Signature guidelines updated, Google search engine added

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I believe that the ads are only displayed if you're not logged in. Ads, however, are beside the point. Like it or not, we do have new signature guidelines and we ask everybody to follow them.

Do I understand that the decision has been made and any discussion is therefore pointless? Case closed?

[kennyc]

Yeah, I hate it too, it does do a figure 8. I've seen it in other sites in avatars. Just as annoying.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Do I understand that the decision has been made and any discussion is therefore pointless? Case closed?

Discussion is never pointless. It was discussion and feedback from members that made us realize it was necessary to issue new guidelines to begin with, and if a majority of members feel those guidelines are unduly harsh or too lax, that's what will send us back to the drawing board. In the meantime, we do have these new guidelines, and we ask that all members respect them.

[SameOldStory]

Judging from the few who are commenting I would have to say that there isn't much reason to continue.


Not being privy to the mod's discussions on this subject, I can only guess that there were a few MR members who objected to some of the more blatant signatures where authors are showing large thumbnails of their books. Unfortunately it's easier to restrict everyone to small sig's than to ask a few to restrain themselves.

A few other MR members have objected on other threads about anything other than a few simple text lines. Why they don't turn sig's off as you described, I don't know.


I could make my signature smaller, but I don't think that would satisfy some (or at least one in particular).

[badgoodDeb]

Holding a ruler up to my screen, I get the result that your sig (SameOldStory) is no longer than WT Sharpe's and so you should be fine. Has any mod particularly told you to make it smaller? Maybe you aren't the target.

[SameOldStory]

I'm afraid so, according to HarryT:

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

The graphics in my signature is automatically reduced (By the MR software) to 133 pixels width x 100 pixels according to the properties that I see when I right click on it.



And the verdict from the greenies is . . . . . . ?
.

(At the time of HarryT's ruling my sig had one line of text above and below the 133 X 100 image.)

Originally Posted by HarryT

Your signature is using too much vertical space; the guidelines specify that its vertical size should be no more than 4 to 5 lines of normal-sized text. Perhaps you could downsize it to fit it within these measurements?



Thanks!

In reality if I remove "Click the Pic", or could use 5 lines (max) of text to the right of the picture I think that I'd be OK.

The image I'm using now, 65 X 55 pixels, is about as small as I can get and still give a slight idea of what it might be about. On a smaller laptop screen it may not be recognizable at all.

An alternative I'll have to think about doing what Tom has done. One image up to 500 wide X 85 high. But whereas Tom has a static sig I change my quotes and images frequently, and rarely both together.

[badgoodDeb]

Can you put the "click the pic" to the right? I guess I do see about 3mm difference, when I use an actual ruler. Sigh.

Maybe you could alternate between a quote and a clicky pic.

[WT Sharpe]

SOS, I think what you're using now is fine. What Harry was objecting to was what amounted to a 100 pixel tall graphic with a line of text above and another one below. What we're really trying to avoid is a signature line like this:

________________



Now available in the Amazon and other fine rainforests:



Praise pours in for Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Socks!

"FORGET EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW!"
The New Year Review of Books and Stuff says: "Forget everything you thought you knew about the subject! The author did."

"UNFORGETTABLE!"
Newsweak says, "Once you read it, you'll never forget it. We know. We've tried, and it's like trying to suppress the memory of a train wreck."

A MODEL OF HOW BOOKS SHOULD BE WRITTEN
Timewarp writes, "It has numbered pages and chapter divisions. It's clearly meant to be a book of some kind."

Available now through my affiliate link.

[SameOldStory]

Which part of that is not permitted

"What Harry was objecting to was what amounted to a 100 pixel tall graphic with a line of text above and another one below."

I'm going to have to sue you for plagiarism!

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

(At the time of HarryT's ruling my sig had one line of text above and below the 133 X 100 image.)

The more that I look at your new sig, the more I like it. Can you do one for me? I'll pay you with money from the settlement.

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Judging from the few who are commenting I would have to say that there isn't much reason to continue.

Agreed 100%. If you have ideas how we can further improve the signature guidelines, I invite you to contact me directly. We're always happy for constructive feedback.

Unfortunately it's easier to restrict everyone to small sig's than to ask a few to restrain themselves.

As I have already explained before, the new guidelines are required for setting some common sense limits to avoid oversized signatures filling post contents.

I could make my signature smaller, but I don't think that would satisfy some (or at least one in particular).

Our job is not to be nit pickers here. Our job is to improve the overall browsing experience @ MobileRead for as many users as possible. Feel free to continue using your current signature (which you have already modified since the guidelines are in place, thank you).

[LCF]

Are we allowed to have big texts/pictures in the sig if we put them in Spoiler Tag? Provided we describe what's in it and it doesn't violate the family-friendliness and the other guidelines.

Mobile version has no sigs at all, so I think it will be a perfect solution for someone who really wants to show something to the people who want to see it.
(I would personally be grateful to every person with a book-ticker who puts it in a spoiler.)

testing...








testing...





yep, the post enlarges when you click the spoiler and then contracts back if you click it again.

edit: I think I'm on a roll - is there a way to customize the Spoiler text, so it doesn't say
Spoiler: (Show) but Cust.Text: (Show) ?

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by LCF

Are we allowed to have big texts/pictures in the sig if we put them in Spoiler Tag?

While this might work in theory, please don't. It is not what the spoiler tag is meant for. And, it would make it very cumbersome to detect signatures that are not within the guidelines.

[LCF]

Roger, roger!

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by LCF

Roger, roger!

"You just keep thinkin', Butch LCF. That's what you're good at."

[JSWolf]

What exactly is wrong with my signature? I've had that same smiley for more then a year with nobody complaining that it's creepy or annoying or they didn't like it. I know the addition of the ticker makes it a tad larger, but the ticker does not slow anything down. I've not seen anybody's ticker slow anything down.

There is no way to make my signature smaller without removing the graphics. And I don't see where the graphics are a problem.

If it's because one of the graphics is animated, then what about animated avatars?