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Meet our five finalists for The State's Pet Costume Contest.
Nearly 100 pet owners submitted photos for the competition. Now it's your turn to pick a winner.
Vote by noon Thursday for one of these finalists.
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About our commenting system
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How do I report abuse on comments I deem inappropriate?
Yes. Report abuse by clicking the "Flag" button.
What are some of the features of Disqus commenting?
You can select how comment threads are organized. Some people prefer to read the newest comments first, while others prefer to read the oldest comments first. Others prefer to sort on comments that have the best rating (highest number of "likes") or are the most popular now (highest number of "likes" and replies). The choice will be yours. You can lock in your personal preference by selecting from among the options presented in the "Sort by" drop down menu that appears above the comments you are reading. This setting follows you across the site as your read articles and can be changed at your convenience.
You will have the option of subscribing via email to a comment thread by clicking the "Subscribe by email" button at the bottom of the comment box. New comments will be sent directly to your email inbox, where you may read and respond by email.
You will be able to subscribe via RSS to a comment thread by clicking the "Subscribe by RSS" button at the bottom of the comment box. This link will include step-by-step instructions on how to set up the RSS subscription.
If you are logged in using your Facebook account, you will be able to share your comments on specific articles to your Facebook profile page, just by clicking the "Share on Facebook" link directly beneath the comment box. This is a per-post selection, so each time you comment on an article or reply to another comment, you will need to indicate your interest in sharing the post to Facebook.
Will I need to register?
You can register with thestate.com to comment, or log in with an existing Disqus, Facebook or Twitter account. If you have forgotten your thestate.com username and password, you can have the information resent to you by clicking here.
What about my avatar?
We have created a default avatar for readers that log in using their thestate.com username and password. If you want to display a unique avatar, you can upload one to Disqus, Facebook or Twitter, and then comment on thestate.com stories using that account instead.
Will I be able to indicate my approval of a comment?
Yes, by clicking the button labeled "Like."
Will I be able to "reply" to comments?
Yes. The ability to reply to specific comment posts will remain a core of thestate.com commenting.
We ask that you remain civil, and that you follow these guidelines:
Do not resort to personal abuse. You may disagree with the content of an article, with the reporter or with other readers’ comments, but do not attack anyone personally. Do not libel or defame anyone or violate their privacy.
Keep your comments succinct and stay on topic. Comments that bear no relation to the story will be deleted.
Do not use foul language. Don't try to camouflage profanity with asterisks or other symbols or foreign phrases.
Avoid hate speech. Abusive comments, racist rants or defamatory statements about any group will be deleted.
Do not use threatening language. Repeated bullying or taunting will be cause for banning your account.
Use standard English grammar and observe accepted rules for capitalization, punctuation and spelling. Do not post a comment using all capital letters.
Do not post spam or advertising of any kind.
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Do not link to Web sites outside of thestate.com.
Do not use an avatar that is offensive or portrays someone in a negative light. Do not misspell or emphasize letters in a person's name to ridicule them or portray them in a negative manner.
Do not report comments as abusive simply because you disagree with them. Report them only if they violate these guidelines.
We reserve the right to delete posts that do not follow these guidelines. Posts that violate these guidelines or are otherwise offensive should be reported immediately. Click the "flag" link under the offending comment.
If a post is determined to have violated the guidelines listed above, it may be (1) blocked or (2) deleted from our system.
Users who continue posting comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, be blocked from submitting future comments as well.
Read the terms of service for our Web site here.
If I run into problems or want to share feedback, who should I contact?
For problems with article commenting, or feedback on the changes, please email online@thestate.com.
