark the top of your comment clearly as off-topic or “OT” and keep the discussions under one thread as much as possible. This will also help keep off-topic conversations contained, so that other commenters and comment readers can focus on comments related to the story.
A shorter time window
Comments will close after 72 hours.
Currently, comments remain open on a story for 14 days. Our research found that the majority of comments are posted within 48 hours of a story being published. We know that some readers may come to a story some time after it has published, so we’ve added an additional day to our time window.
While we want to give readers the opportunity to comment as much as possible, we also have to balance this with the need to moderate newly published stories every day. Shortening the time window to three days will allow us to focus our efforts on more recent stories.
New users will be moderated
If you are new to commenting at The Post, your first comments will be reviewed by a moderator before they are posted to the site. Once these comments are reviewed and approved, you will be able to post comments immediately. We are introducing this new policy to improve the overall quality of comments on our site and screen comments more closely.
Other rules and guidelines remain the same
There will be no changes to our rules regarding posting comments, and you will still be able to report, ignore and like comments as usual. You can also sort comments by oldest, newest, most liked and most replied.
Your comment history will still be available in the “My profile” tab.
Join in!
Curious about how to participate in the comments? Here’s how to set up a commenting account. Make sure to read our community rules before you participate.
Send feedback
We hope these changes will improve your overall experience of commenting. You can share any questions or feedback by commenting below. If you’ve already sent in feedback to comments@washpost.com or recently took part in one of our surveys — thank you for the many helpful insights.