"Der Wunderfizz Update" - Signatures

[MegaAfroMan]

A system where you have to enable a feature to use it is an opt in system.

A system where a feature is enabled at default but can be disabled, is an opt out system.

Basically default on is opt out (because you have to disable it if you don't want it.)

and default off is opt in (because you have to enable it if you want it.)

[Guest]

A system where you have to enable a feature to use it is an opt in system.

A system where a feature is enabled at default but can be disabled, is an opt out system.

Basically default on is opt out (because you have to disable it if you don't want it.)

and default off is opt in (because you have to enable it if you want it.)

 

Oh okay, thanks for clearing that up for me. So I think I would be opt in, as long as what a signature is, is made clear upon creating an account. Maybe a tutorial thing you can do? I dont know.

[Hells Warrrior]

Some very valids points from members and staff and something we need to look at and discuss - opt out may be the way forward, I'll have a look at settings and see if disabling signatures for guests is available.

 

I should probably point out, that you can ignore signatures now if you choose to do so. This can be found under my settings, ignore preferences and ignore all signatures.

[Guest]

Some very valids points from members and staff and something we need to look at and discuss - opt out may be the way forward, I'll have a look at settings and see if disabling signatures for guests is available.

 

I should probably point out, that you can ignore signatures now if you choose to do so. This can be found under my settings, ignore preferences and ignore all signatures.

 

Ah but look at the poll, it clearly says that... 8 people want signatures off, 8 want them on XD

[Hells Warrrior]

I do see the benefits of not having signatures enabled by default, and Caddyman brought in several that I never would have thought of, but tome it comes down to what the purpose of the feature is and the purpose of the forum.

 

Caddyman isn't wrong, the less data on a page, generally the quicker the page will load. The more optimised images etc are the better and the smaller the images are the better. On the new site, icons for example will be using font awesome where and when possible. This is essentially text images and text loads far quicker than images. We are also optimising the code that we use for custom pages and so forth and trying to minimise unecessary overhead as much as possible.

 

I want to make speed a priority, being able to load a page in under 2 seconds (i'm actually aiming for 1.5 seconds, preferably below). That's why we are optimising all settings, why we have upgraded apache web services, mysql and so forth. We'll have more upgrades to do, I'm also considering switching from Mysql to mariaDB which is a faster database system or even innoDB.

 

I'm also look at whether sphinx text string search will benefit us (it generally works better for "large" boards. Although this seems like a large amount of posts, it's a drop in the well to large/huge boards which will have over 3/4/5 million posts -so it comes down to whether ot not it brings any benefit(i'm testing it though).

 

Regarding seo, seo is all about content (good content) this is what brings good search engine results. Whether seo is impacted by signatures is a topic for debate and has been discussed elsewhere. I'm off the opinion that signatures have no bearing on seo - unless you are linking your site and trying to get good back links to assist with the ranking of it.

[Hells Warrrior]

 

Some very valids points from members and staff and something we need to look at and discuss - opt out may be the way forward, I'll have a look at settings and see if disabling signatures for guests is available.

 

I should probably point out, that you can ignore signatures now if you choose to do so. This can be found under my settings, ignore preferences and ignore all signatures.

 

Ah but look at the poll, it clearly says that... 8 people want signatures off, 8 want them on XD

 

 

Which basically means we are currently split 50 / 50 - so a compromise may be required or we make a decision one way or the other and stick to it and have all the information available on how to enable them or how to disable and for this to be ready available.

[PINNAZ]

I voted for Signatures to be OFF default.

 

Though I would probably turn them back on myself.

 

 

And reading some of the comments & on second thought, it may be better to leave them on, make a topic in site news letting people know how to turn them off if they wish (Which you can already do anyway)

 

I use my phone alot to browse CoDz. And to make the screen easier to read I double-tap the text which then zooms in & I can no longer see the members sidebar profile. Having their signature visible I can distinguish what member is making what comment. Nothing major, but just second nature with reading threads.

 

 

 

 

PS - @Hells Warrrior When are you going to fix your sig? The spoiler tag needs fixing or deleting

 

"If time is a waste of life and life is a waste of time, then lets all get wasted and have the time of our lives.

"

[Covert Gunman]

Thank you all very much for your input. I've seen some really great comments and points made here.We really do appreciate it and as Craig mentioned earlier, we will be considering everything and doing various tests on this particular aspect of the forum. If any of you have any more feedback regarding this, please feel free to leave it. We love it when we can get feedback and community input on how to continue improving the forum.

[Caddyman]

It doesn't matter to me either way really. Both for and against arguments are very valid. I was kinda doin' the devil's advocate thing.

 

Hells, you should definitely be able to hide sigs to guests (preferably bots) as an option in admin.

 

The only reason I mentioned SEO is if like you said, someone has an outbound link in their sig, that is an outbound link that a search engine counts, and can be a ding for SEO, although admittedly, very very minor. Then again most sig links are to threads here, which is a positive, so they probably negate each other.

 

In the grand scheme of things, as far as what's best for the board, it really comes down to peoples opinions.

[Hells Warrrior]

@Caddyman It's not a global per group setting unfortunately in the new software, I've fed it back to them last week.

[Tattoo247]

I voted no for the reason that I sometimes navigate on my smart phone, and WiiU game pad, both are relatively easy for me to use, not as easy as my PC, but to make the signatures off by default doesn't seem to accomplish much, being that you can turn it on or off at will.

 

If I remember correctly, we're allowed 4 lines of signature space, so perhaps it might be better to enforce that rule more than we have, myself included.

 

The more I sit here and type this response, it really doesn't seem a MAJOR deal either way, but if I had to choose, I'd say that in the end, less people would probably disable the signatures than not, so keep it enabled to please the greater majority.

[Guest]

I know gif signatures are nice, but on mobile or tablet it really lags out for me so being able to turn them off would be a dream come true. Maybe when the new site comes, there is an option when you have to log in again to disable them or not from the get go? Then have a bit of a guide to what signatures are? 

 

An off topic question, will their be new default pics? It would be cool if the default picture was the blank portrait from Kino, it just feels right. That or you have the choice of that pic and head shots of all other characters?

[PINNAZ]

An off topic question, will their be new default pics? It would be cool if the default picture was the blank portrait from Kino, it just feels right. That or you have the choice of that pic and head shots of all other characters?

There is a thread that @Slade & @InfestLithium made with 'Thousands' of avatar pictures somewhere? I thought there was also a tab at the top that tool you to them?

Also -

Sorry for off topic

[Guest]

 

An off topic question, will their be new default pics? It would be cool if the default picture was the blank portrait from Kino, it just feels right. That or you have the choice of that pic and head shots of all other characters?

There is a thread that @Slade & @InfestLithium made with 'Thousands' of avatar pictures somewhere? I thought there was also a tab at the top that tool you to them?

Also -

Sorry for off topic

 

 

Oh I just found it, quick navigation is very handy, I only just noticed it!