THE NATIONAL is the newspaper that gives a voice to Scotland's movement for independence in the mainstream press.
Every day we publish letters from our readers in the paper and online, but sometimes we get a written piece that's too long for our letters page. That's why we created the community section on our website.
We want to give our readers a space to submit longer-form written pieces or video blogs that our entire community can access.
If you have something that you think would fit in our community section, please send it to community@thenational.scot for consideration.
We would ask that you aim to write something that is about 500 words long, and please also include your twitter handle (if you use Twitter) as well as the full name you would like to be credited as.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here