The Lead

The software we use here at the Café behind the scenes is supplied by TypePad. Like anything in the online world, the plumbing is always being updated. Occasionally you might even notice that something obvious is different.

Over the weekend TypePad rolled out a change to the way people can login to the Café to leave a comment. It used to be that to login you needed to create a TypePad account. But in these latter days, TypePad has now seen the logic of allowing people to authenticate their identity using their existing accounts on other services.

So, if you want to leave a comment here at the Café (and we hope you do), now when you sign in you have the option of using your Google account, your Facebook account, your Twitter account, or any of many other options. And of course your TypePad account will still work.

Just remember - all the comments left here at the Café are subject to moderation before they're published. We require people leaving comments to use their real name. If you are using an alias to sign in, put your real name at the end of your comment. If you're using a new method to sign in than one you've previously used, your comments may get delayed in moderation until we recognize you in your new guise. Help us poor moderators out by remembering to "sign" your posts.

If you're new here, it may take a little while before one of the moderators gets a chance to review your comment. Once we get to know you, we'll mark you as a trusted user and from then on your comments will appear immediately.

So enjoy the new options. We hope it makes it easier for more people to join the conversations.

Comments (12)

This is good news, indeed...but it makes me wonder (with the reference to the latter days) about this being a sign of the apocalypse...

But, then, I am deeply mired in the apocalyptic readings for Advent I for this upcoming Sunday.

Glad to see the good change!

Peter Carey+

Posted by petermcarey | November 23, 2009 7:59 PM

We'll see if this works. Every time I try to leave a comment, the page gets stuck. So you have been spared a fair amount of verbage.

Lee

Posted by Lee Alison | November 23, 2009 9:06 PM

Here's an attempt to sign in through my Facebook id. Yay if it works!

Posted by www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=560747865 | November 23, 2009 9:27 PM

I hate to sound like a broken record, but if you REALLY want to encourage conversation here, you need to add a feature to notify commenters that there are new comments on a thread. I simply don't have time (or a good enough memory!) to keep going back to see if someone responded to a comment I left on a post here. I suspect I'm not the only one...

Paige Baker

Posted by paigeb | November 23, 2009 11:33 PM

Paige - become a fan on FB then you will be notified when people respond there.

Posted by Ann Fontaine | November 24, 2009 12:20 AM

I agree with Paige. That would be so great to be notified of new comments.

But please do not make us join FB or Twitter to get them!

Dah•veed

Posted by David Allen | November 24, 2009 12:33 AM

Thanks for this useful development. I never did master the Typepad system. Now may I also request that you install "previous" and "next" buttons at the bottom of the pages as well as the top? It's a drag to have to return to the top of the page to continue reading the Lead.

Posted by William MacKaye | November 24, 2009 10:55 AM

Thanks, Ann--I already am a fan at Facebook and comment over there frequently. But that optioni only gives you updates for comments on Facebook--not here. And this medium allows for much longer comments than Facebook does.

So what happens is that you can have serious, in-depth conversations here, if you like---but you may never get the chance because you don't know if anyone is responding to a particular thread.

And you can get in short comments on Facebook, and Facebookers will know about them, but no one else.

So you are stuck trying to decide---Do I comment here, on Facebook, or both? And why go to all that trouble? Surely there must be a way to let people know when comments have been made here?

Posted by paigeb | November 24, 2009 11:25 AM

The changes folks are suggesting are smart, and we've thought of them as well. They cost money. We don't have it.

Posted by Jim Naughton | November 24, 2009 11:34 AM

Time to put up a Donate button, Jim! I'll be happy to subscribe. What you do here is amazing, and I am grateful.

Posted by paigeb | November 24, 2009 2:22 PM

I'm game to try this since it seems painless. Thanks for the tremendous contribution you make to so many folks with this blog. It's one of my daily must-reads.

Harry Allagree, ObJN

Posted by Harry Allagree | November 25, 2009 12:22 AM

If anyone is interested, there is a place to vote for Episcopal Café as 'Best Religion Blog, 2009.' Just go to Bloggers Choice awards at http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/9959
Right now Episcopal Café only has one vote. (You do have to register.)

Posted by www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=658205548 | November 28, 2009 2:49 PM

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