Wikipedia talk:Signature tutorial/Archive 1

Archive 1

Comment

I think this should be added to the "What to do now page" since I have had a number of people complain to me that my signature does not link back to my talk page or userpage and many people may not know how to do this. Arundhati Bakshi (talk • contribs) 18:01, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Nice tutorial

Very Nice, it is very simple and gets straight to the point--IAMTHEEGGMAN (talk) 20:20, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

The FONT tag

The HTML FONT tag you use in examples - I've been told it's not a part of HTML standard and is highly discouraged. Instead, text should be wrapped in <span> tags with style="color: green" (for example). Misza13 ^{T C} 12:26, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I keep getting a message saying the HTML in my sig is wrong. Could you please help? [[User:Bananagirl |<color=Fuchsia>Bananagirl</color>]] [[User talk:Bananagirl |<color=lime>talk</color>]] Thanks Bananagirl 12:55, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi, well, sorry to be a bother again but I got the message again! I did what you said though [[User:Bananagirl |<font color=Fuchsia>Bananagirl</color>]] [[User talk:Bananagirl |<font color=lime>talk</color>]] <font color=Fuchsia>Bananagirl</color> <font color=lime>talk</color> 13:13, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Tutorial

Nice tutorial- perhaps you could add a link to it/merge it with WP:SIG and Wikipedia:How to fix your signature- I tried using these for mine but they were a little too brief! EVOCATIVEINTRIGUE TALKTOME | EMAILME 18:04, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

4 tildes

Just putting this >> 1234g5g6 isn't enough for a signature, where do I put the 4 tildes? How do I get this (07:09, 14 February 2007 (UTC)) component of the signature??? Stop The Lies 07:11, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I figured it out! YAAAY! :) Maîtresse 08:33, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Backgrounds?

Can you add a section on backgrounds, perhaps? --θnce θn this island ^Speak! 23:10, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Well this is nice.

But how do you get a sig working when you have a space in your name? I tried _ to no avail. Vael Victus 14:10, 8 April 2008 (UTC)—Preceding unsigned comment added by Vael Victus (talk • contribs) 14:10, 8 April 2008

Fix?

I was having a problem using your signature tips, it kept telling me the signature was invalid. Then I realized that I need to put quotes around the font color names like <font color="green"> instead of <font color=green>, and that fixed the problem!

Hey thanks for adding this info. I was stuck and I didn't quite understand how it worked until I red your help.Whoniverse93 21:50, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Clarification requested

Congratulations. This is a great tutorial! But a couple of comments:

• The tutorial says making sure the box marked "Raw signature" is not selected. I see a box marked Sign my name exactly as shown. Has the name of the box been changed? To achieve the desired effect I have to select the box.

• The tutorial also says Bob wants a green and maroon signature, so he types [[User:UserBob|<span style="color:green;">UserBob</span>]] [[User talk:UserBob|<span style="color:maroon;">talk</span>]], producing ... ... It would be a good idea if the tutorial explained exactly where he types this. Dolphin (talk) 07:58, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

I agree with your second point. Also with your second sentence! This IS a great tutorial, and I learned loads. yes, they did change the box. ~Monk (^Chat _Harrass) 22:40, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you so much

May I thank you for your advice. I simply wanted a nice signature with nothing too fancy and you've told me how to do it so thanks, thanks and thanks again. One question: how do you make the signature go onto the next line, as though you have pressed enter because if you type it like that, it just contracts back to one line...? Hope you can help me. Respond on my talk page cause I'll probably forget about this message- I'm so forgetful haha. TheFartyDoctor talk 20:53, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

"Font" Deprecated?

I note that this otherwise helpful tutorial recommends using <span style="color:gold;">...</span>. I've got stuff like that in my signature, and an editor recently "cleaned up" my signature on his user talk page. I objected, but have since found that WP:SIG says "Avoid deprecated markup such as the <font> tag." (and "If a signature violates the guidelines for signatures, ... you may edit the signature to the standard form" is one of the exceptional cases at WP:TPO where it is acceptable to edit other people's talk page comments, though it still seems to me to be quite unnecessary and undesirable to do so).

So we have a situation where "Preferences" on signature choice signposts editors to WP:SIG which signposts them to this tutorial, which disagrees with the Guidelines at WP:SIG! Ouch.

Perhaps someone could modify the tutorial, or the guideline at WP:SIG, so that they are in agreement? PamD 11:45, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Hmm, just noticed this was raised 8 years ago in #The_FONT_tag above! PamD 11:56, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

I've raised the same point at Wikipedia_talk:Signatures#.22Font.22_Deprecated.3F which probably has more watchers, so I suggest that any discussion takes place there. Thanks. PamD 12:07, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for fixing it! (Note newly-compliant signature) PamD 17:09, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

Examples

It might be useful to add an Examples section. An assortment of interesting signatures could be contributed by existing users, possibly changing the usernames to protect the innocent. How you would go about soliciting those contributions, I wouldn't know.

For example, I want a 3-D effect using shadowing, but I can't remember the username where I saw that. I could come here for an example and modify it for my own use.

On the other hand, everybody and his dog would then have an interesting signature, so it would lose a lot of its snob appeal. Maybe that's why this hasn't been done already? :) Mandruss (talk) 22:40, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

I went ahead and started an examples section using my own new sig. If it remains the only example after a year or so---or if you feel it's inappropriate in some way---feel free to delete the section!

On second thought, it's a bad idea to change the usernames, as that would redlink them and ruin the value as real-life examples. Any contributors will have to accept the possibility of unwelcome talk page activity from people they wouldn't otherwise have contact with (Dude, your signature stinks!).   Mandruss |talk  01:30, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

Examples reformat

@David Condrey: I disagree with your reformatting into a table. I would have reverted per BRD, but your second edit made the first undoable and I didn't want to revert both.

First, the time/date stamps better show what the sig looks like in actual use, by juxtaposing it with normal text. Secondly, I had a tiny comment beside mine that I thought was important, or I wouldn't have put it there. Others might have similar needs. But the new format makes those comments impossible.

I hope you will consider restoring the original format. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 07:18, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

I thought it looked much nicer this way, easier to see the variations of each style. If you disagree, you can revert, I won't get upset because I appreciate the discussion about it. I'm not really vested in it, I just thought it could use some improvement so I went for it. David Condrey ^{log talk} 07:23, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Reverted both, re-added the Signing section which I agree is an improvement. Thanks. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 07:28, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

At least part of the reason the table made it easier to see the variations was the increased amount of white space between the sigs. I have added an additional newline between each sig. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 07:43, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Just for future reference, there is another reason not to use a table format for the examples. It's easy to add your sig—just edit, sign the usual way, and save, exactly as you do on a talk page. Adding a table entry, not so much, especially for less experienced users. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 08:06, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

After sleeping on it, I removed the new "Signing" section after all. This essay is about customizing your sig, not about different ways to sign (using three or five tildes for different results). That information is available in WP:Signatures, and is of limited interest anyway. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 21:22, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Edditing background colors

I added a note at the top of the tutorial explaining that a brief look into changing background colors is located in Wikipedia:Signatures, which is a rather inadept guide to this. I will add a section on this on some other date unless someone else gets to it first. Orduin talk 01:57, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

You're aware that the same page is linked in the second word of the tutorial? ‑‑Mandruss (t) 02:02, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Oops, Fixed that to a note mentioning where it is Orduin talk 20:39, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Actually, I wasn't talking about overlinking, but rather questioning the value of that sentence if we have previously directed the reader to the same page. But it's a nit, it's a fun essay, not a mainspace article. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 20:42, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Well, I'll be adding a section about background colors soon, unless someone else gets to it first, so the note is only temporary. Orduin talk 21:04, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Awesome. If you're feeling into it, maybe a quick-reference table showing one or more examples of each effect and the markup for each? Just a passing thought, something to ponder. ‑‑Mandruss (t) 21:35, 21 October 2014 (UTC)

Limit to colours in 1 signature?

Ok, so i've got this sort of done but it appears too big for a signature and won't fit in the box, can anyone recommend a way to trim this? "Jenova"

The code is visible in the editing window. Jenova20 (talk) 16:48, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Got it working! Just check the edit window and see your example (Also posting to your talk page) -- Orduin _⋘T⋙ 20:13, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

Decided against posting to your talk page as note is from 3 years ago, and you have probably moved on, or figured it out. Only posted to show that it could be done. -- Orduin _⋘T⋙ 20:20, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

Dont's Section

I noticed that the Don'ts section added to the document has an example that does not work. The Blinking text example does not display on my computer, however the problem might be caused because it is something that should not be done. Also, there are likely to be some people who would use the examples in this section to "do a Don't". I am a bit worried about that. -- Orduin talk 18:56, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

The blinking one doesn't blink for me either, in Firefox 33.

I wouldn't worry about the "do a Don't" effect. If people ignore clear advice not to do something, it's not the fault of the advice.

Also be aware that the use of the <font> tag is very controversial, per this discussion and others. There used to be a statement in WP:SIG about avoiding that tag, but it ended up being removed back in June, during the above discussion. Recently, another user removed an entry from the examples section here, because it contained that tag (see history, 17 October). I haven't delved into the discussions enough to determine whether there is a true consensus on the issue, but it's clear that browsers are going to stop supporting the tag before long.

If it were me, I think I'd state in the Don'ts section that use of the tag is very controversial because it is deprecated in HTML, as well as being unnecessary. It's perhaps not necessary to demonstrate the alternative there, since the page is already full of examples of the alternative. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 21:43, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. -- Orduin _⋘T⋙ 16:01, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

@Technical 13: I saw your recent post about a font tag on a user's talk page. Since you appear to be a relative expert on the subject, could I entice you to contribute a blurb about it on this "project page" (i.e. in the tutorial)? ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 09:57, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

• Hello there! Okay, the reason you don't see the blinking working in Firefox is because Firefox deprecated "text-decoration: blink;" in Firefox 23 per this bugzilla ticket. Other relevant discussions on the topic of HTML5 and the font/big tags we see all way too often are: WP:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 112#RfC: Should deprecated/invalid/unsupported HTML tags be discouraged? and WP:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 112#Forcing HTML 5. Yes, as I find signatures using these deprecated HTML elements, I usually post a friendly request on the user's talk page with my {{subst:User:Technical 13/Templates/badsig}} template and putting their current code in for parameter 1, and a proposed new signature in parameter 2 (and sometimes it take a little finessing using the code# parameters). I also have the ability to offer a second alternative with the parameter 4. The line I use to explain the deprecation is I noticed that your signature is using <font>...</font> tags which were deprecated in HTML 4.0 Transitional, marked as invalid in 4.0 Strict, and are not part of HTML5 at all. If I can be any more specific help, let me know and I would be happy to. Happy editing! — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 17:38, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Help

It's a really great tutorial, but I'm running into a bit of trouble with my signature. I've settled the design, and it looks fine on the "Preferences" page, but when I use the 'signature and timestamp' feature, it comes out like this: --Cuparsk | الحسين 09:02, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

For some reason, it's dividing up the User page and the talk page between the dates.

Can someone help me with this!?

I don't know, but the problem goes away when you replace the foreign language characters with English letters. I would suggest posing the question at Help desk, where you will have a larger audience. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 09:19, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

• Hello Cuparsk. To fix your issue, you need to define where the text is right-to-left and left-to-right. To do this, use the Right-to-left and Left-to-right marks --<span style="background: #00F;">[[User:Cuparsk|<span style="color: white">Cuparsk |</span>]] [[User talk:Cuparsk|<span style="color: #F00;">&rlm;الحسين&lrm;</span>]]</span> which produces --Cuparsk | ‏الحسين‎. Good luck and happy editing! 13:40, 23 December 2014 (UTC) — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 13:41, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, it's perfect now.--Cuparsk | ‏الحسين‎ 16:29, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Accessibility

I propose that we remove from this tutorial the examples which are likely to be least accessible to people with a visual impairment; in other words, those that fail WCAG AAA, or are otherwise agreed to be hard to read, through inadvisable choice of font, shading, or a combination. I'll post a neutrally-worded notice to the accessibility project. Note in particular, that WP:SIGAPP, a policy, states that "Your signature must not... cause inconvenience to or annoy other editors.". Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:06, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

From WP:Signatures:

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommend a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for text, and WP:COLOR requires 7:1 "where feasible" – use this Contrast ratio calculator to help determine if the colors you choose will be visible to everyone. Signatures do not always appear on white backgrounds. Other colors for calculations range from the Monobook skin's very pale blue ( #F8FCFF ) to the closed discussion Hidden archive tan ( #F2DFCE ) title bar. Other tools for checking contrast are described at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Color.

I suggest flagging the offenders rather than removing them.

• It would make the issue more visible (no pun intended).
• The flagged users might see the flag and be more likely to fix their sig so as to get rid of the flag.

But either way, one or more people who know how to test a sig's color and contrast will have to constantly monitor the page for additions. Maybe someone from the project. ―Mandruss ☎ 19:23, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Many of the examples are from real, named, users, so I doubt it would be acceptable to publicly "shame" them. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:28, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Actually all of them are real users, if you mean the "Real-life examples" section. Most of them still active, since it's only a year old. If flagging is shaming, then forget the idea. They can be notified on their talk page if they are removed, which is less public shaming, and they can delete the notice immediately to reduce the exposure even further. ―Mandruss ☎ 19:34, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

I now see that perhaps you're not talking about the "Real-life examples" section at all, since you have edited elsewhere on the page. ―Mandruss ☎ 19:54, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I was referring to the real-life examples and to "UserBob". I'd be happy to remove the former section in its entirety. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:55, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

I'd oppose that. As a computer guy, you know that you can document and tutorial all you want, but there's no substitute for real-life examples. ―Mandruss ☎ 20:02, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Fair enough. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:46, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

Help

I want to use this signature Ayub407^talk (coding in edit page) but I'm getting an error saying "invalid raw signature, check html coding". Can someone help me out. Thanks Ayub407 (talk) 08:22, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

@Ayub407: This page is for discussion of improvements to the associated project page. I'd suggest WP:HD. ―Mandruss ☎ 08:33, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

@Mandruss: Alright. Ayub407 (talk) 08:35, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

I agree with talk. You've got a Signature tutorial page that is virtually deficient because it does not show how to place fancy signatures into the Preferences. I get the same coding error. What's the use?75.84.148.36 (talk) 05:30, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Any instructions of that type are better placed at Wikipedia:Signatures#Customizing your signature. Assuming you actually have a username (unregistered users cannot customize their signatures), see if reading that helps. If not, go to WP:HD and ask for assistance. I don't know whether those instructions are adequate because I don't know the nature of the problem. All I know is that I had no trouble getting my customized signature to work. If you can identify how those instructions could be improved for future users, go to Wikipedia talk:Signatures and propose that improvement. ―Mandruss ☎ 05:54, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Is this okay?

I copied one example of a user who is now inactive, is it acceptable (by rules, and technically)? Gian ❯❯❯ Talk 08:17, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

@Gbohoadgwwian: I assume you have read the applicable policy at WP:SIGAPP, including the "Note".
Most of this is a matter of opinion and interpretation. My opinion is that this signature violates SIGAPP bullet 4, "Do not make your signature so small that it is difficult to read." Using my eyes, I couldn't tell whether that is "Gian" or "Glan", and I had to rely on my browser's Find function to tell me. Some editors have vision worse than mine. I feel that the text of the signature should not be significantly smaller than the normal text of a comment.
SIGAPP says, "Your signature must not blink, scroll, or otherwise cause inconvenience to or annoy other editors." Some editors feel that it causes inconvenience when a signature does not show the username, as the username is sometimes needed for various things.
I personally wouldn't use a non-white background as I feel it makes the signature visually distracting on the page. But it doesn't violate any rule (except possibly that "annoy" thing) and many editors do it.
Your current contrast ratio of #fff against #444 is 9.7, well above the recommended minimum.
It's fine "technically".
Does this help? ―Mandruss ☎ 09:21, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

Yes, this helps. I made amends. Thanks! Gian ❯❯ Talk 09:37, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

Help with inserting symbols into the .css page

I'm on my Special:MyPage/common.css, page and having difficulty adding the symbols I see in other peoples' signatures to my own. I read about unicode and was able to replicate symbols in my sandbox (i.e. 𝄞 ) and can do them via drop-down when editing normal pages (i.e. ♥), however adding that text to my current signature

#bodyContent a[title="User:Elfabet 𝄞"] { background-color: #000000; color: #47d147; font-weight: bold; }

Appears to break it, resulting in no customization.
(I realize I'm doing self-view only right now, which isn't especially helpful to those looking to help, but I don't feel the need to push my highlight on anyone else.
Thanks for any help you can provide. Cheers! --Elfabet (talk) 20:09, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

@Elfabet: I'm unfamiliar with that customization technique, having always done mine directly in the user pref. I don't know what that title= parameter is, or what role it plays in the signature. I do know that its value has the syntax of a title of a user page, and there is no user page User:Elfabet 𝄞. Your user page is User:Elfabet. You might get better results if you did your customization directly in the user pref, I have no idea.
Otherwise, if you get no help here within a day or two, you might try WP:Help desk. Failing there, WP:Village pump (technical) is not really for help requests but has the highest concentration of the more technical editors. It's sometimes used by editors who are more interested in quick technical help than in doing things in the proper venues, or don't know the proper venues. ―Mandruss ☎ 22:02, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

HEEEEEELP!!!!

I still don't understand any of it! Will someone please help? Dragonlover21 (talk) 17:34, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

Remember to close your tags

Mention dangers of unclosed tags. T255232. Jidanni (talk) 18:01, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Help with fonts.

I need a slightly more detailed tutorial of how to use different fonts in signatures. Kindly, help.Bingobro (Chat)

Me too. I would also like to know what fonts are supported. If you find any typos, please tell me, as I would like to fix them. Wikiffeine •_• 23:59, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

By adding two examples, I have explained how you can customise fonts in your signatures. Deditus Particulo ^{Write to me} 17:02, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Make it the defualt

So I just made my signature and TigerScientist Chat it is great but if I do the 4 tildes, it is my normal signature. How can I change it to when I do the 4 tildes, it gives me the new one? TigerScientist (talk) 01:19, 17 December 2020 (UTC)