Multiple Sig Links

[glengara]

OK, this won't be popular but I'd suggest limiting the forum sig links to a single one.

Reason is simple, multiple links in forum sigs send out the wrong quality signals and it's in our own interest that IWF is not perceived as a "spammy" forum.

 

[Forbairt]

It doesn't affect me too much so I'd be in favour of it

I did plan on maybe having another link to a current work in my signature but it can all start to look too spammy to me

Any reading on the way your sig actually affects the search engines ?

 

[3rigena]

80% disagree. I think it should maybe be at the admins discretion. Some of us have multiple professional roles, so having a sig that says irish webmaster & SEO Expert has a more negative expected value to me than having 2 seperate links.

Also, I don't like when spammers end up affecting my sig length - common sense can do that I think...(sometimes)

We are (mostly all) webmasters and surely on a webmaster forum we all deserve the right to pimp /showcase/disseminate our latest wonderful sites in our sigs, since it is us that keeps this forum in business in essence. No? None of us are selling crack or anything else unsavory from our sigs are we?

Good moderation keeps spammers at bay. Common sense should do the rest in most cases.

my 2p's worth - interested to see what others say.

edit: I am guessing my sig is the longest ?

 

[glengara]

Of course it's at the admins' discretion but SEOs are notorious for killing golden geese and IMO what small benefit members get from their sig link should not be jeopardised by the "over-enthusiasm" of a few.

 

[mneylon]

I don't mind signatures if they aren't out of control

However I would be interested in hearing what people think about manually added sigs ie. people trying to circumvent any automated rules

 

[Tom]

One sig link seems too restrictive and strict to me.

However I would be interested in hearing what people think about manually added sigs ie. people trying to circumvent any automated rules

Doesn't bother me, unless someone spams a load of links on the end of their post. It's interesting to see peoples sigs and websites. I think the more freedom a community has the better really, makes for a better atmosphere and makes it more enjoyable to visit and get involved, especially for new members.

 

[mneylon]

Doesn't bother me, unless someone spams a load of links on the end of their post. It's interesting to see peoples sigs and websites. I think the more freedom a community has the better really, makes for a better atmosphere and makes it more enjoyable to visit and get involved, especially for new members.

You're not aware of the 100 odd spammers who get blocked and banned every day

 

[Tom]

You're not aware of the 100 odd spammers who get blocked and banned every day

Yikes that's a lot. My opinion is based purely as a visitor though and not a mod or admin who have to do all the work to keep things in good order.

 

[louie]

One signature is going a bit too far but a limit of probably 3-5 should be alright.

 

[mneylon]

Yikes that's a lot. My opinion is based purely as a visitor though and not a mod or admin who have to do all the work to keep things in good order.

I've managed to automate a lot of it thankfully!

Nobody can register for an account if their IP address is listed in Spamhaus and moderators can nuke all posts by a spammer and ban them with one click!

 

[mneylon]

edit: I am guessing my sig is the longest ?

Possibly, but you contribute.

The ones that get on my nerves are those that register. Create a spammy signature. Post once or twice (usually irrelevant rubbish) and then never come back again and since the site gets a lot of traffic for certain keyphrases it's a magnet

*sigh*

 

[louie]

well said blacknight.

 

[mneylon]

well said blacknight.

Thanks

And thanks for your help in nuking the spammers!

Running this site without the help of you and the other moderators would be a nightmare - I'd probably have given up at this stage

 

[louie]

No problem.
I do try to help as much as I can but in the last few days I have been very busy and barely came around.

Anyway will keep up the good work...

 

[Adulu]

One sign link too restrictive, i suggest 4 sign links at least.

 

[MickyWall]

The ones that get on my nerves are those that register. Create a spammy signature. Post once or twice (usually irrelevant rubbish) and then never come back again and since the site gets a lot of traffic for certain keyphrases it's a magnet

*sigh*

Just an idea but you could think about having a quota before the signatures kick in, say 20+ or so posts or even grade it, 1 allowed for 100 posts, 2 allowed for 200+, up to a maximum.

 

[Forbairt]

Just an idea but you could think about having a quota before the signatures kick in, say 20+ or so posts or even grade it, 1 allowed for 100 posts, 2 allowed for 200+, up to a maximum.

Personally I like the sounds of this but I don't know how easy it is to implement in vBulletin ? I know that you can restrict display of the signature to a number of posts quite easily and yesterday I saw a time limit imposed on it. But I think you might be talking about a custom plugin or similar which may or may not exist and then has to get supported.

Edit:

This would also mean people would be more inclined to post on here so that can't be a bad thing. Assuming of course they aren't all spam posts, hopefully however you can detect those spamming with "yes I agree totally" posts

 

[Cormac]

This would also mean people would be more inclined to post on here so that can't be a bad thing. Assuming of course they aren't all spam posts, hopefully however you can detect those spamming with "yes I agree totally" posts

Good post I like.

 

[Forbairt]

Thanks

 

[3rigena]

poss solution: add a vbull promotion that allows users to post a sig after 30 posts or something...

spammers don't tend to hang around long enuff for that.