We have decided to require registration before you can comment on your favorite Urban Semiotic blog. Spam has been increasing a lot lately and by requiring registration we are better ensuring we know who is commenting on our articles.

If you already have a WordPress.com account you don’t need to do anything!

Just make sure you’re logged in before you submit a comment and you’re good to go — the first time you post a comment after registering your comment will be held in moderation. Then, once you clear moderation, you will be able to post as you wish.

If you need a WordPress.com account, you may get one HERE and you do not have to get a blog — you can just sign up for a username and password and go!

Many of our most valued commenters here already have WordPress.com User IDs — so we only need to get the few excellent rest of you to play along and join us and login so we can better serve each other with the delicious discussion of intelligent minds that are — and have always been — the shining hallmark of this Urban Semiotic blog!

WE THANK YOU!

20 Comments

  2. Cool, I am logged in already, my blog is on Blogger but I have links on it to other pages on the wordpress.com blog. I think that made sense.

  3. Hi Chris!
    I agree! It should also cut down on the tons of Spam we get. Now if Akismet catches one of us it should be much easier to find the “golden” comment.
    Registration also helps ensure we all know each other a bit better and that we’re a known entity — at least on some level — with WordPress.com.
    I’m also hoping registration will be an incentive of sorts in that if you take the time to register, you’ll want to comment even more! 😀

  5. Great idea David. I am trying not to sound snide, but if someone is wary of logging in, or just too lazy, then the quality of their comment must be suspect at best.
    Have a great evening!

  6. Hi Eban!
    THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING! I love all your comments. NOW COMMENT MORE! 😆
    I agree that logging in proves good intention — and if your intentions are bad — welp, it is much easier to take action to preclude participation.
    You might want to change your display name and even add an Avatar to your user profile now so you really fit in! 😀

  8. Hi Gordon!
    You are right. When we moved to WP.com I wanted to only allow comments from registered users, but my WP.com Gurujis warned against it saying we wouldn’t get any comments.
    I realize that on a “regular” blog that advice is true — you remove the instinct comment — but we don’t really have that sort of conversation here.
    We’re a tight group of commenters and the “drive by” commenter is actually few and far between — so by requiring registration we’re just cutting out the occasional commenter who refuses to register to participate while solidifying our commenter core.

  9. Good idea. I went into the account and updated so I should have an avatar , plus my full name, on posts from now on.
    Cheers!

  13. I agree with you David, if people take time to register, they will definitely take time read the article and post a comment.
    Now that I am logged in, I have to remember it everytime I comment here!

  14. Hi Katha!
    Yay! Forcing you to login means we get to see your beautiful face again! 😀
    I agree the quality of comments will go up with forced registration while the number of comments may decline because the spontaneous “drive by” commenter won’t take the time to register.

  15. INFO:
    Curt Schilling’s Official Blog is hosted on WordPress.com as a VIP Blog and he requires registration in order to comment, too (scroll down to the bottom of the page to see):
    http://38pitches.com/2007/05/09/public-apology/
    I think requiring registration is going to be the new standard of interaction on blogs in the future. There’s too much Spam and Junque out there to allow open, unrestricted access.

  16. Heh! 😀 I know!!!
    99% time I am so absorbed with the article I read want to comment so badly that I just skip the step of logging in – but no more!
    On a different note, I found the post on “laptop in the classroom” in Boles University very interesting, posted a comment there, but it vanished. Did I goif something up?

  17. Hi Katha!
    Yeah, I know! I used to remind you to login and then I just gave up. 😆
    Thanks for the comment on the Boles University blog! Your message was in moderation — you sort of need that on Blogger even if you require registration first. Your comment there is now published and I replied to you!

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