NPR Community FAQ

Do I have to register to access the site?
How do third party log in options work?
Will signing up create a profile?
Do I have to be logged in to comment?
Will my comments appear in search engines?
Will everyone see my e-mail address?
Do I have to use my real name?
What if the user name I want is already taken?
Are member names, e-mail addresses and passwords case sensitive?
Can I change the e-mail address or password for my account?
I forgot my password. What do I do?
Can I edit or delete a comment I've posted?
Can community members respond directly to each others' comments?
How will I know if someone has responded to one of my comments?
Why are the comments not sorted in the order they were posted?
Can I share comments?
What is following? Can I follow another community member?
Can I follow a discussion thread?
Can I use HTML in my comments?
Why are comments closed for a particular story?
How can I report inappropriate content that I see on NPR.org?
I am having trouble accessing social media features in Internet Eplorer 8/9. What do I do?
What features were not carried over when we made the change to Disqus?
What other features are still to come?
 

 


 

Do I have to register to access the site?

If you just want to read, listen to or watch NPR stories, there's no need to register. Registration allows users to participate in NPR.org's online communities. By registering, you'll be able to create a personal profile, join discussions and participate in other activities being developed on the site.

You also need to have third party cookies enabled for NPR.org on your browser in order to post comments or to stay logged in to your account. You can find a detailed explanation and instructions here.

How do third party log in options work?

We also offer the ability to access the NPR Community using your existing Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Disqus log in credentials. When you sign in using one of those options, basic information such as your name and email address will be automatically carried over to an NPR.org account for you.

If at any point you no longer wish to associate your Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ accounts with your NPR.org account, you can disconnect them.

To disconnect your Google+ account, sign in to http://plus.google.com/apps using your Google account and select “Disconnect” from the menu. See this article for more information.

Will signing up create a profile?

Yes. As soon as you sign up, a simple profile is created showing your user name (nickname), as well as your full name if you entered it when you registered. Registering will also create a Disqus profile for you, which you can use to participate on any site that uses Disqus. Disqus is the platform that NPR.org uses to host and manage social media features.

Visitors to NPR.org can view your profile, which will also aggregate the comments you've left around the site. You can have only one profile per email address.

Do I have to be logged in to comment?

Yes.

Will my comments appear in search engines?

NPR does not currently index comments or profiles, meaning they will not come up when you use a search engine like Google. This does not mean that they won't be visible. Your profile is still public and available for everyone to see.

Will everyone see my e-mail address?

No. Only your name or your user name will be shown.

Do I have to use my real name?

You are not required to use your name when registering for an account. If you do enter your name, it will be displayed. Otherwise, your user name (nickname) will be displayed instead. You will also be able to easily edit your profile after registration.

What if the user name I want is already taken?

We recommend that you try an alternate spelling, or perhaps add a number/letter combination to make your user name unique.

Are member names, e-mail addresses and passwords case sensitive?

Member names and e-mail addresses are not case sensitive, but passwords are.

Can I change the e-mail address or password for my account?

Yes. Just log in to the site, click the “Your Account” tab and type in your new e-mail address or new password in the fields provided. If you change the email address for your account, we will send you a confirmation e-mail with a link you must visit before the change takes effect.

I forgot my password. What do I do?

Click on Login on the upper right of any of the pages, then click "Don't know your password?" Enter your e-mail and your password will be sent to you.

Can I edit or delete a comment I've posted?

Yes. You will have the ability to edit or delete your comments after posting them, (including all of the comments you posted before we enabled this option). You can also edit comments. Comments that are edited are marked as such in the thread.

Deleted comments will not disappear from the comment thread. Instead, they will appear anonymously and they will be deleted from the Recent Activity on your profile page. Complete deletion of comments leaves gaps in the conversation and disrupts the flow of the comment thread.

Can community members respond directly to each others' comments?

Yes. Community members are able to respond directly to each others' comments. To respond directly to a comment, click the Reply option below the comment you wish to respond to. Conversations originating from individual comments are expandable or collapsible. You can also vote comments up or down.

How will I know if someone has responded to one of my comments?

By default, you will receive an email notification whenever someone responds to one of your comments. If you prefer not to receive those emails, you can change that preference by editing your profile or by clicking ‘Edit Settings’ in the comment area.

Why are the comments not sorted in the order they were posted?

Comments are sorted by “best” as a default, however community members may also set their preferences to display comments by “newest” or “oldest” instead. The ranking of "best" comments is determined by a number of factors, including (but not restricted to) voting from other community members. Regardless of which option you select for sorting the discussion thread, replies to comments will remain organized into sub-conversations for the initial comment they were posted in response to. So, if you are sorting by "newest" or "oldest" first, the results will be determined by the order in which the initial comment was posted.

Can I share comments?

Yes. You can use Facebook, Twitter or a permalink to share comments.

What is following? Can I follow another community member?

Use the "follow" option to keep track of what your favorite commenters are saying. Comments posted by the people you choose to follow will appear under your My Disqus tab. Click the My Disqus tab at the top of any discussion thread to open that view. More information is available here.

Can I follow a discussion thread?

Yes, you can follow a discussion thread via RSS, email, etc.

Can I use HTML in my comments?

You can use some basic HTML in your posts.

Why are comments closed for a particular story?

For the most part, we try our hardest not to close any comment thread. But sometimes, when things get too heated and a conversation has become uncivil, we’ll shut the thread down. Also, most comment threads are automatically shut down after 7 days.

How can I report inappropriate content that I see on NPR.org?

Mouse over the objectionable content until a down arrow appears in the upper right hand corner of the area next to the comment. Open that menu, and you'll see the “flag as inappropriate” option. Use that to let our editors know if something objectionable has been posted on the site.

I am having trouble accessing social media features in Internet Eplorer 8/9. What do I do?

If you are receiving a message that your browser is not compatible, you will need to turn off the "Compatibility Mode" option for your browser. You can find instructions for turning off Compatibility Mode here.

What other features are still to come?

There are a few features we expect to offer that we just didn't have time to include before launch. These include:

  • Ability to mute/ignore certain users
  • Ability to add an avatar for your account


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