FAQ

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

CONTENTS: | Questions about commenting & policies | Questions about subscriptions & membership | Questions about content | Questions about our apps | Getting Help

 

HuffPost Membership 

Please join our reader community, which offers you the opportunity to leave comments in our articles. Registration is free! You can sign up here.

If you are already a member and haven't logged in for some time, then you might see a request for a new password when you sign in. We are asking for a new password because we recently set up a new system for registration and log-in. 

 

Commenting & Policies 

Q: How do I comment on a story?

If comments are available on a story, you will see a quote bubble icon next to the social sharing icons. You will need to log in to HuffPost to leave a comment. 

Q: How do I comment on an article in the app?

You can submit a comment on any article you are reading in the app by tapping the message-bubble icon on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. This will load our comments section.

Q: Why do I need to create a HuffPost account to comment?

Previously, you could comment by signing in with Facebook or Twitter. We've recently changed this credentialing to require a HuffPost membership account in order to comment. Using membership accounts to sign into the comments platform is one way to help us elevate the quality of conversation. 

Q: Why should I comment on a HuffPost article?

HuffPost understands that news is personal. Join the conversation — and a community of readers who care — so we can hear your views. We need your honest feedback so we can continue to cover the stories that matter to you. We are proud to have an active, enthusiastic community of readers, and we would love for you to participate and add your unique perspective to HuffPost comments.

Q: I’m having trouble using the comments tool. What should I do?

Users with slower connections may have trouble loading comments on a story with a high volume of comments. Please try reloading the page or switching to a faster connection if you are having problems. If you continue to experience issues, you may need to clear your browser cache or cookies; disable third-party applications such as ad blockers; or update your browser or operating system.

Also, not all comments appear immediately on the site. If a comment contains filtered words, links or images that get flagged by moderation tools, you may need to rephrase your comment (removing profanity, links or media) and submit it again.

Your comments may be blocked from appearing on the site if they violate our Community Guidelines, which prohibit posting comments that insult, attack or abuse other users or groups. 

Q: How can I change my display name?

When you are signed in to your account, toggle to the right drop-down menu in the comments panel and select Profile. From here, you can change your display name.

Q: How do I report an abusive comment?

Hover over the arrow button of the selected comment and click Report.

Q: Why do my posts never appear in HuffPost comments?

If a user has repeatedly posted comments that violate any of these ground rules, their comments may be blocked from appearing on the site. This includes inappropriate comments that contain insults, attacks, or abuse toward other users or groups.

 

Subscriptions & Membership

Q: Do I need to subscribe to read HuffPost?

No. You can browse, read and watch HuffPost content without logging in. If you want to comment on an article, you will need to sign in to your membership account, which is free. In addition, some of our virtual events are only open to members of the HuffPost community. You can join here! (Did we mention it’s free?) 

Q: Why should I subscribe or create a free HuffPost login?

Free basic membership is your ticket to the HuffPost community, including participation in comments and the ability to manage your newsletter subscriptions. You’ll also get the ability to save and sync your bookmarks across devices — that means you can create a reading list for when you have more time or finish an article on your phone that you started reading on our website.

 

Q: What happened to HuffPost Plus?

HuffPost Plus, a paid membership for readers who want to support HuffPost financially on a monthly or annual basis, was suspended as of December 2020. 

HuffPost is still offering a free membership. Free members can participate in the comments, manage their bookmarks and get members-only emails. If you’re not already a member, we’d encourage you to sign up for a basic membership here.

 

Q: I created a HuffPost account but I’m not logged in. What’s wrong?

When creating a HuffPost account, you must verify the email address you used to sign up before your account is active. Check your email inbox for a verification code you would have received after entering your details.

If you never got an email or if your connection was interrupted when the verification step happened, you will need to follow the registration process again. Please ensure you have a consistent Wi-Fi or cellular connection while creating your account or logging in and look for the verification email in your inbox.

 

Q: I’m logged in but can’t see my bookmarks. What’s wrong?

If you are logged in and see an empty bookmarks page, it could be because you saved those bookmarks on a device that you were not logged in on. Ensure that you are logged in both when saving and viewing bookmarks.

Q: I’m logged in but can’t see all of my newsletters. What’s wrong?

When logged in, we can only show you newsletters associated with the email you used to create your account. You can unsubscribe from any newsletters at other email addresses by following the link in the email itself.

If you want to manage all of your newsletter subscriptions in one place, you can unsubscribe from the emails associated with other addresses and sign up again from the Newsletters section when logged into HuffPost. If you have a free HuffPost account, you can view and manage your newsletters here.

Q: Why aren’t comments available on a story I’m reading?

In order to maintain a high-quality commenting environment, we may pre-moderate comments on some stories and turn off comments on others. We have also placed a summary of and link to our guidelines at the top of our comments sections to ensure that all commenters are aware of our policies.

Q: What do I do if I can’t see the comments section at all?

When the comments fail to load, it is usually because of a slow cellular or Wi-Fi connection. Waiting a bit longer can be enough to give the comments time to appear if the page appears blank.

If the comments do not load after 20 seconds, it may mean there is another problem. Please let us know if you are experiencing this issue with a full Wi-Fi connection by sending a note to ios@huffpost.com or android@huffpost.com.

Q: Why aren’t my comments appearing?

On articles where comments are being pre-moderated or a comment has been flagged for review, it may take some time for a moderator to review the comment and for it to appear, if accepted. If a comment violates our community guidelines, it may be rejected.

If a user repeatedly posts comments that violate any of these ground rules, their comments may be blocked from appearing on the site. This includes inappropriate comments that contain insults, attacks, or abuse toward other users or groups.

Q: Why do you say “ad-free” if I might still see ads?

As HuffPost transitions to its new owner, BuzzFeed, there may be a period during which the "ad-free" feature is disabled. HuffPost hopes to restore this feature in the future.

Q: How do I change the email address associated with my HuffPost account?

To change the email on your account, open the My Settings section of the app and tap on the View Account Info link at the top of the screen. From there, choose Edit Profile.

Q: How do I cancel my subscription or delete my HuffPost account?

If you’d like to delete your HuffPost account completely from our systems, please click on the "Delete My Data" button on your profile page. You will receive an email with the subject as "User Account Delete Request" which will have a "Delete My Account Forever" button. For other options regarding your data, please go to our consent preferences center.

HuffPost Content

Q: Where is a section I used to see (e.g., Opinion, Comedy, Crime, Weird News, Good News)?

HuffPost covers a diverse range of topics, and occasionally we revise the sections that we present in the menu. In most cases, even when we remove a section from the list, the content is still available in another section. For example, while we have removed the Comedy section from the navigation list, Comedy articles can still be found in the Entertainment section.

You can find links to other sections at the bottom of every content section in the app where you see the “You’re all caught up” message.

Any section can be added to your My Sections list by tapping the “add” button at the top of the screen, which will make it easier to find that section on future visits.

Q: I am trying to watch a video but it says that it's not available. What’s wrong?

Some videos we post are from partners, and those partner videos may have restrictions — most often geographical restrictions related to licensing agreements — as to who can watch them. We try to show content only to users who can access it, but sometimes you may see an error, depending on your location.

Q: What do the labels "paid for by" and "supported by" mean?

HuffPost believes it's important for readers to understand how our site makes its money and to see into the financial arrangements that enable us to bring our journalism to readers. We accomplish this by clearly labeling partner content as either "paid for by" or "supported by." There are two different labels because there are important differences between the two.

When you see the label "paid for by," this usually means that HuffPost's branded content partner worked with an advertiser to co-create the content. This partner works separately from HuffPost's editorial team, which is not involved in the creation of these "paid for" articles. When articles are labeled as "paid for," more information about the advertiser can be found at the bottom of that article. HuffPost includes this labeling prominently wherever such content is featured, on our own site and on social media.

HuffPost also works with philanthropic and commercial partners to enable and enrich editorially independent projects that expand our coverage of topics aligned with our editorial mission. “Supported by” labeling indicates that a partner has given us money to execute an editorial project. Partners also often have ads that run alongside these “supported” articles, but partners do not review nor do they have direct input into “supported by” articles or the series beyond an agreement on the broader themes. Each article produced for a supported series includes labeling and a disclosure that explains the relationship.

Q: Why does the HuffPost app have so many ads?

HuffPost partners with advertisers and sponsors to help fund our journalism. We work with them to ensure a positive ad experience for our readers, and we are constantly reevaluating the mix and placement of these ads with that goal in mind.

HuffPost App

Q: Why should I use the HuffPost app instead of the website?

The HuffPost app offers the same great HuffPost website content, plus several features that are not present on the website. With the iOS and Android app you can: read articles offline, sign up for push notifications to get updates on important news and feature stories, and personalize your Sections list to find what you are interested in more quickly.

We hope you will try the app and let us know what you think by sending us a note at ios@huffpost.com or android@huffpost.com.

Q: Can I download content to read offline?

Yes, the HuffPost app supports offline reading. To enable offline reading, visit the My Settings section and scroll down to Offline Reading to customize your offline reading preferences.

 Q: Is the app available in other countries and languages?

The HuffPost app has eight active regional editions with content specific to those areas, representing six languages in addition to English. In the My Settings section, you can change your edition to read HuffPost content in French, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean or Spanish.

 Q: Can I save articles to read later?

Yes! Tap the ribbon icon on any article (located on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen or below the headline on section fronts) to add it to your Bookmarks section. If you are logged in, the list will be synced with your user account and available on the website as well.

Your bookmarks will be preserved when you upgrade to a new version of the app and will only be removed if you delete them manually, or if you delete the app.

 Q: Can I read my bookmarked articles in other places?

Yes, by creating a HuffPost account, your bookmarks list will be synced anywhere you are logged in. Any bookmarks you add in the app will be visible on the web, and any bookmarks you add on the website will be visible on the apps.

Q: How do I increase the size of the text in the app?

The default font size in the HuffPost app is linked to your device’s settings. To change the size of the text in the HuffPost app, go to the My Settings page from the tab bar.

Q: How do I limit the amount of space the HuffPost app uses on my device?

Some content downloaded in the HuffPost app, like your bookmarks, will increase the amount of space our app takes up on your device. To minimize this, you have two options. You can clear the contents of your recently viewed list by going to the Settings page in the HuffPost app and tapping the Clear Recently Viewed option to reset that section. Remove some of your bookmarks by going to your Bookmarks page within the app. You can un-bookmark an item by tapping the ribbon icon, or by swiping left on the article in the list to show the Delete button.

Q: Can I control what notifications I get from the HuffPost app?

The HuffPost app currently offers breaking news and category-specific notifications that allow you to stay on top of the things that matter to you. You can sign up or change the categories you receive by visiting the app’s Alerts tab and tapping the icon in the top-right corner of the screen. If you have blocked notifications on the system level, you can enable them by visiting your iOS or Android Settings app, scrolling down to the Notifications section and switching on notifications for HuffPost.

Q: Does the HuffPost app have a widget for the iOS Today screen?

Yes! Our Today screen widget (which appears when you swipe right on your iPhone or iPad home screen) allows you to see the top story from each of the first four sections in your My Sections list.

 Q: Does the HuffPost app have an Android homescreen widget?

Yes, you can install HuffPost’s homescreen widget, which will show you a selection of trending stories without having to launch the app, by long-pressing an empty space on one of your home screens and selecting “widgets.” 

Q: How often is content refreshed on the app?

Content — both the content of articles and the mix of articles on section pages — is refreshed throughout the HuffPost app 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some sections are updated more frequently than others, but our main News section will always give you the most up-to-date content that our editors think you should know about.

To ensure your app is always fresh, make sure your device allows cellular data usage for HuffPost (in your device’s Settings app), and make sure you are always using the latest version available in the App Store or Play Store.

Q: Can I personalize what content I see in the app?

Yes. In the Sections tab, you can add preferred topics to your My Sections list, which will set the order of sections available when you swipe right or left in the News tab on the bottom tab bar in the app. The first four sections in your list also determine what stories appear in the iOS Today widget when you swipe left from your phone’s home screen.

 

Getting Help

Q: My app is crashing. How do I fix it?

If your app is crashing, the first thing to do is to make sure you are on the latest version installed. To do that, visit the HuffPost app in the App Store or Google Play Store and tap the Update button if you see one.

If you are already on the latest version and are still experiencing crashes, it may mean there is a problem with a piece of content that has already been downloaded into the app’s memory. Try deleting the app (tap and hold the icon until it starts wiggling, and then tap the bubble that appears on the icon) and reinstalling it from the App Store or Google Play Store. Note that this will delete your bookmarks and favorite sections.

If you would prefer not to reinstall, please let us know to the best of your recollection what you were doing last before the crashing started by sending a note to ios@huffpost.com or android@huffpost.com, and we will try to resolve the issue without losing your bookmarks and favorite sections.

Q: How do I let HuffPost editors know that there is a mistake in an article?

If you see an error in an article on the HuffPost app, please go to the My Settings section of the app and tap the Contact Our Editors button.

 

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