• This page contains information on how to create a custom signature to sign your work with.
  • Additions to articles should never, ever be signed. It's against the collaborative spirit of a Wiki.
• A custom signature elsewhere is by no means essential, but it helps to make your posts more individual.
• With custom signatures as with the default signature, please observe the Lostpedia policy on signatures.

How to create a custom signatureEdit

• Create a subpage in your userspace named User:your username/sig (i.e. User:JohnLocke/sig).
  • Edit this new page so that your desired signature is on it (see Basic Wikisyntax below for some basic colour/formatting/linking syntax).
  • Save the changes that you have made to the page.
• Create a subpage in your userspace named User:your username/autosig (i.e. User:JohnLocke/autosig).
  • Edit this new page and type in the following (exactly as you see it but with your name; do not use full code this time):
    {{User:your username/sig}}
• In Special:Preferences, make the following changes:
  • In the Signature text input field under the User Profile section type {{SUBST:User:your username/autosig}}. If you missed typing the SUBST: part, the MediaWiki software automatically adds it when you save the settings.
  • Ensure that the name in the Signature input field is between double curly brackets, i.e. {{ and }}.
  • Tick the Custom signature checkbox (this is vital as it ensures that when you sign only the signature will be shown, and not all the color codes etc that you've used to make it).
  • Save the changes you have made.
• Sign posts as you usually would, with four tilde characters (~~~~).

Basic WikisyntaxEdit

• The most common elements of Wikisyntax used in signatures are links, colour commands, and fonts.

Adding linksEdit

• Most commonly, you will wish to link to your User page, and your User talk page from your signature. This is achieved using standard wiki links; e.g.
  • [[User:JohnLocke|John]][[User talk:JohnLocke|Locke]]
    • This links to the User page of a user named JohnLocke via the [[User:JohnLocke|John]] element.
    • And to the User talk page from the [[User talk:JohnLocke|Locke]] element.
    • This sig is rendered as JohnLocke by Lostpedia.

Using colorsEdit

• To specify colors, use the <span style="color:#RRGGBB"> HTML command within the Wikilink. To return to the default colour, use the </span> command. The colour is specified as an hexadecimal RGB value.
• For example, to create a signature linking to User: and User Talk: pages for a Lostpedian called JohnLocke in red and blue, use:
  • [[User:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#FF0000">John</span>]][[User talk:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#0000FF">Locke</span>]]
    • This links to the User page, in red, via the [[User:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#FF0000">John</span>]] element.
    • And to the User talk page, in blue, via the [[User talk:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#0000FF">Locke</span>]] element.
    • This signature is rendered as JohnLocke by LostPedia.
• You can use this color palette to help you.

Using fontsEdit

• You may specify a font other than the default for your signature using the <font face="your font name here"> syntax. </font> is the corresponding 'close' tag for this.
  • Please bear in mind that fonts are dependent on what your browser supports, and what the other users of Lostpedia have installed.. They are not present on the Lostpedia server, but rather are rendered using your web browser, and are dependent on what fonts the user has installed.
  • As a result, it's good practice to select a common font, which is supported by as many browsers/operating systems as is possible, if a signature is to render properly for other Lostpedians.
• For example, to use the common 'Impact' font in the JohnLocke signature discussed above, use:
  • <font face="Impact">[[User:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#FF0000">John</span>]][[User talk:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#0000FF">Locke</span>]]</font>
  • This signature is rendered as JohnLocke by Lostpedia.

Font sizesEdit

• To change the size of the font in your signature, add in "font size" at the beginning of your font tag and specify your desired size with a number, like so:
  <font size="#">YOUR SIGNATURE HERE</font>
  • A font size of 1 would be rendered as:YOUR SIGNATURE HERE
  • A font size of 2 would be rendered as:YOUR SIGNATURE HERE
  • A font size of 3 would be rendered as:YOUR SIGNATURE HERE
  • ..and so on.
• For example, to recreate the JohnLocke signature used above, but with a larger font, use:

<font size="5" face="Impact">[[User:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#FF0000">John</span>]]
[[User talk:JohnLocke|<span style="color:#0000FF">Locke</span>]]</font>

• • • This signature is rendered as JohnLocke, by Lostpedia.

Dummyproof step-by-step method for making your first sigEdit

If this article is confusing, but you want to get started with your first custom sig, ignore the rest of this article, and follow only the four instructions below in this section:

1) Create "sig" page:

a) In the search box, using your own Lostpedia username in the place the red portion, enter:

User:YOURNAMEHERE/sig

b) Press "Go", resulting in the message:

"There is currently no text in this page, you can search for this page title in other pages or edit this page."

c) Click: "edit this page"

d) Into this page, cut and paste the following code:

<font face="Fantasy">[[User:YOURNAMEHERE|<span font="Fantasy"; style="color: #3366FF;">YOURNAMEHERE</span>]]</font>|<font face="Verdana"><small>[[User Talk:YOURNAMEHERE|<span style="color: #0099AA;">talk</span>]]</small></font>|<font face="Arial"><small>[[Special:Contributions/YOURNAMEHERE|<span style="color: #FFAA99;">''contributions''</span>]]</small></font>

e) After pasting, now replace the red text with your Lostpedia username.

f) Click: "Save page"

2) Create "autosig" page:

a) In the search box, using your own username for the red portion, enter:

User:YOURNAMEHERE/autosig

b) Press "Go", resulting in the message:

"There is currently no text in this page, you can search for this page title in other pages or edit this page."

c) Click: "edit this page"

d) Into this page, cut and paste the following code for a default sig:

{{User:YOURUSERNAME/sig}}

e) Replace the red text with your exact username.

f) Click: "Save page"

3) Change preferences:

a) click: "my preferences" (at top of page)

b) Select tab: "User profile"

c) In "Signature" put:

{{User:YOURUSERNAME/autosig}}

d)replace red text with your username

e) Check the box: "Custom signature (Check this box to create a custom signature in the field above. The signature uses the same wiki markup that a regular page does, including links.)"

f) Click: "Save"

Note: (you'll see: {{SUBST:user:YOURUSERNAME/autosig}} )

4) You're done. Your sig will now be generated when you sign talk pages with four tildes: ~~~~

a) As a test, try signing on your userpage:

i) Click: "my talk" at the top of the page

ii) Click "edit"

iii) Type the following:

TEST --~~~~

iv) Click: "Save page"

b) Now that your sig works, you may begin to customize it by referring to the other information available on this page.

Further informationEdit

• Observe Lostpedia protocol regarding courtesy: Never copy someone else's signature directly, regardless of how much you like it!
• WP:DICK: Don't be a dick; don't have a signature which is huge, offensive, incorporates images, or incorporates templates.
• Some common fonts, which will work on most systems.
• Nickb123 has written an excellent guide to creating a user page, with some info on signatures as well; you can find it here.

--sam 12:20, May 30, 2011 (UTC)krashley