# Should sigs be automatic? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 31, 2000, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024 "2000-05-31T19:00:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billehunt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@billehunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billehunt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/21 "2000-06-01T17:13:34Z")
Let me say that again: Sigs suck. If someone has something so important to say that they have to say it every post, they should have to re-type it every post. Sigs are half a step above spam. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/22 "2000-06-01T19:38:48Z")
Da Ace quote: “I don’t really care either way about auto-sigs, but I desperately want to go back to having sigs attached to individual posts, rather than globally changed whenever the user makes a new sig. This new system, frankly, is stupid. I don’t want to change my sig on posts from November; I want to change it starting right now. (Whose brilliant idea was that, anyway?)” What he said! I **hate** that it changes every sig on every post. If you’re gonna diddle with the sig feature, fix that first before you worry about making it auto checked or not. Please. Thank you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/23 "2000-06-01T22:34:13Z")
It’s not “fixable.” It’s how the system is designed. We don’t much like it either. Sorry. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2000, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/24 "2000-06-01T23:23:45Z")
I was just thinking about this very topic, and how I’d prefer auto-sig off. 'Course I’ve been debating if it’s time to delete my sig again. Didn’t have one for the longest time, just got one to join the crowd showing off my title. But I figure it’s old, time to move on. But yeah, gotta side with the folks who wish sigs didn’t change on old posts. Oh well. That’s one thought, actually. If I now remove my sig from the profile, that means I lose it from all my old posts, right? _grumble grumble_ ---
**Author:** ![timmar68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@timmar68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timmar68)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/25 "2000-06-02T01:31:31Z")
I’m impartial. I do like reading witty sigs but if it will help the system it wouldn’t bother me if we got rid of them. ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/26 "2000-06-02T02:17:46Z")
I vote that sigs should not be automatic. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/27 "2000-06-02T02:36:20Z")
I like having sig default to Show Signature. I like reading sigs. I know **TubaDiva** said they can’t change it, but having sigs globally change is not good. **Democritus** commented about my sig for this month (June is Gay Pride) in another thread, when I change it back, what he said will not make sense. It now has a link: [SO & Me](http://members.aol.com/ljgrafix/20yrs.html) ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/28 "2000-06-02T04:35:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > No one seriously thinks Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays, I hope. > > Well, **Duh**! > > Any idiot knows it was Kit Marlowe. . . . > \*\* > [@](#): > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\* > > No one seriously thinks Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays, I hope.\*\* > > Roger or Francis? (You can probably find people claiming both.) > > Or what about Queen Elizabeth? No one would believe that a mere woman could do something as complicated and tricky as writing a play in free verse, so she got this buddy of hers… > > No! No! It was the Earl of Essex! (Or was it Exeter? Oxford? ) How about Marco Polo – that guy could write! And that Prester John character could’ve done it, too. > \*\* Hey, I might concede any of these fine individuals as possible authors of such winners as Titus Andronicus, Troilus and Cressida, or the Merry Wives of Windsor… BTW, Titus Andronicus is a truly disturbing play… ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/29 "2000-06-02T05:24:19Z")
## I have added my sig because I forgot to uncheck it. I would rather not have my sig because I forgot to check it. A note to sig haters: You can avoid looking at them in single page threads by going to the “Post Reply” screen and reading the thread backwards. I used to do this sometimes when the Board wasn’t as slow as it has been recently. ( No sig ) ---
**Author:** ![Minxsmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Minxsmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minxsmom)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2000, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/30 "2000-06-02T23:24:08Z")
As far as the sig’s go, it doesn’t really matter to me. It’s just as easy to check the box to remove it as it is to check the box to add it. I hate to say this since I really do enjoy reading most of the sigs, but, some of them _are_ getting out of hand. Maybe you should do away with them altogether. That way, anyone who really wants a sig on their post would have to type it in each time. I have no doubt people would do that (I know I would), but it would certainly cut down on sig length and the number of times it would appear (no one is going to type a lengthy sig on every post). Just my $0.02. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2000, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/31 "2000-06-03T09:37:03Z")
I think only cool guys like me should be allowed to have sigs at all. Okay, okay, I’m full of it, I know. ::ahem:: I think automatic sig lines just render all us 'Dopers lazy. And laziness is the wet-nurse of ignorance. So auto-sigs go BYE-BYE, says I! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2000, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/32 "2000-06-03T12:34:03Z")
I’m surprised at the number of people who think we ought to do away with sigs altogether. I disagree–a sig line is like your own personal banner flying, and I think we ought to keep them. I don’t have any problem with sig length, either. If somebody wants to have an entire chapter from a Dickens novel as his sig, that’s fine with me. And as far as eating up bandwidth, it was my understanding that the bandwidth problem was with graphics, especially huge graphics, not text. Does it really slow things down if the server has to go and get a really long sig out of your profile every time you post? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2000, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/33 "2000-06-03T13:54:29Z")
Sometime next week we’ll be changing the sig option. Thanks for your comments, they’ve been illuminating. And my understanding on the situation (which may or may not be correct but is what I’m going with here) is that while big chunks of data like graphic files are the biggest drag on the system, text takes its toll, especially something that repeats over and over again, like sig files. One file by itself is no big deal, but when multiplied by manny peoples and posts, it’s a heap o’bandwidth. I’m on several Listservs, and they all either ban sig files outright or they have a fixed limit, usually under 5 lines. Just my opinion, but why would you need more? Sometimes less IS more, dear hearts. your humble TubaDiva Administrator The Straight Dope ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2000, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/34 "2000-06-03T14:58:41Z")
> [@](#): > > originally posted by Duck Duck Goose: > I don’t have any problem with sig length, either. If somebody wants to have an entire chapter from a Dickens novel as his sig, that’s fine with me. And as far as eating up bandwidth, it was my understanding that the bandwidth problem was with graphics, especially huge graphics, not text. Does it really slow things down if the server has to go and get a really long sig out of your profile every time you post? What if it weren’t a chapter from a Dickens novel, but a few pages from Barbara Cartland? :eek: The sig is also retrieved every time the thread is viewed (as we can tell due to the fact that the signature changes on all your posts.) Since vBulletin, as I understand it, has a database to store information, that can be many database accesses for a thread, and database accesses take time. The quantity of data you have to retrieve also determines the time taken by the database access. (note: any technical statements made in this post consist of WAG’s.) ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/35 "2000-06-04T05:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > And my understanding on the situation (which may or may not be correct but is what I’m going with here) is that while big chunks of data like graphic files are the biggest drag on the system, text takes its toll, especially something that repeats over and over again, like sig files. > > your humble TubaDiva > Administrator > The Straight Dope [semi-hijack] Well, I was amazed by the fact that the signatures are defaulted to be pulled from a database each time a thread is called. [I actually started this before Arnold posted his WAGs but…]You’d need a fast system to handle that on a board like this. Anyway, I’ve noticed I’ve entered myself into a habit of an manual signature. Maybe because I like playing with the new subscript tag. And since I’m never very creative with sigs, I probably won’t miss them **SterlingNorth** [sub]This is almost like an obsessive compulsion that I need a sig[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/36 "2000-06-04T15:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > And since I’m never very creative with sigs, I probably won’t miss them > > \*\* Let me repeat that. WE ARE NOT BANNING SIGS! You’ll merely have to click the box to get them to display – like you did on UBB. It won’t be automatic. That’s all. We ARE policing overly long sigs. If it’s more than 4 or 5 lines, we’re going to ask you to change it. Nicely. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![X-files](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@X-files](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X-files)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/37 "2000-06-04T19:33:44Z")
I’ve heard people say long sigs are bad, that they somehow slow down the system, and that sounds wrong, technically. I would bet all sigs we’ve seen to date take the identical time to retrieve, being well under 2k bytes, the smallest clustersize on any modern disk. Also, the same people who put long sigs are usually longwinded in general, so it seems to suit them. (Note: I only have had one long sig, and prefer short ones, so I’m not just speaking for myself here.) ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2000, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/38 "2000-06-05T14:11:32Z")
Automatic sigs are doubleplus ungood. ---
**Author:** ![SteelToes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba8739/32.png) [@SteelToes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteelToes)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/39 "2000-06-05T15:15:16Z")
Sigs? I say smokem if yagotem. ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2000, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024/40 "2000-06-06T03:32:42Z")
Signatures, yes. In fact, I’m testing mine now. I suppose it would be out of line to put up a mild-tempered request for people to keep theirs simple? Six lines with varing degrees of vB code can be frustrating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sigs-be-automatic/21024.md?page=3)