There's been a little ambiguity lately regarding sigpics, so the rest of the mods and I have had a discussion as to setting down some limits. The rules which we've decided upon are open to discussion - though we like to think that they're accomodating enough that most users will comply ;). Anyway, without further apu:

Dimension Limits:
Signatures can be upto 100 pixels tall, and up to 500 pixels wide. However, the area of the signature must be less than 28,000 pixels (or 36,000). That is; the length of your signature multiplied by the height should give a figure less than 28,000 pixels (or 36,000). "Syt, what does this cafuffle mean?", I hear you ask. This slightly more complex system is to give a bit of freedom as to signature dimensions, so that you can have 'tall' or 'wide' signatures if you prefer; the area limit is put in place so that you can't have both simultaneously. Still confused? Do I have to draw you a diagram?... Say what? Oh fer chrissake... okay!



Each of those signatures has an area of 28,000 pixels. If you can't be bothered working out an area on your own, you could use one of those sizes.

Filesize Limits:
The filesize limit is 57kb. This is a total limit, it is 40kb for your signature as a whole - not 57kb for each image. Icons and smilies do not count towards this limit, as users would have already had them cached by seeing the smilies used in other threads. Also, I've seen a few people post about how the limits should be larger because signature pics are offlinked - this would probably be a decent argument on Hyper, but space on the server isn't why we've limited the signatures. They're limited because of loading times on 56k - a 57kb signature takes approximately 9 seconds to load and cache on 56k. Afterwards, it loads fairly quickly. A page full of, say, 100kb signatures would take a 56k user about 10 minutes to load and cache.

Multiple Images:
If you want multiple images, that's cool with us. When considering the area of the two, take the height of the tallest signature and multiply it by their width added. It's somewhat similar to drawing a box around the two images. Diagram again? Okay.



Animation:
Animation is where we leave it up to the discretion of you guys. "Anything goes", but be sure not to give people epileptic fits. Also try to remember, what's 'cool' to you could be 'irritating', to someone else; and many signature related novelties have a habit of becoming irritating after four seconds.

Text:
In addition to a signature image(s), y'all can have text either below or above the image. The policy is that for a 100 pixel tall signature, you are allowed up to two lines of text. However a 'line' doesn't necessarily mean that you can get away with size 14 text. Larger size text counts as additional lines. Here's a breakdown;

• Size 1 to Size 3 - One line of text.
• Size 4 to Size 7 - Two lines of text.
• Size 8 to Size 14 - Three lines of text.
• Small Smilies (most smilies) - Two lines of text.
• Large Smilies (sign smilies, monkey smilie) - Three lines of text.

A smilie is considered to be part of 'text' if it is below signature images, it's considered to be a part of 'images' if it's to the left or right of a signature image. Complicated? I know. We're just covering all our bases =). The last final note is that for every 20 pixels your signature image is below 100 pixels, you're allowed an additional line of text. That is:

• 81-100 pixel high signature = 2 lines.
• 61-80 pixel high signature = 3 lines.
• 41-60 pixel high signature = 4 lines.
• 21-40 pixel high signature = 5 lines.
• 0-20 pixel high signature = 6 lines.

That's about it. Hope I didn't make your brain implode. =)

Some Words of Advice:

• The limits are just that, limits. You don't necessarily have to make a signature pic that maximises area or filesize. The filesize limit, in paticular, is very accomodating for all but the lengthiest of animations - so don't go 'hunting' to find a signature as close to that limit as possible.
• If you want to shrink your filesize, there are a few steps you can take. Firstly, try saving the image in both .jpeg (or .jpg) and .gif formats. .gif generally works well for images that work on a few solid colours, .jpeg is preferable for photographs. .gif is more versatile than some think - even the evolution banner above works well as a .gif (it's 31kb in both forms).
• On that note, always try .gif first.
• If you're shrinking the filesize of an animation, try removing every second frame. In some cases, you can still get a smooth motion. It will cut your filesize by nearly half.
• If you have a good graphics program, try reducing the number of colours in your .gif signatures. My signature below has only 8 colours; any more are pretty unnescessary and increase the filesize significantly.
• If you don't have one of these programs, most mods are fairly good at basic graphics work, so send them a PM and they can probably shrink it for you.

That's about it, boys and girls. Play safe, and feel free to dispute anything. :thumbsup:

An Addendum - Catch Net "Loophole" for Mod Convenience:

Moderators/Administrators of the Evolution Forum, reserve the right to, at any stage, deem any signature unacceptable indiscriminate of whether or not it breaks the rules highlighted above. The Moderator's final judgement on your signature is not to be disputed, and should you dispute it, you will be smitten from Sytadel's high chair of child-like tyranny. The Moderator reserves the right to deem your signature an "abuse of the rules" (be that true or false), and should it be deemed an "abuse of the rules", you will be required to change it. Failure to change it will result in the aforementioned smite of tyranny.

Wow, that was surprising clear and user friendly. Thumbs up!
But I just wanted to know, can you have it even higher than the one in your diagram if it is thinner? As long as it complies with the megapixels limit?

One last sidenote: Minor concessions can be made. I just noticed one of the images in Mykle's sig is 102 pixels high, but we're not going to chastise anyone for that.

cool, sounds reasonable.

Now if I wasn't so lazy to make one.

I'd also like to mention something. Please try to host whatever image you have on your own webspace. Don't steal someone else's bandwidth, as they more than likely pay for it, and you wouldn't like someone doing it to you.


EDIT: By the way Syt, that last image is actually 56*466, not 56*500.

However, like Syt said, if it's 2 or 3 pixels over, that's fine. But don't try to keep pushing it up because someone will get angry. *Looks at TJ1*

I must say that Syt's sig setup is actually the best I've ever seen on a forum. It's much better allowing people to have a more 'liquid' shape to their signature, rather than constraining them to a width and height.

Go Evo! :thumbsup:

Oh, it is too. I think that's from when I was doing a 60-pixel high sig, and decided I'd just jump down to 56. *Edits*

The flexible limits are an excellent idea. Best implementation of sigs I've seen :thumbsup:

It sounds like these limits have been thouroughly thought out. Top work to all involved!

Huzzah for the Moderator. Huzzah!

Well done guys. Top work :thumbsup:

Common sense at work, people. :thumbsup:

Awesome work there Syt.

Without turning this thread into a Hyper slanging thread, I just want to say that the best thing about this place is that the people who run it really do listen to the people and give them what they want.

*remembers lol emoticon kuffufle at Hyper*

*shakes head*

Yes, twas a pretty lame lol emoticon... :|

On topic, my sig rulz! Thanks for not deleting it...

The rule of thumb I'm using at the moment is if a sigpic bothers me, I'll right click it and check whether or not it's within the rules. However since DZ's sig is hardly an eyesore or creating forum stretch marks, I'm gonna let it slide.

However if you guys ever decide to make new sigs, be sure to keep the limits in mind then =)

Yeah, it's more of a "starting as of....now!" thing. If you have a sig that's a little outside the new limits and someone hasn't PM'd you yet, you're probably in the clear, especially if you've had it for a while.

Thats right. Now click on my sig... go ahead! Come on!!

I'd like to know what the deal is regarding text and a sig pic? How many lines of text are allowed with a image?

Updated to include policy on text. =)

Interesting idea.

But I hate tall and stubby sigpics... they look un-siglike.

I'm the same way, BM2. I think the wider, thinner sigs look better, but this system is setup so those people with an image that is tall and thin can also make a sig. It can be annoying if you have a great picture that won't fit without seriously reducing it.

Exhibit A

*points down*

:P

I'm stealing bandwidth with me sig, but I couldn't care less! :cheese:

:o

Mavav is real? :(

Stupid people, nothing better to do then ruin what we love... <_<

:huh: My God, I looked at some of the articles on that site and "E3: Evil Entertainment Expo"?! Some people are such morons!

1. Mavav is a made up organisation by some kid who wanted to stir shit up.

2. This is a thread to discuss our sig pic limits.

3. 'nuff

4. said

My sif in limit good eh? Huh? Eh?

Update to signature rules, check the first page.

Now, don't go tryin' any funny shit, hello :D

OK.