What's your opinion on forum signature limits?

[Arwen the webmaster]

Please take a minute to understand the issues surrounding this problem. Lots of sig banners or just one many-framed animation can take a long time to load for members with slower dial-up connections. They also can make threads look a little messy, and overpower the actual topic of the thread. However, as A-U is pretty graphics-focused, users enjoy showing the banners they've had dedicated to them. A banner limit would mean that users could change banners as often as they want, but not have all their banners displayed at once. A kilobyte limit would limit the size of the signature. For example, if a 100kb limit were imposed, and most still banners are about 20kb, users might only use five banners. An animated banner, however, might itself take up 100kb, and users would be limited to just one animated banner and nothing else.

If you have a high-speed internet connection, keep in mind that it's quite infuriating for people with dial-up to wait five minutes for a single page to load. If you have dial-up, keep in mind that for people with broadband, having to limit signatures just for slower connections can be a little irritating.

Please post why you voted the way you did and any specific rule suggestions you have. Remember to be respectful of people with opposing views!

Thanks.

[Frodo Baggins]

Of course I chose 1-2 banners. The reason being pages here are waaay too over-crowded with banners that both stretch the screen and take ages to load. I have been to pages here that are 3mb large, only because of the banners. I have a 2mb connection which is faster than most other internet users (The most common is 1mb) and still pages take a very long time to load.

[ElendilElessar]

I chose 1-2 banners. I think there should be a limit because with dial up, it can take a while for it to load. (About 5 minutes per page) The people who have a dsl should be considerate towards the people who dont.

No offense, but it is riddiculous how many banners some people have in their signatures.

[Myra]

I have dsl since half a year...but my computer is quite old. So it's acting weird sometimes with loading. And I fully understand the situation for the dial-up people because I experienced this too.
So we should be fair!
I voted 1-2 banners! 3 banners maximum!
Of course there are a lot of nice banners around....so....people could change it from times to times.
Don't forget....2 banners of A-U.-standard size are still a lot.
On a forum I was before we were only allowed to have banners with 100 pixels height...and only one banner at one....

[Alessae]

I understand both points of view, but I guess I feel sympathy with the people who have dial up more.
They may get irritated because the page is taking ages to load, and the people with broadband may get irritated because of the limitations of banners, but of the 2 irritations, I think the former is the most annoying.

When I used to have dsl, I used to get so annoyed at how long a page took to load that I just wouldn't go on those sort of sites anymore.
Now with broadband, it doesn't annoy me any more, but scrolling through loads and loads of banners gets really frustrating after a while.


(I know I sound like a really cranky, unpleaseable, frustrated person here, but honestly, I not! I just care for everyone and want to make myself heard!)

Al.

[BlueEyedGirl4God]

i totally agree with Alessae..
i used to have dial up and i can imagine it takes ages to load all those banners.
there is also something to the point of having more banners than actual posts.
so 1 or 2 banners is good.

[ElanortheFair]

I think that 3-4 is good, but if you get anymore it gets annoying to have to scroll down so much. I try to keep mine down, but sometimes it is hard. Animations are fine by me, because they don't really effect any of the computers I use. it also makes things look nicer. But if you have more, then it is just too much!

[Herenya]

I said 1-2, but if it's 3-4 I won't be bothered. It can slow computers down, and disrupt the flow of a thread. People with the creativity to acquire (or make) a lot of banners have the creativity to address how they will cope with a limit. (animations, regularly changing their banners, etc)

You creativity will NOT affect your computer. Especially when you have to use school computers.

[Arien Elensar]

I don't really think there should be a limit but if there was one it should be at five or six.

[Jasmine]

3-4 banners.. as long as they don't make you scroll horizontaly --> ;D

[TrueElvenWarrior]

i also think 1 or 2 becuase i have a dial up sonnection and it takes about 7 mintes for animated banners and lots of banners to load . and none of my other website will load untill all of grapics have loaded on another age

[Linwë Culnámo]

i think 3-4. i love having banners up and i can never choose which ones i want to put up! but i hate it when there's like 6 or 7 banners andd you have to scroll down forever! and it stinks for people who have a slow connection. and it clutters the pages.

[Elvawen]

I voted for 1 or 2. I can't stand it when people have like eight giant banners on their signature and you have to scroll down for like a year until you get to the post you're looking for.

[Arwëon]

I voted for the limit to be 1 or 2 banners. I understand that perhaps some people might have several banners, all of which are fantastic and that they love, but perhaps it would be better to swtich every now and then, rather then having 10 banners in your sig. Which, indeed *does* take forever to load. My computer has been having some problems, and as a result, has been rather slow. My posts have somewhat diminished on this forum, I'm afraid, because loading a thread just took waaaay too long. I'd really appreciate being able to get to the actual messages on the forum without all the sigs. They're a great way to add a little personal touch to your posts, but, no offense, but some people go a little overboard, and it's distracting. Thanks, Arwen, for taking the time to poll this!

[ranger of ithilian]

well--I understand totally about others who happen to have slower connection---and so--I think1-2-maybe 3 would be good.