Changes Coming to SSF Commenting Platform

Hello all, just a quick announcement regarding some functionality of the site that has come from the overlords on the mother ship. The commenting system is finally getting overhauled!

Despite the fact there are some individuals here convinced that I rule with an iron fist and a dictatorial agenda on hand, I actually do enjoy many of the conversations that this site produces in the comments section. Honestly, I am proud of it. The old saying of “don’t read the comments” doesn’t apply here, for the most part, and many of y’all are the reason for that.

With that said, the comment platform on the SBN sites has been in need of some updating for quite sometime. Anyone that has attempted to join the conversation on the mobile platform is well aware of how different the experience is. From what I’ve read, this will be a little bit better going forward.

In the interest of transparency, here are also a couple of really cool things that the new system will let us do:

A variety of commenting formats: Different types of discussion shouldn’t all feel the same. Discussions on sports news involve deep, complex conversation, while game threads need to feel as exciting as the tightest of games. The new platform offers different modes for general comments, Q&As, and (coming later this year) a live game chat mode. We’re continuing to develop and improve all of these formats on an ongoing basis.

and

Better on mobile and modern browsers: Our communities need to be reliable and easy to use across all platforms and devices. The new platform seamlessly handles hundreds of thousands of comments on a page without delay or performance issues, and works on all modern devices.

It also gives us a few more tools for moderation to help combat spambots, which tend to appear annoying for a couple weeks at a time and then vanish into the internet ether.

All of SB Nation’s football team sites trialed the new commenting system last season, and it sounds like many of the early kinks/issues have largely been worked out. That said, the new commenting system will of course feel different. Change is always a bit difficult in that way — so let’s all work together knowing that we are in the same rocking boat at the beginning of the year.

The new commenting system should go live next week on the 25th. As a user, you won’t have to create a new account or anything like that (maybe you will have to log in again? — not sure).

That is all.

Go Zags.