Facebook Connect Faq
What does "Connect with Facebook?" mean?
For a couple of years now Facebook has been offering a service to allow folks to sign into other websites easily without having to enter a whole lot of information everywhere they go. This system has evolved over time and we've integrated it here for our members' convenience. If you'd like to hear what Facebook has to say, check out their developer's guideand help pages.
Why is this on the site?
The main benefit is an easy registration process for new members who discover this forum via Facebook. Traditionally, people found our site through web search, mostly Google. But increasingly, more people are discovering us through social sharing sites like Facebook. We syndicate our content there, and it's a common way for folks to share things they like. Providing a smooth registration process for those who discover us this way will help our site adapt to the social media world and continue to grow.
Why should I use this?
If you've been a member of this forum for a long time, there may be no reason at all for you to use this. You can continue logging in with your username and password for as long as you want. We'll never take that away, and we'll never force you to reveal your Facebook identity here if you don't want to.
However, if you're a big Facebook enthusiast, and you would enjoy the convenience of logging in here with one click, this feature might just be for you.
I'm already a member. How should I use this?
If you're already a member of the forum and want to use this feature, the best thing to do is:
1) Log into your forum account the usual way, with your username and password
2) After you're signed in, click the "Connect with Facebook" link to initiate linking.
Once you do this, we will associate your Facebook account and your forum account with each other. Your username in the forums will not change.
What happens if I click the "Connect with Facebook" link?
If you decide to try out this feature, here's what will happen:
New Users, Registering Here for the First Time:
- You'll be asked to log into Facebook (if you're not already)
- You'll be prompted to give us permission to access your Facebook information
- You'll select a "desired username" for the forum. Your Facebook name will auto-fill this, but you can change it if you want.
- We'll use your Facebook email address and profile pic to help create your account here.
- Finally, you'll create a password for this site.
- That's it, you're done. In the future you can log in here just by clicking the "Connect with Facebook" link.
Already-Established Forum Users:
- First, log into this site the usual way with your username and password. This will prevent duplicate forum accounts from being created.
- Now click the "Connect with Facebook" link.
- You'll be prompted to log into Facebook (if you're not already)
- You'll be asked to give our site permission to access your Facebook information
- We'll associate your Facebook account with the forum account you already have.
- Your forum username and password will remain the same. Your Facebook profile pic will be used as your forum avatar.
- That's it, you're done. Your traditional forum account is now linked to your Facebook credentials, and in the future you can log in to it just by clicking the "Connect with Facebook" link.
After I'm connected, what do I get?
The first benefit you get is being able to log in here with just 1 click in the future.
Once connected to Facebook, we'll find if any of your Facebook friends are on the forum:
You'll also be able to share threads you comment in easily. Just leave this box checked (below) when replying:
Don't worry, we'll always pop up a final confirmation for you to approve before we publish it to your Facebook feed.
What about my privacy?
First and foremost: if you are frightened by the thought of connecting your Facebook identity to your forum presence, simply don't use this feature. It's not required and it never will be. We respect the fact that many members want to keep their online accounts separate, and we'll never force you to use Facebook or engage it automatically or anything of the sort.
We also respect your personal information and we are not interested in accessing more than we need to power your access to this site. The only information we use is your name, profile picture, friends list, and email address. We do not store your location, work or school info, birthday, phone number, interests, etc.
Here's what information may be used, and how:
Your Facebook name: If you're using the Facebook Connect link to register here, we'll automatically populate the "Desired username" in the registration form with your Facebook name. If you approve this, your Facebook name will be your forum username here. If you are an established member already, don't worry. We will never replace your forum username with your Facebook name. It would be confusing to everyone if people's names changed unexpectedly.
Your Facebook profile picture will be used as your forum avatar. This is true for newly registering users and established members who decide to try connecting with Facebook.
Your Facebook email address: Site admins will have access to the email address you use on Facebook, but it will not be exposed to other members.
Your friends list: We will scan your Facebook friend list to see if any of your friends are here - and we'll show them to you. We don't use this information for any other purpose, and we don't send messages to your friends.
Can I disconnect later if I want to?
Yes. If you connect with Facebook and want to undo it, here's how:
1) Log into Facebook with the account you linked here.
2) Go to your account privacy settings.
3) Under "Apps and Websites," click "edit settings."
4) This will show you a list of "apps you use."
5) You should see this site's name in the list. Click on it to edit its settings.
6) Click "Remove app."
This will block us from accessing your Facebook information in the future.
However, there are also 2 follow-ups:
1) You may also want to change your forum avatar, which you can do on your profile page.
2) If you need to change your site username here, contact a site admin for help.
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