Signature FAQ

[i am a raging faggot who loves big dicks]

Fire Emblem Sanctuary of Strategy Pictures proudly presents
“The Sig FAQ”
ver 1.3

Oi!  All these questions about sigs lately.  Well, in response to these, I've put together this FAQ called “How to make a Signature on FESS.”  Cue the cheesy 50's school documentary music and let's begin.

If you have any additional questions, this is the place to ask.

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS DOCUMENT:

1) How do I create a sig?
2) How do I put an image in my sig?
3) How do I add a link to my sig?
4) Can I use an image as a link?
5) How do I tell how big my image is in KB?
6) How do I tell how big my image is in pixels?
7) How do I change a .bmp to a .jpg, .gif, or .png?
8) What is plagerism?
9) Why does it keep telling me "No dynamic pages allowed" whenever I try to post an image.

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#1
Q: Professor Johnson!  How do I create a sig?
A: Well, young Johnny, it's easy.   First go to your "My controls."  You'll find the link near the top of the page, usually just under an annoying Google ad.  Then just click on "Edit Signature" on the left-hand side of the screen and enter you sig in the text box.  Once you're down, click on "Update My Sig" and volia!  You now have a signature.  Remember to read the FESS Manual to make sure your sig is acceptable.

added ver 1.2, 6/10/05

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#2
Q: How do add an image to my sig?
A: Excellent question!  First, you'll need an image to add.  It must be no bigger than 550 pixels across and 350 pixels high.  It must also be no bigger than 300KB.  Remember, kids, if your image is too big, the moderators will come and eat your soul!  It also must be a JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg), a GIF (.gif), or a PNG (.png) file to show up online.  Once you have an acceptable image, adding it to your sig is simple.  In the text entry area, add the following:

Code:

1 [img]http://location of image[/img]

All you have to do is replace the "location of image" text with the actual location of the image on the web, for example, http://www.dmajohnson.com/junk/fonz.jpg will give you this image:



altered ver 1.2, 6/10/05

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#3
Q: How do I add a link to my signature?
A: Well, first, you must make sure that the link meets our strict FESS standards.  You may not link to other Fire Emblem sites in your sig, understand?  You are also not allowed to link to mp3 files, warez sites, porn, or otherwise “tasteless” content. Your link must also not be any larger than the normal font.  If you are not sure if your link is allowed, it is best to contact one of the moderators or admins and get permission first.

Okay, if your link is good to go, simply add the following:

Code:

1 [url]http://location of site[/url]

For example, http://www.dmajohnson.com/djpro links to one of my sites.

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#4
Q: How do I link to another site using an image
A: Whoa, there, Johnny!  None of that, now.  For the sanity of our board members, you may not create an image that serves as a link.  There are no exceptions to this rule.

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#5
Q: You said that I can’t put up an image in my sig larger than 300KB.  What is a KB and how can I tell how big my image is?
A: There, there.  Don’t worry your little head.  KB stands for kilobyte, and is roughly 1,000 bytes in size (technically 1,024 bytes, but who’s counting).  Bytes are used to measure how much space a file takes up on your hard drive.  People with slow internet connections will have trouble opening larger files, so it’s courteous to keep your images under control.

To check how big a given image is, right click on the image (or “control-click” on a Mac with a one-button mouse) and select “Properties.”  Check under size to see how big the image is in bytes.  For example, let’s take the Fonzie image a couple questions back.  Right-click, select properties, and we can clearly see that it’s 9,704 bytes in size.  Since we know that a KB is about 1,000 bytes, that means that 9,704 bytes is about 9KB, almost 10 in fact.

Just make sure the number listed is smaller than 300,000 bytes, and you should be good to go.

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#6
Q: What about checking the size of an image?
A: Check the question above.  You can check an image size the same way.

added ver 1.1, 6/9/05

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#7
Q: My image has to be a .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .gif file, right?  Right now my image is a bitmap file (.bmp).  How do I turn it into one of those?
A: Although you could put a .bmp in your sig, it's not a very good idea.  Bitmap files can be huge, and they won't always display correctly.

In Windows, the easiest way is to open it up in Microsoft Paint, and from the main menu select File>Save As…  At the bottom of the “Save As” dialog box, they’ll be an option called “Save as type.”  From there you can select the file type you need.  Pictures should generally be .jpg files, and game sprites look best as .gif or .png files.  Be warned that Paint doesn’t always do a good job saving.  If you want, you can also try the freeware imaging program “Irfanview” which will do a better job saving files, but is a little bit more complicated to explain.

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#8
Q: The Manual of FESS Prowess says not to plagiarize images.  What does that mean?
A: Well, looks like someone fell asleep in English class.  Besides me, I mean.  Anywho, plagiarism is stealing someone’s work and using it without giving them credit, and claiming it as your own.  It can also be used in a general sense to mean using someone’s work without their permission.

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#9
Q: Okay, I should have everything set up for my sig - But whenever I try to include an image it keeps coming up with this screen saying something about not allowing "dynamic pages."  What's going on here?
A: Don't worry - This has even stumped me before!  Basically, InvisionFree, our board system, is giving you a complex explination to what is generally one of three basic errors.  Either you forgot to include the .png, .jpg, .gif, etc. suffix at the end of the file name, you typed the address wrong, or the image file doesn't exist.  First check your spelling, and then check to see if the image is at the address you think it is.  You can do the later by manually typing (or copying and pasting) the full address into the address bar and seeing if the image comes up.  Also, make sure you've included http:// at the beginning of the image address.

If the image shows up just fine otherwise, but you're still having problems, please post the details here as a reply to this thread.

added ver 1.3, 6/12/05

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--dmajohnson