Editing Encyclopedia:Signatures (section)

== Dealing with unsigned comments ==
{{Redirect|WP:UNSIGNED|the actual template|Template:Unsigned}}
{{shortcut|WP:UNSIGNED}}
The templates {{tl|unsigned}} and {{tl|unsigned IP}} can be used at the end of an unsigned comment to attach the username or IP to the comment. None of these templates automatically populates (fills in) the username or IP of the poster or the time of the post. That information is best copied from the history page and pasted into the following templates. All of the unsigned templates must be [[WP:SUBST|substituted]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wikimarkup !! Resulting code !! Resulting display
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned|</nowiki><var>username or IP</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned|Example}}</nowiki></code>
|{{unsigned|Example|demo=yes}}
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned|</nowiki><var>username or IP</var><nowiki>|</nowiki><var>date</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned|Example|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)<nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|{{unsigned|Example|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)|demo=yes}}
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned IP|</nowiki><var>IP address</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned IP|127.0.0.1}}</nowiki></code>
|{{unsigned IP|127.0.0.1|demo=yes}}
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned IP|</nowiki><var>IP address</var><nowiki>|</nowiki><var>date</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned IP|127.0.0.1|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)<nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|{{unsigned IP|127.0.0.1|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)|demo=yes}}
|}

The templates {{tl|unsigned2}} and {{tl|unsignedIP2}} do almost the same as {{tl|unsigned}} and {{tl|unsigned IP}} when used with two parameters, but the ordering of the parameters is reversed. The resulting display is the same. These templates may be useful when copying and pasting from the edit history, where the timestamp appears before the username.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wikimarkup !! Resulting code !! Resulting display
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned2|</nowiki><var>date</var><nowiki>|</nowiki><var>username or ip</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsigned2|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)<nowiki>|Example}}</nowiki></code>
|{{unsigned2|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)|Example|demo=yes}}
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsignedIP2|</nowiki><var>date</var><nowiki>|</nowiki><var>IP address</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:unsignedIP2|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}<nowiki>|127.0.0.1}}</nowiki></code>
|{{unsignedIP2|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}|127.0.0.1|demo=yes}}
|}

The template {{tl|xsign}} is a wrapper for {{tl|unsigned}} and {{tl|unsigned IP}} that will parse the username and date string copied and pasted directly from the edit history. The resulting display is the same.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wikimarkup !! Resulting code !! Resulting display
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:xsign|</nowiki><var>date/username string</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:xsign|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} Example}}</code>
|{{xsign|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} Example|demo=yes}}
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:xsign|</nowiki><var>date/IP string</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:xsign|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} 127.0.0.1}}</code>
|{{xsign|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} 127.0.0.1|demo=yes}}
|}

It is also a good idea to notify users, especially new users, that they should sign their comments. You may use the template {{tl|uw-tilde}} on the user's talk page or one of the [[Wikipedia:Template messages/User talk namespace#Welcoming new users|welcome messages]] for new users.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wikimarkup !! Resulting code !! Resulting display
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:uw-tilde}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:uw-tilde}}</nowiki></code>
|{{uw-tilde|demo=yes}}
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:uw-tilde|</nowiki><var>Article</var><nowiki>|</nowiki><var>Additional text</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:uw-tilde|</nowiki>Article name<nowiki>|</nowiki>Comments go here.}}</code>
|{{uw-tilde|Article name|Comments go here.|demo=yes}}
|}

Also, the template {{tl|undated}} can be used at the end of comments where the user gave their username but no timestamp:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wikimarkup !! Resulting code !! Resulting display
|-
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:undated|</nowiki><var>date</var><nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|<code><nowiki>{{subst:undated|</nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)<nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>
|{{undated|{{CURRENTTIME}}, {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}} (UTC)|demo=yes}}
|}

=== Automatic adding of signatures ===

The [[wp:bots|bot]] [[User:SineBot|SineBot]] signs comments on talk pages and pages in [[:Category:Non-talk pages that are automatically signed]], for unregistered users and users who have fewer than 800 edits. To re-enable autosigning of your unsigned comments, you can place {{tl|YesAutosign}} on your [[wp:user page|user page]] or user talk page.