Plugin for signatures?

feature
#8

Thx @falco for typing the requirements. I’m going to make some adjustments…

Priority 1
an image upload (or URL field) to place a single image (.png, .jpg or .gif). Max file size and dimensions to be checked.
a site wide option to enable this text area and signatures in general
a per user option on profile to see signatures below posts.

Priority 2
a text area on user profile that accepts and compiles the same markdown of posts. Max characters and no images allowed.

This may seem like a low important feature, BUT, the alternative is that users manually place these animated GIFs in the body of their messages, meaning that more users have to see these images that actually don’t want to. They start embedding links to external images that get placed in our messages.

By creating this feature, we end up keeping our message content much cleaner and creating a distinction between message and signature.

“We are the essence of what we DO! The part we each play in the cosmos. Doing good deeds for others is leaving our signature on the world.” ― Angie Karan

1 Like
#9

That would be waaaaaaaaaay better handled on signature save. Think of the data-caped users! They may want signatures while @ home and let the option turned on, but when on mobile I have lost my datacap to a single page filled with gifs.

You can either find a size that is good enough for both (200kb maybe?) or remove all on mobile version.

#10

Just didn’t know how easy it was to resize animated GIFs. We could ask the users to responsible for file size cap.

I think users would understand if we only made the option available for desktop. Or again made the option dual…
Display user signatures
Desktop
Mobile

1 Like
#11

Again, I want to remind people when looking at this feature not to just think about the users who are asking for it, but the users who don’t want to be forced to see it by users placing signatures manually in their posts.

“We are the essence of what we DO! The part we each play in the cosmos. Doing good deeds for others is leaving our signature on the world.” ― Angie Karan

2 Likes
#12

We had a number of users ask for these until we pointed out the User Cards.

Signatures are pretty disruptive to the overall process of reading and participating in forums, so I was really glad that profile cards sufficed for our group.

As @sam once put it:

Plugin seems like the right place for this, I would be quite disheartened if core development time was spent on something like Signatures.

4 Likes
#13

Is there a place to find developers who can develop Discourse plugins? :smile:

#14

@sam. I respect your thoughts on this. I just want you to keep in mind that our audience is very passionate about this. Meaning they will insert their signatures (animated GIFs) manually in the meantime. So, by not putting the signature in a separate field where it can be handled properly, we are forcing the rest of our community to see them.

“We are the essence of what we DO! The part we each play in the cosmos. Doing good deeds for others is leaving our signature on the world.” ― Angie Karan

1 Like
#15

This would be a very cool plugin to make, but I not 100% I can handle it alone. :pokerface:

@eviltrout we have a outlet inside the post that we can use to achieve signatures?

1 Like
#16

Sure, I can add that. Where would you want it to be?

2 Likes
#17

Other than the one that’s already in post.hbs?

</article>

{{post-gap post=this postStream=controller.model.postStream before="false"}}
{{plugin-outlet "post-bottom"}}
2 Likes
#18

I agree. I think signatures are old-fashioned, just create clutter and don’t contribute to a conversation in any way. If someone says something interesting, I’ll view their card or click through to their profile to find out more about them.

I’m glad Discourse doesn’t have signatures.

5 Likes
#19

@holden, if users started manually pasting signatures in their posts, wouldn’t you want the ability to turn those off? By not having a signature field, users in our community are looking to start pasting them into the body of their messages. My suggestion is to make displaying the signatures a user preference (default to not display)


“We are the essence of what we DO! The part we each play in the cosmos. Doing good deeds for others is leaving our signature on the world.” ― Angie Karan

#20

I think the one we have right now is good to show ads but for sigs it’s kinda strange for then to be after the post controls.

What about after the .cooked and before the .post-menu-area ?

#21

When that happens, a Moderator edits the Fake Signature out of the post and the member is asked to not do it again.

2 Likes
#22

@mittineague quite authoritative, but not practical with 6K+ messages per day. It would also make the users angry. I am a bit miffed why people would object to a signature field that is optional for users to enable for display. Other than the obvious work that the feature/plugin would entail to develop. If users want to enable the option, and it doesn’t impact others, I would think it’s a win/win.

#23

Yeah, and I think we all agree that sigs are bad. But you don’t take then away after decades and blame the software. Cultural changes like this can be harmful to the community. With a plugin you can make then smaller each quarter so things are a bit smoother.

5 Likes
#24

Hi @charleswalter Sorry, I misunderstood you. Giving users the ability to toggle sigs is a great idea if sigs are turned on.

Just saying, imo the internet would be a better place if sigs didn’t exist.

I can’t stand them from a design pov, which is one of the many reasons why I like Discourse so much.

And I can’t stand them from a users pov because I get so tired of seeing the same old sigs over and over. My brain just shuts them out like it does ads. I’m guessing this happens to most people, so what’s the point of having them take up so much space?

4 Likes
#25

But I hear what you guys are saying – your community wants them, so you want to make them happy, which is good :smile:

2 Likes
#26

Whatever space it is that the Translator ++ plugin is using seems to be ideal for this as well.

1 Like
#27

And what when they’re turned off? The users will do the same.

This solves nothing, and having a signature that’s multiple times the size of the post isn’t proving that signatures are a good idea IMO.

The usercard is essentially the same thing - and it’s completely optional for people seeing it, because they need to click it. It supports big, animated images, and other information.

7 Likes