By Jake Dobkin

Hey everyone: you may have noticed that we've made a few small changes to our commenting and feedback systems:

1. Commenters now have profile pages with a bit of information about them, and links to their recent comments, along with comments other people have left in response. If the commenter is also a Gothamist network author, the page will include a list of their recent posts. Here's mine. You can register here – it's fast and painless, but does require a valid email address for confirmation. Login or out using the link at the top left of any Gothamist network page.

2. Anonymous commenting is still allowed, but anonymous commenters can no longer make up clever names and fake email addresses (oh Mr. FukcYou@FukcYou.com, how we'll miss you!) If you wish to leave anonymous comments, simply log in as Guest, and fire away. And remember: you don't have to register with your real name! So even if you do register, you can still protect your privacy.

3. COMING SOON: We'll be replacing our outmoded Forum with a new version (you can see Gothamist's beta forum here), which will allow anyone to post on Phillyist. Simply log in with your username and password. Notable posts will be eventually be included on the front page.

We've made these changes because the old comment system was constantly getting snarled with spam, and we wanted to give our readers a personal page here on the site. A number of other features based on the new profile system are coming soon: expect them in the next couple of months. We appreciate your constructive feedback on the new system – please note that it's a work in process, and the experience may be sub-optimal for a few days while we work out the kinks.

I put a picture of a kitten on this page because it sort of looks like the kitten is saying something, and this post is about commenting. Also, I read somewhere that cute animals discourage people from being mean, so I expect nothing but positive reactions to this post.