One of the wonderful things about Minti is the way parents are able to interact with each other.  One of the easiest ways to start interacting with other parents on Minti is to comment on what other parents have written.

There are opportunities to comment all over the place

All of this can be a bit confusing when you first step onto Minti - especially if you're not familiar with this sort of website - so I thought it might be useful to do some basic tips.

Commenting on an article
If you're reading an article, scroll down the page. 
Near the bottom is a big green section that says "Help us rank this article" on the left hand side. 
Below that is a grey section that says "Please write your comment below".  In that grey section there are two white boxes.
The top white box is for a heading for your article.  This usually has something automatically in it, but you can change it if you want.
The bottom white box is for your comment.
Type your comment in the box.
When you are happy with your comment that you've left, click the green button below the white box that says "add comment".

Commenting on a Q&A question
If you read a Q&A question, at the bottom of the question box it has three hyperlinks:
   1) Read answers
   2) Know a little? Give an answer
   3) Know a lot? Write some advice
Click on the second one: "Know a little? Give an answer".  It will then take you to a question box as above.
Type your comment in the bottom white box.
When you are happy with your comment that you've left, click the green button below the white box that says "add comment".

Comments on blogs/groups
If you read a blog or an entry in a group, it isn't immediately obvious where to comment.  The first thing you need to do is to go into the blog entry itself.  To do this.  Click on the blog heading, which is in green.
When you do that you will have the blog entry at the top of the page. 
If you scroll down a little you will see a question box as before.
If you scroll further down still you can see the comments that other people have made before you.  As a general rule, the most recent comments are at the top of the page.
To make a comment yourself, use the question box as before.
Type your comment in the bottom white box.
When you are happy with your comment that you've left, click the green button below the white box that says "add comment".

Commenting on a comment
Sometimes you will read a comment someone else has made and you want to respond to what they have said rather than to the original topic.  At the bottom of each comment box is a hyperlink that says "Reply to this person".
Click on the hyperlink.  A question box comes up.  If you scroll down, you will see the comment you are replying to below.
As before, type your comment in the bottom white box.
When you are happy with your comment that you've left, click the green button below the white box that says "add comment".

One last thing to remember when you comment is to reread what you've written out loud before you post it (press the "add comment" button).  When you read something out loud, it makes you conscious of whether the sentence reads well, or if you stumble over what you've written. You'll become aware of any glaring spelling mistakes or if you've missed an important word.

Also, if you are writing something controversial or something that you are passionate about or something that you are upset about, take the time to try and reread it as if you were hearing it for the first time.  Does it really say what you meant it to say?  If you were in the other person's shoes, would the comment be helpful?  If you're not sure, walk away from the computer for a while.  When you come back reread it again.  Comments cannot easily be deleted, so be sure it says what you want it to say before you post it.