Screwing with signatures

JSWolf · 01-06-2011, 12:24 PM

Why is it that the mods are screwing with our signatures? Why do they have to be limited to the size of 6 lines of text? Those of us who have tickers may very well have signatures wider then 6 lines of text. And it may not be possible to change that without deleting some of the signature.

I thought the only real issue was the speed of the signatures and that images of book covers not be too big.

I've not come across any signatures I've considered slow ever since the dragon eggs issue.

So what gives?

HarryT · 01-06-2011, 12:52 PM

Moderator Notice
It's not a matter of the speed of loading, but the vertical space used on the screen. If people have signatures that occupy too much space, more of the screen is taken up with signatures than with the actual messages. That is why we have a guideline that the total height of a signature should be no more than the equivalent of 6 lines of normal text.

Vandy · 01-06-2011, 01:04 PM

@Harry

ATTA BOY, LUTHER!!

JSWolf · 01-06-2011, 02:57 PM

So who is getting out the ruler and measuring? How much over the 6 lines do we have to be in order to have our signatures fagged for editing? What if we cannot make them any smaller without removing content? These tickers do take up a bit of space and that's not quite fair to those of us with them who fit before but not after.

Worldwalker · 01-06-2011, 03:36 PM

Playing Devil's Advocate a bit here: why is it necessary to use a graphic ticker rather than a bit of text? What argument in favor of such a ticker would not also apply to a series of book covers, or any other graphic for that matter? What argument against them would not apply equally to such a ticker?

(note: I think they're cute, and not too outrageous in size, but really, does a signature need to be bigger than one's posts?)

Jellby · 01-07-2011, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

that's not quite fair to those of us with them

Nobody forces you to have them in the signature. Nobody forces anyone to have a signature. Actually, I have signatures disabled (I don't see anyone's signature), so I don't care, but I understand large signatures can be very annoying; after all, that's the reason I disabled them. And "large" is a subjective concept (for me, two lines or a picture was already too much), so it's sensible to have a guideline, even if it seems (and it is) arbitrary.

astra · 01-07-2011, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So who is getting out the ruler and measuring? How much over the 6 lines do we have to be in order to have our signatures fagged for editing? What if we cannot make them any smaller without removing content? These tickers do take up a bit of space and that's not quite fair to those of us with them who fit before but not after.

IIRC you were the one, along with me and a few others, who argued against graphics in signatures?
Why change of mind?
These graphic tickers in signatures are a shame on the forum face. Signature is supposed be something short, something telling us about the owner, some bit of wisdom or like that. It is not supposed to be a mirror of your personal profile. It is a forum for goodness sake, not an art gallery.

Moderators
Thank you for limiting signature size.

I would thank you even more if you outlawed usage of graphics but it will never happen, so I gave up on this idea and befriended AdBlock Plus!

JSWolf · 01-07-2011, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

I would thank you even more if you outlawed usage of graphics but it will never happen, so I gave up on this idea and befriended AdBlock Plus!

Lets all use graphics in our signatures from MR. That way astra will be blocking bits of MR.

astra · 01-07-2011, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Lets all use graphics in our signatures from MR. That way astra will be blocking bits of MR.

I meant graphics in signatures!

JSWolf · 01-07-2011, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

IIRC you were the one, along with me and a few others, who argued against graphics in signatures?
Why change of mind?
These graphic tickers in signatures are a shame on the forum face. Signature is supposed be something short, something telling us about the owner, some bit of wisdom or like that. It is not supposed to be a mirror of your personal profile. It is a forum for goodness sake, not an art gallery.

Moderators
Thank you for limiting signature size.

I would thank you even more if you outlawed usage of graphics but it will never happen, so I gave up on this idea and befriended AdBlock Plus!

But seriously, it was only graphics from a specific site that was an issue. It was those dragon things that some of the moderators and a few others decided to use in their signatures that did slow down MR. I have yet to find any of these tickers to slow down MR. I have yet to find anyone's signature currently that slows down MR.

Kevin2960 · 01-07-2011, 10:15 AM

I just put a second Ticker in my signature (I know some HATE tickers) and came here to post asking if it was ok, saw this thread, If not OK will remove instantly !

JSWolf · 01-07-2011, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

I just put a second Ticker in my signature (I know some HATE tickers) and came here to post asking if it was ok, saw this thread, If not OK will remove instantly !

Actually, if you can put the two tickers side-by-side, then there wouldn't be an issue at all.

astra · 01-07-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But seriously, it was only graphics from a specific site that was an issue. It was those dragon things that some of the moderators and a few others decided to use in their signatures that did slow down MR. I have yet to find any of these tickers to slow down MR. I have yet to find anyone's signature currently that slows down MR.

It was never about slow down, but general forum culture. I was brought up with the idea that you make small text signature to underline your individuality not a piece of art that takes a quarter of the screen. It is rude in my book.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

I just put a second Ticker in my signature (I know some HATE tickers) and came here to post asking if it was ok, saw this thread, If not OK will remove instantly !

TBH, I don't care

In Adblock Plus I added

Code:

||tickers.tickerfactory.com^

thus I don't have to add each individual ticket to my adblock on each of my three computers. I am don't see any of them, be it old or new

Thanks for asking though

DMcCunney · 01-07-2011, 12:55 PM

I started in on line messaging in the 80's, when you generally did so by calling a BBS with a dial up modem, and posting in forums the BBS maintained. BBSes began to aggregate into networks, which passed traffic around, and I found myself moderating ten conferences on what was then the second largest BBS network in the world after Fidonet, with just under a thousand nodes worldwide.

Signatures were a thorny issue, as the Sysops running the BBSes passed traffic around by dialup modem at long distance rates, and looked unhappily at traffic that wasn't actual message, because they paid the freight on the transfers. Message traffic was transferred as compressed Zip archives, but extravagant signatures could drive file sizes up fast. The network I moderated for had a "two line signature, max" rule for that reason.

Websites like MR don't have that constraint, but courtesy is still recommended. When you use a signature, you need to think about why you are adding it, and what you are trying to say. You may think your "all singing, all dancing" big fancy animated signature is really neat, but will the other people on MR agree, or will they rapidly grow tired of seeing it?

Personally, I think "less is more". Keep it to a couple of lines. Embed a link to your website, blog, or whatever. Don't use tags to embed fancy colors or boost the font size. It should be unobtrusive, readable if other folks want to and ignorable if not. If a message you post is one quoted line from another post, one line of reply, and a signature that takes up two thirds of the screen, you are arguably overdoing it, and will simply annoy other readers.

The tickers in themselves aren't a problem. It's when they get combined with other large signature elements that they become the straw that broke the camel's back.
______
Dennis

Kevin2960 · 01-07-2011, 01:50 PM

Sorry for not thinking, Have removed Tickers,

Hey was only following the current fashion!

It was thoughtless of me,

01-06-2011, 12:24 PM	#1
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,621 Karma: 145864263 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Screwing with signatures Why is it that the mods are screwing with our signatures? Why do they have to be limited to the size of 6 lines of text? Those of us who have tickers may very well have signatures wider then 6 lines of text. And it may not be possible to change that without deleting some of the signature. I thought the only real issue was the speed of the signatures and that images of book covers not be too big. I've not come across any signatures I've considered slow ever since the dragon eggs issue. So what gives?

01-07-2011, 12:55 PM	#14
DMcCunney New York Editor Posts: 6,384 Karma: 16540415 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7	I started in on line messaging in the 80's, when you generally did so by calling a BBS with a dial up modem, and posting in forums the BBS maintained. BBSes began to aggregate into networks, which passed traffic around, and I found myself moderating ten conferences on what was then the second largest BBS network in the world after Fidonet, with just under a thousand nodes worldwide. Signatures were a thorny issue, as the Sysops running the BBSes passed traffic around by dialup modem at long distance rates, and looked unhappily at traffic that wasn't actual message, because they paid the freight on the transfers. Message traffic was transferred as compressed Zip archives, but extravagant signatures could drive file sizes up fast. The network I moderated for had a "two line signature, max" rule for that reason. Websites like MR don't have that constraint, but courtesy is still recommended. When you use a signature, you need to think about why you are adding it, and what you are trying to say. You may think your "all singing, all dancing" big fancy animated signature is really neat, but will the other people on MR agree, or will they rapidly grow tired of seeing it? Personally, I think "less is more". Keep it to a couple of lines. Embed a link to your website, blog, or whatever. Don't use tags to embed fancy colors or boost the font size. It should be unobtrusive, readable if other folks want to and ignorable if not. If a message you post is one quoted line from another post, one line of reply, and a signature that takes up two thirds of the screen, you are arguably overdoing it, and will simply annoy other readers. The tickers in themselves aren't a problem. It's when they get combined with other large signature elements that they become the straw that broke the camel's back. ______ Dennis Last edited by DMcCunney; 01-07-2011 at 07:38 PM.

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01-06-2011, 12:52 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Moderator Notice It's not a matter of the speed of loading, but the vertical space used on the screen. If people have signatures that occupy too much space, more of the screen is taken up with signatures than with the actual messages. That is why we have a guideline that the total height of a signature should be no more than the equivalent of 6 lines of normal text.

01-06-2011, 01:04 PM	#3
Vandy ...always be humble. Posts: 116 Karma: 505917 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Fort Myers, FL USA Device: iPhone 5s, iPod Touch 3rd Gen, Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle Fire	@Harry ATTA BOY, LUTHER!!

01-06-2011, 02:57 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,621 Karma: 145864263 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	So who is getting out the ruler and measuring? How much over the 6 lines do we have to be in order to have our signatures fagged for editing? What if we cannot make them any smaller without removing content? These tickers do take up a bit of space and that's not quite fair to those of us with them who fit before but not after.

01-06-2011, 03:36 PM	#5
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	Playing Devil's Advocate a bit here: why is it necessary to use a graphic ticker rather than a bit of text? What argument in favor of such a ticker would not also apply to a series of book covers, or any other graphic for that matter? What argument against them would not apply equally to such a ticker? (note: I think they're cute, and not too outrageous in size, but really, does a signature need to be bigger than one's posts?)

01-07-2011, 10:15 AM	#11
Kevin2960 YODA's Uglier Twin Posts: 974 Karma: 6295251 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Leicester, UK Device: PRS-600 and 2 Kindle 3's - and now a K4 + HTC Desire HD	I just put a second Ticker in my signature (I know some HATE tickers) and came here to post asking if it was ok, saw this thread, If not OK will remove instantly !

01-07-2011, 01:50 PM	#15
Kevin2960 YODA's Uglier Twin Posts: 974 Karma: 6295251 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Leicester, UK Device: PRS-600 and 2 Kindle 3's - and now a K4 + HTC Desire HD	Sorry for not thinking, Have removed Tickers, Hey was only following the current fashion! It was thoughtless of me,

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