The San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate encourage all of our readers to comment. Our goal is to maintain a community where readers feel free to express themselves, but we also recognize that some conversations following articles, blog posts, photos and other content on this site can descend into negative sniping and personal attacks. When this happens, we reserve the right to close the comments on those pages.

We encourage comments that:

• Are "on topic", and that respond to the content in the article or blog post
• Are responses to comments left by other readers
• Are brief and to-the-point
• Have a positive/constructive tone
• Are open to being contradicted by other readers
• Might disagree with the content in the article or blog post, but they never insult the writer of the article or blog post, or other commenters

We discourage comments that:

• Are not "on topic", or are not responding to other comments or the content in the article or blog post
• Insult the writer of the article or blog post or other commenters
• Are excessively long or negative in tone

We will delete comments, without notice, that:

• Are abusive, harassing, threatening or vulgar
• Contain advertising or spam
• Are disruptive
• Violate any of SFGate's Terms and Conditions

Frequent violations of SFGate's Terms and Conditions will cause a commenter's registration and profile to be closed without notice.

Facebook Commenting FAQ

SFGate now offers readers the ability to syndicate (post) their article and blog comments on Facebook in addition to SFGate. To use the feature, check the box beneath the comment entry to "Post this comment to Facebook too." When you click Submit it will take you through the process of posting your comment to both SFGate and Facebook.

How to save your Facebook settings for article comments (Always Publish option)

You can save your Facebook settings for SFGate Community to Always Publish your comments to Facebook when the box is checked without getting a Facebook pop-up window to confirm.

To set your preferences, the next time you post a comment on SFGate, select the checkbox to "Post this comment to Facebook too." You'll get a pop-up window previewing your Facebook posting. Simply check the "Always publish" checkbox in the lower left corner.

How to change your Facebook settings for article comments

After you have saved your settings to "Always" publish comments to Facebook, these settings will be saved in your Facebook account under Application Settings. To change these settings, you will need to log in to the application settings on your Facebook account and follow these steps:

• Go to the application settings in Facebook.
• If you do not see the SFGate Community Application listed, select the "Allow to Post" option from the drop down menu. You should now see "SFGate Community" listed among your Facebook applications.
• Click the "Edit Settings" link next to the SFGate Community application and then change your settings however you wish. NOTE: To go back to the original settings, select "Prompt me before publishing any stories from SFGateCommunity"

Have feedback about article commenting?

Let us know in our Community Feedback Forum.

Facebook Connect FAQ

A "Facebook Connect" button appears on each registered SFGate reader's own profile page. Clicking this button will allow SFGate to connect your SFGate profile with your Facebook profile. Once you have connected your profiles, you will see a button to invite your Facebook friends to register on SFGate. Any Facebook friends you invite will get a message providing them a link to register for the SFGate community.