Slackerboys Signature How to & F.A.Q.

[slackerboy]

Since sig's seem to be such a popular topic, I have decided to put the info i have on the subject in one easy to find location.

Ok, How to make a sig 101.

1. First you need an image.
   you can either make on or find one on the net.
2. Next, you need to have it hosted. You can link directly to the image if it is on the net, but this is frowned apon, its thought of as bandwidth theft. Also, you never know when the website your pulling it from may move or remove the file. To get your image hosted just email Ziroc, he will host it for you.
3. Third, you need to know the address. Addresses follow this format: http://www.domain.com/folder/image.gif. (note this is not a real link ).
4. Now, we can put it in your sig. Click on the "profile" link above. scroll down to the "signature" box. This is where you put n your image tag.
   Your image tag will follow this format: [img]http://www.domain.com/folder/image.gif[/img]. (note it must start with [img] and end with [/img] and have no spaces)
5. Now, click "submit"
6. When ever you want your sig to show you will need to put a check mark in the box labeled "Show Signature". if you dont, it wont show (dont worry, it gets to be a habit )

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Ok, so now you know the basics of getting a sig to work, but i'm sure you have some questions,

F.A.Q.
[list=1][*]"Where do you get those moving images for your sigs?"
There are 2 ways to get the animated gif's.
1) is to find one on the web that has already been done by somebody else.
Sir Tainly has put this list together: http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/No...ML/000437.html (please dont link your images directly to this site, it is hosted on angelfire and linking to it can cause it to be deleted, just pick one and send it to ziroc if you want to use one)
2) extract it from an infinity engine game yourself. to do this you will need Infinity Explorer. this will allow you to extract Gif's from the Bam files in any infinity engine game (planescape torment, baldursgate, baldursgate2, icewind dale). once you have extracted your gif, you will need to get an animated gif editor to let you loop it, slow it down, speed it up , or whatever. you can get a free trial of a good one at www.ulead.com . [*]Can i use colors (or change size of text) in my sig?
Technically, no.
html does not work in your sig. Some people have found that if you put html in your sig, and "edit" your post immediatly after you post it, the html will work.
this is due to the fact that when you "edit" your post, the "sig" portion becomes part of your message, which allows the html to work. I find this to be somewhat tedious. [*]"If I cant use html, how do I get colored text in my sig?"
to get colored text you will need to make a gif of your text. this will also allow you to make very cool text . there are several people here who would be glad to do this for you: Moni, Sazerac, and many others have been known to help in this department.[*]"How big is too big?"
Ok, this is a grey(gray) area. IMHO, if i have to scroll a whole screen to get past your sig, its too big. If your image is larger than 120kb its to large of a file (this will take forever for 56k'rs to download)

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Well, thats all i can think of for now. I'm just hoping to make this the "one-stop-shop" for sig info.
Feel free to bump,
add any info i may have forgotten,
ask questions,
make requests,
test your sigs,
what ever.
With any luck we wont have to keep having sig tutorials all the time

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Good Luck!


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Lord of the Screen Shot
Get My IronWorks Winamp skin

[Nostron]

KEWL i was just waiting for this. Now i can actually have graphics... well when i decide to make one anywayz

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That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[Cloudbringer]

Hey SB! This is very useful info for people!

I guess I need to hunt up all my various jpgs and get them together in one place! Poor Z is gonna be busy!


Cloudy

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Raindancer of the Laughing Hyenas Clan
Storm-Queen
StormCloud of the Black Knight
Heart Mind Soul Forever

[Wah]

But Slackerboy......YOUR images are over 120kb although together.

(Wah = being a smartass, whips out his calculator)

AHEM!!!

Image 1 = 46999 Bytes
Image 2 = 47744 Bytes
Image 3 = 53365 Bytes

46999 + 47744 + 53365 = SUM = SUM / 1024 = ANSWER

Your total equals: 144.6 KBS

147 (rounded up) - 120 = 27 KBS OVER THE LIMIT (tut tut!)

Don't hate me please Slackerboy, I promise, I won't do it again.

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Greetings Mortals. My Name Is Wah, Arch Lich Wah.

[This message has been edited by Wah (edited 06-03-2001).]

[slackerboy]

Update!!!
according to zirocs new rules on sigs:
you are allowed only one image in your sig.
it must be less than 120kb in file size.
And it must be less than 200x175 in resolution.
this will be effective as of June 29th 2001.
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Lord of the Screen Shot
Get My IronWorks Winamp skin


[This message has been edited by slackerboy (edited 06-22-2001).]

[adam warlock]

keep up the good work slackerboy (wondering why you selected that name because you do not live up to it )



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[slackerboy]

because given the choice of posting this or doing the dishes, guess which one i chose

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Lord of the Screen Shot
Get My IronWorks Winamp skin

[MILAMBER]

bump

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"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."
-General George Patton (1885-1945)

[Lady Avalon]

Thanks Slackerboy for posting this. I am sure a lot of people will benefit by this information.

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[adam warlock]

Originally posted by slackerboy: because given the choice of posting this or doing the dishes, guess which one i chose

bet there's about over 7 month's worth of dirty dishes waiting to be cleaned in the kitchen sink....