This is just a very detailed description of the rules regarding signatures in the
j-body.org forums.
Why are there sig rules?
Over the years, the j-body.org forums have undergone countless changes and a steady
evolution to what they've become today. As time goes by, every now and then a new issue
will come up and subsequently be resolved as best as reasonably possible. One of these
was the issue of signature sizes.
The problem arose with people using obscenely large or tasteless graphics for their
sigs which could make a thread virtually illegible. When you spend more time scrolling
past giant sigs than you do reading peoples comments things it takes away from the value
of the site and just makes everything seem unorganized and useless.
The first solution to this was to simply ask everyone to keep their sigs within a
"reasonable" size of their own accord. This seemed to work ok until certain members
decided that they didn't like to be told what to do and continued to ignore the guidelines.
The next step was to begin issuing warnings to people whose sigs were thought to be out
of line with what was "reasonable" and then to subsequently issue bans if they didn't
change them. This ultimately led to accusations that the moderators were singling people
out and picking on them while letting other "favoured" members get away with sigs which
could also be considered unreasonable.
This ultimately led to the present situation in which there are strictly defined sig
size limits and they are enforced with zero tolerance. If your sig is out of spec, you
will be banned without warning. Your only explanation is a link to the post on sig rules
or, in the future, to this page.
So what exactly are the rules?
The rules state that your sig must fit within a 500x200 pixel boundary including all text,
graphics, and white space. They must not contain any inappropriate content and shouldn't
contain content over 80Kb in size. Under 30Kb is appreciated.
This graphic is an example of exactly 500x200 pixels.
It is important to remember that the size limits everything. Not just your graphics.
It stands to reason that if you're using a 500x200 sized graphic then you cannot have
anything else. Even if that graphic is linking to something and there is a tiny border
around it to indicate the link, that is out of spec and you will be banned.
So how big is text?
Since the size of text changes depending on a persons resolution and font sizes, it
became necessary to strictly define exactly how much room text takes up. These rules
only goven unmodified text in the forums so if you've added code to change the size
or font then it is up to you to ensure that it remains within spec.
One line of text contains exactly 70 characters and is 500 px wide and 15 px high.
If you have a line of text that is more than 70 characters long it will be permitted
so long as you have room within your limits for it to wrap as many times as necessary
to make 70 character lines. Remember that even blank lines count. If there's a space
between a graphic and a line of text, that's going to count.
How are the sigs measured?
It's easy to tell how big a graphic is but when you start adding text and start
playing with the fonts, things can look very different on different peoples screens.
At the end of the day, it's the moderators decision that is final and this is how
I measure them when I'm unsure. Pressing the "Print Screen" keep will capture an
image of the screen. After doing that, I load up PhotoShop and paste that image
into a new graphic. I then mark and crop the sig, trimming off every last pixel I
can without losing anything. If the resulting graphic is greater than 500 px wide
or 200 px tall then the person gets banned. This method is very rarely necessary
though as most sigs that are beyond the limits are quite obvious.
What about file sizes?
It is recommended that the sum of all the file sizes being used be less than 80Kb.
It's appreciated when it is kept under 30Kb and really, there's no reason at all for
it to be over 100. As much as it may be fun to have a little movie in your sig, it
slows down some computers and just adds to the time it takes for the screens to load.
Sigs over 100Kb may warrant a ban.
What about the content?
This is up to the discretion of the moderators but suffice it to say that j-body.org
is an all-ages site and no inappropriate content will be tolerated. A rule of thumb is
that if you don't think it would be appropriate to display in a professional office, it
probably won't be allowed. Many of the members occasionally check the site from work
and there's no reason j-body.org should have content that could jeopardize a persons job.
Advertising, Businesses and the ORG
Advertising by non-business level members is STRICTLY PROHIBITED in the forums.
Business members are those that are identified separately from 'members' and
'premium members' and are clearly labeled in their profile. Prohibited advertising
includes forum posts and text/graphics/links in the signature area of posts.
Final Thoughts
For what it's worth, here's my thoughts on sigs. I find them to be an invaluable
tool used to identify different members at a glance and easily recognize who posted
without having to pay too close attention to the actual username in text. With that
said, I personally find that the 500x200 limit is extremely generous and, thus, there's
absolutely no reason anyone needs to go beyond that. The sig isn't your personal
billboard to sell stuff or advertise other sites. It's simply there to identify you.
If you take your time and design something unique, it will serve it's purpose well and
nobody will ever mistake you for someone else. If you change it every couple weeks and
just try to find the sexiest girl to put in it, nobody will ever recognize you and you
will forever remain part of the anonymous masses.
