"How would you make this site have a gentler slope? Let the user post a comment and then say "Thanks for the comment, now you just need an account to publish this. Enter your username/password."?"
An interesting idea, but it would probably deter casual commenters. People who drop by, see something interesting and want to add their two cents, sign their anonymous comment, and leave it at that.
It's a bit of a stretch, possibly, but track users and pester them gently if they comment several times anonymously. Something like "hey, I've noticed you've been around for awhile, if you sign up, you'll get these perks. Would you like to?"
http://qdb.us/latest does SOMETHING like this. It's a quotes database and after you've browsed around awhile it puts a non-intrusive nag-message at the top of the screen directing you to the FAQ. Maybe something similar to direct people to a signup form?
An interesting idea, but it would probably deter casual commenters. People who drop by, see something interesting and want to add their two cents, sign their anonymous comment, and leave it at that.
It's a bit of a stretch, possibly, but track users and pester them gently if they comment several times anonymously. Something like "hey, I've noticed you've been around for awhile, if you sign up, you'll get these perks. Would you like to?"
http://qdb.us/latest does SOMETHING like this. It's a quotes database and after you've browsed around awhile it puts a non-intrusive nag-message at the top of the screen directing you to the FAQ. Maybe something similar to direct people to a signup form?