Signature Questions and Help

[lanifiel]

Feb 12, 2006: Tutorial Updated.
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Feb 05, 2006: Please use the CoS Image Hosting system to upload your new signature images.
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As of 26 Dec 2005 HTML in Signatures will no longer work. We have decided to disable this option in order to support a wider variety of browsers and devices
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This is the Third Revolution/Evolution of the all-Mighty Signature Thread and like the last one we will have a few rules.

Now remember folks that the Signature Content Policy Is clear over what is a valid Signature and anyone violating that will be given a warning! Just for reference I thought I would add it here...

6. We allow members to have signatures, but we don't want them to get out of hand. You can edit signatures in your profile. You may include one (1) small image (up to 300x300 pixels) and up to 7 lines of 8-12 point (size 1-3) text. We will not allow basic html codes. No audio, javascripts, iframes, or other "tricks" allowed. A Professor or Administrator has the right to remove anything at anytime. Please also remember to close all tags and not to use ' < nobr >‘. Last, please do not use excessive smiles. Smiles are a nice feature, but too many at one time can be very off putting. Please don't abuse this feature.

So be responsible in what you choose to add! I will frequent this thread, so if you are having trouble getting your Sig to work feel free to leave a question! However this is not the place for debate! We have some hard working Prefects and Professors here, so lets not add to their workload and keep this thread to its purpose!

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Signature Tutorial

Alright, this is the tutorial on how to use the message boards to host your images.

1. Find the Image you want to have in your Signature. This must be no bigger than 300 x 300. Save this image to your computer.

2. Go to the CoS Image Hosting page. Click on Upload an Image and click on upload.

3. This will take you to your files, access your image folder, find the Image you wish to upload and click on it. It will then appear in path format. (EG: C:\Documents and Settings\lanifiel\My Documents\My Pictures\51.jpg). Then click on "Open" to paste the image path to the box. Then click on "Upload!".

3. You'll get a redirect message confirming the upload process. Now go to Your Images. Look for the image link (EG. [*img]http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/1443ef9769d94a3.gif[/img*]). Copy that text.

4. Open your 'USER CP' at the top of the page. Click 'SIGNATURE' you will see there is place to input your signature there. Paste the code you just copied there and find the little picture icon on the toolbar. then press "SUBMIT MODIFICATIONS" at the bottom and your new Sig should be working.

That’s all you need to do

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Center Tags

In order to make images or text fall within the Center you need to add Center Tags:

[CENTER*] ADD TEXT/IMAGE HERE [/CENTER*] (without the *'s)

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And that is that, if you have any other troubles feel free to PM a staff member or post in Comments on: Signatures.

lanifiel

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Please note that smilies are limited to FOUR (4) per signature.

[SiriusBlack22]

Pics still have to be 300 by 300 but now also have to be less than 100 kb! So please if it's saying the file is too big then it is because of the new rule to make dial-up user's pages load faster. I'm a former dial up user and it is horrendous. So please don't bomb the staff with hate mail.

Hey again. I put together a little tutorial on signature tricks and how to edit your signature, etc. Basically anything pertaining to signatures that i can get my hands on. So let's begin shall we?



Which leads you to this page:


Then go ahead and save signature when you're happy with it.

Remember that you can't use HTML anymore due to different browsers and computers and such. Here you can find all of the codes that are able to be used: vB Code

IMPORTANT: REMOVE ALL STARS FROM THE FOLLOWING CODES!

Some of the basic codes and tricks can be found here:

URL Hyperlinking:
The [*URL] tag allows you to link to other websites and files. You can include an optional parameter to 'name' your link.

[*URL="http://www.cosforums.com]CoS Forums[*/URL] = CoS Forums

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Font Changes:
You can italicize, boldface and underline your text using these codes.

[*B]Boldface[*/B] = Boldface
[*I]Italicize[*/B] = Italicize
[*U]Underline[*/U] = Underline

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You can change the font size, face (type of font) and color using thes codes.

Size:
[*SIZE=1]Size 1[*/SIZE] = Size 1
[*SIZE=2]Size 2[*/SIZE] = Size 2
[*SIZE=3]Size 3[*/SIZE] = Size 3

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Face:
For best results just use the font dropdown menu. But here are a few codes.
[*FONT="Comic Sans MS"]I love Comic Sans[*/FONT] = I love Comic Sans
[*FONT="Times New Roman"]Times New Roman is the standard font[*/FONT] = Times New Roman is the standard font
[*FONT="Arial"]I know a girl named Ariel[*/FONT] = I know a girl named Ariel
[*FONT="Georgia"]I got Georgia on my mind[*/FONT] = I got Georgia on my mind
[*FONT="Garamond"]This is the font used in the US Harry Potter books[*/FONT] = This is the font used in the US Harry Potter books

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Color:
Once again I would use the color dropdown menu but here's some more codes.
[*COLOR="Red"]Red[*/COLOR] = Red
[*COLOR="Green"]Green[*/COLOR] = Green
[*COLOR="Blue"]Blue[*/COLOR] = Blue
[*COLOR="Yellow"]Yellow[*/COLOR] = Yellow
[*COLOR="Black"]Black[*/COLOR] = Black

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Email:
The [email] tag allows you to link to an email address. You can include an optional parameter to 'name' your link.

[*[email protected]]Email Me![*/EMAIL] = Email Me!

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IMPORTANT!: To decrease file sizes I reccommend using the ".png" file extension. It doesn't change the outcome of the picture and it is a very small file size. There are also plenty of free file format converters out there to make files smaller. Any questions on this subject can, of course, be posted here or you can owl me.

[From Alastor_D]

How to check your signature image

Right-click the image and go to properties.

There you can see either Size of File as so many KB (so many bytes) [Firefox]or Size as so many bytes[IE6].
100 KB equals 102400 bytes.

Also Width and Height as so many px [Firefox]or Dimensions as so many x so many pixels [IE6].
__________________________________

Image:
This allows you to post any image you want in your posts and siggies (remember the 300 x 300 rule and now 100 kb maximum, plus the signature content policy). First you will need to host the image. I use either imageshack (for big pics) or photobucket (for little pics).

[*IMG]http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/32446440b6cbf41ec4.gif[*/IMG]


And to make images also links:
[*URL=http://www.cosforums.com][*IMG]http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/32446440b6cbf41ec4.gif[*/IMG][*/URL]


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Sign:

[*SIGN=1]Woohoo![*/SIGN] =

Woohoo!

Replace the numbers [*SIGN=4] for different smilies holding the sign.

Woohoo!

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Center Tags

In order to make images or text be in the Center you need to add Center Tags:

[CENTER*]ADD TEXT/IMAGE HERE[/CENTER*]

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Uploading Images from Your Profile:

Go to Magical Me >> Edit Signature >> "Upload an Image"



Which will bring up this page:



[Parts Taken from Lani's Sig Tutorial]
1. Click "Browse" and then double click on the image that you want. Then click "Upload!"

2. Click on "Your Images" again and then you can get the link. The link can be found under the upload date and to the right of the corresponding image. (ex. [*img]http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/32446440b6cbf41ec4.gif[*/img]). Now copy your code.

3. Open your 'Magical Me' at the top of the page. Click 'Edit Signature' you will see there is place to input your signature there. Paste the code in your signature. then press "Save Signature" at the bottom and your new Sig should be working.

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Those are the basics. Here are some links you may need:
Imageshack
Photobucket
Signature Content Policy

Signature Content Policy:    

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Innapropriate Content The following content will not be allowed in any signature: -Images over 300x300 pixels in size either way, so for example 400x200 or 200x400 is not allowed. -Maximum size is 300. Warnings will be issued, points added to profile. -Nudity or sexually provocative images. -Images promoting character relationships against the family-friendly nature of the books. -Images depicting graphic violence or gore of a disturbing nature. -Images promoting items or activities illegal in most countries (ie drug use or murder). -Hate messages or images commonly used to promote racial intolerance. -Political or religious insults. -Links to sites or images that fall into any of these catagories. -Signatures that mock or show anger towards different ships. Any image that the staff feels fall into any of these catagories will be removed instantly. Both the Forum Rules and the CoS Forums Disclaimer state that CoS Forums has the right to remove any content we consider to be innaproriate. Personal Web Blogs/Journals Your personal journal such as LiveJournal or MySpace is not exempt from our rules. If your blog contains language or images that are offensive and certainly not family-friendly then you must either filter such comments through a friends-only option or not link the site at all on CoS, which is the better of the two options as it allows you to keep personal freedom over how you manage your blog. We will not warn you for the content of your journal, we will warn you for linking a site with offensive material. Consequences Any time a staff member sees an offending signature, as well as removing the offensive material, they will send the violating member a warning, placing them on a 30-day period of review. If they continue to violate the Forum Rules, they will be banned. Chamber of Secrets Forums will not tolerate members who continue to post inappropriate content on these forums. For more information, please refer to the Zero Tolerance Policy.

[CelestLBeing]

I went to edit sig. Then I clicked on upload image.Then I click browse. This took me to my pics on my desk top. The pic I chose is 164 kb and I believe you can load up to 1024 kb. I pushed open and then upload, then the thingy says the image is to big. I am computer illiterate so be kind. What am I doing wrong?

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by CelestLBeing

the image is to big

It has to have dimensions of 300 x 300 pixels or less, regardless of file size (the 164 kb).

[Anyanka]

Can we link to swf files in our sigs?

[62442al_Man]

Wow, this is really cool. I had no idea you could do those things.

Cool

How did you make that Quidditch picture moving?

[Vita]

That was made in Image ready or another graphics programn not related to COS. Sirius was just demonstrating linking images

[Alastor]

The new restriction on file size for images seems to cause some confusion.

How to check your signature image

Right-click the image and go to properties.

There you can see either Size of File as so many KB (so many bytes) [Firefox]or Size as so many bytes[IE6].
100 KB equals 102400 bytes.

Also Width and Height as so many px [Firefox]or Dimensions as so many x so many pixels [IE6].

[SiriusBlack22]

Updated to include the new 100kb max.

[SageThyme]

If you need help reducing the file size, please go here:

Reduce file size - link provided by Ali

This should help everyone who needs to reduce the size.

[The_Hp_Princess]

Hey thanks for telling me how to upload an image! Now look at my fab signature!

[ispep]

Originally Posted by CelestLBeing

I went to edit sig. Then I clicked on upload image.Then I click browse. This took me to my pics on my desk top. The pic I chose is 164 kb and I believe you can load up to 1024 kb. I pushed open and then upload, then the thingy says the image is to big. I am computer illiterate so be kind. What am I doing wrong?

Mine too is saying the same thing. I checked the image size and it's
300 x 300. I still don't know what I'm doing wrong. I really like my sig too, Anyanka just made it for me today. Help!!

What does it mean when it says signature extension is not allowed?

What does it mean when it says signature extension is not allowed?

[pemidato]

Originally Posted by ispep

Mine too is saying the same thing. I checked the image size and it's
300 x 300. I still don't know what I'm doing wrong. I really like my sig too, Anyanka just made it for me today. Help!!

The "300 x 300" thing is the dimensions of your image. To check the size, right-click on the image and choose "Properties". Only images not exceeding 100 kilobytes (or 100kb) are allowed for signatures in this forum. Hope that helps

By the way, if you had wanted to ask questions on signatures after going through the tutorial here, you might also want to try this thread

[meesha1971]

Okay - probably a stupid question but is there a way I can check to make sure my signature only has 7 lines of text?

I've noticed that different formats tend to change the appearance. Like the format that I'm currently using shows that pemidato - who posted above me - has 8 lines of text but I'm pretty sure that's just because I am using the left postbit style.

[lanifiel]

Originally Posted by meesha1971

Okay - probably a stupid question but is there a way I can check to make sure my signature only has 7 lines of text?

I've noticed that different formats tend to change the appearance. Like the format that I'm currently using shows that pemidato - who posted above me - has 8 lines of text but I'm pretty sure that's just because I am using the left postbit style.

Owl an Auror. They'll tell you.

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by lanifiel

Owl an Auror. They'll tell you.

Thanks lani!

[pemidato]

Originally Posted by meesha1971

Like the format that I'm currently using shows that pemidato - who posted above me - has 8 lines of text but I'm pretty sure that's just because I am using the left postbit style.

Whoa - eight? I see five!

[meesha1971]

Originally Posted by pemidato

Whoa - eight? I see five!

It's just because I use the left postbit style - two vertical columns. I'm sure you're fine on the text.

[Ctg]

How do I get a 172.6KB picture down to 100KB picture for my siggy? here's the pic:

http://www.ibmag.net/lisagallery/det...337da240c26af1

[Nicole]

Sorry, that's copyrighted.