Sigs and Sounds

Sigs and Sounds

By far the most common question I have seen posted on DellT@lk in its new incarnation was "how do I make my signature show up in my posts?" This first portion will deal with that question.

Adding a Signature

Wherever your site is, for the purposes of this discussion assume that its address is (as stated earlier) http://www.mysite.com and that your signature file is called Sig1.gif. In order to place this signature at the bottom of your post, space down a line or two from your text and then type the following HTML:

This will place your signature below your text at the left-hand edge of the page. The only addition to this HTML that will be discussed here is to center your signature if you so desire. If that is the case, place <center> before this HTML and </center> after the HTML.

Adding a Sound

Once again, in order to do this, the sound file must be on your Web site. Assuming the sound file is called Beep.wav, there are two ways you can add it to your post.

If you want it to play automatically, the HTML is:

This will produce the little player icon 230 pixels wide and 45 pixels high and will start to play the sound file as soon as it begins to be received. Readers of your post who desire to can download the sound file by right-clicking the player icon and choosing "Save as" from the pop-up menu. The <center> and </center> tags that centered your signature can also be used before and after the <embed src command to center the player icon.

If you don't want the sound file to play automatically, the HTML is the same except that it contains autostart=false so that the person reading the post must click on the play button to hear the file.

On some occasions, if you have a brief sound file you may want to attach it to your signature and merely have it play when your signature appears. The HTML for this is:

As with the HTML for hyperlinks, make sure to turn off any command you start--the <embed... statement is followed by the </embed> statement.

On an aesthetic note, consider the audience for your sound files. Some DellT@lk users find sounds that play automatically annoying. Since it is assumed that the reason you have added a sound to your post is to add humor, you may defeat your purpose with some readers by forcing them to listen. Also, if the sound file is large, it will play in bits and pieces as it loads, which is also not desirable. The bottom line is that you should give serious consideration to making autostart=false your default coding.