Editor’s Note: Commenting and archive searches

Last month, we launched a major redesign of our website. The fonts were clean, stories easy to find, the design elegant – but a bunch of important features were missing. Most importantly, readers were no longer able to comment on stories, and finding articles older than a month was nearly impossible.

I want to announce that we’ve made significant progress in this area. As of now, readers can comment on any story, and those comments will show up immediately. The catch, of course, is that you have to register, which you can do by clicking here.

I believe this will encourage a freer exchange of ideas, as the discussion will be moderated by the larger community, not just the newspaper staff.

Here’s how it works: If a reader posts something offensive, off-topic, or just plain bizarre, other readers can have it removed by flagging it. If a post gets two flags, it is automatically removed.

I also want to announce an improved search function. You can look for stories posted in the last month or so by using the search field, near the top right of the page. To look for older stories, click here to view stories by publication date, or here to view stories by topic. We’re looking to further improve our archive search function, and I’ll put out another note once that becomes live.

Thank you for your patience in this process, and thank you for reading. As always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts and answer your questions. Contact me at dan.evans@latimes.com.

Dan Evans
Editor, Times Community News