Jump to content
djmcnz

Signature Length

Recommended Posts

Hi,

Can we have the signature length (characters) adjusted up please? It's been reduced in the change to the new forum and IMHO it was already way too short (around 150 characters including spaces I think), now I can't even save a 135 character signature.

I'd like to include links to TC threads in my sig but this means short takes up 76 characters which is a nuisance.

I recommend around 500 characters... this would be less than three lines of text I would think.

At the very least, can we avoid counting HTML in signature length?

(Yes, I understand the implications of sig overload but a) you can tern sig display off per user and :( let's just see if common sense prevails eh?)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
B ) let's just see if common sense prevails eh?)

You're a bit of an optimist ;)

I can see from a link point of view, you need the character count, but can you imagine 500 characters in the hands of a loony :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

;) True, but pessimists spend their time worrying what will happen and what people will do. I tend to prefer taking a risk and observing the consequences, good or bad.

So, how do we have this request assessed objectively?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Whats the size guidelines?

I want to use this:

rcm-userbar-7.jpg

Which is 350x20, but I get an error saying its either too long or high. Its smaller than my current one! (500x99)

Also, can we have the fast reply box turned on?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bump.

Can this be given due consideration please and a response provided? There seems to be only a very small risk of a problem here and 150 characters is simply too low a limit when it counts spaces and HTML as well.

500 please, seems to work for the billion other forums on the interweb.

Edit: and I've just noticed that repeating sigs have been turned off so there's really no excuse now not to at least try a higher limit.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Common sense tells me 500 characters is just way too much - your last post was just over 400 characters and we don't want sigs that long. Unfortunately I can't make the distinction between links and text - it all counts. At the moment this thread is the only indication that its causing issues for members and the fact it has to be bumped to keep it in the public eye and only 2-3 people are taking part, indicates its not a 'hot topic' ofr the majority of members.

That said, its been a while since I set it up, so I'll go away and review the limits. (In the meantime I can only suggest you use www.tinyurl.com for links etc)

The reason some big sigs are in the club already is because they were bought across from the old system. When these are edited or new ones are entered the rules are automatically enforced.

Quick reply should be an easy option - to be honest i thought it was already turned on. I'll check it out and release it later today.

Cheers

Chris

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well if we are taking views on this I'd rather keep it as it is - I suspect many people are more interested in what is being said in the threads rather than the "decoration" around them (I know it can be turned off... but hey I'm lazy ;) ). If people really want to know more about you they can click your avatar and access your profile from there can't they?

I understand what you are saying about most people using it sensibly, but sadly as seems to happen time and again one idiot will abuse it, thus making more work for the mods and more clicky-clicky-scrolly-scrolly for everyone else.

I think my Victor Meldrew side is coming to the fore as I creep inevitably closer towards the big four-oh <sigh> :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Common sense tells me 500 characters is just way too much.

I'm not sure I agree that it's common sence, remember the point I'm making is 500 char used is not 500 displayed.. other forums seem to survive, we're not unique here...

That said, its been a while since I set it up, so I'll go away and review the limits.

Cool, what was the result?

(In the meantime I can only suggest you use www.tinyurl.com for links etc)

Tried, can't even fit three URL's in using Tiny... get my point?

500 - see what happens?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Try this website to shorten URLs:

TinyURL.com

-Steve

Can't add more than two, even using tiny (see above). 100 char is ridiculous.

[Edit: "can"now "can't" above... duh!]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like it the way it is. Actually I would support disallowing images too in the signatures. :lol:

Why woyld you "need" to include several links in a signature anyway? Link to you showroom - that ought to suffice, right? I co-administer a Swedish RC car-forum where we only allow one link and that has not turned out to be a "problem" for our users.

I read posts because of what people have written in them, not what they have in their signature.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I read posts because of what people have written in them, not what they have in their signature.

Obviously, there is a "need", that's why this topic occured.

You can always try, right?

Besides, you are reading this topic so you are curious :unsure:

Don't get me wrong, I can live with it because this new forum is way better than the old one and I have understand why Chris does this, fine with me.

Grtz Dee.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Want and need are two different things, although they sometimes coincide. :blink:

I replied to the topic to voice an opinion (against) the suggestion and express support for Chris's view. I did not do it because I was curious as of how to be able to put more junk code in my signature.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The point I'm trying (seemingly unsuccessfully) to make is twofold:

1. 100 characters is unnecessarily restrictive, it restricts users from creating a number of valid signatures.

2. There is only an assumed consequence from lifting this restriction.

I am an advocate of restricted signature length, just not draconian restrictions of signature length.

A forum is meant to be a community driven feature of a site, not a maintenance driven one.

What harm is there in increasing the length, modifying the rules to support this (say "Max two lines of text" - this would take LESS space than the current image rules allow) and seeing what happens? Sh!t, the worst case scenario is you revert it back to how it was. That's better than the situation we have now where many sigs that used to be "acceptable" are now not (explain that) and many are in fact "broken" because they can't comply with the new forum technology.

On top of this somebody has turned off repeating signatures (which doesn't seem to have been a community decision) so net, net, we could easily increase the length and have no impact whatsoever.

I'm sure there are examples of forums that have low sig limits or no sigs at all, but I'm sure the detractors will accepts that I could present so many more examples of forums with sensible length restrictions that are respected by their members.

What's so **** (d-a-m-n is a banned word?) difficult? All I want to do is link back to some key posts within the community, for the community's benefit, for easy reference. There is no other way to do this other than appending links to the bottom of each of my posts. If I resort to this then the whole purpose of short sigs is defeated and it's more data to store, more data to process, more data to read, more information to scroll.

There is no logic expressed in the counter argument, can't this be seen?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
All I want to do is link back to some key posts within the community, for the community's benefit, for easy reference. There is no other way to do this

Edit the 'key posts' and insert the word crunglejut into each of the topics.

Then, make yor sig something like "search for crunglejut, It's well interesting" :)

The 'try it and see' approach has the potential of being a nightmare, as has been pointed out already, imposing a new 'rule' for sigs does not remove/delete/amend old signatures, so any that were added in the trial period would then need removing/deleting/amending manually if the trial was unsuccessful.

This is one user's sig on another forum I visit;

Contact details omitted

add me

My R.C collection:

Current: Twin detonator, CC-01 race touareg, Super clodbuster, TT-01 BMW M3, TB-02 dodge stratus 3, High lift, DF-03 dark impact, TL-01 Disco3,

Coming up: saving money for a TLT and now also a shelby durango

only tamiya

always has been and always will be

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am not a fan of signatures, especially not ones with images in them. Whenever possible I turn off sigs, and adblock all the images.

I feel that if what you have to say in your signature is so absolutely stunningly interesting to everyone who reads every post you make (doubtful), then perhaps you can cut and paste it into every single post that you've made. Otherwise, you're just adding to visual pollution and making threads harder to read, as you have to jump past repeated blocks of text.

Signatures are often interesting to the people who write them, but rarely to anybody else, after they've read it once.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Whenever possible I turn off sigs, and adblock all the images.

Which you can do here so this topic is of no consequence to you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mods, admins.

I just tried to change my signature, sick and tired of talking to a wall, and I think there's an enforcement problem.

I tried to change mine to:

"TRF501X, Top Force Evolution (x2), Egress, Taisan Porsche, Anniversary 934 Porsche" <- NO links, NO HTML.

Which is 82 characters including spaces and the site says it's too long, what's up?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...