Like every webmaster (and gamer hack), I loves me the the feedback, comments, criticisms, etc. This site has features to support that:

User accounts

User logins are available to all! Become authenticated! Head here. Registration entails the usual email-based confirmation.

Chief benefits will include the ability to edit your own comments and manage subscriptions (newsletter, threads, etc.), as well as create forum topics. Once I know things are working smoothly, I can slather additional benefits upon authenticated userhood.

Open ID-based login should be coming soon; it'll be built into the next upgrade of the Drupal CMS (later in 2008?).

Commenting

You can attach comments to mosts content, and reply to other comments as well. Standard modern website stuff, nothing fancy. If you post as a registered user, you'll be able to manage your posts.

If you'd prefer to post as an unregistered visitor, that's welcome too. Just leave "Your name" as the default "Esteemed Visitor", or type in some other name. (But if you happen to type in a name used by a registered user – say, "tbone" – you'll get an error telling you so when you hit "post comment". And while your post text should still be there, waiting for a revised user name, there's a chance it could disappear.)

If you're a registered user but haven't logged in and want to post a quick comment as Esteemed Visitor, that's fine; see above.

If you're a registered user but haven't logged in, and enter your user name under "Your name" when posting, you'll get an error saying that's the name of a registered user. That's a good thing; it means strangers can't make posts under your user name! But as above, there's a chance of losing your post text. It's best to log in first here, and then start your posting.

And finally, here's a newish, simple way to "comment", separate from any user account issues. If you see little stars at the bottom of a page, that's a voting mechanism: click from one star ("yechh") to five ("more of this, please!") to state your mind. I already know how many reads each content item gets, but the voting will let me know whether people like what they read. That sort of feedback heavily shapes future content.

Contribution

Comments are great, but you are heartily welcomed to contribute bigger content (articles! reviews! essays!). For now, an escalation in user privilege is required. Easy for me to do; just shoot me a message.

(One user-contributed piece, European Martial Arts in Role-Playing: Where are they?, is more popular than most items I've written! Hmm, this should suggest to me that readers actually want interesting content.)

Other welcome contributions: If you know a good gaming site that should be on my links page, do tell. And if you'd kindly link to any worthy content on this site, here are instructions along with a triple scoop of gratitude.

Tech notes

For all user interaction, text input/editing has been the site's bête noire; every solution for rich text input works poorly for somebody. The current best solution: comment fields are plain text by default, with an "enable rich text" link below. That link should provide a few simple, light controls (TinyMCE, if you care) for gussying up your words if you want. But be aware that performance of such tools may cary with browser; in particular, TinyMCE is said to be dicey with Safari 2.0 or earlier (though it's working for me with Safari 3.0).

When commenting/posting, you may (that is, should) see a simple "captcha" challenge, proving that you are indeed a non-spambot human. Even though it's only of the "what's 2 + 5?" nature that won't hinder any dice-lovin' gamer, I hate to toss it upon you. But such are the times we live in. Some of the comments I get otherwise, while possessed of a certain salacious charm, just aren't about gaming, at least not as we know it.

Problems

Many have written via comment or email to rail against previous (and recent : / ) troubles with login, posting, etc. – and I've greatly appreciated every rail. Criticism makes things improve. Please don't hesitate to say what's not working (or just say what you don't like).

Even a simple typo. I want it gone.

There's generally no need to contact me re a bit of spam that pops up; I generally catch it soon. If you see some blue pill ad that lingers for days and days, though, I may have missed it; I (and visitors not needing blue pills) will appreciate a notice.

Whatever the issue, you can contact me directly (see "Contact info" below). Or leave a comment on the appropriate bit of content. If it's an issue with accounts, text input, commenting in general, etc., this page is a good place to comment.

(Oh, a final note on problems: If something is good and/or working, kudos are welcome too. Just sayin'.)

Other communication and site features

Head here for info on forums, polls, and the newsletter; and here for more general site info.

Contact info

There's a contact page, and there's plain old tbone@gamesdiner.com. And you can probably find me skulking about the SJG GURPS forums too (http://forums.sjgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13).