A Reminder About Signature Guidelines

[ivyandpeony]

Too-large signatures continue to be a bit of an issue around here, so we would appreciate it if everyone would double check theirs. We do continue to monitor them and issue reminders (or warnings). We also appreciate when members report problem signatures.

 

I've quoted a couple of important things below from past announcements/posts that may help you with any signature problems you are experiencing and I'm including a few tips.

 

Some people have told me they don't know how to determine pixel size - to do so, right click on the image and choose "Properties." Among other info listed, you'll see "Image Dimensions" which provides the width (first number) and height of the image in pixels.

 

Look at the box size that shriekingviolet posted in the second quote below - if your signature is significantly taller or wider than this visual guide, chances are you need to edit it. Unless you are especially skilled at resizing images, chances are you will just need to remove some images. It's very possible that you can exceed the height and width maximums without using up the maximum 8 images allowed, depending on the size of your images, so don't rely on the number of images alone to keep your signature within the guidelines.

 

If you have signature questions, feel free to PM a moderator or administrator - just be aware that we aren't able to create signatures for you or work out problems with coding if you are having trouble due to the constraints on our time. There are some threads in Forum Questions that you may find helpful: Adding links to signatures and Formatting signature pictures. You can ask specific questions about Dragon Cave, etc. in those threads, but be aware that any info you get from forum members other than moderators that is in conflict with the guidelines (i.e. the number of images you can have, the size of images that are permissible) can get you a reminder or a warning if you decide to rely upon it. When in doubt about those issues, read the guidelines and if still in doubt, ask a moderator.

 

Hey everyone. Browsing the forum I've noticed that there are a lot of signatures out there that are not in compliance with our guidelines. Some of them contain too many big images, or too many images period, and some take up more than the ten lines of space required (if your signature takes up more space than the content of most of your actual posts, it's ridiculous). I noticed a few are even messing up the summer layout (which became the default yesterday) because there are too many images in a row and they stretch the table beyond the prescribed limits. Which is the quickest way to make me annoyed.

 

Anyway we've rewritten the signature guidelines so that they read a little more coherently. Nothing is really new here except that we've added a row maximum for multiple images as some signatures were fine in one screen resolution and not in another. Or fine in one skin but not in another. So now there's a prescribed max that's allowed so there's no question.

 

Below is the rewritten signature guidelines:

Signatures are a place for members to personalize each of their posts, but there are rules in place to make sure they don't get out of control or violate other tenants of the board guidelines. Big signatures are unkind to members with slower connections and drag down the speed of the forum, so we encourage moderation.

 

In terms of size, no signature should exceed in length the equivalent of 10 lines of text (which is approximately 185 pixels high). This goes for both text-only signatures and signatures with images. Images displayed in signatures must be no wider than 480 pixels and no taller than 100 pixels (though really, we'd be grateful if you didn't use anything that achieved both the width and height maximums). No image should be over 20kb in size. Members are allowed a maximum of 8 images in their signature, provided that all 8 together don't amount to over 100 pixels high (assuming the images are on multiple lines) or 480 pixels wide (if they're all in a row). In essence, if your signature has 8 tiny images, that's likely going to be ok. 8 larger images will not be.

 

We allow links in members signatures, but not to off forum sales as this has been used as a way to skirt our swapping price caps. We do make exceptions for sales of nonBPAL items or for eBay auctions (bpal or otherwise). Other swapping in signatures (i.e. wanted notices, panhandling and mentioning items for sale) is not allowed. Please keep the swap and sales into their respective areas only!

 

Violations of the signature guidelines are a warnable offense, though first time offenders will be given a reminder.

 

We're giving everyone two weeks (until July 6) to comply. After that, we'll be issuing reminders to offenders.

 

 

A special note to Dragon Cave players: you must keep a close eye on your signature if you want to post them there. As your dragons grow, your signature might grow beyond the guidelines. Some adult dragons are taller than allowed, and having multiple adult dragons is likely to exceed the signature maximums. As warnings will be issued on a second offense, you won't want to let any developments of your "pets" surprise you.

...

 

 

Some helpful Dragon Cave info as well as a visual aid for sizing your signature:

 

I just checked out the new guidelines, and basically we'll be able to have adults on our signature, but as the adults are about 100 x 80 pixels (that's the green's specs, and the green seems to be one of the larger ones), we can only have about 5 in our signature at any time, and only one row of them. That will leave enough room for a couple of lines of links, etc. The eggies and hatchies should all fit as usual.

 

Don't be askeered!

 

 

Thanks savage rose!

 

 

Basically if your signature can fit in this box:

 

and there no double rows of images** or images taller than 100px, you're square. If you have text in your signature that goes wider than that box it's ok. Your row of images just can't be any wider than that.

 

 

**except in cases where you images are so short that their combined height is less than 100px, which is the height of my avatar if you need a visual guide.

[ipb]

A helpful hint for whether or not a signature is too big: find a one line post. Does the signature stretch the left hand bar? If it does, it's too big!

 

An OK signature height will have a left hand side that looks something like this with a one line post:

 

A signature that exceeds our height requirement may look like this with a one line post (note: click to see it full size):