Try out the new commenting system!

 One of my goals this year is to deepen and widen the conversation on Iserotope. There are tons of excellent educators reading the blog, so why not have a dialogue?

Don’t worry, non-educators: You’re invited, too. Please don’t be shy!

After some thought, I decided to change up the commenting system just a tad. You might not even notice the changes, particularly if you’ve been too reticent to comment in the past. But rest assured, it’ll be a little easier to get your thoughts out there than before.

Here’s how:

1. Go to the comments section. There are two ways: Click on the title of the post and then scroll down to the bottom. Or, if you’re on the main site, find the little thought bubble and click the link to its right.

2. Write your comment. There will be a box with the prompt, “Enter your comment here.” That’s where it goes!

3. Identify yourself. We don’t want random people or spammers in our conversation. There are two ways to identify yourself: Leave your email address and name OR sign into your Facebook, Twitter, or WordPress account by clicking the icon of your choice.

4. Submit your comment. Just click on “Post Comment.” Easy as that!

5. Advanced: You can also stay in the conversation by clicking the box next to “Notify me of follow-up comments via email.”

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For the blogging geeks out there, I decided not to go with a third-party commenting service (like Disqus or LiveFyre). Those sometimes slow down your site. And even though I was tempted, I stayed away from Facebook. Maybe you don’t want to be forced to log into Facebook to share what you think on Iserotope.

Anyway, for some people, this post means very little. But I do want to encourage everyone to feel free to share your ideas. Also, don’t forget to check out Iserotope Extras and comment on the articles there.

And for those of you who get these posts via the Iserotope Facebook page and like to make comments there, by all means, please continue! It doesn’t really matter where you share your ideas, as long as you feel comfortable doing so.

If you have any questions or concerns or worries, please let me know! You can even leave a comment if you like! Go ahead, it’ll be fun.