The way the Iowa State Daily manages content will change next week. It comes with both good news and bad news.

Bad news: With the new content management system, all previous comments will be deleted.

It’s not something we want to do, but the new CMS makes our workflow much smoother, with reporters getting more ownership of their content presentation so that news can be online quicker. 

Good news: The new commenting system will be similar to the current one with a personal log-in and commenting on each story.

And there will be no anonymous commenting.

Every person will be asked to verify their identity and, therefore, use real names.

The Daily wants to create a more engaged community online where people know who they are talking to, so that, hopefully, more people will join in the conversations.

Staff members will also be joining the conversation, so when you have a question on a story, reporters and editors will respond as soon as possible and join in the conversation when they need to.

We don’t accept anonymous letters to the editor, so the same is being established on online commenting.

In the near future, Facebook will be one of the options available to users to verify one’s identity. Logging into Facebook will also allow access to iowastatedaily.net, similar to the way you can leave comments on CNN and Mashable.

Comments can still be flagged, and comments can taken down. You, as a member of the community, will be a key moderato. However, comments that are determined not to be in violation of our terms of use will be reinstated and labeled accordingly.

Again, we want to cultivate an online community of trust. Be aware of what you comment because it will not be removed and we want to ensure that you are you. The system isn’t perfect, but it’s a step forward.