Forums: Index → Watercooler → For those of you who want a flashy username...

This Forum is dedicated to the confused new member who wants a tricked out username like the rest of us. It's actually very easy to do once you understand what's required.

Step 1[]

First, you need to go up to the top of the Wikitroid page, and go to your little list of custom settings. Click on the collapsible "MORE" menu, and then click on the "My Preferences" link.

In the "User Profile" tab, (this is the default tab that you're already on) go down to the "Signature:" text bar. You already have a basic signature in this box, but don't mess with that just yet.

Check the checkbox that says Raw Signature beside it. This will allow you to incorporate HTML coding into the "Signature:" text bar above.

Step 2[]

Now here's where the hard work comes in. You are going to create the flashy signature that you've always dreamed about through HTML coding. Well, not really hard work, but HTML isn't fun to code from hand by the beginner. I will give you an example from my signature below, and will personally dissect it for you!

Armantula513

This is how my signature appears to you. I shaved off some of the Admin-only qualities of my signature, to help simplify it for you.

[[User:Armantula513|'''''Armantula''513''']]

This is how my signature appears to your computer. Yes, to the beginner, this can look a little intimidating. In about 2 minutes, it will be a lot simpler to you.

Making the Link[]

Let's start off with making your signature link to your user page. Yes, it is required here.

For this, you need to use a little wiki markup:

Here's your link

Cool, I made a link to my user page say something different than the name of the link destination! Take a careful look at the raw Wiki markup below.

[[User:Armantula513|Here's your link]]

A Pipe bar, " | " in there makes it all happen. The divisions provided by the pipe bar help to make the coding for just about every template & image thumb on this Wiki! The first division in this part of the signature should be the exact name of your user page. Do not make your signature link to any other place besides your user page, unless you specifically mark them as so.

The second division in this part of the signature should be what you want your signature to say. It could be as plain as just your basic username (without the "User:" in it) or you could go ahead & put some HTML color coding into it to make your flashy signature! Read on to learn more.

Coloring your name[]

There are all sorts of basic colors to choose from, these above occur as follows: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Teal, Blue, Purple, Indigo

USERNAME

This is the basic color coding that you should use. The things in this code that are customizable are in all caps. Don't modify anything other than these things, or the code will break, making it only appear as a raw code wherever you put it.

"COLOR": If you want to use one of the basic colors presented above, make sure to input them into the code without any spaces, and without more than two capital letters. Doing such things will make the color default to black, and black is boring.

If you want colors outside of this small range of basic ones, you'll need to find one, and then find it's name in Hexadecimal format. Don't freak out, it just means that you need to find the 6-number/letter name for it. It looks like this: "#000000" There can be capital letters, lowercase letters, and numbers in this format for a specific color.

"Wait, where can I find the ....hexadecimal format for my favorite color?"

Well, you can find palettes with hexadecimal formatting on various web design-helper sites, the most popular of which are for designing profiles for major social networking sites. You should have no problem locating one on a search engine. If you have the GIMP paint software, you automatically have the means necessary to find a color. Just pick a color from its color palette, and it will have the code displayed very prominently for you.

Just remember that you can always use any of the basic colors presented above. Hunting down the format for a very specific color might be overkill for some, and basic colors "shine more brightly" than most others in between. Just don't overdo it with the yellow!

Other effects[]

Obviously, you can put in basic effects such as bold and italics. Put the coding for these effects with the desired user name that you want displayed, i.e., in the second division of the signature code. You should already know how to make these effects from the start, since I know that you thoroughly read through the article creation guide.

These, however, should be placed around the color code like so:

(<effect>USERNAME</effect>)

BIG TEXT (<big>BIG TEXT</big>)
Little Text (Little Text)
~~slashed text~~ (<s>slashed text</s>)

Those are just a few. Many more await you, but you must discover them on your own journey into the internet.

And there you have it![]

These are the basics to customizing the look of your signature. There's only one step left.....

Notes[]

Note: Strictly speaking, using the names of the color to represent it ("green" for green, etc.) is not valid CSS level 2.1. It is recommended that you use the hex-encoded values (#544D3E or #FFF) or rgb-encoded values (rgb(255, 46, 35) or rgb(100%, 35%, 97%)) to ensure full compatibility with old brosers that do not correctly support CSS (as, strictly speaking, supporting names for colors is not required in the CSS standard). A list of hex- and rgb-encoded colors can be found on Wikipedia. Mainy programs, such as PSPad (text editor), Adobe Dreamweaver (web design app), the GIMP and Paint.NET (imaging programs) also have a built-in prompt for selecting hex- and rgb-encoded values. That said, nothing too bad should happen if you use them.

Step 3[]

Copy your code from wherever you made it, (you probably made it by just pressing the edit button on some random article) and paste it into the Signature text bar. Make sure to delete the contents first, since you don't want your signature to look like it has a conjoined twin. When you save the settings, your signature will appear on talk pages & forums whenever you type four tildes. (~~~~)

"Wait, my signature doesn't fit! What gives!?"

Well, your signature is probably just too big. This text bar can only hold so much text; I'm not sure how much, but I'm guessing around 400 characters. So, you're going to have to shave off some of those special effects that you put onto your awesome signature. Or....

You could go Piratehunter's way! He went & made a monstrously large signature (coding-wise), and he apparently just copies & pastes from an open text document. For the time & date, you could type 5 tildes right behind the code. Let's take a look at his signature:

Piratehunter_{ADMIN} (Talk•Contribs)

Yeah, that's really cool with the rolling colors, but wait until you scroll down!

[[User:Piratehunter|'''''P''''''''''i''''''''''r''''''''''a''''''''''t''''''''''e''''''''''h''''''''''u''''''''''n''''''''''t''''''''''e''''''''''r''''']]{'''ADMIN'''} ([[User talk:Piratehunter|Talk]]•[[Special:Contributions/Piratehunter|Contribs]])

Absolutely enormous. It's fine for him, and possibly you too, but we can't have everyone putting humongous signatures into the talk pages & forums. It would simply get too cluttered. I apologize in advance for using you as an example, Piratehunter!

And there is your guide for making a basic & awesome signature. So please, don't ask me again, freshman users. Armantula513_[ADMIN] (Talk•Contribs) 14:36, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Less Flashy[]

For those of you who don't want a username so vibrantly colored there are other colors to chose from such as this. Metroidhunter32

Multiple Links[]

You can also add multiple links to the signature. This is best for users who have multiple spaces in their usernames; that way, each word/phrase can link to a different page. Follow the instructions above...However', instead of having something like:

[[User:Moblin slayer|'''Moblin''' '''''Slayer''''']]

which would make my sig look like: Moblin Slayer. It may look identical to my normal sig, but it links only to my user page. If you like that, fine. But if you want to link your sig to multiple pages, you can divide it up, like

[[User:Moblin slayer|'''Moblin''']] [[User talk:Moblin slayer|'''''Slayer''''']]

That makes my sig look like: Moblin Slayer 23:07, 30 August 2008 (UTC). No, it may appear identical to the first sig, but it links to my user and talk page! If you don't believe me, try it; click "Moblin", then click "Slayer."

See the difference? You don't only have to link it to your user page and user talk page; you can link to any page you want. However, if you decide not to link to one of those pages, I would suggest linking to your contributions. That way, your sig would link to pages about you, which is the point of using a sig.

Moblin Slayer 23:07, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Discussion[]

Oh sure pick on me for being good at coding Armantula, that really hurt man, *Piratehunter starts to cry*. Heh, you know I'm kidding. But seriously to all of you who are reading this, I wouldn't advise creating an elaborate signature like mine. Because, just as Armantula stated, it clutters pages with vast HTML. So just try not to overdo it! Piratehunter_{ADMIN} (Talk•Contribs) 22:14, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

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