Here’s something I’ve been wondering a lot recently.

For me, comments are the lifeblood of this site.  Not only do they help keep me going day in and day out, but they always provide great context, alternative opinion to stories AND often offer great tips for new stories.

However, I also hear from lots of folks who primarily keep in touch with DM through RSS , Facebook, Twitter or the email feature.  So I’m sometimes conflicted about whether to turn a comment into a post (as I did with the recent Cakes & Ale “fresh bread” post) to give that other viewing audience a heads-up.

I think I need to be doing it more, but let’s see…

Do you find yourself wanting to read every single Decatur Metro comment, but can’t keep up with the torrent that filters through the 15 most recent in the sidebar?

Due to the limitations of WordPress.com blogging software, I’ve never had many options when it comes to organizing and displaying comments.  A recent update of the blogging software has promised threaded comments in the near future, but for the most part, if you’re looking to read all the comments on the site, you’re stuck with the Top 15 or scrolling down and clicking on every post.

This was once an adequate option.  But with the recent popularity of the site, often times you have to check once every 3 hours or you’ll miss stuff as it scrolls off the bottom of the screen.  Its certainly a good problem to have…but it is still a problem.

Ultimately the goal is to revamp the site some time in the new year, improving upon some things (comment organization being the biggie) and adding a few new features I’ve been dreaming up.  But for the time being, I’ve included an option for those that just can’t get enough comments.  If you scroll down the right side of the page, you’ll see the familiar RSS icon for the Decatur Metro feed.  (It looks something like this: Below that you will now also see a new “Feed for Comments” icon.  If you add that feed to an RSS reader like Google Reader, it should retain a list of all comments written on the site, beyond the usual 15.

Obviously this isn’t a perfect solution.  Those without Google Reader aren’t about to go setup an account just to keep track of DM comments.  And its a little clumsy since you have to jump off the site in order to use it.  However, for those with an RSS reader account, this is now an option.

Look for more substantial updates in 2009!