Santafenewmexican.com has offered readers the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns on the news by way of a commenting feature on news stories appearing on this Web site. The common sense rules and guidelines outlined on this page are meant to promote constructive and productive discussion on Santafenewmexican.com and discourage trolling.

Users of Santafenewmexican.com's discussion or commenting boards are required to abide by the rules. Those who choose to consistently violate the rules will have their comments blocked.

Forum rules

1. Be polite. We know that many of the issues that The New Mexican covers can incite passionate discourse between users. We welcome and encourage such discussions. But disagreement need not be rude, crude or insulting. Refrain from personal attacks and name calling. Engage the ideas of others online, not the person. Please do not engage in back-and-forth personal attacks. These attacks  can result in suspensions of both parties' accounts. Flag inappropriate content as such with the links provided.
   
   
2. Be yourself. Post only using your own name. Postings from obviously fake names will be immediately deleted or accounts suspended. Anyone attempting to post as multiple identities will have all comments removed. We are encouraging constructive discourse. Taking responsibility for your postings by including your real name, we feel, helps encourage such behavior.  We typically require people to give their real names, but we can't check the identity of everyone who posts. We reserve the right to allow postings using an abbreviated or anonymous identifier
   
   
3. Refrain from posting profanities. While we have put in place a foul-language filter on this site, we ask that you not try to circumvent the filters. This is a public forum, participation shouldn't mean being subjected to foul language.
   
   
4. Respect copyrights. Do not post copyrighted material in this forum. Instead, link to it, or quote the material necessary to express a point. Typically, 2-3 sentences will suffice. If you need more than that to express a point, that's a sure-fire indicator you should link to the source material. If the link's destination might be offensive, it is the poster's responsibility to notify others when posting the link.
   
   
5. Stay on topic. Sure, conversations can bring up other ideas that might be pertinent. But users should refrain from derailing a thread to explore a tangential issue.
   
   
6. Be concise. Keep your comments brief and to the point. If you need to write a 600-word comment, please consider submitting it to our public editor for possible inclusion in our print edition. Excessively long comments are read far less frequently and take up lots of screen space.
   
   
7. Respect others' privacy. Do not post personal information about others, including phone numbers, addresses, whereabouts or e-mail addresses.
   
   
8. Do not post rumors. As a news organization, The New Mexican goes to great lengths to verify the information it publishes. If you have information that would be appropriate for a reporter to verify, please e-mail the city desk with the information. Posting unsubstantiated or false information can lead to a termination of posting privileges.
   
   
9. Commercial use prohibited. The forums are not a place to promote or sell a service, political candidate or product. That doesn't mean you shouldn't discuss politicians, products or services, but The New Mexican reserves the right to remove content its staff feels serves a promotional role rather than being part of a conversation. If you would like to advertise your product, service or candidate please call our office at 983-3303.

Notes

Be aware that users are solely responsible for the content they submit. 

The Santa Fe New Mexican does not and cannot review every comment, but will review reports of abuse.

If you have questions about this policy, please write the webeditor with your concerns.

We have the right to review, screen or delete any content posted to Santafenewmexican.com.

Santafenewmexican.com requires real names and e-mail addresses from participants to use the commenting function of the website. However, The New Mexican's practice is to not publish or share email addresses to protect users from email harassment or fraud.

The rules and guidelines are subject to change without prior notice.