Bulbapedia:Signature policy

Signing your comments on talk and discussion pages is considered good etiquette, serving to identify the author of a comment. To this end, it is important to sign your comments with a signature that is both recognizable and non-disruptive.

When to use signatures

Any post to User talk, Article talk, or other discussion page should be signed. Article contributions should not be signed. Exceptions to these rules will generally be marked as such.

How to sign a comment

Signing your comments is easy: simply type four tildes (~~~~) after your post. This will automatically translate into your signature when you save the page. Alternately, you can click the "your signature with a timestamp" button () on the editing toolbar (just above the editing window). In both cases, the result is the same.

Dealing with unsigned comments

When running across a comment that hasn't been signed, any user can add attribution using {{Template:Unsigned}}. Simply check the article's history to see who originally posted the comment, then type {{SUBST:unsigned|username}} after the comment in question (make sure you give correct credit to the correct comment).

Customize your signature

By default, a user's signature will link back to their user page and user talk page. If a user desires, the signature can be customized, but it is required that you keep within the following guidelines and common sense when customizing your signature.

Signature guidelines

• All signatures will be text-only and not exceed 80 characters on-screen when rendered.

Refrain from adding images to your signature, and keep the signature's length within a reasonable size, as this can cause a signature to be needlessly distracting.

• No line breaks.

Do not use <br> tags or linebreaks within the signature, as this will cause the signature to take up multiple lines of text on a page.

• The font size of the signature will be no larger than the font size of normal text.

Do not use <big> or <font size=#> tags to increase the text size of the signature. This will disrupt line spacing.

• No signature templates.

Keep the entirety of your signature's coding within your Preferences; do not use {{transclusion}} to add your signature, as a changeable signature template can cause server stress when changed, and may be a target for vandalism.

• A link to the user page, at minimum, and a link to the user talk page is recommended.

Make sure that your signature at least links back to your own user page; a link to your user talk page also makes it simpler for other users to contact you, although it isn't required. Your signature may contain other links as well, but exercise common sense when adding links.

Failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in a warning to change your signature; deliberately refusing to adhere may result in a ban.

How to customize your signature

Users can customize their signature in their preferences; type the signature you want to use in the Nickname field, to replace your username with the desired nickname when signing (remember to keep the signature a reflection of your username, to avoid confusion with other users).

For slightly more advanced users, wikicoding can be included into the signature to further personalize it. In this case, be sure to check the "Raw Signatures" box under the Nickname field in your preferences (otherwise, the coding won't work). You'll need to manually link to your user page in this case.

For example, let's say User:Example wants to add a little color to his/her signature.

Adding this coding:

--[[User:Example|<font color="green";>eXample</font>]] <small>''([[User talk:Example|<font color="red";>tAlk</font>]])''</small>

Would result in this signature:

--eXample (tAlk) 17:26, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

The amount of coding and effects you could theoretically add to your signature may seem very enticing, but keep the above signature guidelines in mind. Remember, your signature is meant to identify you on a discussion page, not to briefly list off your favorite Pokémon, etc. Keep your signature simple; you've got a whole user page to introduce yourself in. When in doubt about an aspect of this policy, don't hesitate to ask User:Jioruji Derako or any other Bulbapedia Administrator.

See also

• Wikipedia:How to fix your signature (in case your signature coding doesn't seem to work)