Express & Star launches new commenting experience with brand new features

Our journalists strive every day to cover the stories and topics that matter to you.

But we understand that there are a variety of views and opinions on our patch, and people want their voices to be heard.

Commenting on or reacting to our articles as a registered member of expressandstar.com is the best way to achieve that.

That's why we are launching a new commenting community on our site, powered by Viafoura.

Whether it’s a debate about the football team you support, an issue that affects your local community or you just want to engage with one of our journalists or commentators, expressandstar.com is a place where a range of ideas can flourish.

The new platform has plenty of new features - including liking, following and sharing comments - which will enable you to engage with other users and get your point of view across.

We want you to participate in the discussion and you'll be pleased to know signing up for a commenting account is completely free.

You can sign up for an account by clicking the link, and that will also enable you to take advantage of our daily newsletters: expressandstar.com/login

Discussion is a vitally important part of the modern news landscape and we want to encourage respectful and lively debate on our site.

That, of course, means there are some rules.

You can read our full Community Guidelines below, and before you start commenting, we'd thoroughly recommend that you familiarise yourself with them: expressandstar.com/community-guidelines

Very few news organisations are as embedded in the history of a region as Express & Star.

We're keen for that to continue, and strongly believe in investing in the best tools to help our readers discuss the issues that matter to them.

As group digital editor, I cannot wait to see our community of readers continue to play a vital role in discussing and therefore shaping the news agenda in our region.