Blog Commenting 101

1. SEARCHING THE COMMENTS
If you're curious about or want to comment on a certain topic, search the comments page first to see what others have already said. Hit "Ctrl F" (hold down the "Ctrl" and the "F" keys at the same time) to open the search window. This works in most browsers.

2. COMMENTING ETIQUETTE
When you notice someone new commenting on the blog, acknowlegde them, welcome them, and help them out as best you can. Be patient with questions. On this blog, a sense of community is just as important as information exchange. Try to be friendly and helpful as much as possible.

Profanity is generally considered to be bad form in online forums. Please be conscious to keep profanity and off-color humor to a minimum when commenting on this blog. It is up to the discretion of the blog administrators to delete anything they deem inappropriate.

If another commenter is being rude, hostile, and/or trying to provoke negative responses, it's best to simply ignore them or ask them kindly to stop. "Trolls" are typically looking for attention and if they don't get it, they will usually leave. If inappropriate "flaming" persists, please contact the blog administrators and they will take measures to block specific users (as a last resort).

Don't spam or advertise other websites or products. It's okay to mention things but it is considered rude to repeat the same announcements over and over.

When responding to the ideas presented by a certain commenter, it is a good idea to address your comment to that individual in much the same way as you would address someone in an email by adding their name and a comma at the start of your comment (or you could copy and pasted thier comment into your comment). This helps establish active dialogues that sharpen ideas.

3. ADDING LINKS, ITALICS, AND BOLD
The wealth of information about Alcatraz on the internet is more than likely going to be massive. It is almost always helpful to add links to your posts. Adding a link to your comment is fairly simple. Here is an example of what you would type to link to a website:


Sometimes is is also helpful to add italic or bold characters to your comments.



4. SPOILER CONTENT (FROWNED UPON)
It is the policy of this blog to HIGHLY DISCOURAGE commenters' discussion of any sort about Alcatraz related content that has yet to be aired in an episode or post-episode promo. For a complete definition of spoilers see THIS POST.