# How Do Some Members Get Pictures into Their Signatures? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 23, 2004, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317 "2004-12-23T10:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/1 "2004-12-23T10:20:53Z")
I’ve noticed some members have little pictures inserted into their profiles. [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) is one typical example (notice the skull and cross bones at the end). Ever more odd, when I highlight and try to paste this icon some place else, I get a letter of the alphabet, in this case thus: > [@](#): > > N What does this all mean 😕 ? And how exactly do you get to put an image in your sig? Do you have to be a _Deluxe_ Charter Member, as opposed to just a simple Charter Member? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/2 "2004-12-23T10:35:47Z")
It’s a font, wingdings specifically. To get it to show up as you see it, type [Font=wingdings]N[/Font] but delete the space before the first “font”. Another common icon font is webdings. N in webdings is N. Normal Font: A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i J j K k L l M m N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & \* ( ) - = \_ + \ { } | ; ’ : " , . / \< \> ? Wingdings: A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i J j K k L l M m N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & \* ( ) - = \_ + \ { } | ; ’ : " , . / \< \> ? Webdings: A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i J j K k L l M m N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & \* ( ) - = \_ + \ { } | ; ’ : " , . / \< \> ? These aren’t viewable to anyone on Firefox, by the way. Anyone (including myself) using that browser (and similar ones?) just see the regular letter, number, or symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/3 "2004-12-23T13:27:31Z")
Hah. I had been wondering why some posters had a relatively large, single, seemingly irrelevant letter in their profiles. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/4 "2004-12-23T13:40:26Z")
What is that capital A in Webdings supposed to be? A gallows? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/5 "2004-12-23T14:02:24Z")
Considering all the houses and landscapes that the other letters are, I assume it’s a construction crane. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/6 "2004-12-23T14:29:18Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > These aren’t viewable to anyone on Firefox, by the way. Anyone (including myself) using that browser (and similar ones?) … I’m using Mozilla, and I don’t see it, so evidently yes. (And I didn’t know that Mozilla didn’t support these fonts until just now. Go figure.) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/7 "2004-12-23T14:41:32Z")
No joy in Opera on the Webdings, either. I have been idly wondering what the big bolded N was supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/8 "2004-12-23T14:49:54Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > These aren’t viewable to anyone on Firefox, by the way. Anyone (including myself) using that browser (and similar ones?) just see the regular letter, number, or symbol. D I use Firefox. I can see all the funny fonts. Therefore I am no one.L N blame my Macintosh which N use to surf the World Wide " ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/9 "2004-12-23T15:09:47Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Hah. I had been wondering why some posters had a relatively large, single, seemingly irrelevant letter in their profiles. Me too! I thought it was a cult. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/10 "2004-12-23T15:43:45Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > What is that capital A in Webdings supposed to be? A gallows? I thought it was a mail hook for a railroad…you know, the things that used to have mail bags hanging from them and the train would grab them as it went by? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/11 "2004-12-23T15:58:21Z")
You can specify any font you like, but it will only be displayed properly on other machines if the same font happens to be installed on them, for example, on my PC, this: _1234567890_ Looks like a barcode, but that’s only because I’ve specified a barcode font that happens to be installed on my machine; I expect it just looks like ordinary text to most people reading this. It’s the same thing with Wingdings, except it is installed by default with most versions of Windows - which makes it common, but not universal. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/12 "2004-12-23T17:29:41Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You can specify any font you like, but it will only be displayed properly on other machines if the same font happens to be installed on them This explanation makes sense, but is it true? Are **all** the special character problems caused by lack of the appropriate font? Some browsers do choke on html character tags: & # 8482 ™ [(see this thread)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=276454&page=2&pp=30) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/13 "2004-12-23T18:18:58Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > These aren’t viewable to anyone on Firefox, by the way. > [@Squink](#): > > I use Firefox. > I can see all the funny fonts. > [@Mangetout](#): > > You can specify any font you like, but it will only be displayed properly on other machines if the same font happens to be installed on them Ok, I’m using Firefox – on a Windows machine with both the WingDings and Webdings fonts installed – and I _don’t_ see the special characters. Is there any way to make them work with this browser? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/14 "2004-12-23T18:39:28Z")
76ygo8gy ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/15 "2004-12-23T22:13:04Z")
Happily my sig shows up on machines without the appropriate font as a row of Z’s … correctly implying my post was written whilst half asleep. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/16 "2004-12-24T16:30:10Z")
I use Firefox on Linux, and I can see the Webdings font correctly, but the Wingdings font in **Aesiron** ’s post shows up as text for me. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/17 "2004-12-25T02:34:11Z")
I just started using Firefox 1.0 and I’m not getting any of the special fonts, either. I can see them fine if I use IE (6.0). I’m still on Win98. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/18 "2004-12-26T11:19:32Z")
Weird. I use Opera and _used_ to see **Shrinking Violet** ’s signature properly. Recently I’ve only seen the ZZZs. I thought she’d changed it didn’t really understand why. Why would Opera no longer show the fonts correctly? I have (last time I checked) webdings and wingdings installed. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-members-get-pictures-into-their-signatures/281317/19 "2004-12-26T20:05:51Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > Weird. I use Opera and _used_ to see **Shrinking Violet** ’s signature properly. Recently I’ve only seen the ZZZs. I thought she’d changed it didn’t really understand why. Nope - [same as it ever was](http://www.marlowe.supanet.com/sdmbsig.jpg).