Signature deleted

Owen

My sig pretty much hasn't changed in 2 years. It used to have images, but in an effort to quieten it, it just had a single line of text saying "I do SMART repairs in Cork at your home or workplace" which was a link to my business facebook page.

I also had my ads on adverts.ie linked.

Tonight, it's been deleted with 'hidden link' put in it's place. I just don't get it ... I'm an active boards user, I've 8k posts, I contribute to this forum and have put up DIY guides for users which people have found helpful, I contribute hugely in the Motors Forum with free advice, and my reward is now to have a single text line of inoffensive text removed from my sig, even though it's been the same for nearly 2 years? There are mods with paragraphs of poetry for signatures which seem to be fine, and my was much smaller than any of theirs - so it's not the size. And I can't see how a single line linking to my business FB page could be offensive, especially when there's nothing hidden - I clearly explained what the business is as per the sig rules.

Could someone explain why? I can't have a link to my own business which is struggling to survive - DESPITE the fact that I never ever shill on here and always try to remain impartial - then I'm done with being a helpful contributor here, and offering my free expertise, advice and time to those in the instruments/motors/motors tech/apple media devices/xbox forums. This is supposed to be a community, but I'm seeing no community spirit

Zaph

Just because your signature has been the same for so long doesn't mean it has been compliant with the sig rules. It just means that it hadn't previously come to an admin's attention before it was reported or they spotted it themself. Your sig broke two of the sig rules:

* Text: Including horizontal spaces - 4 lines normal size (font size 2) OR 8 lines small size (font size 1). Font sizes above 2 are not allowed. Do not use the tags. Carriage returns/new lines are a separate line, so if your sig has three lines of text separated by two spacer lines - that's 5 lines.

Your sig had 5 lines of text and another spacer line.

* Sigs may contain a simple text only link to other websites, including a business (i.e. www.mysite.com - no images), but a disguised link (i.e. Come buy really cheap electronics here, we're having a huge sale, come on down!) or an image banner to that site is not allowed.

Your sig contained a disguised link to your Facebook page. The link should be the url only.

Admins are not omnipresent, and it's quite possible for many users with oversized or otherwise non-compliant sigs to go undetected for a long time. We rely on posters reporting these sigs to us so that they can be dealt with. So just because you see a large sig, it doesn't mean that it has been approved, simply that it hasn't been brought to the attention of an admin, which you are quite at liberty to do should you so choose.

Owen

But FB links are gibberish! How am I supposed to link someone to a business page which is allowed under the rules, but using an address with hashes in it, exclamation marks, and no description of what it is? I take exception with the word disguised - I clearly stated in simple english what the link was about. Couldn't be any more transparent.

I don't know why I'm bothering to try and get my old sig back, no one's going to give a sh*t anyway. As per my first post, I'm done being a helpful contributor around here if I can't have a simple signature which is far less offensive than many of the sigs here conveniently going un-noticed.

Thanks at least for taking the time to reply.

Zaph

Actually your Facebook page url isn't full of exclamation marks and would be perfectly acceptable in a sig - http://www.facebook.com/paintdoctor.ie

Owen

D'you know, even if it was google.com, it wouldn't matter. The principle is what irks me. I'm around here over 5 years and offer my time and my advice freely to anyone who wants it, and I've been doing it under some false delusional sense of community. Of course I realise someone'll just post 'Well, you're around long enough to know the rules'.

I thought when these rules were being discussed in FF, they were going to be guidelines and common sense would prevail. Obviously not.

Thanks any Zaph, case closed. Disappointed as I thought I had a very discreet sig, but there you go.

Darragh

I respectfully suggest you amend your signature. Frustration aside, if you want to be dealt with on the site as a professional, then perhaps your signature doesn't give the best impression of you being one.

Owen

Says the Community Manager who never responded to my PM a year ago. I'll pass on the guidelines for professionalism from you.

If my business suffers from what my sig says on here - that's my choice to make. I personally don't believe it will. I'm still getting PMs today about work, and my record in providing a valuable, impartial resource to people here will stand to me. I'm respected in the small few forums I frequent. I've already had one poster say he's shocked about the sig change, and thought it was bad form.

Someone decided to take the very petty step of deleting my signature based on rules which clearly are designed for ostentacious sigs, as opposed to mine - which if they were infringing the guidelines, were doing so in the most miniscule, minor, and informal method possible.

What's just depressing about all this - apart from the fact that it's ridiculously petty - is that no effort whatsoever has been made by anyone to say 'Jeez, we're sorry, listen, it really wasn't that bad, belt away just remove a line or two of the ads', or something of that effect.

Darragh

You PM'd me a year ago and I never responded? My apologies. What was it about?

What's just depressing about all this - apart from the fact that it's ridiculously petty - is that no effort whatsoever has been made by anyone to say 'Jeez, we're sorry, listen, it really wasn't that bad, belt away just remove a line or two of the ads', or something of that effect.

Would that help? If so I am happy to say so - I don't think there was an intentional action here to annoy/inconvenience YOU - it's just that your signature broke the rules and so was removed. Standard practise. There are rules to be followed and our volunteers are just following them.

So, feel free to put what you like in your signature as long as it follows the signature guidelines.

I am happy for you to put a link to your website/facebook page in your signature, and furthermore, you can take it from me that when we launch our Verified representative project (coming soon, that will offer businesses the chance to represent their company on the forum where appropriate), as a thank you for being a valuable resource to other members in the forums where you interact, I'll give you your account for free. How's that?

Owen

Okay, that single post has completely changed my mind. Not because of the freebie (Which is still a welcome bonus), but just the fact that there's an open mind at the end of the intertubes connecting us. That means more to me that anything else.

Darragh

Happy to oblige! We don't get everything right all of the time, but there is a genuine intention here to do the right thing. As long as you know that, I'm happy