Maybe there is already a way to do this? But it seems the commenters don't come up in the search engine either.

And how about a calender section with dates of events of environmental significance?

Oh, and one of those free magic ponies everyone talks about!

1. Ability to edit comments after hitting the "Post" button.

2. RSS notifications of comments (not just new blog articles) by other commentators on the same article.

The calendar is definitely something we've thought about for a long time, but it's probably farther out.

As for the ponies, I have a request in with the tech team but they are dragging their feet.

Ron, both your wishes shall be granted.

And thanks Bart!

grist.org

But please keep:

1. ability to easily get to my previous comments
   
2. list of recent comments - it helps me know where the action is
   
3. all the great anti-nuke rants

Sometimes I find the "News" section and the "Gristblog" section to be just a bit repetitive.  One some subjects, there'll be 2 or 3 seperate news artciles/blogs which are essentially focused on the same thing (take the recent polar bear listing for example).

It gets to where some posters are basically repeating comments 2 or 3 different times in several different articles/blogs.

I know that mods here feel very passionate 'bout certain subjects, and sometimes they wanna post their own perspectives on it in a blog that's seperate, but sometimes, to me personally, it causes confusion.  

Maybe work some on integrating the two?

Also, I don't personally like how there's a list of "recent comments" off to the side in the "Gristblog" (that includes comments made in the "News" section), but the news section doesn't have that.  I'df like to see it in the "News" section as well.

As for an "edit" button...I can see how it'd come in handy for misspellings and grammar and the like (Godzilla knows I make a ton of 'em), but my only concern would be people who've made posts goin' back and editing them to make it seem like they were arguing for something they didn't, or to include info. that someone else pointed out later and then takin' credit for it, etc.

I don't expect most people ('specially long-time members) to act that way, but we are visited by occassional, short-term trolls and the like...so anyway, I'll go with the "edit button" idea either way ya decide for/against it.

Um, also, one question...ya'll aren't considerin' avatars or visual banners or the like, are ya?

'Cause personally, I'd kinda like the site to steer clear of that sorta stuff.

Makes it much easier than havin' to type the commands out every time.

But that's typical Grist -- style over substance.  

Pictures of Val Kilmer as a cover for poorly phrased arguments...

Also pleased to see that Happy Cog is doing the work - they've long had my respect in the web development industry, for their focus on what users need and their high standards.

I'll be so happy to see greater integration betwixt Grist and Gristmill.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Eat what you grow, grow what you eat

As for an "edit" button ... my only concern would be people who've made posts goin' back and editing them to make it seem like they were arguing for something they didn't, or to include info. that someone else pointed out later and then takin' credit for it, etc.

Very good point, and the solution I'm hoping to get is that everything changed or added in an edit would be marked as such -- maybe boldface or a different color -- and there would be a small tag at the bottom: "edited on [date]." Ideally, there would be no way to do a stealth edit.

(Don't quote me on any of this! If our tech team reads this they'll strangle me.)

... what I would like though is buttons that we could use when we want to bold, italicize, or quote

There will be a WYSIWYG.

Will contributors be able to see the article queue

The exact mechanics haven't been worked out yet, so don't take any of this as written in stone. Contributors will be able to see their own queue, and (probably/maybe) publish to their own blog on their own schedule. As to the timing of those posts being syndicated into other areas of Grist, that will be a matter for the editorial staff.

Can we please, please be able to block certain posters from the blog view?

Yes! All it takes is the click of a button, and you'll never have to read a comment by [person you hate] again! And you can turn it off, if you decide [person you hate] might kind of have a point after all. And then turn it on again when you remember that [person you hate] really is a jerk.

grist.org

From DR and others' excellent interviews and inside information from big shot conferences to all kinds of big shots defending their inintiatives to actual practical stuff, like bio-d's excellent bike thread (and biodiversity threads too)...  and on and on too numerous to mention...to the comments on the blog.

I think this org is really getting to the heart of every leading edge issue related to environment and climate change and ethical issues like poverty and animal cruelty.

That sure won't change with the new site design, so let it be!  Looking forward to blogging it!  Thanks again gristers.  Nothing quite like this anywhere else.

We get the same old gruel from mass media, radio, teevee and print.  (Bio-d even helped explain why that doesn't happen as much with this blog interactivity.)  This site is such a relief.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

For us readers, the adage might be: the simpler the better (at least that's my view). A commenting function and a comment tracking function might suffice.

I'd have a note on substance though: what I miss at Grist is a view from the developing world, or from topics dealing with these countries.

After all, environmentalism has become very much a global affair, with so many intertwined issues, that you basically can't run a discussion about being green without including developing world perspectives.

Our eating habits determine what happens in Brazilian agriculture. Halting deforestation in Congo should be a priority for all Western governments (e.g. the UK and Norway already understand this and are putting up big money); the list of examples is sheer endless.

So I hope this gets more attention in Grist.

For the rest, this is one of the most interesting environmentalist websites, with well researched in-house articles and great guest posts by professionals.

Thanks and good luck.

We're "Gristas," of course.

Would it be possible to have, instead of the current "recent comments" format of one line per comment, a formet where there's one line per thread (and maybe a list of the last 5 posters)? For example:

Apologies and previews (caniscandida, amazingdrx, iodiversivist, fearless leader dave, transient troll)

ahhhhhhhhhhhh

the world would be so more pleasant if we could pretend the people we disagree with or dislike did not exist

wrapped in our warm cocoons, oblivious to the fact that there are people out there who aren't like us

and then wonder, why doesn't reality correspond to how I perceive it

and then shocked, you mean their are people who don't have the same view!

and then incredulous because you never took time to learn about their perspective

and not able to defeat them because your immune system was not exposed to the virus

if not with us, must be against us

happy happy joy joy

riding my magic pony off into the perfect sunset, forever and ever

Don't forget about your dialup users. There are lots of folks in the phonewire hinterlands who lose out when sites are redesigned and optimized for those with broadband.

Erik

The Orion Grassroots Network: supporting grassroots groups working for conservation, justice, & more

Not sayin' I want any, I'm just wonderin'...

"Very good point, and the solution I'm hoping to get is that everything changed or added in an edit would be marked as such -- maybe boldface or a different color -- and there would be a small tag at the bottom: "edited on [date]." Ideally, there would be no way to do a stealth edit."

You could always integrate wiki function and allow changes. This way it tracks all prior changes; it shows who is abusing it (and will allow you to block a thread from being edited further), and will allow the ability to rollback to an original version of a comment. If you want to allow it at all.

The current proximity of the preview button to the post button may be that cause of more than a few typo ridden threads.

I'd also like to support a dial-up friendly format or option. Not everybody is on broadband still or has it available in rural areas. Due to the frequently technical nature of this site I think this would be helpful in dispersing relevant information/issues.

The ignore button option does compress some threads significantly on other sites. Peer scores are nice too but sometimes abused.

I like Grist and Gristians (my vote) a whole lot as is. Keep up the great work all.

Put the Carbon Back

By the same token, I like to (try to) read about things that I know little about, but which concern me nevertheless.  So I hope a good shuffle of topics of various kinds will remain readily visible and available.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Better to pass up trolls, than create a special ignore list for them.  The New york times fora tried this too.  It didn't help.

Ocasionally recognizing a clever (what they consider clever) troll tactic will get them to brag and expose their various selves who are talking merrily along with each other, trying to bait normal neticzens into "Br'er Rabbit" 100+ endless meaningless threads.

Born to be wild.  We can't let the medium tame our message.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

Nor should that opinion seem too totalitarian.  We do not agree with ourselves, after all.  And yet we love to hear one another's opinions, don't we.  I do not agree with myself, much of the time; but if I have quarreled with, say, my left foot, I am prompt to invite it to have a bath with me, and there we talk things out, the rubber duck (an eider duck) our only witness.

As to whether trolls should be suppressed or allowed:  Well, is this a First-Amendment question, or an Age-of-Enlightenment question?

In the first case, we may approve of Larry Flynt's argument (and Flynt has been a great public servant recently, in uncovering scandalous behavior of legislators), that no matter how disgusting someone's message may be, we ought to allow that person to express it.

That may work for a sidewalk newsstand, but there is no reason that it ought to be the rule in Grist.

In the second case, we should start with the assumption that everyone is reasonable, everyone is fair, everyone is using his and her head at least as much as his and her heart, or at least wants to.

And actually, it is not unknown that readers are dissuaded from one opinion, and persuaded unto another, thanks to careful, reasonable argumentation from a particularly eloquent advocate.

Nevertheless, we cannot help observing that the unfriendly visitors whose presence amongst us we least enjoy are very good at appearing reasonable and professional, abundant with references to support their argument that we are simply stupid.  Or worse, involved in a conspiracy, brain-washed, mentally captive, zombie-oid.

As a suggestion, we might distinguish three categories:

1. Those who think the basic concerns of environmentalists, especially regarding climate change, and the biodiversity crisis, are wrong-headed, should be allowed to comment, adding what they think they know, which is better than what the environmentalists think they know, always doing so in a respectful manner.

2. Those who think in that way, i.e. that central concerns of environmentalists are wrong-headed, should NOT be allowed to comment, if the intention of their presence is plainly to disrupt the constructive conversation of others.

3. Those who think in that way should ESPECIALLY NOT be allowed to comment, if the form that their disruption takes is to mock and discredit earlier commenters.

Keep up the good work for the grown ups

The most elegant solution I've seen to the "edited after the fact" problem is the way Flickr (and phpbb, I think) does it: it adds a little "last edited at XYZ time" note to the end if said edits were made more than a few minutes after posting. That subtly lets people know that something might have changed in the aftermath.

Two things I really like about Slashcode's CMS which haven't quite trickled into the mainstream: comments threaded by nesting, and user moderation. I think the latter might work pretty well around here, from the interactions I've seen.