Now when I use Google to search the forum for Couro Duro I see all of the threads I have posted in...

Anything you post on the world wide web is visible to all.  Be careful what you ask for.  You just might get it... in spades!

Suzi

No Suzi, signatures have never been public on this forum before. And what I mean by public is that it is accessible to Google.

The problem is that if I want to find info on Couro Duro (or any other name that appears in somebodie's signature) now I receive 1260 results, 1259 of which have nothing to do with Couro Duro. It did not used to be like that, I'm sure.

Explain.  Anyone on the earth can come here and see your signature.  That is public.  Brent, DE/PA, z7a wanted:  Couro Duro  That wanted part sucks.  Are you wanted?

Suzi

I have a confession to make Suzi, I have once or twice logged out or failed to log in to avoid seeing the signatures. I can no longer do that, but will carry on ; )

Can you temporarily delete that from your sig to make that search?

Thanks Ed. I think I just resolved the search issue by turning off private results in Google Chrome.

I still don't know why I can see signatures when logged out though, is that Google Chrome playing tricks on me as well?

[QUOTE=hoosierbanana]No Suzi, signatures have never been public on this forum before. And what I mean by public is that it is accessible to Google.

The problem is that if I want to find info on Couro Duro (or any other name that appears in somebodie's signature) now I receive 1260 results, 1259 of which have nothing to do with Couro Duro. It did not used to be like that, I'm sure.[/QUOTE]

I ran into this problem yesterday when I was googling a few varieties. Gave me lots of signature wish lists but that isn't what I was after.

As if there were not enough threads to look through already, right?

OK, so I refired my machine and logged my fiancee out of Google since I figured she might have recently signed up for some Google+ thing that caused it. But now I see the results when logged into my account, private results on or not!That is the first time restarting has betrayed me like that ; ( 

Google still lists threads with the variety name in the title at the top but names in signatures seem to get counted as much as any other keyword so sideline conversations in other threads might be buried.

p.s. I also became aware that now other internet users will possibly waste their time clicking on my unrelated posts when they search Google for Couro Duro, which I don't like very much.

Hi hoosierbanana,
In the same way, the wishlists in the signature are a pain.
If you do a search on F4F, you'll get results for the wishlists instead of results on discussions of that particular variety .
I once did a search on b-r-u-n-s-w-i-c-k ( this post won't show up this way :) for the search I did ) and got more threads not related to that particular variety than informative threads.
But it was ok, I was able to dig in the results to find some infos .
So basically change your signature for c-o-u-r-o d-u-r-o .
Just a question: Why would "hard leather"/"Thick skin" interest one :) ?

[QUOTE]Just a question: Why would "hard leather"/"Thick skin" interest one :) ?[/QUOTE]

The spotted wing drosophilia, mostly. But also just to be able to sell ripe figs riper : )

That is a great idea about putting spaces in to confuse Google, I think it would be better to return to private signatures though, if possible. If not I will put it on my members page (is that private Suzi ; ) 

The funny thing is, I fought a little campaign against wishlists in signatures a while ago, guess I should have fought harder...

Bump for Jon. 

As it sits signatures stand in the way of the free flow of fig information.

Bump, looks like he missed it...

[quote=Brent]I still don't know why I can see signatures when logged out though, is that Google Chrome playing tricks on me as well? [/quote]

No, something changed in the forum setup.  It used to be that you could only see signatures when you were logged in (authenticated).  Now every visitor can see signatures, even if they are not authenticated.  This isn't a change in the browers... it happens in Google Chrome, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Safari, (and probably all of them).  It is a change in the forum server configuration, or the way that the pages are built by the forum software.  Unauthenticated (un-logged-in) users were in the past not shown signatures, and now they are.  That is what changed.  Without that change, the search engine crawlers wouldn't even be able to index the pages with the information that is in the signatures, (since the crawlers are not authenticating), and hence would not give you those links in their search results if the only place where that information appeared was in a signature.  Similarly, you would not be able to see the signatures unless you were logged in.

I don't know if anyone is keeping track, but I for one would be in favor of only showing signatures to authenticated users.  (i.e. returning the forum behavior to how it was before).

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a     
p.s. the line immediately above this one isn't a signature... I actually typed that in my post.  My forum signature is blank.

Thanks for explaining and applying the proper terminology Mike. I am glad the crawlers are not authenticating ; )

Brent, you might contact the company that creates the forum software to ask about this.  I doubt it's anything Jon has control over.

http://www.websitetoolbox.com/cgi/tools/hr.cgi

The forum can be customized, I was checking out mcrocks a little earlier and like it because there is no membership whatsoever. 

I sent websitetoolbox a message asking if it was a glitch, so hopefully I should hear back next week.

If you want Jon to look at this you probably should email him.

Brent, I realize that the forum can be customized by Jon but I doubt this is a change he has made.  Like Bob said, it's best to email him if you want to make sure to get his attention.

Bumpity bump bump. Email sent last night, apparently you know something I don't Bob.

Excuse my ignorance but what is so important or not important about signatures and the www?
Is this something I/we need to know?

Someone please explain.

Thank you

As a better example take Takoma Violet. I search Google in the usual way using the site identifier with the variety name

Takoma Violet site:figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com

But now because sigs are viewable by Google many of the top hits only contain the name Takoma Violet in signatures, it is not actually being discussed. 3 out of the top seven are sig results: Violette Sollies, Figs on TV, and VdB wanted in FL. 

It's Memorial Day!
Airborne Creed 

Awesome post Brent.

Screaming Eagle
Go 101st !!!!!!



Doug

Gonna watch some Band of Brothers later to remember what the meaning of tough is. 

[QUOTE]Hello, Thank you for contacting Website Toolbox Support. We regret the inconvenience. The changes are made in system based on the feedback provided by forum users. We will pass on your feedback to the development team for review. If approved, then this may be included in one of our future upgrades. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.[/QUOTE]

p.s. I heard from Jon but it looks like it is not something he can change back : (