Should we get rid of forum signatures?

[DChiuch 5,773]

Discuss, debate, vote.

[DChiuch 5,773]

Personally I lean towards no since I feel they're a very outdated part of forums, and are often annoying and messy looking. I feel that they distract from the content in a bad way and make the forum experience just a little bit worse. But I understand that people on the other side think that they should stay since they can be cool, they add more of a personal touch to posts, and just because they're a staple of internet forums.

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

I think I am leaning more toward keeping them, personally.  Signatures can be an expression of one's self and I do not see the harm in them.  If someone doesn't want to have a signature personally they can just leave their field blank if they desire.

On the flip side, @DChiuch I do see your point and that it can have a cluttered feeling throughout the forum and detract from the body of posts, though I think the benefit outweighs the negative, especially if signatures are near and dear to the hearts of most users.

Overall I am rather neutral, though I think I favor signatures as opposed to removing them.

[SoraAlfheim 69]

I personally think they should stay. I myself may not be the most avid forum user. But to me, they're one of the traits that distinct forums from any other form of social media, in a good way. It gives each post a more personal flair to it.

A previous gaming forum I used to post on had a few ground rules when it came to signatures. Like a max number of images, max height, etc. I think that is a good solution to prevent threads from looking too messy.

[2 quid is good 2,209]

I definitely think they should stay, it adds a lot more personality to a user than what their avatar and username can provide. And mine is the only thing I get complimented on XD

[Azure Flame 670]

I think they should stay as well, with mine I've gotten people talking to me about it, either complimenting me, or asking what it means, because they don't seem to get the joke.  It's a better way to express yourself, in a way you can't with avatar, profile pic, or title.

[Lulcielid 159]

I say they should stay but put a restriction, I would be OK with not allowing images/gifs on them since these are the most distracting part of a signature, text and links are fine.

[2 quid is good 2,209]

17 minutes ago, Lulcielid said:

I say they should stay but put a restriction, I would be OK with not allowing images/gifs on them since these are the most distracting part of a signature, text and links are fine.

I respectfully disagree about images, gifs I can understand from a bandwidth pov. Signatures are more often than not somebody's stamp, and so many of them are custom made. Plus, you'll render @Weedanort signatures thread useless ?

 

1 hour ago, Azure Flame said:

I think they should stay as well, with mine I've gotten people talking to me about it, either complimenting me, or asking what it means, because they don't seem to get the joke.  It's a better way to express yourself, in a way you can't with avatar, profile pic, or title.

I do love your sig btw

[Azure Flame 670]

2 minutes ago, 2 quid is good said:

I do love your sig btw

Thanks, it was something I thought up myself.

I love yours too.  Have you seen the new movie yet?  I really wanna see it.

[2 quid is good 2,209]

1 minute ago, Azure Flame said:

Thanks, it was something I thought up myself.

I love yours too.  Have you seen the new movie yet?  I really wanna see it.

No, I haven't yet! But I really want to, and can you see my sig? Or do you just remember it XD

[Azure Flame 670]

I can see it, looking at it right now.

[KH4Real 749]

Let's make the site more boring like if the removing from the KH symbols wasn't good enough.

[Elrandir 783]

I think they should stay.

[Weedanort 8,786]

In my personal opinion, signatures are a core element of online forums, as it allows people to show their personality (Stated above this post), and gives more color to the threads (As opposed to having only words in the pages).

Restrictions to what signatures can have? For sure. Can't have too many images on one signature, GIFs, or autoplay videos (As they mess with the bandwidth, also stated above), or even sounds from that dreadful 404 Time Not Found website. (Older members definitely know what I'm talking about here xD)

I'll vote to maintain signatures on the forums

[SoraAlfheim 69]

It does seem like this is a done deal, haha. The majority are clearly in favor of keeping the signatures. Based both on the poll results and the feedback given. 

[Xiro 3,468]

5 hours ago, HaakonHawk said:

It does seem like this is a done deal, haha. The majority are clearly in favor of keeping the signatures. Based both on the poll results and the feedback given. 

Bless

Even if I'm gone the Banado can live on

7 hours ago, Weedanort said:

In my personal opinion, signatures are a core element of online forums, as it allows people to show their personality (Stated above this post), and gives more color to the threads (As opposed to having only words in the pages).

Restrictions to what signatures can have? For sure. Can't have too many images on one signature, GIFs, or autoplay videos (As they mess with the bandwidth, also stated above), or even sounds from that dreadful 404 Time Not Found website. (Older members definitely know what I'm talking about here xD)

I'll vote to maintain signatures on the forums

t h r o w b a c k

[r0xass 79]

I'd say keep, but maybe add more restrictions if it gets too bad later on? Maybe only one picture/gif, and a default size for it too, if the picture is too big it can't be uploaded. 

[FlipMode 141]

Well I mean we have the option to not display signatures so I really don't see the point in disabling them for everyone when its already something members can opt in or out of. 

I don't really care much for them myself, I had a lot of free time back in 2011 to make mine but even then it was a dying trend. But might as well let those who do want them have their fun instead of being a wet blanket about it.  

 

[Ventus_ 396]

I'm neutral as I see validity on both ends as well as just minutely favor leaving them.

On the one hand, signatures give a more personal and colorful touch to the forums and the individual's profile as well as is a means by which to displays one's graphics skills because a lot of folks create their own signature images.   

While on the other, I concede @DChiuch's point that signatures can be clutter, distracting, bothersome to look at and slow the forums down for some. Though I wouldn't say they're outdated. All of the forums I participate on have signatures. 

I believe it should be possible to satisfy both sides by leaving them but adding the option to disable their visibility from one's individual perspective. I've seen this option before. 
Restricting the signature image size should also be helpful. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by Ventus_

[VisitJoan 2,713]

I agree with all of you here.  I really don’t see the point of removing them as I feel that would tick a lot of people off.  Plus there’s already an option to disable them - everyone wins!

[Cricket 1,180]

Should keep them. There's already an option to disable them on everyone's account if they do not wish to see them. Wouldn't be fair to take that away from the entire community when there's an option that already exists for those individuals who do not want the extra load time, clutter, and more from signatures. As for loading times, sizes, the type of image, etc. there are restriction toolsets typically built within majority of websites or forums allowing certain proportions/content of images/signatures/gifs.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Cricket
Words...

[Allwil13 754]

I like them. I think they're fun and it gives you an idea of what each person enjoys and what their interests are. So I vote no, we shouldn't get rid of them.

[MythrilMagician 6,963]

To be honest, I don't care either way.

[Ventus_ 396]

I stand slightly corrected as I did not realize the option to disable signature visibility already exists. 
In that case, though I don't see the point in this debate. Clearly, both ends are already satisfied. 

[VENROXAS 152]

This isn't reddit. It is a Forum on which we pride in having some character to our posts and all.  Sites look more boring in my opinion with no customizing and just lines of text responding to different threads and posts.