This page documents an English Wikipedia behavioral guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. | Shortcut
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This page contains one or more sections that are English Wikipedia policies. These sections are each individually marked with {{policy section}}. Sections of this page that are not marked as such are not considered policies. |
This page in a nutshell: Please ensure that your posts on talk pages are signed (using ~~~~ if not automatically handled by the software). Keep the coding of your signature short, do not make the signature too large, do not embed files in it, and ensure that the end result is easily readable by virtually everybody. |
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Signing your posts on talk pages, both for the article and non-article namespaces, is required, since it facilitates discussion by identifying the author of a particular comment. Other users can then navigate to a talk page and address their comments to the specific, relevant user(s). Discussion is an important part of collaborative editing, because it helps all users to understand the progress and evolution of a work. Signatures are added automatically when using the reply tool or new topic tool. When editing in source text mode not using these tools, they must be added manually, which can be done by typing four tildes ( Comments posted on user talk pages, article talk pages and other discussion pages must be properly signed. Signature use that is intentionally and persistently disruptive may lead to blocks. When editing a page, main namespace pages (which are all Wikipedia articles) should not be signed, because the content is a shared work, based on the contributions of many people, and one editor should not be singled out or "credited" above others. Purpose of signatures editSignatures on Wikipedia identify you as a user and your contributions to Wikipedia. They encourage civility, collaboration, and communication by identifying the author of a particular comment and the date and time at which it was made. Because of that, having an uncivil signature (especially one that makes any kind of personal attacks toward someone else) is prohibited and, in some cases, the user will be blocked from editing until the signature is changed. In most cases, anything that is not allowed as an account's username (in whole or in part) is also not allowed to be in a signature either. Furthermore, signatures also serve a technical purpose: various user scripts and talk-page archiving bots, including lowercase sigmabot III, rely on their timestamps to know when to archive old threads. It's because of this that it's also important to not change the timestamp of any signatures, as doing so can lead to stale threads persisting longer, and after they would've otherwise been archived. When signatures should and should not be used editShortcut
Any posts made to any type of discussion page must be signed (this does not include adding WikiProject boxes and other such administrative templates). Note that, as stated below, if you choose to edit those kinds of pages without logging in, then you should still sign your posts—regardless of whether or not you have an account. Edits to articles must not be signed, as signatures on Wikipedia are not intended to indicate ownership or authorship of any article. Instead, the page history identifies who made edits. Signatures do not translate from How to sign your posts editShortcuts
When using the reply tool or new topic tool, the software will automatically sign your post. (If you type a signature anyways, it will remove the duplicate.) Preferred option editStandard signature editShortcut
There are three ways to sign your posts manually:
The four tildes will be automatically replaced with your signature after you have published the changes, as follows:
Since typing four tildes adds the time and date to your resulting signature, this is the preferred option for signing your posts in discussions. Note that if you choose to contribute without logging in, regardless of whether you have an account, you must still sign your posts. In this case, your IP address will take the place of a username, and will link to your contributions history. Your IP address will look like something similar to 192.0.2.213 or 2001:DB8:CEEE:21B:DB60:07FE:4277:63FF. If, for some reason, you are not getting the above results when signing, see the SineBot Frequently Asked Questions for tips. Other options editUsing three tildes editShortcut
Typing three tildes results in the following:
However, since this does not date-stamp your signature, you may wish to sign this way only when leaving general notices on your user page or user talk page. This is also a convenient shortcut (rather than typing out the full code) when you want to provide a link to your user page. Using five tildes editShortcut
Typing five tildes will convert to a date stamp with the current date and time, without adding your signature, like this:
In general, when communicating with others, you should use one of the previous options and not only a timestamp. There are exceptions to this: such as when requesting assistance from the Third Opinion project, the requested format for signing is the five tilde signature, to slightly help improve neutrality from the responding volunteer. A timestamp may also be used when updating one of your submitted posts on a talk page by appending In some templates, this is the preferred way to add the date. Customizing your signature editShortcut
Every editor's default signature (as defined by MediaWiki:Signature) will display when
Unregistered users, or users not logged in, may choose to manually sign with a pseudonym or tag (e.g. anon.), as their IP address will be stored in the page history. If you choose to sign your posts in such a way, you must still finish your signature with four tildes (such as Customizing how everyone sees your signature editShortcut
Registered users can customize their signatures by going to Special:Preferences and changing the field "Signature". This changes the signature that is left when you enter This technique only applies where you have left your signature onto a page while logged into your account. It also doesn't affect how your username appears in your watchlist, in any logs or page histories, or where someone else has added a link to your user page in a discussion. Modifying your signature in your user preferences will only apply to the future signatures that you leave moving forward. Since adding Treat as wiki markup editIf you do not check the "Treat the above as wiki markup" box, the exact content you enter will be used as your signature. For example, if User:Example had set their signature to read
If you do check the "Treat the above as wiki markup" box, you can describe your signature using "raw" wikitext (such as <span> and wiki-markup) which will be substituted unchanged when you sign your posts. If User:Example had set their signature to read
In this case, you are responsible yourself for linking to your user page (e.g. User:Example). To visibly include the pipe ( Putting two or more exclamation points ( Customizing how you see your signature editTo change how your signature appears to you, e.g. to make it easier to spot, without affecting how it appears to other users, you can create a personal CSS style sheet. For example, to display your username in bold white text on an orange background (like Your username), add the following to Special:MyPage/common.css, replacing Your username with your actual username:
When you use this technique, bright colors can help you to more quickly scan long pages that contain Guidelines and policies editShortcut
Because these signatures are seen by everyone, be aware of the guidelines and policies summarized below:
Syntax guidance editIf you attempt to save a signature with certain types of errors, you will see an error message. These errors can be a little tricky to diagnose, but here are some tips:
Signature forgery edit
Never use another editor's signature. Impersonating another editor by using their username or signature is forbidden. Altering the markup code of your signature to make it look substantially like another user's signature may also be considered a form of impersonation. Editing the code of your signature to link it to another editor's user page is not permitted. It is also ineffective, as the change log of the page records the IP address and (if applicable) username of all editors; as such, any impersonators can easily be caught if the signature in the diff view differs from the editor's default signature. While not an absolute requirement, it is common practice for a signature to resemble to some degree the username it represents. If you encounter a user whose signature is disruptive or appears to be impersonating another account, it is appropriate to ask that user to consider changing their signature to meet the requirements of this policy. When making such a request, always be polite, and assume good faith; do not immediately assume that the user has intentionally selected a disruptive or inappropriate signature. If you are asked to change your signature, please avoid interpreting a polite request as an attack. Since the success of Wikipedia is based on effective teamwork, both parties should work together to find a mutually acceptable solution. Appearance and color edit
Your signature must not blink, scroll, or otherwise cause inconvenience to or annoy other editors.
For guidance on how to use color and other effects to customize the appearance of your signature, see this tutorial. Signature formatting has been the subject of numerous Requests for Comment, and has also resulted in some very heated debates by some of the editors involved, and on both sides of the discussion. When dealing with potentially problematic signatures, simply being polite is often sufficient and can prevent the situation from escalating into a dispute. Borrowing designs editEditors do not own the design of their signature and cannot prohibit others from borrowing it. However, because signature customization is intended in part to make it easier to tell editors apart, it is considered good practice when borrowing a signature design to change the color or another design element. Font tags editShortcut
When you change your signature, it does not affect signatures that you used on pages in the past. Therefore, if you currently use Images edit
Images of any kind must not be used in signatures for the following reasons.
Unicode symbols (including emoji) may be used in your signature, as long as the signature complies with the other guidelines on this page. Length editShortcuts
Keep signatures short, both in display and in markup. The limit is 255 characters. Extremely long signatures with a lot of HTML/wiki markup make page editing and discussion more difficult for the following reasons:
The software will automatically truncate both plain and raw signatures to 255 characters of code in the Signature field. If substitution of templates or another page is used, please be careful to verify that your signature does not violate the 255-character length limit when the templates are expanded, as the software will not do this automatically. Overriding custom signatures editUnclutter signature minimiser editIf you prefer not to see other users' custom signatures, you can use the custom JavaScript module Unclutter. By default, Unclutter scans non-special non-article pages for timestamped signatures, wraps them up and replaces with a text of the form:
This technique displays the actual username to you and is extensively configurable. It doesn't affect how anyone else sees the signatures. See User:Kephir/gadgets/unclutter for more details. While this script works in practice for most signatures found on the English Wikipedia, there are several unavoidable limitations which make Unclutter fail to recognise every possible signature. Signatures which violate policies laid out on this page may not be recognised. Unclutter is not an excuse to violate or decline to enforce the signature policy. Using custom CSS editIt's also possible to use your personal common.css style sheet to override the formatting of other users' signatures. This allows you to decide how links to user pages should be displayed to you when you are logged-in. For example, you could highlight Your username in bold reversed mauve and Other signatures in normal mauve. This approach works by reversing a variety of commonly used signature formatting techniques, but it doesn't attempt to replace the text content of the signature. For example, if No other users will see your custom effects. You can remove or modify them at any time by changing the instructions in your style sheet. The change will apply to all pages regardless of how old they may be. For an example stylesheet, see User:Pointillist/reformat-signatures.css. Links editShortcut
Internal links editSignatures must include at least one direct internal link to your user page, user talk page, or contributions page; this allows other editors easy access to your talk page and contributions log. The lack of such a link is widely viewed as obstructive. If, while making modifications, you accidentally disable this link, see Help:How to fix your signature. When you insert your signature on your talk page or user page, a link to that page will appear black, bold and inactive, so test your signature elsewhere, such as the sandbox. Disruptive links editShortcut
It is better to put information on your user page rather than in your signature. Brief additional internal links are generally tolerated when used to facilitate communication or to provide general information, but undesirable if seen as canvassing for some purpose. Do not place any disruptive internal links (especially when combined with custom formatting, for example CLICK HERE!!!) in your signature. External links editShortcut
Do not include links to external websites in your signature. Mass posting of links to a particular website is strongly discouraged on Wikipedia. Posting a link to an external website with each comment you make on a talk page could be taken as link spamming, or an attempt to improve your website's ranking on search engines (which doesn't actually work in the first place). If you want to tell other Wikipedians about a website with which you are associated, you can do so on your user page. Transclusion of templates (or other pages) editShortcuts
Simple text signatures, which are stored along with the page content and use no more resources than the comments themselves, avoid these problems. Categories editShortcut
Signatures must not contain categories. Categorizing talk pages by who has edited them is unhelpful, and the same information can be found by using your contributions list. Many of the various edit counting utilities also provide this data. Non-Latin usernames editShortcuts
Users with usernames in non-Latin script writing systems are welcome to edit Wikipedia. There is no requirement that usernames must be in English or that Latin script characters must be used. However, such usernames may appear illegible to other contributors to the English Wikipedia, and not every user's keyboard or input device may have immediate access to non-Latin characters. In addition, sometimes certain characters may not display correctly. As a courtesy to other contributors, and to avoid possible confusion or mis-identification, users with such usernames are encouraged to consider providing a Latin-character transliteration of their username as (at least part of) their signature. For an example, using the signature Παράδειγμα/Paradigma for User:Παράδειγμα. A signature consisting of, or ending with, characters from a right-to-left script will appear (in modern browsers) when viewing pages as
e.g.,
and similarly misordered text in the edit box. Adding a left-to-right marker symbol, at the end of the raw signature (HTML code: Dealing with unsigned comments editShortcut
The templates {{unsigned}} and {{unsigned IP}} can be used at the end of an unsigned comment to attach the username or IP to the comment. None of these templates automatically populates (fills in) the username or IP of the poster or the time of the post. That information is best copied from the history page and pasted into the following templates. All of the unsigned templates must be substituted.
The templates {{unsigned2}} and {{unsignedIP2}} do almost the same as {{unsigned}} and {{unsigned IP}} when used with two parameters, but the ordering of the parameters is reversed. The resulting display is the same. These templates may be useful when copying and pasting from the edit history, where the timestamp appears before the username.
The template {{xsign}} is a wrapper for {{unsigned}} and {{unsigned IP}} that will parse the username and date string copied and pasted directly from the edit history. The resulting display is the same.
It is also a good idea to notify users, especially new users, that they should sign their comments. You may use the template {{uw-tilde}} on the user's talk page or one of the welcome messages for new users.
Also, the template {{undated}} can be used at the end of comments where the user gave their username but no timestamp:
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