We received this message the other day from one of our readers:

“When I am unable to read your paper copy I like to visit your Website. Unfortunately, I am finding the comments posted by some of your users to be rather crude and speculative.

The reason I am writing is get an explanation as to why your paper/website allows users to comment. It is worth mentioning that when reading the letters to the editor, while I may not agree with the opinion, the letters have always been somewhat professional.

In general I (the reader) would prefer to only see your writers’ work (which undoubtedly requires many hours of research). I also can assure you that I am not the only one who feels this way, many of my friends and co-workers have made similar comments.

I ultimately wish you would just put an end to user comments and leave the writing to the professionals (your writers). Perhaps you could comment on this idea?

We would be happy to.

Our goal with reader comments is to harness the community’s knowledge and interact in ways that improve our journalism and readers’ understanding of the issues.

Occasionally, a post will illuminate another fact we should consider in our coverage of events. Many times readers with specialized knowledge point to a fact that makes our future coverage better.

Readers also provide another perspective. We try to get as much perspective as possible into all our stories, but, no matter how many viewpoints we report, there’s always someone who feels they haven’t been heard.

Finally, since we do believe in the First Amendment, we also want to provide a public forum for honest debate. We actually enjoy this form of interaction with our readers.

It is true that story comments occasionally devolve into an online brawl, especially with topics that have high emotional content. But this is generally the work of a handful of posters and doesn’t reflect the majority of our readers.

In the past, we have restrained this small group, but in our recent redesign we decided to back away from our role as moderators and let more posts appear without an editor’s review. It was our hope that the community would police itself.

We admit the results have been mixed so far. Few users are flagging offensive posts but more are complaining about abusive behaviors. And we are concerned that this mean-spirited minority is keeping other voices from joining the conversation.

As a result, we are discussing several possible changes, including:

• Right now, we post all comments below our stories. We could post only selected comments that we feel represent a range of perspectives without being nasty or mean-spirited. We would provide a simple link to “All comments” in a separate area.
• We could allow users to turn all comments off. You could decide, as the reader above, that reader comments are not useful. If you’d rather concentrate on what the Pilot’s writers produce, just select “Comments off.”
• Or we could allow people to “vote” on posts, with the most highly rated posts rising to the top of the comments list.

We expect that some readers might respond negatively. Some might suggest even less monitoring by our staff. Some might suggest they have a First Amendment right to say whatever they want and people who don’t like a little nastiness should stay off the boards.

We can’t agree with that approach. We think the boards should be friendly to everyone who wants to engage in a civil conversation.

That’s what we think. What do you think we could do to make this feature more valuable?

You can respond by posting a comment below or by sending an email to fred.schecker@pilotonline.com

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules. Comments do not reflect the views or approval of The Virginian-Pilot or this Web site. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment to alert an editor. Repeat offenders will be denied automatic posting privileges.

We feel like proud parents.

We love the new look of HamptonRoads.com and we are excited about the new features this baby has.

We're inclined to use words like "cutting edge" and "best in its class."

But, we're journalists and business people too, and we know HamptonRoads.com can't be successful if you don't share our enthusiasm.

You’ll find a full guide to all the new features and how to get the most out of them at this site. But here are just a few highlights:

 - A brighter, cleaner, wider page. Part of our primary goal was to provide a better user experience; the new page takes advantage of today's larger and higher resolution monitors. It also helps us present the information you want with less clutter.

 - A great new entertainment widget. The expandable “Entertainment Guides” accordion helps you more quickly access the area's most comprehensive guides to local events, restaurants, movies and attractions. Want to know what's going on in Hampton Roads today? Explore our guides.  

 - Tags and links. We haven't changed how you navigate the site a lot, but we have made improvements. For example, if you are reading a story about kumquats, there's a good chance we have provided a "tag". Click that tag and you will see all of the other stories we have written about kumquats. And we have made it a lot easier for you to share the stories you like with friends by providing easy links to social networking websites such as Facebook and Digg.

- More opportunities to contribute and participate. It’s easier than ever to comment on stories and blogs, submit photos and videos, submit calendar items, request a blog, request an email newsletter, vote in polls, and rate and review movies and restaurants.

- New story comment rules. For the majority of people who follow our user guidelines, comments will appear almost instantaneously. When someone breaks the rules, you will be able to report it and remove offending posts and posters from the comments you read.

- Personal profile pages. Finally, every registered user now has a "profile page." At launch, the page will highlight all of your recent comments. But we will be expanding this particular feature a lot in the future in our effort to build a real community.

- Easier access to classified listings for jobs, homes, deals and autos. Now you can search from the home page.

- More RSS feeds. You’ll find feeds for countless topics and blogs, so you can get the news whenever, wherever and however you want.

- Videos accessible right on the home page. We have "embedded" our exclusive videos, produced by HamptonRoads.tv and our partners at The Virginian-Pilot, on the homepage and in select stories. Now you just "click and play."

- Add the cool site map at the bottom of every page and it's never been easier to find, save and share the information that makes living easy – and fun – in Hampton Roads.

As fantastic as all of this is, you haven't seen anything yet. The new tools we are using to produce this site will allow us to add new content and features and improve your experience faster than ever before.

So, spend some time checking out the new arrival. Then start giving us the feedback that always makes us better. 

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules. Comments do not reflect the views or approval of The Virginian-Pilot or this Web site. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment to alert an editor. Repeat offenders will be denied automatic posting privileges.

We launched a new high school sports channel this week, 757Teamz.

We just got through our first Friday night of high school football and the response was fantastic.

We were updating football scores throughout the evening and providing results from other high school sports as well.

The site features a lot of video and a blog by Great Bridge's senior quarterback Casey Turner.

One of the videos will be a weekly piece we plan to shoot on Tuesdays. We are calling it "Game Watch" and it features Jami Frankenberry, who has his own blog on high school sports, and Larry Rubama. Both are members of the Pilot's high school sports staff. They'll talk about the upcoming games and key match-ups.

We are also hoping that high school sports fans will share their video, photos and opinions. I think the site will really take off once high school sports enthusiasts take an active role in covering Hampton Roads' teams.

This is a chance for teams that don't always get the kind of coverage football does to get some real exposure.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it yet, check out the high school sports channel using our site navigation or by typing 757teamz.com into your browser.

As always, I would sure appreciate your comments and suggestions for making this effort an even bigger success.

Fred Schecker

Senior Producer

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules. Comments do not reflect the views or approval of The Virginian-Pilot or this Web site. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment to alert an editor. Repeat offenders will be denied automatic posting privileges.

Welcome to our latest blog - "Ask the HR Editors."

In the future, we hope to announce new features and other website improvements here, but we also plan to use this space for answering your questions and addressing your concerns.

We are always seeking feedback about design and navigation. How do we make it easier for you to find the kind of information you are looking for?

We also would love to hear your suggestions for new content and features.

But you might have a more specific issue in mind.

For example, some of you have noticed that we were having a problem with outdated and inaccurate information in our weather feature. We have finally located the problem and corrected it. The weather data should be fine now.

We have also been experimenting with our content mix. About a month ago we were providing more news in the morning and updating the site with entertainment and events information in the afternoon.

That didn't seem to do too much for traffic, so we switched gears again and started focusing more on promoting your best bets for fun in Hampton Roads every day. That appears to be a winner. You are visiting more often and reading more stories.

Anywho, let us know what you think. The editors here are Fred, Deb, Tracie and Chris. All of us will take turns monitoring this forum and answering your questions.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules. Comments do not reflect the views or approval of The Virginian-Pilot or this Web site. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment to alert an editor. Repeat offenders will be denied automatic posting privileges.