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No junk comments
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(Photo: Getty Images)

(Photo: Getty)

Ben Popken
Meghann Marco
Chris Walters
Carey Greenberg-Berger
Alex Chasick
Theresa Profio (feed under construction)

Hi! I'm Chad Steelgate from Haberdasher Communications and I'm really excited to announce that our team has purchased The Consumerist from Gawker Media Network. You may notice a few changes around here, just some minor tweaks, I assure you. Irregardless, it's the same blog you know and love. For starters, one small alteration, the blog will now be called The Conglomerist.

Sincerely,

Chad Steelgate

Eight Annual Weblog Awards [Official Site]

Eighth Annual Weblog Awards

Eight Annual Weblog Awards [Official Site]

Are you an unrepentant neophile? Do you sometimes think post-apocalyptic futures and alien invasions are pretty cool? Want to know what's going to happen next to the climate, the shape of skyscrapers, the contents of your genome, or your favorite scifi TV show? Then come to io9.com.

i09 [Official Site]

Gawker Shop

YogurtEarl's GreaseMonkey scripts [YogurtEarl]

* Full Content (with ads)
http://consumerist.com/index.xml
* Partial Content (no ads)
http://consumerist.com/excerpts.xml
* Comments
http://consumerist.com/xml/comments

The features have been implemented and functional for a few weeks now, but we just let people discover them on their own. Now it's time for an official breakdown of how they function.

First, these features will only work if you're reading us from our front page at Consumerist.com (sorry, RSS readers), and you must be logged in to your comments account. (Need a commenter account? Here's how to get one). You can log in at the top of any page.

Or under the comments section on any post.

Now that we're logged in, let's start checking out the new tools. We'll use the comments in "Who Should And Shouldn't Buy A Mac" as an example. Right click on that post link and open the post in a new tab or window to follow along.

To the right of CRNK's name are a row of three buttons. What do they mean?

Left turn arrow: reply to this comment.

Exclamation point: report an inappropriate comment to the moderator for possible punitive action.

Plus sign: "follow" this person's comments. This is where the new fun starts. Let's explore this feature further.

After "following" someone, whenever they make a comment, and you are logged in, there will be a little announcement on the front page of Consumerist.com. You can click the post title in the announcement and go to the post that they commented on.

You will also see when they start following other commenters.

Clicking on a commenter's name takes you to their profile.

There you will see a list of all their comments, who they're following, and who is following them. You can also leave them feedback.

A shortcut for going to any commenter's profile, including your own is:

http://consumerist.com/commenter/commentername.

If you want to stop seeing someone's comments on your web page, go to your own profile and click on the X next to their name. You are now no longer following them.

See who is following you by going to your profile page and clicking on "Followers more >>"

Lastly, by clicking "friends," you get to see just the comments the people you follow are making!

Give the new features a whirl and let us know what you think.

Best Technology Blog 2007 [Weblog Awards]

"Part of Gawker Media, a network of niche blogs known for their biting wit, this site captures the angst of the everyday shopper."

Awesome opossum. We just wish this gold medal jpg they gave us had chocolate inside.

The 25 Best Web Sites [Kiplinger]

The BOBs [Deutsche Welle]

• EMAIL SLAVE
  You rock Gmail and Gmail macros. You feel uncomfortable going to bed with an umemptied inbox. You will help sift out the best stories and tips from the tipline.
• RESEARCH JUNKIE
  You think scouring 100 page message board threads for gold nuggets is fun. An on-call position, this is perfect for people who are on instant-messenger all the time and love dropping everything to go look up stuff.

She's been keeping an eye on comments for a few weeks, checking out your flagged comment reports, and now for the next step, entering the fray directly. When necessary, she'll dispense yellowcards for comments which are out-of-line but not ban-worthy. When warranted, bad apples will be banned.

We hope the result is more enjoyable conversation, at an even higher consumer-helping level, and an even stronger community. Welcome, ACAMBRAS!

PREVIOUSLY: A Call For Better Comments