Signature Policy Updated

[Jason Dunn]

I never thought I'd have to do this, but lately I've been going "sig crazy" because it seems some sigs are a little out of control. It's funny, because in comparison to many other sites ours sigs are very tame. When I was at Mobius I was looking at my pal Howard Chui's forums, and some of the sigs had graphics bigger than the banners on this site! 8O Still, lately I've been a irked at how long the sigs have become - people seem to try to cram their entire PDA life story into their sigs, but that's not really the point of them. phpBB supports <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2">profiles</a>, which are quite under-utilized on this board. Profiles are a place where you can include all sorts of information about yourself, your interests, and your PDA history - but it's contained in a place where people don't have to see it every single time you post a message. :wink: You can update your profile by <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/profile.php?mode=editprofile">going into your preferences</a>.<br /><br />So here's what we're changing: effective immediately, sigs are not shown on the mobile version of the site. I've been browsing the site using my Smartphone a lot lately, and sigs = more scrolling, so away they go. Again, I'd encourage people to use their profile and put their info in there, because we've created a mobile-friendly template for the profile page (you need to be a <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/subscribe.php">subscriber</a> to see it though). Unfortunately, phpBB isn't smart enough to limit the number of lines on a sig, only the total characters. I just saw a sig that was NINE LINES LONG 8O, yet still under 500 characters. People, sigs are not the location for your entire resume. :wink: We're going to try and hack the code to see if we can restrict it to three lines worth, but in the meantime the limit is going from 500 characters down to 200 characters. Remember you can use HTML, so you can include a link to your Web site very easily without using up 25 characters putting in the full URL. Just say "Come visit <a href="http://www.jasondunn.com">my Web site</a>".<br /><br />Graphics are a thorny issue. I like graphics, and I know people enjoy being creative with graphics. But the problem is that 75% of the graphical sigs I've seen used on this board throughout it's history have either been too flash, too wide, too big in KB, or troublesome in some other way. So, in light of this, we're implementing a phpBB hack that will only allow 88 x 31 sized images to be used. These are standard-sized Web buttons are that small and unobtrusive, yet you can still do fun things with them. Just <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/friends/matrix.htm">look at all of these!</a> :-)<br /><br />Comments welcome, but I hope I've explained my reasoning behind these changes and that most of you will agree this will make things in the forums run a little smoother. I've always preferred to have a relaxed attitude about sigs, but in the past few months I've lost count the number of times I've had to send a PM to someone asking them politely if they'd change their sig - so now we're just going to limit what can be done instead, and we won't have to send those messages. ;-)

[AZMark]

still sig-less as the day I was born!

[Dave Beauvais]

Thank you! :) I've also wondered about the need to put a link to your site in your sig when the "WWW" button that appears on all posts does the same thing.

[foldedspace]

That reminds me...time to put in a sig :D

Just a little one, though....

[proutpa]

Jason thank you for enhancing my mobile experience :)

[Jonathon Watkins]

That sounds fair and reasonable - a light touch as ever. :wink:

How do some of the other boards manage with such HUGE sigs? When I have had to go to some of teh others I have been glad to get out. These things can really get out of control! 8O I don't think it has been too bad here - but it's good to keep on top of things here so they never get like that. :way to go:

[Jonathon Watkins]

FoldedSpace - I really hope that sig is a joke? Please? Pretty please?

[foldedspace]

Must have been rejected. Ah, well...

[Kati Compton]

FoldedSpace - I'm guessing you were making a joke about inappropriate sigs.... However, that picture was then attached to EVERY post you've made, most of which are NOT in the context of this thread, so people wouldn't know it was a joke. ;) So I deleted the sig.

To everyone:

Please do not start trying to find the most inappropriate sig. R and X rated ones will result in a time-out or locking of your account. Don't make my job hard, please.

If you want to give examples of "boy, wouldn't this pink-on-orange ugly sig be horrible", just put it in your post, not your actual sig, so we can keep this discussion ONLY in this thread. I don't want a chorus of "boy your signature is ugly" on all the threads here.

Thanks.

[MaximumPDA]

That reminds me...time to put in a sig :D

Just a little one, though....

Geez, its 118949 bytes in size, glad im on broadband :)

[Wuss912]

thank you !!!!
i've had a few posts sent to the hall of flame over sigs... :roll:
so i'll just say thanks

[Brad Adrian]

...I don't want a chorus of "boy your signature is ugly" on all the threads here.
Boy, your avatar is ugly. &lt;GDAR>

[Kati Compton]

...I don't want a chorus of "boy your signature is ugly" on all the threads here.
Boy, your avatar is ugly. &lt;GDAR>
Look who's talking! :razzing:

[beq]

There there Ed, it's going to be OK. Please don't cry...

:mrgreen: :twisted:

[Jonathon Watkins]

...I don't want a chorus of "boy your signature is ugly" on all the threads here.
Boy, your avatar is ugly. &lt;GDAR>
Look who's talking! :razzing:

Boom, BOOM! :lol: Down girl! :jester:

[sixsixty]

this is great!!! i have never used a sig, and i don't have any plan to do so. those can get sooo annoying.

[Paul]

Woohoo!!! :D

[David Prahl]

I agree! Sigs that look like banner ads just get annoying, and longer text sigs slow down the mobile version.

It's about time for me to "rotate" sigs, but I like my current one so much! :lol:

[CTSLICK]

Thanks for taking them off of the mobile site. 8)

[JustinGTP]

Hey Jason, I really really like my 350 x 15 sig, can I pretty please keep it, that would keep me really really happy. :D :D

People have complimented it say that it looks nice, its not bigger than a line of text, and its reasonable with the scrolling thing. You told me in a private message to keep it less than 400 pixels - its now 350 and I would love it if you dont change the rules again. Thank you!

-Justin.

[reidme]

Reasonable policy. I've seen a lot of sigs lately that are more like posts, and boring ones at that.

[Dave Beauvais]

Hey Jason, I really really like my 350 x 15 sig, can I pretty please keep it, that would keep me really really happy. :D :D
I like the new animated one. The dimensions are good, it's unobtrusive, and not bad to look at. :) That said, with so many animation frames, that single image is nearly 300 KB. 8O You could probably halve the number of frames and nobody would be able to tell the difference. Now that sigs are off in the mobile version this may be less of an issue, but with the audience of this site, you've got to realize that some people may be accessing via wireless services that may or may not be flat rate. Your sig is almost as large as the rest of the page including all other images.

--Dave

[sparkyewu]

0X

[Ed Hansberry]

Hey Jason, I really really like my 350 x 15 sig, can I pretty please keep it, that would keep me really really happy. :D :D

People have complimented it say that it looks nice, its not bigger than a line of text,
Except it is 270K. 8O

[Icekilled]

Just in case anyone wanted to eliminate all signatures from the screen you could add the following settings to Proximitron:

( Select all 7 lines below, Proxomitrom -> Web Page -> Right Click -> Import filters... )

Name = "PocketPCTHoughts Sig RM"
Active = TRUE
Multi = TRUE
URL = "www.pocketpcthoughts.com"
Limit = 25655
Match = "&lt;br />_________________*&lt;/td>"
Replace = "&lt;/td>"

Of course, you need to have proxomitron installed for it to work
=D

[Jon Westfall]

As per my new signature, you can all start denying it, cause there will be no party tonight.

(ah, now we find if anyone ever read my sig...)

On the upside, you can all now visit my horribly-frontpage themed homepage (heck, i wanted something simple and I really didn't care if other web guru's flamed me - When I started writing HTML, Frontpage didn't exist). I've got a PPC section for my own unit, and if you guys with long sigs really want a place to post them, let me know, and I'll put up a message board for the express purpose of long signatures.

[Janak Parekh]

Hey Jason, I really really like my 350 x 15 sig, can I pretty please keep it, that would keep me really really happy. :D :D

People have complimented it say that it looks nice, its not bigger than a line of text,
Except it is 270K. 8O
And will be a huge bandwidth cost for Honda... 8O

--janak

[Thinkingmandavid]

Never had one so no big deal :D

[Ed Hansberry]

Never had one so no big deal :D
Never had one what? a 4 line sig with some ALL CAPS? ;-)

[gorkon280]

I have never seen a totally out of control sig. I do have my graveyard on my sig, but only because I could not think of something witty to say at the time abd mine is small. I personally don't want anyone on here seeing my site so no HTML in my sig....ever....just text.

[JustinGTP]

Thats the only thing bad about my signature, but I was referring to the size of it (350 x 15) I would really love to able to have sigs that big.

Im going for a walk with my dog now, and when I come home Ill decrease the size, I was playing around with Adobe Image Ready and I guess I got Carried away :eek: :shock:

But does any one else like the idead of having a 350 x 15 sig? I really do! But Ill get the size under control - dont you worry Jason!

And I have enough bills as it is and Im 16 ! :eek:

-Justin.

[Kati Compton]

Thats the only thing bad about my signature, but I was referring to the size of it (350 x 15) I would really love to able to have sigs that big.

You know, just the Kenny head would fit nicely in the suggested image size, and you can use an animation to get the site logo in there.

[JustinGTP]

Thats the only thing bad about my signature, but I was referring to the size of it (350 x 15) I would really love to able to have sigs that big.

You know, just the Kenny head would fit nicely in the suggested image size, and you can use an animation to get the site logo in there.

Good point, Ill play around with it when I get back in about an hour... (Walking my dog, named Pooface)

-Justin.

[Foo Fighter]

:worried:

[Icekilled]

Nice try Jason ! :-P :silly:




=D

[JustinGTP]

His name is actually Rugby though, dont worry! :D

My new sig is down to 100k!! :D

-Justin.

[toxostoma]

I'm sorry - I'm certainly not trying to be rude, and it's nothing personal... But 100K for a signature is ridiculous! That's larger than the download for most webpages (the size of the html page, plus ALL images). I don't want to download a 10k image for every single signature, much less 100k for one.

Also, I think animation in signatures should be prohibited.

Look, I don't want to offend anyone, but the point is simple. I come out here to read and discuss PPCs. Why do I have to end up looking at someone's sig that's flying around distracting me from reading?

Not only do I support the decision to keep sigs under control, I'd say go the step further to make sure people have small sigs that download quickly, and don't include distracting animation.

If you want to see just how bad things can get, just head over to the Trillian forums (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/forums/) and see all the nice signatures over there. Yuck!

[juni]

Hmm, how about this:

[bjornkeizers]

I've never had a problem with sigs; that is: if they're nice ones, not 6 lines of txt with everything in it but your shoe size...

Whatshisfaces 270 kb sig doesn't bother me, because I'm on broadband, but I see it might be annoying for those that can't afford anything faster then 56k or those that are on wireless..

Anyways, I think I might do a sig.. just because I fee like it :-)

[bjornkeizers]

Hmm, how about this:

Could you make it a wee bit smaller still - I allmost think I can read it :D

*puts on reading glasses and decreases display resolution to be able to read the teeny, tiny three-and-a-half kb sig*

[toxostoma]

juni,

Your signature is small and classy, and I certainly wasn't trying to poo-poo all signatures. Just those that use a lot of bandwidth and have distracting animation!

[trachy]

Man, y'all should be thankful that it's Jason running the show around here. If this were mine, I'd disable html in the sigs. An avatar and a profile ought to be enough for anyone to express themselves. If it's not, start a blog. ;-)

[bjornkeizers]

Man, y'all should be thankful that it's Jason running the show around here. If this were mine, I'd disable html in the sigs. An avatar and a profile ought to be enough for anyone to express themselves. If it's not, start a blog. ;-)

Can't link your av to your site, and not everybody knows where to find the profiles [despite the clearly marked button, but that's people for ya] Plus, you can add a nice quote to your sig, or whatever.

And I also have a blog, yes.

[trachy]

Can't link your av to your site, and not everybody knows where to find the profiles [despite the clearly marked button, but that's people for ya] Plus, you can add a nice quote to your sig, or whatever.

Yeah, but you can put a plain-text URL on your sig if you want to make sure people know how to get there. Call me anal retentive... :-)

[bjornkeizers]

Yeah, but you can put a plain-text URL on your sig if you want to make sure people know how to get there. Call me anal retentive... :-)

All right Mr. Retentive. :D If you disabled the HTML, people would have to select a long url, copy, open a new window, paste, hit enter.. it's far easier to embed a nice link, then have people go through that routine.

[jgrnt1]

I have to agree that sig's should be small enough (kb's) so they do not adversely affect dial-up or mobile visitors to the site.

While we're at it, why don't we make them politically correct, too? Personally, I'd prefer to not be bombarded with religious fervor or political rantings when I am trying to get interesting or useful information about PPC's. Sig's with such messages are really posts unto themselves. If they stood alone, they would be moved for being off topic.

I understand the genuine desire to share one's views in the hope it might help others. However, if you were having a face to face conversation with somebody about a particular PPC (or other) topic, would you randomly throw in political or religious observations which have nothing to do with the topic? No. You would, at the absolute most, wait for a topic change or pause in the conversation and you would still be as delicate and indirect as possible, so as not to offend.

I think Ed's sig is a perfect example of doing this right. He obviously has deep religious convictions, but does not bombard you with them in his sig. If, however, you want to know more, you can visit his blog.

[Don't Panic!]

Ain't it. :lol:

Don't Panic!
Bobby

[Deslock]

Good idea (and while mine was under 200 characters, your action inspired me to shorten it a bit).

I think more forums should implement sig restrictions. http://www.rushmessageboard.com/forums/cp/index.php is a prime example. I actually couldn't take the visual-abuse anymore and disabled sigs in my profile. Their over-use of emoticons is pretty atrocious as well.

[DarrenS]

Yeah, but you can put a plain-text URL on your sig if you want to make sure people know how to get there. Call me anal retentive... :-)

All right Mr. Retentive. :D If you disabled the HTML, people would have to select a long url, copy, open a new window, paste, hit enter.. it's far easier to embed a nice link, then have people go through that routine.

I think it is cool that this site sports a community where a guy the Netherlands and a guy in Florida can, within minutes of each other, 'discuss' these crucial issues!! :D

[trachy]

I think it is cool that this site sports a community where a guy the Netherlands and a guy in Florida can, within minutes of each other, 'discuss' these crucial issues!! :D

Ain't it great? BTW, welcome to Thoughts. Wish I were up in your neck of the woods. I've a few friends that live up in the GSP area.

[PPCRules]

A step back to the original comment ...

... lately I've been a irked ... people seem to try to cram their entire PDA life story into their sigs, but that's not really the point of them...
I know Jason has recently said this before, but I don't get his concern so that this is listed first and foremost. To me, this can be quite meaningful (we only need model numbers; most of us recognize them). It says a lot about a person and helps create a reference point that often helps me understand their comments better. What better function of a signature? I'm not likely to look in the profiles for clues about someone's PDA reference point. Are we concerned someone may feel inferior if they haven't had as many PDAs as someone else? What other problem do these present? These aren't the long ones.

People, sigs are not the location for your entire resume.
Now, that's more of a concern I can understand, but not something I've really seen.

Graphics are a thorny issue. I like graphics, ... you can still do fun things with them.
I don't see the need. I'd prefer to consider signatures as something to complement the posted comment, not something to provide a 'fun' diversion/distraction. Here's where I've seen the problem ones, which exist for purely entertainment value.

... this will make things in the forums run a little smoother.
If it's such a problem, I think we'd get along fine without them entirely.
That's right; I've never had one.

[Jason Dunn]

While we're at it, why don't we make them politically correct, too? Personally, I'd prefer to not be bombarded with religious fervor or political rantings when I am trying to get interesting or useful information about PPC's.

That's not something we can control with technology, so it's much more complicated. Besides, where do we draw the line? What's offensive to you might not be offensive to me, and vice-versa. If anyone has something truly offensive in their sig (pornographic, hate literature, etc.), our moderators will certainly act, but beyond that it's difficult for us to control.

[bjornkeizers]

42



Nice sig :D Short, sweet and absolutely incrompehensible to everyone but the true fans.

[Jason Dunn]

Nice try Jason ! :-P :silly:

We haven't implemented the code yet on the graphics. ;-) And it turns out that the hack available on the phpBB hacks site doesn't even work :roll: so we're having to create our own from scratch. It will be a few days at least.

[Jason Dunn]

I've read through all the comments, and I appreciate everyone's input. We've moving ahead with a custom script that will block all graphics except for 88 x 31 badges, and we'll decide a reasonable size limit as well that will discourage abusive animation - perhaps 15KB to 20KB.

[bjornkeizers]

We haven't implemented the code yet on the graphics. ;-) And it turns out that the hack available on the phpBB hacks site doesn't even work :roll: so we're having to create our own from scratch. It will be a few days at least.

Finally a topic you and me agree on Mr. D :lol: I put up a new sig, within the new size restrictions pixel-wise, but it is 10kb [so sue me, I like colors] I hope we can keep the size restriction to 15-20 kb. I'd hate to see someone do a 50 frame animated gif sig that gives me seizures just looking at it.. :roll:

[Thinkingmandavid]

Good point Ed :!:
I was thinking of graphics and that is all I was concentrating on :)
MMM, so I am far from even using all of MY SPACE :twisted: :twisted: hehe

[jgrnt1]

While we're at it, why don't we make them politically correct, too? Personally, I'd prefer to not be bombarded with religious fervor or political rantings when I am trying to get interesting or useful information about PPC's.

That's not something we can control with technology, so it's much more complicated. Besides, where do we draw the line? What's offensive to you might not be offensive to me, and vice-versa. If anyone has something truly offensive in their sig (pornographic, hate literature, etc.), our moderators will certainly act, but beyond that it's difficult for us to control.

Jason, I understand technology cannot control this. I did not say I was offended. I said I thought sigs such as these were essentially off-topic posts and did not belong in the conversation. I realize my opinion is just that -- only my opinion and it will probably not change anything.

My point was simply that people do and say things in a message forum that they would never do or say in person. If we were having a face-to-face conversation, I would not, in the middle, or even at the end of the conversation, blurt out, "John 3:3." It would be out of place and inappropriate, just as, in my opinion, it should be in the forums.

[Ed Hansberry]

My point was simply that people do and say things in a message forum that they would never do or say in person. If we were having a face-to-face conversation, I would not, in the middle, or even at the end of the conversation, blurt out, "John 3:3." It would be out of place and inappropriate, just as, in my opinion, it should be in the forums.
Sigs are like bumper stickers or pins someone may wear, or a saying on a t-shirt, and that goes on all day long in the non-virtual world.

[Jerry Raia]

I find the large number of responses on this facinating in itself.

[JustinGTP]

Oh - I really wanted my 350 x 15 sig. Ill even take away the animation!!

-Justin.

[David Prahl]

Your current "button" graphic is ~57KB. CNN.com's entire front page is ~60KB (at least right now).

Great job on all (four?) versions of the banners and buttons. I actually liked your 350x15 banner more than your current one.

Unlike some other people, I think that sigs are an important part of the community. They help describe who you are, and give members an idea of what each other are like. I'd like to compare sigs to the clothes you wear each day. I don't tell each person I meet what my T-shirt says, but by taking the time to read my "T-shirt", people can get a better idea of who I am.

One of the best parts about Pocket PC Thoughts is the sense of community, and descriptive signatures help build that feeling. I think three lines of text or one button and one line of text should be fair.

[JustinGTP]

He he he, variety is the spice of life. I like playing around with Photoshop and ImageReady, Ill create something that I like. I really liked my 350 x 15 banner, but the size is going to change to 88 x 31. That sucks, but oh well, I live with it

-Justin.

[Pat Logsdon]

Hey Jason, I really really like my 350 x 15 sig, can I pretty please keep it, that would keep me really really happy.
I would really love to able to have sigs that big.
But does any one else like the idead of having a 350 x 15 sig? I really do!
Oh - I really wanted my 350 x 15 sig.
I really liked my 350 x 15 banner
I believe that you've made your point, Honda.

Let's not http://www.mybunny.org/images/dead_horse.gif ...

[stitics]

Oh - I really wanted my 350 x 15 sig. Ill even take away the animation!!

-Justin.

To be honest, I prefer the current one.

For future reference, in case it changes, this is the one I am referring to:
http://www.stitics.com/examples/34_383.jpg

I think the "button" look is much cleaner...however, your 350x15 sig was pretty slick, as well.

[This image will will be removed at some point after 31 DEC 03]

[JustinGTP]

Hmm... I like making my point, Ill shut up now. And I like chaging my avatar - you have missed about 13 different variations between that too. You should have seen all my ideas....

-Justin.

[ctmagnus]

Hmm... I like making my point, Ill shut up now. And I like chaging my avatar - you have missed about 13 different variations between that too. You should have seen all my ideas....

-Justin.

You just need to set something up that rotates through images on your site on a regular basis. Then you won't even have to lift a finger to have your avatar/sig change.

[bjornkeizers]

I know this is slightly off-topic, but does anyone know a good, free image hosting service [or webhoster] that allows remote linking to images?

Right now, I'm hosting my sigs on some crapphy auction pic hosting thing, since my favorite hoster photo navy is having some issues or something :roll:


Any suggestions?

[Wuss912]

try https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/
they aren't free but they are very cheap

[qmrq]

I know this is slightly off-topic, but does anyone know a good, free image hosting service [or webhoster] that allows remote linking to images?
TANSTAAFL ;)

[qmrq]

You just need to set something up that rotates through images on your site on a regular basis. Then you won't even have to lift a finger to have your avatar/sig change.
http://www.alistapart.com/d/randomizer/rotate.txt

[Wuss912]

I know this is slightly off-topic, but does anyone know a good, free image hosting service [or webhoster] that allows remote linking to images?
TANSTAAFL ;)
shure there is you just have to sit throught the time share meeting :roll:

[maximus]

I believe that you've made your point, Honda.

Let's not http://www.mybunny.org/images/dead_horse.gif ...

ha ha ha. This is so funny. The combination between Honda + Surgical is very deadly. :mrgreen: