Today, we are excited to announce the launch of our new commenting platform. If you’re a longtime reader, you might be thinking, “Another change to comments?” It’s true that we’ve made similar switches in recent history. However, as technology evolves, so do the capabilities we can offer to enhance your experience.

At the heart of this transition is our commitment to putting a premium on user experience, ease of use, and personalization in all our digital products. This new commenting platform is just one of many steps and investments we are making to ensure that your interaction with our journalism is as seamless and enjoyable as possible.

Here are some of the key features of our new platform:

Simplified login process

You will now only need to log into the website with your subscription account or registered access to comment. There’s no need for a separate login for commenting. This streamlines your experience and makes it easier to join the conversation.

Improved moderation

Software helps detect potentially abusive language before a comment is published. While it’s not perfect and will still require moderation by our newsroom, it’s a helpful safeguard to maintain respectful and healthy discussions. We believe that fostering a positive community is crucial for meaningful dialogue. With these capabilities we hope we will be able to enable discussions in new places on our sites, including many of the stories provided by the weekly community newspapers that are hosted on our sites.

Personalized features

You can now follow and get alerts on specific discussions or community members. A feed highlighting all active discussions will be accessible on every story. This allows you to tailor your experience to your interests and stay engaged with topics and people that matter most to you.

Cross-site discussions

Another surprising new capability with this new system will allow users to engage in discussions in multiple places at once when a story is published and shared on two or all three of our sites.  Subscribers of the Press Herald, Morning Sentinel, Kennebec Journal, Sun Journal and Times Record will all be part of a single online community.

For those curious about the features of the new commenting platform, you can review our FAQs here. We invite you to explore these new features, join the conversation, and help us build a vibrant, respectful, and informed community. Together, we can make our digital space a place where diverse voices and meaningful dialogues thrive.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we continue to innovate and improve your experience.

Thank you for your continued support and readership.