Why no picture in signature

ManuH · 03-19-2009, 07:51 AM

I'm trying to put a dynamic picture in my signature, like this:

But the IMG tag doesn't seem to work for signatures, only the ugly IMGWIDE. Sigpic works but it allows only static pictures AFAIK. I have used the dynamic signature on other forums using the same backend software so I don't exactly understand what's going on and why the IMG tag seems banned.

Any explanations or workarounds?

**Adam** · 03-19-2009, 10:11 AM

It's been a while since I checked this, but it looks like only site supporters can use [img] tags in their signatures at the moment. Use of [imgwide] is technically not allowed either, although there are no permissions to prevent users from using custom BBcode in signatures.

Since signatures are no longer visible to guests or search engines, however, I will consider re-enabling signature [img] code for all members.

**Damn Brit** · 03-19-2009, 12:19 PM

'Off site images in signature' is one of the benefits available to supporters.

ftpaddict · 03-19-2009, 05:28 PM

Adam, I was kind-of liking the ban on complicated signatures. Some forums I've been to had the option enabled and all kinds of people were including all kinds of pictures and animations and things that made my head spin 'round.

Let's keep things simple, shall we?

**roentarre** · 03-19-2009, 06:21 PM

Most people I know find this forum very "complicated" to browse. No, they are not dumb. Just the same kind of feedback again and again. Interesting phenomenon.

ManuH · 03-19-2009, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by roentarre

Most people I know find this forum very "complicated" to browse. No, they are not dumb. Just the same kind of feedback again and again. Interesting phenomenon.

This is not related to the signature. I also find the forum overly complex: too much sections and subsections. I see this kind of complexity over and over with vBulletin forums. In contrast, look at dpreview: very simple structure with only 1 level.

**Adam** · 03-19-2009, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by ftpaddict

Adam, I was kind-of liking the ban on complicated signatures. Some forums I've been to had the option enabled and all kinds of people were including all kinds of pictures and animations and things that made my head spin 'round.

Let's keep things simple, shall we?

That's exactly my intent at the moment, especially for guests. I've removed clutter, such as redundant icons, when possible, and am hoping to continue improving all aspects of usability as time progresses.

**Adam** · 03-19-2009, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by ManuH

This is not related to the signature. I also find the forum overly complex: too much sections and subsections. I see this kind of complexity over and over with vBulletin forums. In contrast, look at dpreview: very simple structure with only 1 level.

I find it interesting to see so many people saying that.

If you compare our site to stock vBulletin forums, you'll see a significant difference. I've been doing what I can to simplify structure, general thread browsing, as well as forum browsing. Specifically: the thread sorting table has been minimized, the forum rules box has been removed, the forum description table is not visible when logged in, post icons and registration dates within threads have been removed for guests, and more!

Of course, the price to pay for added features is slightly more difficult usability, but I suppose that applies to any type of software.

ManuH · 03-20-2009, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by Adam

I find it interesting to see so many people saying that.

If you compare our site to stock vBulletin forums, you'll see a significant difference.

I think you already did a very good job and I know it's not that easy to optimize a forum like this. But there are a couple of things that could still be improved IM(V)HO

- The logo at the top takes a bit too much place I think
- Some sections should be merged, why have a Pentax DSLR AND a Samsung DSLR subsection for example. There is many other examples but I think it confuses the new user (where do I have to post? - and you see the moderators constantly moving the threads) and difficult for the regular user to get the information: I have to browse 4 or 5 sections or even more. And I never go to some sections that maybe would interest me but I don't know because I'm too lazy to browse them all.

That's maybe because I'm a software developer and it's a bit a second nature to pay attention to usability. The more features you put and the more transparent they should be. Optimize the number of clicks a user has to do to execute a task. Etc.

I think Gmail is a great example of good usability and woud be applicable to a forum. An ideal forum in my view would remove all sections and put everything into only one section. But people would be able to filter the messages that belong to a theme (=old section) or by keywords. That way the user could create a personalized way to display the forum with the relevant information to him in a fast way. I know this is probably not applicable to vBulletin but I think the kind of forum I describe would have a great success.

- The social groups are a great idea but for some reasons it doesn't work exactly like the rest of the forums for messages. And you cannot put more than one manager for the group.

**Adam** · 03-20-2009, 06:37 PM

I'll consider making the header slightly smaller. It has already been reduced by about 20px from the original, however.

As for forums and sub-forums- most of the sections were suggested/begged for my many users, and then ended up seeing little use. I will also work on addressing that in the future.

**roentarre** · 03-20-2009, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Adam

most of the sections were suggested/begged for my many users, and then ended up seeing little use.

Exactly.

MRRiley · 03-21-2009, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by ManuH

This is not related to the signature. I also find the forum overly complex: too much sections and subsections. I see this kind of complexity over and over with vBulletin forums. In contrast, look at dpreview: very simple structure with only 1 level.

Frankly, I HATE dpreview's forum layout. Having to click on each reply to read it is horrendous. I like Alan's vBulletin layout immeasurably more.

And I feel that fancy off-site sigs should be reserved for site supporters.

Mike

ManuH · 03-21-2009, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by MRRiley

Frankly, I HATE dpreview's forum layout. Having to click on each reply to read it is horrendous. I like Alan's layout immeasurably more.

Not true, you can use the "flat view" which I use. It gives the same layout as PF.

Originally Posted by MRRiley

And I agree that fancy off-site sigs should be reserved for site supporters.

I'm fine with that. I didn't ask for changes, I just wanted to know why it was not working. I have my answer

MRRiley · 03-21-2009, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by ManuH

Not true, you can use the "flat view" which I use. It gives the same layout as PF.

Fair enough... I never even knew they had that.