The best part of a community newspaper is the letters to the editor. For many people, it’s what they read first.

That’s why the new commenting feature

at www.100milefreepress.net is so interesting

— it provides instant feedback and discussion online.

Comments provide a potpourri of points of view, which can spawn new stories.

Whether you agree or disagree, want to commend or debate, letters and comments give more voice to the reader.

To comment, you must have a user account. Registration is quick and easy — you can sign up at the bottom of any story on our site (including this one).

When using the new feature, please keep comments on-topic, smart, civil and profanity-free, or else they will be removed. (Try to avoid saying anything you wouldn’t want your mother to read.)

Sometimes people’s passions get the better of them and they leave comments that don’t meet our community standards. In those cases, we ask that you help police the comments by using the “Flag” button beneath each comment. Flagged items are brought to an editor’s attention.

Comments have up and down arrows next to them, allowing you to register your approval or disapproval of specific comments with a single click.

Comments with a high negative rating from users will disappear from the site, while contributors whose comments generate high positive ratings will be rewarded.

Our goal with this feature is to encourage community discussion and healthy dialogue with and between readers.

Another new feature on the Free Press

site is the online calendar. This allows readers to input events directly on the site and, for browsers, it lets them to look ahead and plan for a specific day.

Just log in and broadcast your event for free.

When something is added to the calendar, it also makes its way into our Community Calendar or What’s On? print sections, instead of making that extra trip, call or email to our office.

A community newspaper is just that:

part of the community. And the more input and interaction residents have with it makes it better for everyone.