What Constitutes a Signature?
Signatures are any repeated text or image that appears in every post one makes, regardless of whether that inclusion is done manually or via the tool provided for signatures (eBay provides a Signature File feature for the boards that enables a signature to appear with each of your posts).
Whether using the signature file feature or manually adding a signature to each post, the guidelines offered here will help one to ensure that their signatures comply with the Board Usage Policy. Please note while the Guidelines for Using Signatures are not a separate policy, they are offered to help one abide by other aspects of the Board Usage Policy. Guidelines and clarification posted on the Boards (including this policy explanation board) are supplemental to the Board Usage Policy. These are intended to address emerging issues and/or areas of the Board Usage Policy in which the community has expressed a need for clarification.
Purpose and Use of Signatures
The purpose of using a signature is to tell others something about you and your posts that they will find interesting, pleasant, funny, thoughtful, or helpful. The most important rule of using a signature is to be polite and courteous to others in use.
It is our desire that each board community will work together to define acceptable behavior and establish etiquette so that all can enjoy signatures, and none are inconvenienced by them. We wish to allow for differences in preferences so that any applicable policies regarding signatures will not be a limiting factor for community preferences.
Please be mindful and respectful of the requests of others about your signature. Some may have slow connections or slow machines. Some may use text readers or other aids. Try to create a signature that adds something positive to your posts, and doesn't trouble others on the board you are posting to, so that all feel there is value in it that makes it worth the extra page-load time.
It's a small act of kindness to make a change that may help another.
Exceptions: A "help post" of the type often used on the Chat Boards that is made occasionally or daily to provide members with access to various helpful resources: this is NOT considered a "signature" and falls outside these guidelines.
The following requirements apply to all signatures:
1. Material contained within signatures must not violate the Boards Usage Policy.
2. Signatures may not contain any active code, scripts, CSS, JS, mouseovers, midi files, tracking mechanisms, cookies, or any type of code other than plain HTML used in standard ways. Code written to bypass board filters in any way will be a violation.
3. Signatures may not contain any representation of a website address, even if that is your user id or Store Name. Some examples of prohibited components include: ".com", ".net", ".org", ".edu" or any variation of such as "_com" or "-com".
4. No third-party credits are allowed within signatures.
5. Signatures may contain no more than one (1) link.*
6. A link in a signature may only be to a page located on the eBay website.**
* Links to off-eBay sites or multiple links in the same signature are considered to be advertising.
** Members may link to any eBay page (meaning the link opens a page located on the eBay website, with an ebay.com URL) within their signature, including to their Seller's list, their eBay Store, eBay search results for selling events, or their eBay Group. Members may not link in their signature to any page that is not an eBay page, including simple pages containing only photos or static information. This type of information can be provided on your About Me page, to which a link would be allowed.
The following additional guidelines are suggested for signatures:
1. It is recommended that all images found in a signature not exceed a total area of 50 pixels by 220 pixels.
2. Signatures should be static. Blinking, moving, fading or changing images in a signature file may be of concern to others. Persons using such signatures should do so only within board communities where this practice is accepted and welcomed.
Why Was My Post Removed?
If a post is removed with the signature specified as being the reason, it is because of one of two reasons:
1. The signature included something that is specifically prohibited; or
2. The signature significantly exceeded the additionally suggested guidelines because of its size, its content, or where it was posted.*
* This refers to posts removed for reasons listed under "The following additional guidelines are suggested for signatures" section. Please be mindful of the board community where you are posting. For example, if it is the accepted practice of a specific community to not use large or "flashy" signatures, then posting such can be considered disruptive. For example, having large or flashy signatures in a Workshop can be disruptive to other members trying to post questions and read answers.
Using Signatures
Notwithstanding the ability to link to items, the "No Advertising" clause of the Board Usage Policy remains applicable to posts made using signatures. Posting for the sole purpose of allowing one's signature to display will not be tolerated. Examples of this include empty posts, repetitive posts, "bumping" without adding useful content, or other types of posts that do not contribute individually to healthy community interaction. In addition, blatant language or techniques, including frequent change of signatures, is prohibited and will be interpreted as Advertising.
For clarification, please note that the Guidelines for Signatures apply only to the use of a signature, which is that portion of a post that would commonly be repeated in every post a member makes. The content of the body of the post continues to be covered by the other elements of the Board Usage Policy specifics and interpretation. Members may continue to post helping links, there is no prescribed limit to photo size or number of links within the body of a single post, members may not advertise by including links to their items in the body of posts, etc.
Why Do These Guidelines Exist?
The Guidelines for Signatures are provided to serve exactly as stated: guidelines for using signatures in a way that does not violate policy. To the extent that one abides by the guidelines when posting, no violation of the Board Usage Policy should occur as a direct result of one's signature. And to the extent that one does not abide by the guidelines, it is possible that the signature would be in a violation.
As Claire stated over two years ago:
"....Our desire is that, with this feature, the Community will work together to establish etiquette so that all can enjoy signatures, and none are inconvenienced by them. Please be mindful and respectful of the requests of others about your signature."
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