Test story: Experiment with our story comment tools here

Here's your chance to take our story comment tools for a test drive.

Our crack team of programming hamsters has developed a commenting system that's both simple and sophisticated.

You can easily format your comments with bold, italic and strike-through text. Embed images from Flickr and other photo-sharing services. Create email and web links with our basic tools.

You can always see how your comment will appear in the Live Preview area directly below the comment box. As you type, your comment will display there.

Please check your comments before you submit. Editing is not available after a comment has been posted.

To embed an image, you'll need the the url - its location on the web. You can usually get the url by right-clicking on an image.

We're working on a way for you to upload images as you comment, but that feature's not quite ready yet. Until then, only images already hosted online - on a site like Flickr, etc. - can be embedded in comments.

To enhance the conversation, we've got two different ways of referring to previous comments.

A "Reply" will add a link to the original comment, which will look like "@Dylan Smith."

Using the "Quote" tool will add a link to the original and include a copy of it in your comment, formatted as a block quote.

A block quote is indented, so that it's easily recognized as a quote.

Here are a few pertinent lines from our User Guidelines (presented in a block quote):

Please be respectful and relevant. Thought-provoking. Or at least funny.

We want comments to advance the discussion and we need your help. Debate, disagree, yell (digitally) or laugh, but do it with respect.

We won't censor your comments if we don't agree with you; we want viewpoints from across the political spectrum. We're dedicated to sparking an open, active discussion. We believe people with differing opinions can spark debate and effect change.

Keep in mind:

• A conversation involves sharing and respect. Support your viewpoint with facts, not attacks.
• Ask questions. Search out answers.
• Being part of a community requires tolerance for differing views.
• We can't ensure that all comments are based in truth. The only comments we endorse are those we write ourselves.

And:

Commenters are solely responsible for the opinions they express and the accuracy of the information they provide. Users who violate these standards may lose their privileges on TucsonSentinel.com.

Sentinel editors can't read every comment. Trolls, spammers and other troublemakers can slide under the bridge. We rely on you to help maintain a healthy conversation - more than likely, you're reading these comments before the editors.

What if you see something inappropriate? Use the 'Flag' button to send it to a moderation queue. Help us out and tell us why you're reporting it; please don't report someone just because you disagree with them. Boy who cried wolf and all that. We'll take appropriate action on violations.

We will not edit comments to alter their meaning or censor comments because of political content.

We will not remove comments solely because they are heartless, cruel, coarse, foolish or just plain wrong. Your disapproval can maintain a decent signal to noise ratio. Ultimately, however, self-policing is the best method.

Bottom line, don't be a jerk.

So have fun experimenting with our comment tools on this thread.  We hope you become an active participant in spirited conversations on our stories!