The reader’s desk
Help
Answers to the questions readers and columnists ask us most often.
Fourteen answers, filed under four headings: reading, comments, writing for VeriTaus, and reports. Select a question to read its answer. If yours is not among them, write to the desk.
Reading
Do I need an account to read?
No. Every column, story and topic page is open to everyone, free of charge. There is nothing to sign up for and readers are not given cookies.
How are stories organised?
Each story belongs to a column, the page of the writer who signed it. Columnists divide their columns into sections, and stories can also be tagged with topics; a topic page collects related stories from every column on the platform.
How do I follow a columnist?
Every column has its own RSS feed at /handle/feed.xml, linked from the column page. To follow everything published on VeriTaus, subscribe to /feed.xml in any feed reader.
Can I read on my phone?
Yes. Pages are plain HTML and CSS, designed to read well on small screens as well as large ones, and they load quickly on a slow connection.
Comments
How do I comment on a story?
Scroll to the end of the story, enter the name you would like shown and your comment, and submit it. No account and no email address are needed.
Why has my comment not appeared?
Every comment from a reader is held for review and appears only once a moderator has approved it. Please allow some time; comments that break the guidelines are not published.
What happens to comments that are not approved?
They are never shown, and they are deleted automatically after 30 days.
Can I change or remove a comment?
Comments cannot be edited once sent. To have one removed, use the contact page, choose Privacy request and tell us the story and the name you used.
Writing for VeriTaus
How do I become a columnist?
Columns are opened by invitation only; there is no public sign-up. If you would like to be considered, write to us through the contact page under Writing here and tell us what you write about.
I have been invited. Where do I sign in?
Invited columnists sign in from the home page. Your column is then available at /your-handle/.
Can I write in Vietnamese?
Yes. The interface is in English, but columns may be written in Vietnamese or any other language, and accented text is fully supported in headlines and body text alike.
Who owns what I publish?
You do. By publishing, you give VeriTaus permission to host, display and distribute your work, including through RSS feeds. You can ask for a story, or your whole column, to be removed at any time. The terms set this out in full.
Reports and requests
How do I report a story or a comment?
Use the contact page and choose Report a post or comment. Include the link and a sentence on what is wrong; moderators review every report against the guidelines.
How do I make a copyright or privacy request?
Use the contact page and choose Copyright or Privacy request. The privacy notice explains what we hold and how long we keep it.