Commenting on the Durango Herald website has been a point of contention for some of our readers wanting to contribute to a discussion or provide some insight to our stories. Many have complained that their comments were deleted, so we wanted to take the time to clear the air and explain how our policy works.

You have to register with the website in order to comment on stories and on this blog, which we really hope you do. This applies if you are reading on the Durango Herald site or on the Cortez Journal.

You register by going to www.durangoherald.com (or the home page of the Cortez Journal) and clicking ‘sign up' on the right-hand side of the second navigation bar. You need to enter your real name and a valid email address. You can register for various newsletters, such as breaking news, and link your Facebook account to the website to see what your friends recommend and are reading. Our policy is included at the bottom of the page:

“After completing the registration process, Users will be granted certain privileges, including that of posting comments regarding articles appearing on the Herald's website. Because this is a privilege, civility and decency are expected in all postings. By extending the privilege of commenting, the Herald hopes to provide a forum for civil discourse about the news of the day and issues relevant to Herald readers. Herald management will not tolerate hateful comments, or personal attacks on individuals, or any language deemed by Herald management and editors to be cruel, insensitive, mean spirited or demeaning. Postings containing such language will be removed from the site and the User risks having their privilege revoked. The Durango Herald requires a first and last name to comment on news of the day.”

Some readers don't like having their name public on comments and have questioned why we have that policy. We used to allow anonymous commenting but that, unfortunately, opened a can of worms. We didn't have control over the content, which could have impacted our credibility and be a liability because some people were impersonating others in the community. Another issues that was aroused is hate speech. What we intended to be a civic forum turned into a hostile environment were commenters were being personally attacked. We were also approached by the police, who asked us to hand over the emails and names of people commenting who might have additional information on an open case. We refused to do this and continue to refuse to do this. When you register for an account on the site none of your information is shared with anyone.

We don't typically monitor the site for comments, we wait for the community to monitor itself and report abuse. At the end of every comment is a red ‘Report Abuse' button. We check out comment when a reader pushes that button to alert us of a potential problem. Typically, people will report abuse when someone isn't using a real name or has used profanity. Yes, staring out the middle or end letters of a curse word still counts as profanity.

Word to the wise: When a commenting thread is simply two people making jabs at each other and calling each other names, we will shut the comment board down.

We hope this helps you better understand why some comments are deleted.

Now, we know the above list may sound a bit harsh but please know we want you, our readers, to comment on stories. The policy was put into place to create a forum where everyone feels welcome to comment. That is the purpose of having a comment board and one of the reasons we work so hard to put out a paper everyday. We know our stories affect the public and we love to get feedback from our readers and hear your opinions. The comment isn't just for us, though, it's also for the readers to discuss issues and bounce ideas off one another. So continue to comment and stay engaged.

If you already created an account with an incorrect name or email, email our Web Editor Josh Stephenson at jstephenson@durangoherald.com. He can change the name and email, which is actually a lot easier than creating a brand new account.

Happy commenting!