Signature removed, no reason given?

Saruman

Before I add it back, can someone explain why my signature image was removed. And more to the point why I was not informed the reason for the removal by whoever did it?

I fail to see why my 14.5 kb image was deleted. After reading the rules of signatures I cannot see why it has been removed.

Can whoever removed my sig please respond as to why it was removed and why no simple PM could have been sent.

Gordon

Hi there, the signature was removed as it had an image linking to a craft beer forum. Other images linking to this forum have been removed recently also. You're fine to put a link to the website in your sig, but not the image, sorry. Our sigrules have been revamped (check the link I put in your sig) and this is one change we have made regarding signatures.

I don't PM people if their signature needs editing, never have done afair, the sig just gets snipped.

Saruman

OK but I am still not sure why the image was removed. You say it was because the image was linking to a craft beer forum? I did read the rules and the only possible part that could even remotely relate to it contravening the rules is the part that says

Any sigs containing, or linking to, profanity, bigotry, racism, malware, or any other content that might be considered offensive by others will be removed and the member may be infacted or banned.

If this is what you are referring to then it is far too vague as every single thing on the planet might be considered offensive to someone else. As it stands, the image did not fall under any of the actual listed offensive items.

Nothing specifically mentions I can not have an image depicting beer nor do the rules prohibit linking to other forums in general so can you please clarify exactly what part of the rules were broken and if it is the vague part I quoted I think that this should be clarified a little better.

If beer is deemed offensive then the Nanny state is on the march and it is a sad day for boards.ie

Zaph

Saruman wrote: »

Nothing specifically mentions I can not have an image depicting beer nor do the rules prohibit linking to other forums in general so can you please clarify exactly what part of the rules were broken and if it is the vague part I quoted I think that this should be clarified a little better.

While the rules don't prohibit linking to another site, the manner in which the link appears is specified:

Sigs may contain a simple text only link to other websites, including a business (i.e. www.mysite.com - no images), but a disguised link (i.e. Come buy really cheap electronics here, we're having a huge sale, come on down!) is not allowed.

Saruman wrote: »

If beer is deemed offensive then the Nanny state is on the march and it is a sad day for boards.ie

Beer will never be deemed offensive on Boards! Neither is the website you linked to in any way offensive. It's purely down to the fact that we don't permit posters to use graphic links to other forums, but text links are just fine.

Saruman

Ah I see... so what you are saying is the image itself is ok and the link itself is ok too... I just can't combine them?

So if I put the image back on my sig, and then have a text link to the site then that is ok?

Grand.

Now maybe the rules regarding images can be clarified.
Perhaps

Images: Images totalling up to 500 pixels wide, 125 pixels tall and 30k in size. No animated images are allowed. No making the image itself a link

Or something to that effect.

Gordon

Hiya, no the image isn't ok if it relates to the business/competing forum. You can have a hyperlink, but not an image if it's regarding the competing forum/business. We have removed a number of such images recently from various people, although I'm not happy about having to remove such images, I like to try to lay the rules consistently if possible.

Saruman

OK but competing forum? The rules do not say you can not use an image relating to a business/competing forum. In fact the only specification for images are to do with size.

On the note of Business/competing forum, Beoir is not a business or competing forum. It is a consumer group volunteering its time for promoting the craft beer industry in Ireland. There is a forum on it yes but it is not competing with boards.ie. In fact there is only the homebrew section on boards.ie that crosses over to the beoir forum and the only reason the Boards.ie homebrew forum exists is because so many of us (myself included) are boards.ie members and we were answer a lot of homebrew questions on the beer,wine,spirits forum that it is felt a sub-forum was needed. This is a very recent sub forum for boards.ie

I would ask that the rules be looked at and re-written because it does not come across as plain what is allowed and what is not allowed. If it did, I would not be posting these questions.

This seems to me like an attitude that will actually push beoir members away from boards.ie and that will be to the detriment of the homebrew sub forum on beer,wine & spirits as well as on that forum itself with anything to do with beer.

Can anyone actually explain the logic behind the decision in this case?

Saruman

Gordon wrote: »

Hiya, no the image isn't ok if it relates to the business/competing forum. You can have a hyperlink, but not an image if it's regarding the competing forum/business. We have removed a number of such images recently from various people, although I'm not happy about having to remove such images, I like to try to lay the rules consistently if possible.

I replied to this last night but it has not appeared on the site. Was the reply just not processed yet or did it disappear?

Saruman

There has been no response in days. Perhaps Gordon is away.
Is there another Admin who can take the reigns and respond in his absence?

Can I put the image back on, and not link it to the website?
Will the rules be updated since none of the arguments put forth seem to be written in the rules?

The rules are below and the only section pertaining to images has been highlighted.
There is not a single mention of no images pertaining to competing forums (of which Beoir is not). Beoir is also not a business.

This forum is to allow the reporting of Boards.ie member signatures that are in breach of our rules. For clarity, here are the rules in full.

All signatures should not exceed the following size limits:

* Text: Including horizontal spaces - 4 lines normal size (font size 2) OR 8 lines small size (font size 1). Font sizes above 2 are not allowed. Do not use the tags. Carriage returns/new lines are a separate line, so if your sig has three lines of text separated by two spacer lines - that's 5 lines.
* Images: Images totalling up to 500 pixels wide, 125 pixels tall and 30k in size. No animated images are allowed.
* You may include 1 line of font size 2 or 2 lines of font size 1 text underneath an image.
* Sigs may contain a simple text only link to other websites, including a business (i.e. www.mysite.com - no images), but a disguised link (i.e. Come buy really cheap electronics here, we're having a huge sale, come on down!) is not allowed.

Any sigs containing, or linking to, profanity, bigotry, racism, malware, or any other content that might be considered offensive by others will be removed and the member may be infacted or banned.

Note: for new members, you will not be able to create a signature until you have 25 posts. Please don't spam to hit this target, it'll just result in your posts being deleted.

As with a lot of Boards.ie guidelines, these things are at the discression of the Admins and Mods who look after this area of the site. If a sig is a few bytes over it's limit, it may be let slide.

If your sig has been snipped and you're not sure why, please start a new thread on this forum to ask and remember to be polite.

To report a sig, you can either create a new post linking to the member's profile and it'll get looked at or click on the Report icon on any post underneath the member's name and choosing the "Report Signature" option.

A couple of more points about this forum - you will only be able to see and respond to your own threads here. There are a few reasons for this, but basically we want people to be able to report sigs without being abused for it or for it to seem like some sort of petty nit-picking because of a disagreement on a thread somewhere.

Repeated breaches of these rules may result in an infraction or ban from the site.

Gordon

Hiya, I'm trying to get the notice clarifying the rules as I've mentioned above. I hear where you are coming from, but links to this website currently are to be hyperlinks only, no image at all, sorry.

Saruman

Very well. While I obviously don't agree with the decision, you are the admin so I will respect it.