Community Corner

Don't Just Read Simsbury Patch, Use It!

Today we take a look at five ways you can maximize our website and enhance your experience.

So here’s the deal: we want you to be more interactive on this site and so we are going to show you how. Simply use the tips below and get involved on the website — it’s that simple. We hope to see you soon!

Comment on a story

The stories on Simsbury Patch — simsbury.patch.com — are designed to let you know what’s going on, but we also want to know how you feel about the topics at hand. We provide the facts, you provide the reactions that will keep this website buzzing. (As always, please reach out to local editor Stephanie Riefe at steph.riefe@patch.com if something doesn't seem entirely accurate to you.)

Underneath each story page is a simple entry box titled comments. To get involved, you will need to create an email and password to use this feature but don’t worry: we don’t Spam you or sell your address and you will never get an email from us unless you sign up for our newsletters and breaking news alerts.

Oh, and that reminds me, sign up for our newsletter and breaking news alerts!

Share announcements or post events

Want to let everyone know who made the honor roll at your school? Recently engaged? Have a birth to share or obituary to publish? All this and more can be done, free of charge, on simsbury.patch.com. Are you an event organizer for a local school or non-profit? You can also let the entire town know what you are up to and where the fun is by posting an event or announcement.

There are several ways to share your information on the site. If you are having trouble locating them, a sure way to find them is to scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on “announce something to everyone” or “put an event in the calendar” tabs underneath the “contribute” label on the right. Or for those looking for an even easier way, simply click here in order to enter your announcement or click here and enter your event.

Shout out to everyone

Do you have something you’d like to say but it’s not an announcement or event exactly, and it doesn’t have to do with a specific story? That’s OK. We still want to hear what you have to say.

On the right side of the simsbury.patch.com homepage, you can see our activity wall. On top of the wall is a box with the title “what do you have to say?” Simply type in there what it is you want to say, but please keep it brief. Our system can only handle 160 characters — same as your typical text.

It’s a great way to announce last minute schedule changes for your local event, cancellations or immediate same-day announcements for your school and more.

News tips


If there’s a story you want coverage for, but you’re a behind the scenes type of guy or gal and don’t want it announced to the world. Not a problem.

The easiest way to do it is to click at the bottom of the homepage. Under the “contribute” tab to the right of the page, the first option is “send us a news tip.” By clicking on this button, a blank send page will come up where you can type in the tip you have.

The news tip button and a “follow this story” button are also each available at the end of every story. As with the option above, just click it and tell us what you’d like to see covered.

If you prefer traditional email, send items to steph.riefe@patch.com.

Opinions, letter to the editor 

At Simsbury Patch, we encourage you to express your opinions. You can do so through comments online, post your questions in our Q&A forum which is available as a tab at the top of the homepage, send a shout out right on our homepage or send your letter to the editor to local editor Stephanie Riefe at steph.riefe@patch.com.

In letters to the editor, we ask that you send us a contact phone number so we can follow up with any questions, and that letters are kept to 300 words.


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