We shared a site migration update over the weekend, and it generated a lot of thoughtful feedback and questions. After reading through all of it, one thing became clear: There’s actually far less for people to worry about than even I expected.
Most of the concerns raised over the weekend aren’t problems at all, or they already have solutions in place. But there is one major change that has split opinion, and that’s how images work in comments. Since that’s where most of the discussion has been focused, it makes sense to start there.
This is also why the process includes increased transparency and a Community Advisory Panel, which has been invaluable. Several updates have been posted along the way—you can find them here, here, and here—and this update is meant to answer the most common questions that have come up so far.
So let’s get into it …
COMMENTS
On the new site, comments will allow one image per comment.
Our outdated custom-commenting platform is going away. Instead, comments will be handled by Viafoura, which was selected after evaluating all available options. Viafoura is currently rolling out image support with a one-image limit per comment. The only other viable option, Disqus, has the same limitation.
Out of more than 16 million comments posted since 2020, only about 1.8% included an image at all, and multi-image comments make up a vanishingly small share of overall activity. And almost all image-containing comments included just a single image.
Once you get past one image, the numbers drop off sharply—comments with two images account for a tiny fraction of activity, and comments with three or more images are exceedingly rare.
Supporting multi-image comments would add meaningful user interface complexity and accessibility costs for a feature that has historically been used by a very small number of people.
As several readers noted in the weekend update, comments with multiple images can also create performance problems that make entire threads difficult to use on older devices.
All comments are being migrated.
For old comments that included multiple images, the first image will display and any additional images will be preserved as links. The images are not being deleted; they simply won’t all display inline.
Traffic to old comments is extremely low, but preserving them still matters as part of the site’s history. This approach strikes a reasonable balance.
Comments will be editable for five minutes after posting.
Viafoura’s interface includes a visible countdown showing how much time remains to make edits.
While these screenshots shown aren’t from Daily Kos and don’t reflect the final look and feel, they give a clear sense of how the feature works:
Users will also be able to mute other users.
This has been a long-requested feature. If there’s someone whose comments you’d rather not see, you’ll be able to mute them. A person will not be notified if you choose to mute them.
IMAGE LIBRARY
The image library is not going away. Rather, all images are being migrated to the new site.
The change is that the library will be used for stories and diaries, not comments. The shared image library will remain available, so story authors can continue to pull from it when publishing.
Comments (Viafoura) operate on a separate system than stories and diaries (WordPress). That separation means that comments don’t have access to the shared image library in the way they do on our current site.
This isn’t a policy decision but a structural one, and there simply aren’t viable solutions that would preserve the current behavior.
ACCOUNTS
All account information, including avatars, will be migrated. There will be no need to create a new account or update existing credentials.
OLD HOMEPAGE
There are lots of feels about this one!
There will not be a link to the old homepage view. That said, a list view (like this) will be available for those who prefer a straightforward list of stories rather than a visual front page. It will be text-only and cleaner, with updated styling.
The list view will be available for all stories, staff stories only, and community stories only.
So that’s it for now, though more updates will be coming. One of the more reassuring takeaways from the weekend is that there’s far less disagreement about this migration than I initially feared. Most early concerns either turned out to be nonissues or they already have solutions.
That doesn’t mean that there won’t be new questions or discomfort as we get deeper into the details, but it does mean that this process is on solid footing—and that the community feedback has been thoughtful, constructive, and genuinely helpful.
It’s also worth emphasizing that this migration is not a redesign. The goal is to preserve the Daily Kos experience that people are used to, while improving stability, accessibility, and long-term maintainability.
Outside of some minor tweaks, the look and feel of the site should remain largely the same.
In the meantime, please keep the feedback, concerns, and fears coming!
