[yllica]

Siegmund, I'm amazed. I'm a member at several VBulletin forums and they all seem to give comparably minimal space to profile info, avatars and signatures. I can't be the only one to notice this. On Stirpes I often find when scrolling down my whole screen is taken up with a signature message, or the member details take up my whole screen while his post is a one liner.

Milesian, I've followed your advice to definite aesthetic advantage. But I miss out on whatever message avatars and signatures are intended to convey. A balance is possible. Maybe if I don't always sign in I'll become accustomed to the big avatars and sigs.

Agrippa, they are important. That's why I raise the issue. I want to see them and I want to read them. No doubt I could become used to their massive space compared to other forums I look into regularly. But I would rather this forum didn't set itself unnecessary obstacles to reader acceptance.

I've compared Stirpes with other forums. You guys have that lengthy ethnic/racial profile taking up around a fifth of the lateral screen space at left (even more if a huge avatar photograph is included - sometimes more than a quarter of my screen), and a far greater proportion of posters who think their signature needs to be an extended philosophical argument, and widely spaced, in incredibly large font, plus including a picture.

It just looks odd to me when you jump from other forums with limits on these displays.

A balance is possible.