Welcome, Valentin!  Yes, it does look complicated to begin with and takes some getting used to.  We have had quite a lot of discussion here as to how it can be improved.  I think you'll find it gets easier (and a lot more powerful in terms of what you can do here) as you get used to it.  It also works better in Firefox with the tribex extension (see update box on rhs) than it odes in Internet Explorer.

The main differences from Times online is that you can set your own agenda by writing your own diary, and discussions are threaded - that is to say comments aren't simply in one continuous string but indented to allow sub-conversations to take place.  It looks complicated to begin with but is really very simple.

The hardest bits are where you need to use some HTML to embed pictures, links or videos, but you can simply copy the code you need from the new user guide.  Why not have a go at publishing a more substantial diary which will provoke some discussion?  I know from your comments on Timesonline that you have plenty of ideas you can articulate...

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Salut, Valentin, and welcome!

I think Frank has said above what I'd have said. The main differences here are that all users can post their own articles (called "diaries" in Scoop, this site's software platform), and that comments are threaded, making for much clearer discussion than with listed comments. There's also community: people get to know each other, including offline (as over the last weekend in Paris). There are special threads where everyone pitches in to comment news and editorial views from the press/media/Internet (that's called the European Salon and it's every day on the front page, or main page), and there are daily Open Threads where discussion is free and wide-ranging, both serious and less so.

So yes, it looks complicated (and we are hoping to do better), but that's partly because it's richer. Thanks for making the effort. I hope you'll find it worthwhile, and that we'll see more of you!

PS There's a New User Guide that explains a number of things about how to use the site.

Welcome Valentin. We're mostly quite friendly If you're having any trouble doing anything,please ask, one of us will be more than happy to help if you're having problems with posting pictures or videos.

Dont feel preassured to post, some of us (Me included) mainly comment, and a lot of people just sit back and read.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

Thank you for your welcome. I first saw Eurotrib when Frank announced his coming here on Charles Bremner's blog. Indeed, the feeling of complicate comes from the richness one is faced with - maybe it's the "first contact" that might be simplified. People today get easily scared by lots of functionalities they don't know - the best example is no further than Google, who won its place by its famously sober interface. Just a newcomer's thought - I've no idea what Scoop can do and how flexible it actually is.

Multimedia, multithreads, starting discussions, is  indeed what one misses on newspaper blogs, and also what made me return here yesterday evening. On the other hand I was wondering if this doesn't produce a unmasterable inflation of posts on any possible topic. The category system should take care of that, though.

Thanks again for your comments, and I hope I'll hear from you again.

Valentin

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! (Martin Luther King)

See, you did it!  Welcome.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.