Article commenting rules of the road

We are pleased to invite readers to comment on articles on our websites. Our goal is to provide a place where readers can comment on the article, and interact with each other. Our new system lets you to choose how to log in — you can create an account on our commenting system, or use your Twitter, Facebook or Google+ credentials.

The system makes it easy to share comments on social media platforms. You can choose to view only the best comments, or the newest or oldest first. Click Community near the commenting box to see other active discussions on the site.

We do ask that everyone participating follow these basic rules:

– Do not use obscene, vulgar or otherwise offensive language. It does nothing to advance the discussion.

– Treat everyone with respect. That means no personal attacks or name-calling; no disclosure of anyone else”s personal information (name, employer, phone number, etc.); no impersonating another commenter.

– Stay on point. Readers are interested in what you have to say about the article or the substance of other comments. Engaging in unrelated rants just clutters up the commenting thread.

– Don”t post the same comment multiple times. That clutters up the thread, too.

– Don”t engage in spammy or copyright-violating behavior. If you want to advertise something on our sites, click the Advertise link under Tools in the main navigation. Don”t post comments solely to direct readers to another website or blog. Don”t cut and paste and post the work of others protected by copyright.

We do not pre-moderate comments, but we do have a filter designed to prevent crude language from appearing. If you see a post that violates our terms of service, flag the comment. Don”t flag a comment just because you disagree with the person”s point of view.

We do our best to review these reports for moderation in a timely manner. Remember that our comment moderation is subjective — you may find something objectionable when we don”t, or vice versa.