Where did the Amazon links go? and other website changes

We've made a few changes to the Century website recently. Mostly just design tweaks; you might notice that something looks different but have trouble putting a finger on what it is.

One larger change is that we've stopped allowing anonymous commenting. If you've followed our comments field much, you've probably noticed that for every commenter who fails to log in yet writes something thoughtful and leaves his or her name at the end, there seem to be two or three Anons trolling for opportunities to point out that mainline Protestants aren't real Christians or whatever. Commenters can still say that if they want to, but now they have to  tell us who they are first.

However, this is easier than it used to be: You can log in directly to our site, or you can log in to Facebook (in the unlikely event you aren't already logged in there). We've added Facebook-based commenting on posts and articles, so if you're not a subscriber--which, of course, you really should be--you have the option of forgoing free registration here and commenting with your Facebook profile instead.

Another change: As many of you have noticed, we no longer have links to Amazon.com on our website. To explain this one, I took to the magazine:

The reason for the change is that Amazon no longer offers the affiliate program in Illinois, where the Century
offices are located. Why? Because last year the state passed a law
requiring Amazon to collect sales tax from its Illinois-based
customers—a move that found its rationale in the presence of Amazon
affiliates here.

Read it all (if you're a subscriber).