Help:Wiki Signatures

Wiki signatures are used exclusively to sign discussion pages. They are customizable from your preferences page. You can quickly sign discussion pages by clicking the signature button above the edit box, or by inserting ~~~~ after your messages.

Guidelines

For a number of reasons, it is necessary to implement signature guidelines to avoid breaking the standard wiki format or unnecessarily cluttering discussion pages with irrelevant content. We'll start with the do nots, since they are generally the most common mistakes people make first.

Do nots

Do not sign normal pages in "wiki space". If you were a contributor to a published book, you would more likely be noted in an area where the author(s)/editor(s) gave credit to said contributors. You would not usually sign your name after each contribution made. In the case of wikis, this is no different. Your work is quite extensively credited and noted on the page's history tab, located at the top of all pages.

Do not include images, templates or external links in your signature. These types of content are not permitted mainly because they can cause templates and tables on discussion pages to display improperly. Secondly, discussion pages should be about the content being discussed. Your signature need only notify people of who is participating in the discussion and give them a quick means of contacting you if necessary, nothing more.

Do not use excessive html tags and/or CSS. This only makes more page clutter. See Tips and Suggestions below for some good examples.

Do not use div or table tags. For the same reasons that images, templates or external links may not be used.

Tips and Suggestions

By default, your signature links only to your "user space" page. Though this is quite normal and acceptable, some people would prefer signing their discussions with something a little more unique (and more importantly, helpful). Here are some examples of custom signatures. Replace instances of "Yourname" with your name. Don't forget, you can try things without affecting the wiki in your sandbox page.

Default Signature

[[User:Yourname]]

This is your default signature. Only your wiki user name is displayed, linked to your user page, and a timestamp is automatically appended to this.

Simple and helpful

∙ [[User:Yourname|Yourname]] ([[User talk:Yourname|talk]])

This is a very simple variation of the previous example. It provides a link to your user page and there is a link to quickly contact you on your "user talk" page. It's output would look like this:

∙ Yourname (talk) 09:32, 28 June 2011 (MDT)

Not so simple, but very helpful

∙ [[User:Yourname|Yourname]] ([[User talk:Yourname|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Yourname|contribs]])

This signature is similar to the above example, but it also provides a link to the list of the contributions you've made to the wiki. One special thing to note about this signature, is the use of | to display the "|" (pipe) character. In rare cases where a signature may be signed within a table or template, a raw "|" character will break the formatting or functionality of that entity. This example looks like:

∙ Yourname (talk | contribs) 09:32, 28 June 2011 (MDT)

Simple and unique

<span style="color:red">☠</span> [[User:Yourname|Yourname]] <span style="color:red">☠</span>

This is a small addition to your default signature. Extended characters may be used to create a more unique signature. Simply use your operating system's utility (usually called "Character selector") to copy/paste the character(s) into your signature. This example places 2 red skulls on either side of your name. Example:

☠ Yourname ☠ 09:32, 28 June 2011 (MDT)

Super customized

<span style="color:pink;">♥</span> [[User:Yourname|Yourname]] ≪ <small>[[User talk:Yourname|talk]]</small> • <small>[[Special:Contributions/Yourname|contribs]]</small> ≫

This is a very elaborate signature. Example:

♥ Yourname ≪ talk • contribs ≫ 09:32, 28 June 2011 (MDT)