Up to now I have preferred to keep signatures clear of images and banners and large flash animations -- though a small animation is fine.
The reasons for having this small rule on the board is because a lot of people find large signatures full of images and animations very distracting when reading the board. Personally I find it visually a strain to read boards that have lots of things going on in signatures. It is why I set up the board to take avatar images though these can be a hassle at times as well as they really do need to remain below a set size and many are creeping up over the maximum. This stretches out the columns which those with larger screens may not notice much but it is very hard to actually read such threads with oversize avatars on small PC or laptop screens. Please note too that my avatar is the MAXIMUM size for images (and this is about a third larger than the old limit we had when images were auto-resized!). The Getting Started section explains how to obtain this size for your signature. I like to keep the board as readable as possible for all.
With the board software, I don't have the easy option of barring image files and links from signatures, which would eliminate images without me having to police this, but would also mean no one could link to websites.
I do have the option of turning off signatures entirely, but then newbies in particular have no way of knowing who has made a post unless people sign them each time.
I also have the option of addressing the avatar issue by requiring people to upload their files, where they would be automatically resized. The disadvantage of this is that I have to store all those files myself, but the advantage is I don;t have to keep asking people to resize avatars. I need to figure out how to set up the board for this but it is an option I am probably going to go for, because the remote avatar resize programmes I used to use won't work with the current version of the board. Once this is set up people will need to resubmit their avatars as the possibility of remote linking will be removed.
I am willing to consider changing the board rules so that one small (and I mean SMALL!) pic is allowed in a sig -- the square or the thumbnail size on Flickr will be the only option. I could also allow a small banner for those who like those in their sigs as they are in standard sizes pretty much. Or one small animation.
I am interested in finding out what people think about doing this. Allowing pics in sigs and at what size has been a topic of discussion on many boards so this is a recurrent topic.
As benign dictator for the board I will say right now that I am not conducting a poll to be guided by it :shifty: :lol: but just to get some board opinion. I am not sure what I am going to do. I am conscious of the board beginning to get very large and don't want it to turn into an experience that can be very awkward to read. I am also mindful that I will be trying to set up our very own profile section where you can have images, link to Flickr photo albums and videos, have all the links you want... etc etc so there will be a very personalisable area for everyone.
People can feel free please to add comments to this thread, too. Maybe I'm an old fuddy duddy and everyone is just dying to add flashing banners and images all thru their sigs!! :lol: I am keeping an eye on possible board modifications that would let me solve some of these issues without having to nag at people, along the lines of the old avatar resize program, but I haven't found anything that works yet.
The reasons for having this small rule on the board is because a lot of people find large signatures full of images and animations very distracting when reading the board. Personally I find it visually a strain to read boards that have lots of things going on in signatures. It is why I set up the board to take avatar images though these can be a hassle at times as well as they really do need to remain below a set size and many are creeping up over the maximum. This stretches out the columns which those with larger screens may not notice much but it is very hard to actually read such threads with oversize avatars on small PC or laptop screens. Please note too that my avatar is the MAXIMUM size for images (and this is about a third larger than the old limit we had when images were auto-resized!). The Getting Started section explains how to obtain this size for your signature. I like to keep the board as readable as possible for all.
With the board software, I don't have the easy option of barring image files and links from signatures, which would eliminate images without me having to police this, but would also mean no one could link to websites.
I do have the option of turning off signatures entirely, but then newbies in particular have no way of knowing who has made a post unless people sign them each time.
I also have the option of addressing the avatar issue by requiring people to upload their files, where they would be automatically resized. The disadvantage of this is that I have to store all those files myself, but the advantage is I don;t have to keep asking people to resize avatars. I need to figure out how to set up the board for this but it is an option I am probably going to go for, because the remote avatar resize programmes I used to use won't work with the current version of the board. Once this is set up people will need to resubmit their avatars as the possibility of remote linking will be removed.
I am willing to consider changing the board rules so that one small (and I mean SMALL!) pic is allowed in a sig -- the square or the thumbnail size on Flickr will be the only option. I could also allow a small banner for those who like those in their sigs as they are in standard sizes pretty much. Or one small animation.
I am interested in finding out what people think about doing this. Allowing pics in sigs and at what size has been a topic of discussion on many boards so this is a recurrent topic.
As benign dictator for the board I will say right now that I am not conducting a poll to be guided by it :shifty: :lol: but just to get some board opinion. I am not sure what I am going to do. I am conscious of the board beginning to get very large and don't want it to turn into an experience that can be very awkward to read. I am also mindful that I will be trying to set up our very own profile section where you can have images, link to Flickr photo albums and videos, have all the links you want... etc etc so there will be a very personalisable area for everyone.
People can feel free please to add comments to this thread, too. Maybe I'm an old fuddy duddy and everyone is just dying to add flashing banners and images all thru their sigs!! :lol: I am keeping an eye on possible board modifications that would let me solve some of these issues without having to nag at people, along the lines of the old avatar resize program, but I haven't found anything that works yet.