You know those incredibly irritating twitter follow me buttons popping up in signatures? Or those four line deep ones that take up more space than the comment itself? Or the ones with links in them that you accidentally click and take you away from the thread?
Yeah, I loathe those as well and I'm trying to do something about it. The SB Nation settings already allow you the user to opt out of seeing other people's avatars. Why a similar option to avoid seeing signatures doesn't exist is beyond me. I asked them and they replied that they have no plans for such a feature. I find that unacceptable and I think they need to be informed how much it bugs people. Maybe with enough people telling them how much signatures are annoying, they'll listen. So, if it's a matter that bugs you at all, or even if not and you're willing to do me a favor, please drop them an e-mail (support@sbnation.com) and/or a tweet (@SBNProductTeam) and let them know that you'd like to be able to hide signatures.
Thank you.
22 recs | 68 comments
As a person that had a link in their signature line, I have deleted it after this message.
I think it isn’t too much to ask that anyone that wants to comment on here have no signature period.
Ballard Erik - January 12, 2012
The problem with that is the single SBN logon
Most sites don’t really care about sig lines, so they’re pretty common across the network. I have no problem with their existence, I just don’t want to see them.
pdb - January 12, 2012
I deleted mine as well.
I don’t really have a problem with them, but the twiiter follow links are hideous, and at this point my signature was basically irrelevant (Doug Fister isn’t even on the Mariners anymore! But I mean Dave Niehaus should still rest in peace). I will shoot them a tweet, I feel like it’d be a really easy thing to install, and it seems like Matthew, as well as many others, have been asking for this for a while.
SeaKoala - January 12, 2012
You don't go to another man's house and put your feet up on the couch
because you like it. I like to think of this site as Matthew and Jeff’s apartment, and they are living in a Bert and Ernie situation, but with swears. So you should behave how they would like their guests to behave.
Ballard Erik - January 12, 2012
In that analogy though
Matthew and Jeff are just building managers who still have to cede ultimate control to the landlord that is SBN. SBN allows sig lines, and SBN has a single log-in which makes it easy for one person to join multiple SBN sites, most of which don’t really care whether people have sig lines or not.
if a person only ever visits LL, sure, then LL can dictate sig line behavior. As long as SBN is the boss, though, all LL can do is request that sig lines be made invisible for those who don’t want to see them.
pdb - January 12, 2012
No, in that analogy Matthew and Jeff are Charlie and Eddie Murphy.
ThomasG - January 12, 2012
And Graham is Rick James.
JamMasterJesus - January 12, 2012
We have links for websites in our profiles.
They seem superfluous in signatures (I can get away with saying because mine is gone)
JY - January 12, 2012 via mobile
At the very least, target="new"
TARGET EQUALS NEW!!!!!!!11
Matthew - January 12, 2012
Side note to SBN (sorry for the derail, Matthew):
Can the default behavior for all links be that hat they all open in new tabs?
pdb - January 12, 2012
*be that they open in new tabs
although if a link could give me a hat that’d be cool too
pdb - January 12, 2012
Just for you Matthew,
I finally made this change in my sig. I’m so used to middle-clicking almost everything that I forget other people don’t.
appleshampoo - January 12, 2012
My experience, and listening to other people's, has been it's mostly a case of mistakenly clicking on the sign link
instead of the reply button, for example. And then your window gets taken over and now you’ve lost the new comments
Matthew - January 12, 2012
Email sent
The multi-line signatures have always bugged me.
JeffJ254 - January 12, 2012
This is the best fanpost in years
Poochie - January 12, 2012
Message sent
I agree wholeheartedly.
Kyleo84 - January 12, 2012
Message Received
Hey guys. Luke ZImmermann, SB Nation Community Manager here. I just wanted to let you guys know that we hear you loud and clear. We love seeing people as passionate about the platform as we are. We’re by no means set in our ways against the option for individual communities to disable signatures. In fact, particularly upon seeing the groundswell of support for it, we’re totally open to it. While we didn’t already have a case in our backlog to investigate the feasibility from a more network wide perspective, we’re going to start that process now and make sure this thing gets the due diligence it deserves. While we don’t have a time frame on making a decision to implement something like that, we’re right on the same page with all of you and want to minimize the same frustrations and annoyances you guys do. While we’re planning some exciting new things for the entire SB Nation platform in the coming year, this is definitely something we’ll give a higher priority and can hopefully come to an end game that minimizes the kind of hassles that gives so much as a second’s pause as to coming back to Lookout Landing on a daily (nay, hourly) basis. Thanks guys!
Luke Zimmermann - January 12, 2012
Also remember
That there are a lot of factors that go into changes like this. Say for example, I want to get feedback on a platform change. It would be confusing to individuals who have blocked signatures to determine why I am asking for feedback when keeping my signature in the comment allows everything to be much more clear. Like Luke has stated, it is definitely worth considering but it is not black and white and does need to be carefully done. Thanks for your understanding!
Cory Williams - January 12, 2012
I'm sympathetic that nothing is ever black and white, but
are you seriously trying to say that needing “Community Manager” in your sig line is a blocker? You couldn’t include your role in your comment when you asked for feedback?
I mean, come on.
Matthew - January 12, 2012
It was simply an example
We all agree that it is worth looking into.
Cory Williams - January 12, 2012
My main issue with signatures is illustrated here
Your 2nd response in this subthread consists of six lines, half of which repeat the signature info. I can’t see those lines without involuntarily reading them again at least fleetingly. It’s annoying to read threads interrrupted with that redundant info.
lemonverbena - January 13, 2012
The juxtaposition of your comment and Luke's is, for example, exactly what I'm talking about in my response above
Matthew - January 12, 2012
People are now able to include "Follow Me" twitter buttons in their signatures.
To me, this is enough of a factor to at least add the option to turn signatures off. I mean, it’s just an option. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for and it’s certainly no call the disable signatures outright. People who don’t care about piling up on twitter friends have absolutely no reason to have to constantly view peoples’ “follow me” button for every comment. That’s going overboard.
ThundaPC - January 12, 2012
Who are you to talk like you have some influence over this process?
I have never even seen you post here before.
lailaihei - January 12, 2012 via mobile
Oh sorry, didn't see your signature earlier. If they're so important, why aren't they displayed on mobile?
lailaihei - January 12, 2012
Don't be combative
pdb - January 12, 2012
Yeah, this seems kinda dickish to me.
The product teams does a fantastic job overall and SBN is so far beyond the next best blogging platform that I can’t even describe it. And they do great things behind the scenes too, which I emailed them about a few days ago to praise.
I’m just trying to raise awareness of a suggestion and the point about them being needed was already made, I felt. You could have made the valid point that they aren’t displayed on mobile a little more tactfully I think. Apologies if that’s not what you intended, but that’s how it reads.
Matthew - January 12, 2012
Yeah I didn't mean to be a dick.
I think SBNation/Verge/Vox are really good platforms, but I don’t think there’s a compelling argument for “signatures must be displayed to all users at all times”. Cory’s example is a pretty weak one, which you pointed out, and it’s not even consistent across different clients accessing the platform.
lailaihei - January 12, 2012
I don't think he was trying to be dickish there...
But, ironically enough, lailaihei’s self-reply, which I interpret as a correction of his first comment rather than a dickish comment, repudiates Cory William’s claim that “It would be confusing to individuals who have blocked signatures to determine why I am asking for feedback when keeping my signature in the comment allows everything to be much more clear”. If it’s important for clarification purposes, it should most certainly be on mobile as well. Regardless, I’m completely indifferent to this matter, so I go back to my troglodyte ways.
GasolineSnuggie - January 12, 2012
You don't have to block signatures
My personal feeling is keep them to one line.
“One line is fine!”, as a cocaine addict might say.
Grady Clapp - January 13, 2012
Links are still incredibly annoying when you're in the middle of a game thread or something and accidentally click one
A one line, non-link signature is cool,but that’s it
Corco - January 13, 2012
I have no problem with signatures, but the multiple line twitter/site link ones are brutal.
They’re pretty out of control in places. Seems like a worthy cause.
Drew_D - January 12, 2012
Signature lines are like those ironic/funny slogan t-shirts.
First time your friend wears it: *laughter
Every single time after that: “oh, that again?”
EthanN - January 12, 2012
I will give you a dollar if you change your sig line to I'M WITH STUPID or DAMN SEAGULLS and leave it there for a month
(I may not actually give you a dollar)
pdb - January 12, 2012
I'M RETIRED DON'T ASK ME FOR SHIT
Aaron Campeau - January 12, 2012
HOOF ARTED?
sanford_and_son - January 12, 2012
ICE MELTED
Robby The Kid - January 12, 2012
DAMN SEAGULLS is funny on a hat if an elderly gentleman is wearing it
Poochie - January 12, 2012
I laughed picturing it
datboyeddiep - January 13, 2012
I've never had a problem 2-line max signatures...
(since I currently have one)
But the new twitter follow buttons take it over the top, In my opinion. I always thought the signatures disallowed images? Maybe they do but make an exception for the twitter stuff, I’m too lazy to check.
appleshampoo - January 12, 2012
I'm pretty sure the Twitter thing is a "feature" that is separate from images disallowed in signatures.
I also don’t have a problem with one/two line signatures with/without links, but that Twitter button makes the sig stand out more than the comment, which is not what sigs are about. Three line signatures start to get into that same territory, in my opinion.
lailaihei - January 12, 2012
I don't even see sig files anymore.
But as someone who occasionally uses an IPad I’m against minefields of links, which makes it annoying to use a touch screen to scroll with.
Badbadger - January 12, 2012
I like my sig. But yeah, making it possible to hide them would be helpful.
That Twitter thing though is visually atrocious. It’s like when that one guy decided to have his messed up version of the Mariners old logo as his signature.
CapSea - January 12, 2012
This type of sig is the type that doesn't really bug me
It’s when they get much more than this (especially in vertical length) that they become a bother
Poochie - January 12, 2012
Doing it the hard way
I agree that hiding sigs should be an option but until that day comes you can use AdBlock as a workaround. You just need to add a custom element filter of ##div.sig to hide all sig sections. This could potentially affect other sites that also use sigs so you can limit it to a specific site by making it lookoutlanding.com##div.sig
sulles - January 12, 2012
This doesn't work for me using AB+ on FF9
I don’t see anything relating to sigs on the blockable item list
Matthew - January 12, 2012
You can't do it from blockable items
You need to open filter preferences (on the ABP menu) and then go to the Custom Filters tab. Then click the Actions button for Element Hiding Rules and select “Show/Hide filters”. Now you should be able to click on an “Add filter” button that will let you type in ##div.sig (or other variations) manually.
sulles - January 12, 2012
A-ha. That is what I tried first, but had added ##div.sig as a filter group, not as a filter itself.
There were no custom filters on my AB+ originally. Now added and it does appear to work.
That is most helpful.
Matthew - January 12, 2012
Though if anyone from SBN is still reading,
I’d imagine that the installation and usage of ad-blocking software so that I can avoid seeing signatures is probably not your preferred outcome, right? Eh? Eh? Not subtle hint.
Matthew - January 12, 2012
Done! Works perfectly, thank you
lemonverbena - January 13, 2012
I personally don't have a problem with signatures per say and I probably won't use the option to disable them,
but I definitely support the enabling of said option.
Goose - January 12, 2012
I'm with Goose
I don’t care either way. I do support there being an option and if needed I’m willing to send an email demanding a change. I just don’t give a shit sooooooo much it has carried into every aspect of my life. Honestly I can say, I just don’t give a shit once again.
datboyeddiep - January 13, 2012
Just to be perfectly clear on my stance, it's not that I don't give a shit about signatures entirely.
Like all of you, I vehemently oppose the Twitter button sigs and multiple line sigs as well.
Goose - January 13, 2012
I used to have a link signature until I accidentally clicked on my own signature mid game-thread and it pissed me off
Now I’m 100% on board
Corco - January 12, 2012
I'm personally fine with one-line signatures that link to a commenter's Twitter or website as long as it's plain text.
I’d rather know whether a commenter has a blog by reading a short link/message as a signature than by clicking all the way through to a profile. I think signatures are also good reference points for newer commenters because it’s easier to get a sense of who-is-who regarding a site’s regular commenters.
I also liked Jay’s signature and I’m a little sad that it went away. :(
Decatur - January 12, 2012
That said, death to the "Follow Me On Twitter" hyperlinked image in signatures, of course.
Decatur - January 12, 2012
If you do like Goose does, that's fine in my book
I get the point and if I really want to read his tweets it’s not that hard to figure out where to go
Corco - January 12, 2012
When we first got one of our old cats, he had a bell on his collar, and when we took the bell off he couldn't figure out where he was for a few days.
That’s about how I feel right now. I appreciate that the signature was appreciated in its time, but all the relevant people have seen the quote by now and I’m not daily blogging anymore.
JY - January 12, 2012
Wait, are you taking a break from Mariner Minors when the regular season starts up as well, Jay?
Not saying I don’t blame when considering that you’ve probably got plenty of crazy literary criticism/creative writing to do.
Decatur - January 12, 2012
Yeah, I thought that I had made that clear.
I could get away with it for a while because school and baseball season only overlapped a little, but it’s getting to the point where it behooves me to be taking what I’m doing more seriously. Daily coverage, for the time put in and what I got in return, was something that made sense as a cutback. Plus, the whole style of it (particularly late season) is counterproductive to any kind of creativity.
JY - January 12, 2012
As a guy who uses a sig and likes them as a bit of personalization, I am totally in favor of having an option to turn them off if somebody chooses to do so.
JAH - January 12, 2012
I don't even notice sigs like yours anymore (in terms of being annoying).
It’s the entire paragraphs of quotes that drive me bonkers.
wazzu93 - January 12, 2012
I don't notice them either
Unless it is a whole damn paragraph. Then I just ignore them anyway!
But I could see if I was on my phone and trying to scroll on a touchscreen how pissed off I’d be hitting those links!
datboyeddiep - January 13, 2012
The Android app doesn't show sigs. It also makes links unclickable, which is mildly annoying.
yuniform - January 13, 2012 via Android app
I also support the option to disable signatures, but in the short term I've removed mine.
Llewdor - January 13, 2012
While it would be nice to have the option on-site...
It is pretty simple to disable them. Someone above suggested using adblock+, but you can do the same thing with any user stylesheet: for instance, Stylish (Firefox | Chrome). Create new style, set it to work on lookoutlanding.com, then paste in “.sig { display: none !important; }”
Also, my first opst here.
BGriffith - January 13, 2012
SBNation continues to be more legitimate by the year
And it’s just my opinion, but cutting them entirely or limiting them to one line with the option to hide them would go a long way toward continuing to build on the increasing professionalism of the entire blogging platform.
Gihyou - January 14, 2012
Cutting sigs, it should say. Sorry.
Gihyou - January 14, 2012
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