Implemented Signature Size.

Dunno if you read my post properly buddy so I'll try and re-explain things, but also... originally sig size limitations were 500 x 500, and as far as I'm aware it still is.

But I also already spoke about the possibility of the abuse and how it can be countered.

On another note, I also expressed that staff could judge things for themselves (although I can also understand if that'd be too much of a hassle). If they notice an issue on the site with someone abusing sig size, then it could be handled that way since I doubt a lot of people would abuse it. (And with the Xenforo automatic resize thing anyway, this might not even be an issue if it works how I think it does)

 

The "we" I referred to was KH-Flare. Sorry for the confusion.

 

I'd be cool with retooling the signature size rule. Changing it to 1000px total regardless of dimensions either way could be a little problematic, since people could come out with ones that are like, 950x50 or 200x800 lol. But if we come up with a list of possible set dimensions

e.g.

300x700 (max width)
400x600
500x500
600x400
700x300 (max height)

Might be good. I also want to propose adding in a maximum amount of sprite images for Normies/Prem (3 and 5 respectively) since I know there were concerns about it in the past and that they're such small images typically.

The only issue with the auto resize is that someone could potentially put a desktop sized image in there.

Which I mean, people have done this on XenForo and it's easy to spot lol, but there could be quite a bit of potential confusion with mentioning that the auto resizing makes a signature picture okay.

This probably made no sense so if anyone needs me to clarify on anything I definitely will, haha.

 

I really like this suggestion. I could agree with something like that for sure.
And yeah, I see what you mean, about the 1000 px size regardless. I did consider that which is why I said people would have to respect the rules if something like this was implemented and that obviously if people did abuse it, Staff would have to be onto them (which yeah, could mean a bit of work) but I don't see TOO MANY people being the types to mega abuse it.

Regardless, what you suggested does sound better by giving a more general guideline.

Although, I will say that I rarely see height limits being exceeded. I don't know if as staff you've seen that happen a lot, but in general I think that the width is more likely the issue when it comes to sig sizes but yeah I'm likely wrong there.

Yeah, I did think of that too, but I figured it was still something worth mentioning (since I was still a bit unsure entirely about how it works). I wondered if it could be used in a positive way somehow or if it would help in anyway with the issues (it at least stops the stretching issue, I'm sure of that), but yeah.

 

To be clear: the dimension restrictions are not directly related to load times. A larger image will, more than likely, have a larger file size, that's true, but we imposed them to prevent page stretching (width-wise and height-wise. Nobody wants to scroll past a huge image every time someone posts). Most user signatures are hosted on sites like Photobucket or imgur, so it puts virtually no strain on our server to load them. Our page will take longer to load because the images are there, but they're using the bandwidth of the image site to load them, not KHV's bandwidth. If, however, you upload your signature image via our attachment system, you will be using KHV's bandwidth to load it. This is why there are no file size restrictions on static signatures, but there are on avatars--avatars are hosted locally, so they use our bandwidth when they load.

The page width stretching isn't much of a concern anymore, as Xenforo will automatically resize images to fit the page, as others have brought up, so I'd be fine with removing the 500px width restriction. However, I think the height restriction should remain in place. I don't want to scroll past massive signatures. imo there's really no reason to have a signature larger than this ( in height ):

​

That takes up a solid portion of the page, depending on your screen resolution. Also mobile users have to scroll past that. 500px is perfectly adequate for height, imo.

Gif file size restrictions are a different story. Even a highly detailed PNG image at 500px by 500px will probably not come close to the file size of an averagely sized gif (though that of course depends on the gif compression, number of frames, colors, etc.). While most signature gifs are not hosted on KHV, and therefore are not eating our bandwidth, if you're loading five 1000kb gifs for every thread page... that adds up, and will make the page seem to load slower.

Average internet speeds have increased in recent years so 500kb is a bit restrictive, I will agree to that. I would be okay with raising it to 700kb or 1000kb. 1000kb would probably be the easiest on users because tumblr (gif haven) also imposes that limit.

 

Yeah, the only mild concern that hasn't been brought up is that the image resizing would take a bit of processing. But considering that would be done client side (and most mobiles would even be able to handle it), and the 20 posts per page limits how many times this would need to be done each load; I would say that it is a non issue for almost everyone.


On a similar note though, the rules on text parts of a signature have always been vague. How much text is too much? Does the limit decrease if you use a larger font? Can someone put in more if it is spoilered/tabbed? Stuff like that. Not all that vital since that is almost never abused and we can just go by how generally obnoxious it is, but always better to be more concrete if we can.

 

Psst...

how embarrassing 4 u


imo, the width limit for signatures could be increased a bit, but not by too much.. I think it looks ugly when Xenforo resizes images ; ; I guess that's just a personal preference though. A good maximum width imo would be like, 600-700px?

 

700 sounds gud to me. :B

Maybe five lines of default sized (3) text? I think that's more than enough space for a quote, links and something else. Also wouldn't mind if you had different sizes for each line, but if you're using all Size 5-7 you should probably only use 2-3 lines (especially with Size 7 text).

 

I see where you're coming from. But it doesn't really hurt anything to have it be wider. But we should put in a recommendation based off the fixed width and say something like. "If your signature is wider than x px, it will be resized for many users. For best image quality you should consider an image smaller than x px."

 

Text is included in the 500px by 500px limit. So if you have an image that's 300px in height in your signature, and 400px of text, you are over the (current) limit.

As for "lines," we currently have no way to restrict that, but Xenforo 1.2 will have new permissions regarding signatures: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/signature-permissions.47456/

They would, of course, be higher for Premium members than others.

 

Just re-voicing my support and things.

Misty, if you're cool with it, I think increasing the gif kb again to 1000kb would be awesome because a lot of the gifs people use are from Tumblr. We could also make it a prem perk, hehe.

Also agreeing that 500px for height is a fine number, but width should be expanded. [ 500 x 500 is really annoying to look at ]. Width never bugs me, though.

Whatever we do, it'd be cool to actually get resolution this time [ I'm not trying to be snide or anything, haha ]. I feel like a lot of the signatures that have a larger than 500px width aren't actually a bother to anyone and I feel bad when I ask people to take them down, so. v:

 

I agree with all of this (again). I can completely understand the height thing as I raised a similar point myself. People don't want to have extra scrolling after all, but yeah, expanding the width could really be useful for a lot of people and nicer too.
I don't think height would need to be changed anyway, and as you've also said to my earlier point, the main issue was the stretching of the page which is no longer an actual problem with Xenforo.
I didn't actually consider the gif size thing that you point out, so thanks for bringing that up, and yeah that would also be a good idea I think if you'd be willing to implement it.

Just to show where I mentioned the height thing earlier (although I wasn't as detailed as Misty was)

I think 700 would be perfectly adequate as well.

And to sum the rest up, pretty much all of this.
(Thanks sis. XD)

But yeah. Really glad I re-bought this up now. Part of me wasn't sure it'd even get looked at properly since it was an old thread (which would have been a shame). So yeah.

*Is pretty happy*

 

Signature Maximum Dimensions: 700px by 500px
Maximum GIF Size: 1000kb, 1200kb for Premiums
In the case of multiple sprites/small images in a signature, it may be interpreted on a case by case basis, but a staff member has the right to request removal if they deem it excessive.

Sound fair + did I hit everything?

 

Sounds groovy to me, thank u admin senpai

 

I endorse this. 100%

Thank you, Misty-chan!

 

Alright, I'll update the rules with this info.