Changes to Patch Comments: What You Need to Know

We've recently made changes to the comments section on Patch articles, to make it easier for you and your neighbors to engage in meaningful and constructive conversations about local issues. To check out the new system, simply click the "Reply" button in the top right corner of any Patch article, or the "Reply" link at the bottom of the article.

Here are some of the things we've changed:

1. You now only need a Patch profile to reply to articles — it's no longer necessary to create a separate account on the Disqus commenting platform. (We've turned off Disqus altogether.) To create a Patch profile, simply go here or click on the "Reply" field and you'll be prompted to create a profile if you don't already have one.

2. Users' home communities now appear next to user names, to make it easier to identify local conversations.

3. A simpler and easier-to-use mobile experience for article replies. On your smart phone? Click the "Reply" button on top of articles to access the conversation. To get back to the article, simply click the "X" in the top right corner of your screen and you'll be back where you started.

4. We've revamped our moderation procedures to better enforce our Community Guidelines. Patch users regularly tell us they appreciate that Patch is a place to discuss local issues — and not just another place on the internet to vent about national politics. Our guidelines call for civil conversations about local matters. Users who violate our Community Guidelines will have their posts and replies deleted, and risk having their accounts terminated. Want to help us keep Patch local and free of self-promotional posts? You can flag comments that violate our standards for expedited review by our moderation team — just click the 'flag' icon on the bottom right corner of any post or reply.

Also: The new article replies format is consistent with the community posting feature we launched earlier in the year, which you can access via the simple posting box on the homepage of your Patch.

These are all efforts to make it easier for neighbors to share community news, answer each other's questions, converse about local issues and help us deliver on our mission to keep Patch local. We hope you enjoy and thanks for reading.

Locally yours,

The Patch Team