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babowa
Level 7 (32,049 points)
iPad

Q: Custom Signature

I've regularly seen "custom" signatures by some of the regulars - handwriting, bouncing smileys, moving tiger, etc - and decided I'd like to have one. So, I designed one yesterday and, as a test, added it to a post. When I checked about 20 minutes later, it had disappeared; instead, it is showing a large grey lock:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2743080

So, is it permitted to have a signature or not? Mine was my name in a fancy multi-colored font with shadow. Or is there a minimum age/points/whatever required?

27" 3.2 GHz iMac i3, 12 GB RAM, 13" white early '09 MB,, Mac OS X (10.6.6), LaCie d2 DVDRW, 2 LaCie d2 Quadra ext HD , Wacom tablet, Epson Artisan 810

Posted on Feb 4, 2011 8:20 AM

by ali brown,Solvedanswer
ali brown ali brown
Level 7 (26,465 points)
Desktops
A:
Hi Barbara!

I'm guessing it has something to do with the image at Skitch rather than the AD software.
(https://img.skitch.com/20110204-fhtsrgsefciyhmsjikgaaaabxm.png)

Is the image still available? If not repost the image at Skitch and try again.

ali b

Posted on Feb 4, 2011 8:47 AM

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babowa

Q: Custom Signature

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  • by Michael Wasley,

    Michael Wasley Michael Wasley Feb 7, 2011 12:40 PM in response to babowa
    Level 5 (6,805 points)
    Feb 7, 2011 12:40 PM in response to babowa
    Barbara Daniels1 wrote:
    Thank you for the reality check. I agree up to a point; however, as long as they are not tacky, jumping or moving, or using up half a page, adding a personal touch is a nice touch.


    I didn't say they weren't tacky. They are. Virtually all the signatures I see in Discussions are incredibly naff and I wonder why people who use them choose to display their lack of aesthetic judgement and lack of design skills in such a public place.

    Touchy-feely nonsense about 'personal touch' just seems to be an argument that people choose to use to justify their longing to impose their whims on the rest of us. These are forums for discussing technical issues, not agony columns in a cheap periodical.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 7, 2011 1:18 PM in response to MGW
    Level 9 (73,124 points)
    Applications
    Feb 7, 2011 1:18 PM in response to MGW
    Hi again everyone

    New test

    Barbara Button



    9:18 PM Monday; February 7, 2011

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ Feb 7, 2011 1:36 PM in response to Michael Wasley
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 7, 2011 1:36 PM in response to Michael Wasley
    Michael Wasley wrote:
    Barbara Daniels1 wrote:
    Thank you for the reality check. I agree up to a point; however, as long as they are not tacky, jumping or moving, or using up half a page, adding a personal touch is a nice touch.


    I didn't say they weren't tacky. They are. Virtually all the signatures I see in Discussions are incredibly naff and I wonder why people who use them choose to display their lack of aesthetic judgement and lack of design skills in such a public place.

    Touchy-feely nonsense about 'personal touch' just seems to be an argument that people choose to use to justify their longing to impose their whims on the rest of us. These are forums for discussing technical issues, not agony columns in a cheap periodical.


    Harrumph!

  • by Hardy Geer,

    Hardy Geer Hardy Geer Feb 7, 2011 2:17 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 4 (3,165 points)
    Feb 7, 2011 2:17 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Ralph Johns (UK) wrote:
    Hi again everyone

    New test

    Barbara Button



    9:18 PM Monday; February 7, 2011


    Qiute Barbaric!!

    You guys stuff my email box.

    Message was edited by: Hardy Geer

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 7, 2011 2:24 PM in response to Hardy Geer
    Level 9 (73,124 points)
    Applications
    Feb 7, 2011 2:24 PM in response to Hardy Geer
    You guys stuff my email box.


    Unsubscribe then.

    I like the pun.

    Prefer Barbara-esque though.

    I have a sig pic for two reasons.
    1) the other main poster in the iChat forums alos uses the iChat Avatar and at least I find I can tell our posts apart if we ware in the same thread.

    2) There is a lack of Custom Avatars and this is the closest I can get.

    Presumably I will have to go for something that fits in a Square if the new Communities has Custom Avatars.




    10:21 PM Monday; February 7, 2011

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Feb 7, 2011 7:42 PM in response to babowa
    Level 7 (32,049 points)
    iPad
    Feb 7, 2011 7:42 PM in response to babowa
    I see there have been quite a few replies since I left; I will address some of the comments in one post to keep it simple (the order is of no importance). All in all, I appreciate all the comments so far - pro and con - since everyone is entitled to their opinion as long as it is presented in a polite and non-derogatory manner....

    Klaus1: +Less a flower, more a SPLAT!+ Actually agree; it is very nice in a larger size, but not so much in a small one. And:
    +Although regarded by some as an ego trip.+ That may or may not be; it certainly would not in this case.

    Hardy Geer: +You guys stuff my email box.+ There is no requirement to read it...

    Ralph (US): +I am NOT grey, that is Platinum Blonde+ Sorry, but I'd consider that ostentatious

    Michael Wasley: +They are all equally pointless, intrusive and distracting pieces of visual pollution which waste space and will do nothing whatsoever to add practical value to your posts.+ Of course! They are not intended to add practical value; having a little fun and a sense of humor has been proven to be healthy and increases production:

    http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/06/01/20080601biz-funatwork0601- ON.html

    +These are forums for discussing technical issues, not agony columns in a cheap periodical.+ I don't read cheap periodicals, but I suggest calling a little fun here an "agony column" is overly dramatic; if it pains you, there is no need to read it.

    WZZZ: Harrumph! Love it.

    Ralph (UK): +What Makes the little "Flower" thingy ?+
    +It is a another Font's character ? If so what Font and which Key ?+ No; it is part of the Art Text application (there appear to be 100's of images plus styles, colored buttons, effects, etc, etc).

    And, a very special thank you to you (Ralph (UK), who steadfastly and patiently helped me and not only offered instructions, but suggestion after suggestion (and I could only pick two - they were actually all equally helpful).

    And, another thank you to everyone else's helpful comments, some humorous, some not; but interesting, thought-provoking and/or helpful nonetheless. I do prefer humorous myself, but, alas, unfortunately not everyone has a sense of humor.

    For now, I've run into a snag: I would like to use the Art Text application because of the myriad of special effects it offers; however, I am unable to get rid of the faint "trial" watermark with a plain signature. The only way to cover it would be to use a button, which I've ruled out for now. At this point, I don't know that paying for that is worth it, so I'll have to do either that or find a different application.

    I'm marking this as answered for now (since my question actually was answered by ali b some time ago!) - I may add more "test" sigs; feel free to comment further (humor encouraged).

  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Feb 8, 2011 3:58 AM in response to babowa
    Level 8 (48,821 points)
    Feb 8, 2011 3:58 AM in response to babowa
    Hi Barbara!

    Klaus1: Less a flower, more a SPLAT! Actually agree; it is very nice in a larger size, but not so much in a small one

    Yes, reducing it to an asterix has greatly improved it!

  • by littleshoulders,

    littleshoulders littleshoulders Feb 8, 2011 5:25 AM in response to babowa
    Level 6 (9,525 points)
    Feb 8, 2011 5:25 AM in response to babowa
    Barbara,

    I may add more "test" sigs; feel free to comment further (humor encouraged).


    What? Humor in the AD? Don't you know by now that these are for technical discussions only? (Read with sarcasm implied I would hope?) You should not enjoy posting here in the AD....that is not the purpose of the AD.

    It is interesting, Barbara, that when Custom avatars were being discussed a few years back it was one of the most contentious of all debates I had seen in the AD. I had somehow become close to the center of it due to a gif avatar of a close-up of my eye blinking (rather like Adobes logo but animated). For some reason Adobe's non animated eye was not disturbing but once the eye blinked it threw discussions into a turmoil and some users into fits. I'm overstating that, of course, but it was rather funny (?) after awhile some of the comments.

    Personally, (and we are allowed here to post signatures at the moment) I wish those that do not like them would post their negative feedback independently in the AD feedback. Your topic question concerned creating one and not about what others here felt about the ability to use them here. You've asked about what others have felt about the designs and how to create them but not about the ability to use them or their value here in the AD. I don't think it fair that others feel they have any right to negatively criticize your wish to have one in this topic. I think if someone dislikes the ability for users to use one then they should start a feedback topic and state that opinion. Just my opinion......and I do respect others opinions about this but just not in your topic. It isn't appropriate here.

    Good luck with the signature whatever you decide.

    (humor encouraged)


    ....did I tell you the one about......

    littleshoulders

  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Feb 8, 2011 6:08 AM in response to babowa
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Feb 8, 2011 6:08 AM in response to babowa
    Regarding all of the suggested signatures so far, I still like the blue on light "button" the best, close second is Ralph (UK)'s latest blue button with nice Barbara script...the wave would challenge those if it was an appropriate size and maybe a little more subdued color, but that is entirely personal preference so take it for what it is worth.

    At the risk of encurring the wrath of LS...personal avatar, personal signature...I couldn't care less. Whether or not individuals want to use these just doesn't matter to me...there are far bigger things in life to worry about and get upset over.

    Maybe I will turn my daughter, the graphic designer/art director, loose on designing a logo/sig for me...see just how outrageous she can be...but since I don't want to get banned from here, maybe not.

    Ralph (US)

  • by littleshoulders,

    littleshoulders littleshoulders Feb 8, 2011 7:54 AM in response to Ralph Landry1
    Level 6 (9,525 points)
    Feb 8, 2011 7:54 AM in response to Ralph Landry1
    At the risk of encurring the wrath of LS


    Hi Ralph,

    If you knew me you would realize just how funny that really is

    there are far bigger things in life to worry about and get upset over


    You certainly won't incur any wrath from me over that statement....

    LS

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 8, 2011 12:23 PM in response to Klaus1
    Level 9 (73,124 points)
    Applications
    Feb 8, 2011 12:23 PM in response to Klaus1
    Hi Klaus1,

    If you meant the one in my Post (Further down in Threaded view) I created that one.

    I was trying various things to see if I could create it in Photoshop Elements 6 as it has a "Glass Buttons" option and a "WOW Plastic".

    The Blue is created from the WOW Plastic.
    The Font went all blocky at the size I was working at.

    So I then created a Div on a web page and set it to the background then used HTML to write over the Button in white.

    The Asterix was from ZafDingabts and entered using UTF-8 as a Special Character (Flag menu bar item)

    I then copied the result with Skitch. (hence the sharp corners if you look closely).

    I am having less luck creating a method to recreate the same on Apple Discussions.
    The Boards accept the Span tag and the Blockquote tag.
    You can add style class and change what is shown and add the Background pic. I am having trouble getting the text to appear in the Middle.

    Said plain Button
    Button

    <blockquote style="width: 125px; height: 38px; background: URL(/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/130/13056600-1.png" alt="Button);">Replace</blockquote>

    gives you:-

    Replace


    Although letter size may help

     Barbara  ❇


    (needs tidying)

    EDIT:
    Boards are very fussy about width and height (must include px not just digits)

    The "Replace" one looks like my home test.
    The Second option with the White Barbara is as the Copy/Snap I posted earlier



    8:16 PM Tuesday; February 8, 2011

    Message was edited by: Ralph Johns (UK)

    Message was edited by: Ralph Johns (UK)

    Message was edited by: Ralph Johns (UK)

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Feb 8, 2011 1:20 PM in response to littleshoulders
    Level 7 (32,049 points)
    iPad
    Feb 8, 2011 1:20 PM in response to littleshoulders
    Thank you for your thoughtful feedback - it is much appreciated. You have to remember that not everyone cares or knows if something is appropriate or not; especially online (and I only mean this generally, certainly not here ), where one can remain as anonymous as one wishes while fueling a war of words - so I expected opposing opinions when I posted this topic.

    And the humor..... which reminds me: why haven't you (and Ralph - US) become a member of the other group? Humor is expected there!

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Feb 8, 2011 1:23 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 7 (32,049 points)
    iPad
    Feb 8, 2011 1:23 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Finally came up with a totally different idea (trying to keep it small, semi-unobtrusive, yet distinctive) and avoiding the silly watermark:



    1 copy

    I just tried your previous instructions to make it just a tad smaller yet - for some reason, it got bigger instead? So this is the original size.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 8, 2011 1:26 PM in response to babowa
    Level 9 (73,124 points)
    Applications
    Feb 8, 2011 1:26 PM in response to babowa
    Now I do like that.

    Very nice.



    9:26 PM Tuesday; February 8, 2011

    Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Feb 8, 2011 1:29 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 7 (32,049 points)
    iPad
    Feb 8, 2011 1:29 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    In the meantime, I just figured out why it got bigger (duh) - it's only 69 pixels to begin with, so I'd have to say something like "width=64", right?

    Checking this now:


    1 copy

    Message was edited by: Barbara Daniels1
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