User:Mathmagician/sig

<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space:nowrap; padding:2px 10px 4px 10px; border-radius:2em .7em 2em .7em; background: #4c4c4c; background: -moz-linear-gradient(-45deg, #4c4c4c 0%, #666666 15%, #474747 30%, #2c2c2c 40%, #000000 50%, #111111 60%, #2b2b2b 70%, #1c1c1c 85%, #131313 100%); background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, right bottom, color-stop(0%,#4c4c4c), color-stop(15%,#666666), color-stop(30%,#474747), color-stop(40%,#2c2c2c), color-stop(50%,#000000), color-stop(60%,#111111), color-stop(70%,#2b2b2b), color-stop(85%,#1c1c1c), color-stop(100%,#131313)); background: -webkit-linear-gradient(-45deg,  #4c4c4c 0%,#666666 15%,#474747 30%,#2c2c2c 40%,#000000 50%,#111111 60%,#2b2b2b 70%,#1c1c1c 85%,#131313 100%); background: -o-linear-gradient(-45deg,  #4c4c4c 0%,#666666 15%,#474747 30%,#2c2c2c 40%,#000000 50%,#111111 60%,#2b2b2b 70%,#1c1c1c 85%,#131313 100%); background: -ms-linear-gradient(-45deg,  #4c4c4c 0%,#666666 15%,#474747 30%,#2c2c2c 40%,#000000 50%,#111111 60%,#2b2b2b 70%,#1c1c1c 85%,#131313 100%); background: linear-gradient(135deg,  #4c4c4c 0%,#666666 15%,#474747 30%,#2c2c2c 40%,#000000 50%,#111111 60%,#2b2b2b 70%,#1c1c1c 85%,#131313 100%); background-color: black;">  http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/mathmagician/images/3/3e/20px_Rin_Tohsaka_Avatar.png    Math   ƒ (♫)

How my signature works
I use a templated signature which is constructed in several pieces:  UTC
 * User:Mathmagician/sig (contains my actual signature code)
 * User:Mathmagician/sigPref (dummy template for substitution, required as a work-around to the problem that, on Wikia, any code you put in Special:Preferences is force-substituted)
 * Code in my Special:Preferences
 * Since my timestamp is built into my signature template, I sign my posts with 3 tildes instead of 4.
 * The signature templates have to be copied onto every single wiki edited. For example, if I want to sign a page on the w:c:community wiki, then I need to copy my signature templates to w:c:community:User:Mathmagician/sig and w:c:community:User:Mathmagician/sigPref. This process has to be repeated for each and every wiki you want to use your signature on.
 * The #ifexist part of the code you can see above in my Special:Preferences is designed to use a default signature on wikis where my signature templates don't exist (because I forgot to copy them or haven't done so yet). My default signature looks like this: — Mathmagician (message wall) 21:26, September 8, 2012 (UTC)
 * Using #ifexist in Special:Preferences to create a default signature as a fallback option solves a problem where you often see signatures like the following when people forget to copy their signature templates:

Help

 * If you're looking for help with building a template signature, you can create a forum post in the Community Central forums to ask someone to help you.
 * If you're specifically interested in my signature, feel free to leave me a message or copy mine. I don't mind if anyone copies my signature, so long as they change it to not use my name/avatar.
 * Building a templated signature generally requires advanced knowledge of wiki markup, CSS and HTML. If you're not familiar with these things, you're going to have a hard time building a templated signature.
 * If you want to build your timestamp into your signature so that you can format it, you need to use #time parser function to pass the current timestamp as a parameter to your signature template. That and other parser functions such as #ifexist are described in detail at mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions.
 * A great resource for learning about CSS is http://www.w3schools.com/css/
 * Some wiki communities have lots of users with templated signatures. For example, the Fairy Tail Wikia has a help page at w:c:fairytail:Help:Customizing your Signature which describes the process of customizing your signature. You may want to consider looking for help pages on these wikis or joining their community if you're interested in awesome-looking custom signatures.