Sapulpa Times recently crossed the 600 mark on the number of stories we’ve published to a wonderful and usually grateful audience of readers from Sapulpa, Creek County and even around the world.
It’s a big deal, to be sure. Not just because of the persistence it shows, but because of the of loyalty it shows from readers like yourself. And we appreciate it.
Last May, we launched our Opinion section, as an outlet for the community to chime in on important issues that you were facing, either personally, or as a community. It’s been another mark on the list of Sapulpa Time’s successful initiatives.
Now we’re hoping to add another layer to that, and expand the conversations around each and every story we write with the introduction of a new commenting feature.
We’ve tried comments before, in various fashions and forms, but they’ve always been treated as second-class to the content. While we believe the philosophy still holds, it’s also become apparent that the community needs (and wants) a channel through which they can respond to the content we produce outside of the social media channels.
Aside from the expected functionality of simply being able to leave a comment, you can now also upvote comments and reply directly to other comments. You can choose to be notified when your comment gets a response back.
And we’ve added ways of promoting your loyalty, such as badges that will appear next to your name for multiple comments, upvotes, or featured comments. And of course, you can share the story straight from the comment section as well.
Some of our early-adopters are even finding that emoji are inserted and converted automatically. 🙂
So feel free to get in on the conversation. Commenting functionality is available to all new stories everywhere, including Opinion pieces and Obituaries.
And lastly, we’re not done yet! We’re really excited about some of the new products and features we’re going to be releasing in the next 30-60 days, and can’t wait to get you in on those, too. Stay tuned.
