BREAKING NEWS:

Aro - "This thread isn't being maintained very well, not to mention it's consisting mostly of spam at the moment. Last chance for you guys to turn this thread around. If not, I'll have to do something about it that will probably not be to your liking."

PLEASE DO NOT SPAM IN THIS THREAD. THANK YOU.

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__________________
V I V A L A S I G G Y - V 2
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
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-- Original Viva La Siggy created by Da Hobo --

Welcome to the new Viva La Siggy V2, a thread for talking about signature improvements, and UBB Code. If you want some feedback on your masterpiece, just ask here. And if someone has, in your opinion, an ugly signature, don't flame. Just keep it bottled up inside and tell them how to improve.

FAQ
=========================

How do I use BB code?
Well, it is quite simple. Most of the codes can be found here.

The center tag:

[center]TEXT HERE[/center]

The Color tag:

[c=xxxxxx]TEXT HERE[/c]

Replace "xxxxxx" with the color or hexcode you want.

The UBB off and on tags:

[ubboff][ubbon]

If you need help with BB code or just don't feel like typing it all (though it is faster to type the codes if you can), I suggest you turn the BB Code Assistant on by doing the following:

1. Go to My account at the top of the page.
   
2. Type your password.
   
3. Go to Preferences.
   
4. On the bottom right, there should be something that says:
   BBCode Assistant
   Displays the toolbar which assists you with BBCode, in forums that have BBCode enabled. Also enables auto-formatting when you paste certain types of text into the post area. Option only available for Internet Explorer 4.x and higher.
   Click the check mark.
   
5. Now go post something, and check out the cool new feature.
   

How do I make text faded?

You can fade text by inserting this code:

[c=xxxxxx-xxxxxx]TEXT HERE[/c]

Replace the "xxxxxx" with the hexcodes you want to fade.

For tips about color fading, you can read Raptor's Color Fading article below.

I don't know hexcodes.

Here is a nice table of color hexcodes, just click here.

How do I color a link?

To color a link, put the color tag inside the decription. Like so:

[Url=http://www.com][c=red]DESCRIPTION[/c][/URL]

If you have any other questions that you want added to the list, please post below.

COLORING HYPERLINKS
=========================Courtesy of RIP

Hyperlinks in sigs look that much better when colored, but coloring hyperlinks is tricky. Here is how:

The following code:

[url=http://aok.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/aokcgi/display.cgi?action=st&fn=22&tn=34103&f=22,0,0,30]
[c=009900-ff6699]I wonder where [/c][c=ff6699-009900]this leads to.[/c][/url]

will give you this:

I wonder where this leads to.

Simply put, you need to put the "C" tags within the "URL" tags in order for the hyperlink to be colored.

COLOR FADING
=========================Courtesy of Raptor

To color fade, use the following code:

[c-XXXXXX-XXXXXX]TEXT[/c]

Just replace the X's with hex color codes.

Of course you could always fade from one color to another:

Blue - Red
###########################
Red - Blue
###########################

Green - Blue
###########################
Blue - Green
###########################

Purple - Blue
###########################
Blue - Purple
###########################

Orange - Red
###########################
Red - Orange
###########################

Orange - Blue
###########################
Blue - Orange
###########################

Teal - Cyan
###########################
Cyan - Teal
###########################

Sometimes fades from a darker color to a lighter verion of the same color (or vice-versa) look good:

Blue
###########################

###########################

Green
###########################

###########################

Red
###########################

###########################

Sometimes even black to color or color to black fades look nice:

Blue
###########################

###########################

Green
###########################

###########################

Red
###########################

###########################

Centered sigs usually look best when they fade from one color to a different color in the middle, then back to the original:

Blue
######################################################

Green
######################################################

Red
######################################################

Can't find the hex codes for colors? Click here.

ASCII ART
=========================

Getting Started
If you want to make ASCII art the first thing you should know is that you don't need a special program, or special skills to make it with. All you need is somewhere to type text into - your e-mail program, notepad, wordpad, that sort of thing - and an idea of what you want to draw. There are no secrets or rules other than the following:

1.) Use a non-proportional or fixed width font. Click HERE for a page on this site that will tell you what they are, or ask me for the text version of the page via e-mail.
2.) Don't use tabs!! Always, but always use the space bar (or your cursor keys/mouse if the program you're typing in supports that) for empty spaces. The reason for this is that different computers and programs interperet the size of a tab space differently, so although what you see on your screen looks fine, on someone else's your pic may look all split up.

3.) Only use the keyboard characters on an American standard keyboard. That means all the letters, numbers and punctuation that you can see printed on the keyboard keys. You can use the shift key, but don't use the alt key to make characters. The reason for this is similar to that for not using tabs - different computers interperet alternative characters in different ways. The idea behind ascii is that all computers can read it because it's made up of characters that all computers will recognise.

4.) Don't leave empty spaces at the end of each line. Make sure every line that you type ends on the last character, and not a few spaces after it. This can cause problems on other systems, with line wrapping and so on.

Your First Ascii
The best way to make a start is to take someone else's picture and see if you can copy it. That way you get a feel for how you can use different characters. We'll start easy. Try copying these shapes, which only use the characters:

 / \  |  _ 
 ___               ___
|   |      /\     /   \
|___|     /__\    \___/

Easy huh? Now try making the same shapes again using the characters:

- " . , ` : > <

This is what I came up with:

 .---.       .        .--.
 :   :     .' `.     <    >
 "---"     "---"      `--'

Bit more tricky, and it doesn't look as neat, but some of these characters, and knowing how you can use them can come in very handy at times, which we'll see later. Have a go at copying these, just for practice. Change them if you like:

 _   _    __    _   _                                   .^._    __
| |_| |_.'  `._| |_| |    /\  /\  /\  /\       /\      /   \|   \ \
|  _   _      _   _  |   /  \/  \/  \/  \    .'  `.   /_____V   / /
|_| |_| `.__.' |_| |_|  / /\  /\  /\  /\ \  <      >  |[]_[]|   \ \
                        \/  \/  \/  \/  \/   `.  .'   | |+| |   / /
                                               \/     `"""""'   \_\

Curves
It's handy to know where the characters 'sit' on each line. Are they at the top, in the middle or on the bottom of the line? A couple of ascii characters vary in their position from computer to computer, but mostly they all sit in the same place. Have a go yourself on your keyboard. Here are some examples.

Top of line: " ` '
Top or middle of line: ^ * ~ =
Middle of line: - +
Bottom of line: _ . ,

You can use all these characters on one line to make a pattern, like these:

_.,-=~+"^'`*`'^"+~=-,._.,-=~+"^'`*`'^"+~=-,._.,-=~+"^'`*`'^"+~=-,._

"^`'*-=~+,._.,+~=-*'`^"^`'*-=~+,._.,+~=-*'`^"^`'*-=~+,._.,+~=-*'`^"

Now try making a simple sig with a decorative border, using all the characters we've met so far. This is what I came up with:

                        _________________________
  ..,,++~~--==**''``^^""  Hayley Jane wakenshaw  ""^^``''**==--~~++,,..
 /|\                     flump@quadrant.xs4all.nl                    /|\
< : > Flump's Fantastic Ascii Collection  http://www.xs4all.nl/~klr < : >
 \|/ "Daddy.. why doesn't the magnet pick up your floppy disks?..."  \|/
  ""^^''``**--==~~++,,.._________________________..,,++~~==--**``''^^""

Using The Other Characters
The other ascii characters fall into three categories. Either they're the full height of the line or they're half height. Capitals and numbers are always full height. Compare them to some of the others - which are half height, and which are full height? Some examples:

Full height: A 7 % @ ! # ) ; & $ ] } | / > l t f k h d ?
Half height: a o v z

And then there's the 3rd sort. The characters that look like half height, but sit a little lower on the line, like they would in handwriting. These are: j g y p q

And all together they can make a slight curve, just like the others:

pqyjgacoevA8!@)lf$%;$fl(@!8AveocagjypqacoevA8!@)lf$%;$fl(@!8Aveoc

Lines and Diagonals
There are three basic lines to any picture - straight (either horizontally, or vertically), diagonal, and the third is the curve, which includes circles. We'll look at straight and diagonal lines first. Horizontal and vertical lines are simple in ascii - here are some examples:

Horizontal:

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
            """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
            ----------------------------------------------------------
            __________________________________________________________
            ..........................................................

Vertical:

            |    8    :    !    1    I
            |    8    :    !    1    I
            |    8    :    !    1    I
            |    8    :    !    1    I
            |    8    :    !    1    I
            |    8    :    !    1    I

Diagonals are a bit more tricky. You can make simple ones using the / and \ keys. Diagonals with other gradients need a technique similar to that used to make slight curves. Experiment yourself to see how you can make different angles. Here are some examples to start you off:

       /         .'               _,-'                            __
      /        .'             _,-'                        __..--''
     /       .'           _,-'                      __..''
    /      .'         _,-'                  __..--''
   /     .'       _,-'              __..--''
  /    .'     _,-'          __..--''                   ____....----"""
 /   .'   _,-'      __..--''           ____....----""""
/  .'  ,-'  __..--''   ____....----""""

That's the basic characters, and what you can do with them. Play with them, see what patterns and ascii scribbles you can make. Have a go at taking one of my pics, or another ascii pic from some of the excellent sites around, and copy it. Then change it! See how you can use the characters to make the picture look different. Can you make the expression on a face change? Can you make an ascii person fatter, thinner, taller, shorter? Give Barney the dinosaur a moustache, or, much better, multiple wounds? :-) This is how I learned. Many of my first efforts were absolutely dreadful. So I looked at how someone else had made the same sort of picture and learned from it. And I still do - probably why people often say my style is very similar to Joan Stark's!

To get you started, cut and paste this head into wherever you want to draw your ascii, and give it a face. Add a hat or a body. Or make the hair shorter or longer. Make it a clown or a devil!

           ,-.,~~.
         ,'///||\\`.
        ///(((||)))\\.
       (((         )))
       _)))        |(_
      ._//\       /\\_.
      `-'_/`-._.-'\-`-'
        ' \/=._.=\/ hjw

UNUSUAL CHARACTERS
=========================Courtesy of King Bob

Sometimes you'll see characters that aren't on standard keyboards in sigs. Here is a short list, just copy and paste them into your sig.

ç à Ë ï ½ ¶ Ï Ÿ ß à t « » Ù
Ì ™ ¾ ß ó ù â d ó Å n ± â ð à Ï ù Ú æ Ñ ¯ ð ¨ ¹ þ Ö ‰ ž û à µ „ ÿ Ô ¥ ¬ Å º Ñ © ù ¬ ¢ æ Œ ¿ È š ò q Å ¹ ñ Ê Ž å ò ù ” ‘ Ø ò  Š ™ Ÿ ® ü œ § “ • ¤ £ Ð ø ‡ †

RULES
=========================

Here are the signature rules at this point:

• Signitures can not be longer than 6 (six) lines.
  
• No Signitures images may be used.
  
• The Tags: Code, IMG, and Quote are disabled.
  
• HTML is disabled.
  
• No More than 500 visable characters.
  

RULES OF THE SIGGY
=========================

› Center tags always create an enter.
› HTML is the worst enemy.

TIPS
=========================

Never Blink colors.

If you want to test your signature, just hit the button to prevent useless test posts.

Never use smilies in a sig. It makes your sig look very unprofessional.

QUOTES
=========================

Time for the biggest and most important section of all. Quotes! Now, here are some websites to yank them off of:

http://www.quotationspage.com/

http://www.quoteland.com/

http://www.brainyquote.com/

http://www.quotes.com/

http://www.goodquotes.com/

http://www.amusingquotes.com/

http://quotes-r-us.org/

http://www.jokes2go.com/quotesmenu.html

http://www.coolquotescollection.com/

http://www.worldofquotes.com/

Those are just some of them. You can literally find millions on the worlds best search engine, Google.

LINKS
Viva La Siggy V1 | Chewmen_Ldr's Website

Created by: Aoc Freako & Chewmen_Ldr
Original Viva La Siggy established by: Da Hobo
Thanks to: Chewmen_Ldr, Raptor, RIP, King Bob

---

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ^{T H E} • _{F R E A K O} ________
· Proud Forumer of AOKH ·

[This message has been edited by aoc_freako (edited 09-26-2004 @ 07:22 PM).]