Starting next week, anonymous commenting will no longer be allowed on this website.

For some of you, that’s good news; you’ve been asking for tighter controls for months now. For others, that’s not so good.

When we launched in Dec. 2008, we wanted to erect as few barriers as possible to the free flow of information and the give-and-take that makes the online experience rewarding. We trusted our readers to not abuse this privilege.

Sure enough, nearly all of you have played by the rules. And for that, we are grateful.

The same, however, cannot be said for everyone.

We apologize to all who will be inconvenienced by this change.

Here’s how it will work:

Starting Monday, we will use Disqus, an online vendor, to handle Qcitymetro comments. Some of you might recognize that name. It’s the same company used for commenting on CharlotteObserver.com, TheGrio.com and a growing number of other news sites.

Readers who wish to comment will be required to confirm a valid email address as well as a screen name. Your screen name need not be your real name, so have some fun; make up something creative.

That’s all it takes.

In fact, if you are registered to comment on CharlotteObserver.com or any other site that uses Disqus, that same registration will carry over to Qcitymetro. We’ll also permit readers to register via their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Here’s what my Disqus profile looks like. (No, you will not be required to upload a picture of yourself. Those who don't will be assigned a standard Avatar.)

We fully expect that this will discourage some from commenting. That is not our intent. We want all of our Qcity reader talking and posting.

On the positive side, the Disqus commenting system will be a vast improvement over our current system. I will outline some of its many great features in a column next week, but here are just two:

• Qcitymetro readers will have an option to receive an email notification when someone responds to one of their posts, and they will be allowed to respond (and automatically post back to our website) through that same email. In other words, you can keep the argument...er, discussion...going via your cell phone.

• Readers will be able to respond directly to a specific comment, making it easier to follow the train of conversation.

Here’s a Disqus link for those wishing to register now.

Also, here is a link to our commenting policy.

Let me know what you think about our changes.
***
Glenn H. Burkins is editor/publisher of Qcitymetro.com and its sister site, QcityBride.com. Email editor@qcitymetro.com.

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
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