Signatures used for advertising

Ea · 05-22-2010, 05:27 PM

I've started to notice more and more signatures that are quite long and/or image-heavy.

I've never liked "space-hogging" signatures on discussion forums, they take up so much unnessecary space and attention, but lately I've seen signatures used for what I can only call advertising. And if it's discreet I guess it's okay, but something like the attachment is far too much in my opinion. It's really annoying and pretty close to being spam.

Unfortunately I don't know who to contact about it or complain to - but it's really bothering me that users don't respect the wish for discrete signatures.

AnemicOak · 05-22-2010, 05:48 PM

That one does seem a bit over the top. If the cover images were little thumbnails it wouldn't be quite so 'in your face'.

Ea · 05-22-2010, 05:54 PM

How little thumbnails? IMO a signature should not be more than 5-6 lines or the equivalent height in images.

happy_terd · 05-22-2010, 05:55 PM

I think I can almost see a boob in the thumbnail. Is it safe to open at work or should I wait until I get home tonight to open it (with my scented candles and heated rose petal oils)?

Ea · 05-22-2010, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by happy_terd

I think I can almost see a boob in the thumbnail. Is it safe to open at work or should I wait until I get home tonight to open it (with my scented candles and heated rose petal oils)?

My avatar is more "booby" and NEKKID than any of the images in the attachment

I.e. it's too late to worry about if you've opened the thread and seen the topic.

AnemicOak · 05-22-2010, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

How little thumbnails? IMO a signature should not be more than 5-6 lines or the equivalent height in images.

I'd say something like 100 pixels maximum height.

Dusty Bottoms · 05-22-2010, 07:08 PM

I'd think there should be an outright ban on images in signatures. They clog up the whole page and are obnoxious.

Oh and Ea, your full name is in one of the tabs of the screenshot you posted (at least I assume it is from your username). Just a heads up, if you don't want that information out there. If it isn't your name, ignore this.

FizzyWater · 05-23-2010, 01:37 AM

I thought the same thing about this very signature myself.

Ea · 05-23-2010, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty Bottoms

I'd think there should be an outright ban on images in signatures. They clog up the whole page and are obnoxious.

I agree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty Bottoms

Oh and Ea, your full name is in one of the tabs of the screenshot you posted (at least I assume it is from your username). Just a heads up, if you don't want that information out there. If it isn't your name, ignore this.

Thanks for the heads-up

Jellby · 05-23-2010, 04:04 AM

I disable signatures

Sweetpea · 05-23-2010, 04:41 AM

I don't want to disable signatures, because some are worth reading. But I agree with Ea that some are simply way too large. Not only with pictures, but also with text.

LCF · 05-23-2010, 07:20 AM

At this point there aren't sooo many huge signatures. Perhaps we could just talk to the people. I've seen forums, where the sig above would be considered small, so perhaps the author doesn't realize the annoying effect of her signature.

All I'm trying to say is, that before asking for a new restricting rule applying to *everyone* in this forum, it might help politely telling the people in question, that their signatures are disproportional.

Ea · 05-23-2010, 09:18 AM

Perhaps it's a question of enforcing already existing rules - from the 'Guidelines':

We do not allow advertising of unrelated sites or services in signatures. Signatures should be kept relatively discreet; for example, by setting the font size to “size 1” for longer signatures. Please keep the content of signatures to a reasonable size. ...

... and perhaps make it more specific what "resonable size" is.

zelda_pinwheel · 05-23-2010, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LCF

At this point there aren't sooo many huge signatures. Perhaps we could just talk to the people. I've seen forums, where the sig above would be considered small, so perhaps the author doesn't realize the annoying effect of her signature.

All I'm trying to say is, that before asking for a new restricting rule applying to *everyone* in this forum, it might help politely telling the people in question, that their signatures are disproportional.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

Perhaps it's a question of enforcing already existing rules - from the 'Guidelines':

We do not allow advertising of unrelated sites or services in signatures. Signatures should be kept relatively discreet; for example, by setting the font size to “size 1” for longer signatures. Please keep the content of signatures to a reasonable size. ...

... and perhaps make it more specific what "resonable size" is.

both of you have the right idea. we do request that signatures be kept "discreet" and while book covers are "related" to the topic of this forum and therefore acceptable, we also request that they be kept to a reasonable size (also, and perhaps more importantly, we request that they be hosted on our own servers and not linked from an outside site, to avoid slowing down site performance for everyone).

since "discreet" and "reasonable size" are subjective, it happens that someone may have an image which seems excessively large. if that happens, you may either notify the moderation team using the "report post" button and if necessary we'll ask the user to reduce the size of the image (which has already been done in this particular case, by the way, and the images are now smaller), or you can simply politely point out our guidelines to the member yourselves and ask them nicely if they could reduce the image a bit.

as lcf says, we don't want to make too many restricting rules since overall our members are reasonable adults and we prefer to resolve any small problems with a bit of friendly discussion, whenever possible.

this seems like a situation where a bit of latitude is reasonable.

thanks for your feedback on this topic. i just wanted to let you know we are paying attention and do intervene when necessary in cases like this, but we have to know about them first, so don't hesitate to send us a message.

LazyScot · 05-23-2010, 09:48 AM

I'm pretty certain the moderators read this, but you can always use the little blue exclamation mark next to the Karma on a post that you have a problem with (in this case excessive signature) to send a note to the moderators (the ones whose usernames are green).

The only thing I'll say (and I must admit that the example you posted does seem to be pushing boundaries somewhat) is that it is probably near impossible to police this sort of area, or even get agreement on what is really acceptable. So some tolerance is probably needed...

At least on my browser the images appear to be smaller than in your image, so some changes have been made.

05-22-2010, 05:27 PM	#1
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	Signatures used for advertising I've started to notice more and more signatures that are quite long and/or image-heavy. I've never liked "space-hogging" signatures on discussion forums, they take up so much unnessecary space and attention, but lately I've seen signatures used for what I can only call advertising. And if it's discreet I guess it's okay, but something like the attachment is far too much in my opinion. It's really annoying and pretty close to being spam. Unfortunately I don't know who to contact about it or complain to - but it's really bothering me that users don't respect the wish for discrete signatures. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Ea; 05-23-2010 at 03:19 AM.

05-22-2010, 07:08 PM	#7
Dusty Bottoms Banned Posts: 187 Karma: 8178 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: None	I'd think there should be an outright ban on images in signatures. They clog up the whole page and are obnoxious. Oh and Ea, your full name is in one of the tabs of the screenshot you posted (at least I assume it is from your username). Just a heads up, if you don't want that information out there. If it isn't your name, ignore this. Last edited by Dusty Bottoms; 05-22-2010 at 07:12 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Signatures?	Joseph Mitchell	Writers' Corner	17	08-06-2010 02:19 PM
eBook Advertising	paulckennedy	News	114	02-22-2010 04:37 PM
Kindle DX global packaging + signatures	ppe	Kindle Developer's Corner	6	01-27-2010 10:20 AM

05-22-2010, 05:48 PM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	That one does seem a bit over the top. If the cover images were little thumbnails it wouldn't be quite so 'in your face'.

05-22-2010, 05:54 PM	#3
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	How little thumbnails? IMO a signature should not be more than 5-6 lines or the equivalent height in images.

05-22-2010, 05:55 PM	#4
happy_terd Banned Posts: 13,045 Karma: 10105011 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Finally made it to Walmart. Device: PRS 420	I think I can almost see a boob in the thumbnail. Is it safe to open at work or should I wait until I get home tonight to open it (with my scented candles and heated rose petal oils)?

05-23-2010, 01:37 AM	#8
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	I thought the same thing about this very signature myself.

05-23-2010, 04:04 AM	#10
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,536 Karma: 19000001 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	I disable signatures

05-23-2010, 04:41 AM	#11
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I don't want to disable signatures, because some are worth reading. But I agree with Ea that some are simply way too large. Not only with pictures, but also with text.

05-23-2010, 07:20 AM	#12
LCF Wizard Posts: 1,472 Karma: 9795311 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germany Device: Hanlin V3 (LBook), GS3	At this point there aren't sooo many huge signatures. Perhaps we could just talk to the people. I've seen forums, where the sig above would be considered small, so perhaps the author doesn't realize the annoying effect of her signature. All I'm trying to say is, that before asking for a new restricting rule applying to everyone in this forum, it might help politely telling the people in question, that their signatures are disproportional.

05-23-2010, 09:18 AM	#13
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	Perhaps it's a question of enforcing already existing rules - from the 'Guidelines': We do not allow advertising of unrelated sites or services in signatures. Signatures should be kept relatively discreet; for example, by setting the font size to “size 1” for longer signatures. Please keep the content of signatures to a reasonable size. ... ... and perhaps make it more specific what "resonable size" is.

05-23-2010, 09:48 AM	#15
LazyScot DSil Posts: 3,201 Karma: 6895096 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Hants, UK Device: Kindle, Cybook	I'm pretty certain the moderators read this, but you can always use the little blue exclamation mark next to the Karma on a post that you have a problem with (in this case excessive signature) to send a note to the moderators (the ones whose usernames are green). The only thing I'll say (and I must admit that the example you posted does seem to be pushing boundaries somewhat) is that it is probably near impossible to police this sort of area, or even get agreement on what is really acceptable. So some tolerance is probably needed... At least on my browser the images appear to be smaller than in your image, so some changes have been made.

Advert

Advert