PNG SIG images now allowed

So the new rules are that I can have text and an image that large?

How many lines of text can I have above and below my signature? Someone reported me last year because I had a link to the community calendar under my signature so it made the size of my signature too large. I confirmed that was counted in the height of the signature. I have confirmed with others they were told the same. I just want to be very clear that I'm understanding this rule is changing and people can put text in addition to the image and go outside of the 120px boundary?

 

imgur actually handles that for him. Anyone using i.imgur.com links can simply replace the .png with .jpg and it will continue to function

 

Ok, now we're talking about two things here. All I'm saying for this thread is that PNGs are now allowed. Every other rule for JPG applies the same. PNG and JPG are simply the file types and potential capability the image has (transparency for example), they say nothing about the contents or image itself.

That said, here are the suggested new guidelines, which are nearly identical to the existing:

1. Signatures/Avatar Images must be in JPG or PNG format. NO animations of any kind.
2. All Signatures must be NO larger than 600 pixels wide x 120 pixels high. Previous was 750 x 150, so it’s an easy downconvert.
3. No Signature/Avatar Image can include images/text that contain ethnic/racial slurs, derogatory/discriminatory statements, profanity, politics, mature or sexually explicit content, or any other content outside of the game or the game’s spirit of a fantasy/sci-fi world.
   • There are no specific limits on the imagery beyond the above, though we may ask you to change something once reviewed. Common sense mainly applies here.
4. Text must be limited to 20 words and 4 lines, including an optional web URL. No overly flashy text or style that clearly detracts from reading a thread.
   • Font point 36 or less for titles, font point 12-24 for other text, and all font must be clearly legible, regardless of font style.
5. Signatures may include one game relevant hyperlinks to an official SotA page, community fansite, or a guild website. Additional hyperlinks will automatically be removed.
6. All Signatures/Avatar Images are subject to approval. Repeated violation of the signature requirements will result in the user account being prohibited from displaying signatures.

The best SIGs in our experience are simple and elegant with subtle imagery. No need to overcrowd and jam information on a SIG. Less is more here .

 

how do i tell if my sig is within regulations?

was thinking of creating a new one though but want to make sure existing one is ok till i do.

 

Your sig is a jpg, 541 x 144. I right-clicked, saved to my desktop, and looked at file details.

 

so im 24 over in height then. need to figure out how to take that off

 

You might be able to get away with just squishing it... give that a go .

 

I never knew that PNGs weren't allowed... I used a PNG with transparency for a couple of years solid and never received a complaint.
I was also under the impression that the height limitation was 150 pixels. Will existing signatures be grandfathered?

 

Yes, we are not going to be super strict about the transition... just resize when you can please.

 

Berek, in all honesty, most people in the world are still technologically unsavvy when it comes to making or having graphical signature images in forums. Most people barely know how to find, let alone use Paint or other graphical programs that exist in any OS. It is why many forums just adjust the stylesheet to limit the size from the start. It is why the request to have the area be set to "max-height:120px" was one that many of us who are graphically talented or technologically savvy, expected at least one person to bring up as it would eliminate that issue very easily and was discussed as such off the forums. The horror stories many of us could share from our combined decades of customer service work in regards to technology would shock some people, but for us it is just everyday normal ignorance from everyday normal people.

 

This sounds like a perfect opportunity for someone in the community to write up a guide for how to make signatures, and have it stickied here in the forum.

*cough* @Leostorm *cough*

 

yeah Leo does have alot more time then I do. I cant even keep up with all my projects that I cant give anything Ultima or SotA related attention beyond what few minutes I designate in my schedule each week.

 

So, I understand why adding PNGs would be a good change (although, like others, I never read that as "must be JPG" but instead "must not be GIF"). At least with PNGs we can do transparency and retain color control.

Why lower the size? Yes, 750 scales down to 600, but that extra space allows you to actually have more usable area. Scaling makes things difficult to read or convey. The width was never a factor anyway; if you want to preserve height, 750 x 120 would do that, and anyone who just wanted to scale down would end up with 600x120, but we'd still have room to work on higher quality images. (The extra 150px is enough to show a Royal Warrant and Order of New Britannian Empire rewards next to a standard 600px banner, at 120px tall, for example.)

Does the text limit apply in addition to the image? Should the image at least count as a "line"? The font sizes don't make a lot of sense either; div.signature defaults to 9pt font, so requiring it to be 12-24pt seems odd. Did you mean it to be "font point 24 or less for other text"?

Why remove hyperlink functionality? The second hyperlink was added not long ago, to allow us to promote things like Avatars Radio. (Check out this thread, although apparently the text was removed from Update 127, for shame!) We might as well all link to the Community Resources page, since there are too many projects to promote with a single hyperlink.

 

yeah it is why i just removed all my signature stuff and anything of importance I put on my site or Ultima Codex.

 

The reason for the downsize is to keep our system happy with loading everything for viewers... these larger sizes can slow it down (which I found hard to believe when I first saw it, but it's true). It also looks better when scrolling through a thread with everyone using SIGs.

Also, signatures are not meant as complete billboards for everything you want to promote. They are a personal touch about you, and maybe a single promotional item, such as a guild you're a part of. There shouldn't be the need for a lot of text or imagery in a banner any larger than 600x120.

Violation Clauth's banner above is an excellent example of the upper limit of what you would probably want and still looks great.

Less is more here .

 

So case in point, @Berek - although your signature image is exactly 120px in height, your signature itself is 124px in height (actually 123.9px according to Firefox, but we'll round up):



Now I'm sure no-one would want to get too bent out of shape for the sake of four pixels, but that is why @Violation Clauth was asking for clarity above on whether the height limit applies to the whole signature or just the image. The guidelines you posted didn't address this because they appear to use the terms 'signature image' and 'signature' interchangeably, and that is one of the confusions we're trying to clear up.

 

That's weird, because it's 120 height when I made it in Photoshop. The image IS the SIG, there is no difference, unless of course the forums add padding, which doesn't count. What am I not understanding?

 

Violation's signature promotes his guild, which is fine. Lots of people promote community projects to which they belong. Getting down to two was difficult, and I got dinged for having a link on the image as well as text ones. I guess I'll need to create my own landing page for my single link.

Look at mine; the image is 550x140, but the signature box itself is 160px tall because I have text below the image. So when I recreate my signature image, can it be 120px tall, or should it only be 100px because I know the text will be 20 pixels beneath it?

 

I would assume based on the list that no text could be put under it if my interpretation is the following (see Red Text!):

--------------------------------------------

["Berek, post: 583367, member: 1545"]Ok, now we're talking about two things here. All I'm saying for this thread is that PNGs are now allowed. Every other rule for JPG applies the same. PNG and JPG are simply the file types and potential capability the image has (transparency for example), they say nothing about the contents or image itself.

That said, here are the suggested new guidelines, which are nearly identical to the existing:

1. Signatures/Avatar Images must be in JPG or PNG format. NO animations of any kind. Self Explanatory
2. All Signatures must be NO larger than 600 pixels wide x 120 pixels high. Previous was 750 x 150, so it’s an easy downconvert. The Whole Signature Area (Image and Text) can only be up to this big, does not include the padding the stylesheet adds.
3. No Signature/Avatar Image can include images/text that contain ethnic/racial slurs, derogatory/discriminatory statements, profanity, politics, mature or sexually explicit content, or any other content outside of the game or the game’s spirit of a fantasy/sci-fi world. Self Explanatory
   • There are no specific limits on the imagery beyond the above, though we may ask you to change something once reviewed. Common sense mainly applies here.
4. Text must be limited to 20 words and 4 lines, including an optional web URL. No overly flashy text or style that clearly detracts from reading a thread. If you make your image the limit of 120 pixels high, no text for you! You will have to make your image shorter in height.
   • Font point 36 or less for titles, font point 12-24 for other text, and all font must be clearly legible, regardless of font style.
5. Signatures may include one game relevant hyperlinks to an official SotA page, community fansite, or a guild website. Additional hyperlinks will automatically be removed. Only one Hyperlink per Signature
6. All Signatures/Avatar Images are subject to approval. Repeated violation of the signature requirements will result in the user account being prohibited from displaying signatures. Self Explanatory

The best SIGs in our experience are simple and elegant with subtle imagery. No need to overcrowd and jam information on a SIG. Less is more here .[/QUOTE]

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Since most ppl dont have Adobe Software or even ones like GIMP, the average internet user will already be at a disadvantage to doing this with ease because they don't even know how to use Microsoft Paint decently even. Forcing a size limit would give people a visual way to see if things are too tall, etc. It would force people to be able to fit the guidelines more easily regardless of tech savy skill level.

 

In this case I think it's just default HTML styling rules at work - an image element is inline by default so sits on the text baseline rather than the edge of the container. However the technical details are not too relevant (or that interesting to most people reading, I'm sure), my point is more general: define what it is that has to be 120px high, the image or the container, or give separate limits.