Talk:Help/Creating Signatures/@comment-25101690-20170729194555/@comment-30645975-20170729222414



apologies for the long post in reply to a rant but I kinda wanted to type some thoughts on this

Agreed on most parts.

I had a signature like that once, I have no clue what it looked like since I realized after about 2 posts that it was too gaudy and looked pretty bad. I then toned mine down to it's current form (as toned-down as a gradient can get tbh).

However, having a signature provides many benefits:

They provide a way for non-staff members to be distinguished quickly while scrolling down a page, particularly since some members choose not to set a profile or have a commonly used picture.

In addition, it has the potential to save you a click on loading a userpage/message wall, which has benefits if a user with limited connection wished to get in touch with someone.

Thirdly, and least importantly, it is usually a way of "showing off". There have been at least two "rate your signature" threads, and other vanity discussions. This does, however, have the effect of showing how similar (or different) all signatures are, and perhaps one or two users would take that as incentive to change theirs to be more unique.

I am rather in favor of using signatures, but deeply agree with the dislike of cookie-cutter signatures. As a result, I attempted to rework this page, in the hopes of inspiring some to make a more unique signature.

This part is now directed away from you, Sinth, and towards any others reading this:

My post is in no way meant to sound superior because I have a shiny signature, etc, etc. As I pointed out earlier, just having a signature has many benefits on the Wiki. And in relation to the third point, just the fact that you made your own signature means that you now know some HTML, which will help you throughout your time on this wiki. So if you are happy with your signature, use it! It's great that you took the time to read this help page and learn something new! If you are happy with having a signature but wish to change it, that's ok too. Less is often more with many sciences, and computer science is no different. Feel free to ask me any questions, and others on the Wiki would be happy to help as well.

/speech over