Can't edit my sig - please help

InaPickle

Dear MSE official peeps,

For some reasons, I can't edit my signature. When I try, it says 'Sorry as a new user you are not allowed to post with links. This is done to stop spammers clogging up the site. Please edit your message below to continue.', although I very evidently am not a new user.

Equally, my signature is not coming up in the usual way, rather surrounded by many more tags than usual.

Is this just me, or is it site error at the moment?

Thanks!

Pickle

Former_MSE_Joe

Hello InaPickle,

Unfortunately we don't allow links in users signatures unless it has been approved. You have "No More Buying Books Until" and "NMBDVD" as a links in your signature.

Regards;

Joe

Lois_E

Hi MSE Joe

I thought we weren't allowed links to external sites but it was OK to link to a thread or post here on MSE. I've had a link to my MFW diary thread for a while now, and it's only today that it's started telling me I can't have it. Is that a policy change or a bug?

Thanks.

Lois_E

OK, that's obviously my misunderstanding then. I thought the "no links" thing was about preventing spam, and that links to threads or posts here on the MSE forums didn't constitute spam. I apologise for getting it wrong.

Can I respectfully suggest that the automated message (which seems to be new) be changed to say "you can't put links in sigs" rather than "you can't post links because you're new", which is confusing if you're not new. Thanks.

fermi

Posted by the Forum Manager in 2005, as I think some people were using internal MSE thread links to link to their own referral threads etc

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=1234930&postcount=16

MSE_Forum_Manager wrote: »

Hi all

Im going to clarify this now. We had an instance a few weeks back of someone linking to a thread within MSE that didnt break any rules and we could see no harm in it. Since then, people have make the valid point that this is potentially opening a door for others to abuse.

This, therefore, is the official word - no links in signatures period. Exceptions are charity links or links we specifically sanction as set out in the rules. There will be a closed thread in This Site which we will begin to add to which clarifies the users who have permission to have a link in their signature, and what that sig should say.

Whilst this may take a couple of weeks to populate as we backtrack, it should help provide clarity. If you spot any signature not on the list, please report to us. It may simply be a case that we haven't added to the list.

I hope this helps

InaPickle

Lois_E wrote: »

OK, that's obviously my misunderstanding then. I thought the "no links" thing was about preventing spam, and that links to threads or posts here on the MSE forums didn't constitute spam. I apologise for getting it wrong.

Can I respectfully suggest that the automated message (which seems to be new) be changed to say "you can't put links in sigs" rather than "you can't post links because you're new", which is confusing if you're not new. Thanks.

I'm with you on this: I thought the aim of the ban on links was to stop people from linking to outside sites. I didn't realise that it also applied to internal links. Perhaps you could explicitly indicate this as part of the rules so that other people inadvertently don't make the same mistake and also have their signatures wiped? I've lost all the info in mine, and if someone had just pointed out that I had made a mistake, I would have happily changed it and could have kept all the information at the same time.