TMV Readers:
Effective 01/28/07, comment registration will become mandatory if you want to post comments. This will allow us to turn off the spam filter and keep legitimate comments where they should be: in the comments section of posts instead of the spam bin. You can start registering today by following some simple steps:
1. Go to the “Members Area” at the top of the site (on the left sidebar) and click “Register”. Or go to:
http://themoderatevoice.com/wordpress-engine/wp-register.php.
2. Enter your a login name and e-mail address. Then click “Register”. Your e-mail address is needed to send a temporary password to you.
3. A temporary password will be e-mailed to you immediately with a link to log into The Moderate Voice subscriber area. Being a subscriber means that you can post comments.
4. Once you login, you can change your password, first/last name, nickname, e-mail address, and what name you would like displayed when you comment. We advise that you change your password to something you can remember.
5. You can get back to the blog by clicking “View site” at the top of the page.
Once you are logged in, you will have unrestricted commenting without the spam police attacking you. You will notice that once you are logged in, the links in the “Members Area” changes to “Logout” and “Control Panel”. “Logout” basically stops your commenting privledges until you log back in. “Control Panel” sends you back to edit all of your information. If you are going to be a frequent commenter, it is best to just check “Remember Me” when you log in so you won’t have to do repeated logins every visit.
NOTE: When you are logged in and are in the “comment box”, you may still see empty name, e-mail address, and web site fields. That is a minor bug in the comment box that is being worked on. Just leave those fields blank and comment away. Rest assured, your name will appear in your comment.
Remember that the spam filter will still be on until 01/28/07 so bear with us until then.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.