Start Commenting

Ok, dogs and poodles (shout out to the 2 Live Stews), gather round. If you’re having trouble posting comments or want to start posting comments on Crasstalk, here’s how you do it.

Crasstalk uses a commenting system called IntenseDebate. It’s not necessarily perfect, but it’s very nice. Many, many sites also use the same system. For example, Wonkette has been using ID for the past year or two and it’s believed that their commentariat is decisively winning the internet war against the Paultards, Tea Partiers, PUMAs, RedStaters, SkoalRebel and other crazies.

We have a few rules for commenters. Please go here to read them.

So how do I get started?

To post comments here you MUST create an IntenseDebate account. Using IntenseDebate is easy once you’re set up with a new account. To get an avatar sign up for Gravatar using the same email address as used for IntenseDebate.

Here’s how to create a new IntenseDebate account.

Note: IntenseDebate accounts have absolutely NOTHING to do with WordPress accounts. The WordPress author accounts we use here on the site are NOT the same as WordPress.com accounts.

IntenseDebate accounts are used across any site that uses the ID commenting system. This is pretty neat. It means you can go over to, say, Wonkette and post a comment with your same exact profile/avatar. The one downside is that if your name is fairly common or very long, you’ll have to tweak it. Don’t worry if it tells you your desired user name is already taken. Just try putting in an underscore or writing it slightly differently.

Can I use HTML?

IntenseDebate supports the following HTML tags:
<a href></a> = Used to create a link.
<b></b> = Bolding text.
<i></i> = Italicizing text.
<u></u> = Underlining text.
<em></em> = Italicizing text.
<p></p> = Formats text into a paragraph.
<blockquote></blockquote> = Use when quoting another comment, an article, etc.
<br></br> = Line break.
<strong></strong> = Bolding text.
<strike></strike> = Strikethrough text.
<img src> = Used to add an image.

How do I bold, underline or italicize text?
Using one of the formatting features listed above, you would put the text in between the code. For example, if you want to italicize something, you would type “I want to <em>italicize this text</em>,” which would appear as “I want to italicize this text.”

How do I add an image?
To post an image in your comment, use the following example: <img src=”image URL goes here.jpg” />.

How do I add a link?
You can either copy the link and paste it into the comments directly, or if you want to add text to it, use the following example: <a href=”URL goes here“>I love this site</a>.