Commenting vs. the Discussion Forums

NutleyWatch has two main ways for visitors to share their thoughts and ideas with other users of the site. There seems to be a bit of confusion as to how they differ, so I thought I’d provide a quick overview.

Posting Comments

Below every post on NutleyWatch is a section that allows you to “Leave A Reply”. These replies are one-off comments that can be left by anyone, whether you are a member of NutleyWatch.com, or simply a visitor stopping by.

Pros:

• Your comment is visible right underneath the relevant article
• You don’t have to be a registered member of the site – anyone can leave a comment
• Quick and easy – just a few text fields and you’re done

Cons:

• You need to fill out each field and complete the CAPTCHA test, each and every time you comment
• Your comment will only be read by people reading that story, and only if they scroll all the way down
• Over time, your comment won’t have as wide an audience as the article ages or drops in popularity
• Leaving a comment doesn’t in any way create an account for you automatically
• Filling out the text fields for a comment takes almost as much effort as simply registering your email address one time to become a member

It’s also important to note that if you are a registered user, you do not need to fill out the CAPTCHA test (or anything else) every time you want to leave a comment.

Posting on the Forums

The NutleyWatch community forum is a discussion forum, pretty much like any other you’ve seen elsewhere. It is feature-filled and powerful, yet lightweight and responsive.

Pros:

• The Forum has many features available to help you keep track of conversations and topics you’re interested in watching
• You can send private messages to other members
• Your comments and discussions are centralized and highly visible
• Your comments won’t end up getting buried due to the natural aging of posted content
• You can create your own topics for discussion, and start your own conversations

Cons:

• Other than needing to go through a painless email registration to set up your account, there’s no downside

Eventually I will be migrating away from allowing “guest comments” on the site altogether. As expected, too many drive-by remarks that I have to take time to moderate or remove all day long. At least the site still remains more or less spambot-proof 🙂

In short, soon I’ll be pushing all discussions toward the forums, where they belong. Right now people are a bit intimidated by the forums, so hopefully this will encourage people to start using them for their conversations.

Whether actively participating on the site, sending us information, or just stopping by to read what we post here each day, thank you all very much for being part of the NutleyWatch community.

~ Griff