Signatures and the permanence thereof

[lar]

So signatures change?

I was using a BrickFest(tm) PDX image in my signature, because it was pre BrickFest PDX. I sort of figured that signatures would stay the way they were at the time I posted my message

But that's I guess not the case because I changed my signature, now that BrickFest PDX is over, to a more conventional one that flogs Milton Train Works(tm).

It looks like that changed all my old posts when I view them and the BrickFest PDX sig is gone.

I guess I'd sort of like the behaviour that once a post is posted, it gets the signature that is in effect at that time, forever more, rather than being resolved to the current signature du jour if you see what I mean.

I guess I can just paste in the right BBCode block instead of using autosigs but I'd rather not if I can.

Is this an option that can be changed? Is it an option that SHOULD be changed? I think you could argue the other way, of course...

Forgive me if this was discussed already, I didn't find the right thread just using "signature" as the search string...

(my signature is below. Who knows what it looks like tomorrow!)

[architect]

Hi Larry,

I prefer one constant signature but I am fine with people who want to change theirs. Currently I have the mean authoritative signature because I am a bit picky about posting in the correct places here

I do not have to link to all of my websites like mocpages, brickshelf, or my personal site. I will write those individually into posts when necessary.

Your signature is nice though. Thin horizontal images are best. Hehe - even your signature violates our vertical size limitations - just barely

Ben E.
Sets Admin

[Jojo]

Hello!


That's why I don't use avatars and signatures. I too want to be independant from a once chosen signature and I want to have a possibly individual signature/avatar for each post. Therefore I type in the formula of my sigfig manually everytime and I can change it from posting to posting.


Bye
Jojo

[Barbapple]

hmmmmm the vote is split 50/50...
My vote goes for changing sigs, that way if you had somthing really bad, and you changed it, you wouldn't look like an idiot in your old poasts.

[Mr. D]

I think you should be able to select in your profile whether you want old post's signatures to change to the new one or not.

mD

[Bruce N H]

One advantage of changing sig lines is that you can have current links. That way if people look up old posts they won't be sent to dead links. It's not a big deal, though, because this message board system has a seperate way to link to personal sites.

Bruce

[Troy]

Is this an option that can be changed? Is it an option that SHOULD be changed? I think you could argue the other way, of course...

Personally, I am of the opinion that once a sig is attached, it should remain the same. It appears this is not how the system works though. It appears that it simply inserts a link to your sig and doesn't just paste your current sig into the message.

I have found no way to change this behavior. It appears we are stuck with it.

Troy

[gcg]

I think your sig should not change. Leaving it will give you a historic view on the lego forum views. ie. a lot of people had sigs showing their opinion on the new KK2.

[Devari]

The way the forum software works, it is impossible to make this happen. I even poked around http://www.phpbbhacks.com where there are a number of phpBB modifications. As far as I could see, there was nothing possible.

[lar]

The way the forum software works, it is impossible to make this happen. I even poked around http://www.phpbbhacks.com where there are a number of phpBB modifications. As far as I could see, there was nothing possible.

Thanks for digging into this. What it says to me is that I think I will have to make up a quick file that has my current sig and paste it in.... And suffer the consequence of broken links I guess...

[rogue27]

I think it is best, from a programming perspective, to do it the way this forum does it, and that is to read your current signature and display it at the end of each of your messages.

The other approach is to append your signature to the end of each of your posts, but that results in database storage space being wasted with 100 copies of the same signature.

Also, having each message display your current signature allows for you to keep your links current, so somebody viewing an old message of yours will not click on a dead or outdated link.

Generally, keeping everything as dynamic as possible is a good thing. If you want a quote or something to remain in place (or Jojo's minifigs), you can just put them at the end of your post. (which I realize is more work for you when you are posting...)

I suppose the forum software could be modified to do both... but I can't say for certain if that would be a good idea or not.