As the editor and publisher of The Citizen newspapers and TheCitizen.com online daily edition, I invite all our online readers to now become active participants in discussions involving all things Fayette, Coweta, South Fulton and metro Atlanta, in addition to regional, national and international issues.

Within our updated forums area, you can now post your thoughts, concerns, praises, criticisms and opinions in a multitude of forum categories.

Just log into our online system by creating your screen name and a personal password. Once that's done, you then have posting privileges, meaning that you can have your say and see it show up on our site in the section you designate.

Our site really has three entry points for your participation: Comments on specific stories, your own blog entry, and — now — your creation of or comment on an ongoing conversation (“thread”) in a forum.

You can enter the forums area by clicking on any of three points: (1) In the left navigation rail, under “Forums”; in the middle right rail under (2) “Active Forum Topics”; and just below it, (3) “New Forum Topics.” You can also use this link for the time being.

Clicking on any one of those three links will get you to the main list of forums.

Our forums will play by the same rules governing comments and blogging. To wit: No personal attacks on private persons, no “outing” of posters by revealing personal or private information not included in their postings, and no obscenity.

We request that you keep your postings clean. Folks who post raunchy stuff or otherwise ignore the posting rules will have their posts eliminated and their posting privileges pulled. Permanently. So let's play by the rules.

Other than that, just about any aspect of public life is fair game.

The forum topics range from politics to pets, arts and entertainment to home-schooling, health and wellness to energy and environment, and all stops in between.

With that said, jump right in: The forum water is invigorating.

-- Cal Beverly, editor and publisher, The Citizen, Fayetteville, Ga., June 4, 2008