# retroactive signature changes



## papillon

I noticed that when I change my signature, the change affects not only the new post, but the old ones alike, so a post made 4 months ago will now have my NEW signature.

I find this to be a little strange. When you write a letter, you sign it, and the signature is now an unseparable part of this letter. Shouldn't the same go for posts, shouldn't the signatures remain as they were at the time the post was made?


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## GenJen54

Hi papillon,

An online "signature" is not the same as one made with pen-and-ink.  The software and server can only "cache" so much material.  As such, signatures, like avatars, are not static things. 

Remember, what you are actually changing is your profile.  The signature is an attachment to that.  It is not an attachment to the posts.


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## papillon

Thank you GenJen,
yes, I realize that the signatures are taken from the profile, and this is done _every_ time I load a page. So if the profile is updates, the signature may change.

But my question is: is it technically possible to _change_ this protocol?

After all, when we send e-mails, a signature may be added. A piece of text that the computer automatically adds at the end of our message, and it becomes a _permanent_ part of the text.

If this option is not available in vBulletin, then I withdraw the question, it's really not a big deal.

But if it's easy to implement, I think it would be worthwhile...Perhaps others feel differently.


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## TrentinaNE

As GenJen noted, none of the user profile info is maintained historically. Note that your very first post also shows your current number of cumulative posts, even though this counter said "1" at the time you posted the message.   I suspect it would be a major change to the software to do otherwise.

Elisabetta


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## cuchuflete

Hi Papillon,
The signature, as recorded in a post, is "fixed" data, which is merged with "variable" data that you write for a post. vB software combines these, merging data from two distinct databases, one of which includes member profiles, when it displays a thread.

In theory, it is possible to copy the profile data—the signature—to the post data.  This might require extensive programming and testing time, and doesn't seem high on the priority list for vBulletin.

Here's a workaround:  Write your current signature to a word or notebook file, or to a desktop sticky.  Then add it to whatever you write for your post.  That will make it permanent; when the post is displayed it will include the signature you were using at the time you first wrote that post.  Yes, it would be a minor nuisance, but it would provide what you are asking for.


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## celebes

Good day
Please explain 'desktop sticky'. I gather it's the electronic version of a 'post it' sticker. How does one 'make/create' a desktop sticky?

Thank you


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## maxiogee

celebes said:


> Good day
> Please explain 'desktop sticky'. I gather it's the electronic version of a 'post it' sticker. How does one 'make/create' a desktop sticky?
> 
> Thank you



Macintosh computers come with a little application which enables the user to stick little notes to their desktops.
These are handy for many reasons and one would be the usage cuchu describes.


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## cuchuflete

Celebes,
Tony's correct. I believe there is a PC equivalent, but if not, just save a word or .txt document to your desktop.  Yet another way to do this, if you plan to have a new signature every day:

Open another browser tab (Safari, Firefox, Mozilla and other browsers support multiple tabs in a window...I don't know about IE). Open a second session for the forums.  Go to any forum and start a new thread.  Type your signature of the day.

Do not post the message!

Then, whenever you are writing a post, click on the second WR tab, copy the signature text [Ctrl + C for PCs], return to the post you have written, paste  [Ctrl +V for PCs], and submit the post.


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## fenixpollo

I think the PC equivalent of a _sticky_ is the _Notepad_. Nowhere near as user-friendly as the Mac version, but there you go.


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## celebes

Voilà, merci...


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