Help:FAQ/Questions about contributions/What do you mean "sign your post"?

What do you mean "sign your post"?
"I told you something interesting on one of the talk pages, but all I got was the terse response: "Please sign your post." What the factorial is that supposed to mean?"


 * The talk pages are where discussion of matters arising from the entry to which it is attached. Questions are raised concerning the meaning of that page, or why the notation was chosen as it was, or merely just to tell the person writing it that it's a load of rubbish and not worth the paper it's printed on.


 * As these pages are for discussion, it is useful to have a record of who said what, and when they said it, and to be able to follow the conversation.


 * So, whenever you enter a post on a talk page (not one of the main pages: definition or proof), you are required to sign your post. This is done by pressing the button at the top of the edit pane which contains a logo that looks like a squiggle. It should be the rightmost icon but one. What this will do is enter two hyphens followed by four tildes: . When you save that page, it will replace the four tildes with your user "signature" and the date at which it was posted, like you see at the end of this paragraph. Please do what you can to honour this request. --prime mover (talk) 17:38, 27 December 2012 (UTC)