The ability to comment on stories published by Island Echo has returned following the launch of the new website – but there are some changes to take note of…
Despite months of planning and a team of experts working behind the scenes, a few bugs crept into the system as the new site went live for the first time last Friday – to be expected given the sheer scale of Island Echo. This included an error with user registration and comment publishing.
Those technical issues have now been overcome and commenting is back up and running! Other issues such as ads overlapping text on tablet devices have also been resolved.
In response to user feedback in last year’s Reader Survey, the decision has been taken to overhaul the comment system.
All commenters must now register for an account – using a genuine email – in order to leave their thoughts beneath an article. This measure will reduce, if not eliminate, the trolling witnessed on some stories, creating a healthier environment for all which will promote genuine, thoughtful discussion.
To comment…
1 – Scroll to the comment section towards the bottom of the article you wish to comment on
2 – Click ‘sign up’ and fill in both your email and desired username
3 – Check your inbox for an email from Island Echo, which will allow you to set a password
4 – Once your password has been set you can log in to your very own account
5 – You can now easily comment on stories just like you did before
6 – If you are signed out for any reason, or wish to sign in on another device, simply hit ‘login’ and enter your details
An extra commenting feature introduced this week is the ability to click a username to display an activity bio. This will show how many comments a user has left and how many up/down votes their comments have received.
Island Echo has entered a brand new era following not only the launch of the new website, but the move to a new newsroom in Ryde in July and the introduction of Carl Atkinson-Goffe as commercial manager this week.
Darren Toogood, Editor/Publisher of Island Echo, says:
“We appreciate that the past week has been disruptive, but we’ve overcome the technical issues experienced and will continue to iron out any small bugs that remain in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience.
“I am sure you will agree that the new website is a vast improvement. A lot of thought has gone into ensuring the sites feesl familiar and that advertisements don’t hinder the user experience. I’m pleased to say that a caching issue that has plagued us for a long time has been resolved.
“The new offices, new website and our first-ever commercial manager will help take Island Echo to the next level and ensure we continue to bring you all the latest Island news as it happens – first, fast and free – for many years to come.
“Your feedback on the new website is most welcome – either by commenting below or emailing [email protected].”
Excellent loving the new site. Keep up the great work.
Glad to have the comments back.
What’s that saying…..
If its working don’t try fixing it
I liked the old one better
Thanks for working out all the glitches to make it user friendly again
I seem to have managed to get it to work so it cannot be that difficult! On a more serious note, good to see that people need an account to comment. A first step towards accountability for comments.
Let us pray this is an end to the nasty comments that blighted this otherwise excellent publication.
It seems you may still have some issues with your comments. The number of comments aren’t always shown against the articles and the voting system doesn’t work (votes are always 0 when you return to a page)