Siggies for Dummies

[Alastor]

Step by step tutorial for those who feel that their computer skills may still need some improvements.
More advanced learners may use this tutorial.

It is advisable to read this first:

.:CoS Forums Rules:.

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View full rules here
9. Signatures are permitted on CoS, but there is a need to limit the type of signature you can have. This is to help reduce the load time of a thread for members on slower dial up connections. You may edit your signature in your profile and include one (1) small image of up to 300x300 pixels and 100KB (102400 bytes) and up to 7 lines of 8-12 point (size1-3) text. We will not allow html codes in signatures... No audio, javascripts, iframes or other "tricks" allowed. An Unspeakable or Administrator has the right to remove anything at anytime. Please also remember to close all tags and not to use ' < nobr >' . Last, please do not use excessive smilies. Smilies are a nice feature, but too many at one time can be very off putting. We are limiting smilies to 4 per signature. NOTE: We operate the signature rules on a standard 1024x768 resolution and on the CoS Expanded layout.

Reference: Signature Content Policy
Reference: Zero Tolerance Policy
Reference: Forum FAQs

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CREATE SIGNATURE TEXT
Before you start, go to Magical Me > Edit Options, scroll down to Miscellaneous Options where you find Message Editor Interface. If you already have the Standard Editor, it's OK. If not, change it. (There are three of them; Basic, Standard and Enhanced.)

The next move then is Magical Me > Edit signature. Above the writing field are a number of icons for different ways to play with your text by wrapping it in tags. If you hover your mouse over them, one at a time, they explain themselves. And to the right is a box full of smilies.

There are two ways to wrap your text in those tags.
1. Leave the cursor where you intend to write and click the tag icon.
You get the cursor wrapped in those tags: [b]|[/b]. The tags will cover everything you write from that point without moving the cursor out of it.
2. Write your text, f. ex. blah, highlight it and click the tag icon. You get:[b]Blah[/b].
You can use as many of them as you like for the same part of the text.
[color="Red"][b][i][u][font="Century Gothic"][size="3"]Blah[/size][/font][/u][/i][/b][/color]. Looks like: Blah

And the third way is to type out all those tags individually. In which case it is important to remember the slash ( / ) in the end tag.
Looks like:[tag]blahblah[/tag].
But any typo will destroy the result.

To align the signature or parts of it left, center or right.
Use left, center or right tags.
For centering, click this:
And get:[center][b]blah[/b][/center]. Looks like:

blah

Create link
The easiest way to get a working link is to right click the address bar at the top of your screen and click copy. Then go to your sig, place the cursor where you want the link, right click and then click paste. You get:
http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=22990

If you want to give your link a snappy name, wrap it in url tags like this:[url=address goes here]snappy name goes here[/url]
Then you get:[url="http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=22990"]Snappy name[/url]
Which looks like: Snappy name

The snappy name can, of course, be modified following the text instructions above.

ADD A SMILIE
Click 'More' at the bottom of the smilie box to get all smilies listed. Then click the smilie of your choice and it appears in your sig where you had left the cursor: :rockon:
Looks like:

ADD AN IMAGE
If you want a picture from anywhere on the net:

Start with downloading it to your computer or to an image hosting site. If it has to be resized, and you don't have any image editing program, the latter option applies.

To check dimensions [pixels or px] and size [KB or bytes] of an image:
Right click the image, then click 'properties' or 'view image info' or whatever your browser provides.

To download to own computer:
1. Right click the image and click 'save image as'
2. Make sure it goes to somewhere in 'my documents' where it is easy to find, and click save.

To upload into your signature: (Or into a post.)
1. Go to 'Magical Me' and then to 'CoS Image Hosting and to 'Upload an image'. Then click browse and find the image.
2. Click the image and then click 'open' and then 'upload'.
3. Go to 'Your images'.
4. Right click the image and choose 'copy image location'.
Or alternatively highlight the image link in the data box to the right of the picture. Right click and then click
'copy'. This gives you the img tags ready and you can go directly from step 5 to step 7.
5. Go to 'Edit your signature' and right click to open menu and then click 'Paste'.
6. Wrap it in img tags like this:[img]http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/306544a9e3325576f.jpg[/img]

And you get:


7. To center it, wrap in CENTER tags also:[center][IMG]http://www.cosforums.com/images/img/306544a9e3325576f.jpg[/IMG][/center]

Now you get:

PS
This sample is of course a picture of Durmstrang, although some muggles may have second thoughts on that.
DS

PS2
And don't forget to click the Preview Signature button to make sure you are happy with the sig before you save it!
DS