My Little Pedant March 14, 2010 10:16 PM   Subscribe

The World's Tiniest Pony: fix for inconsistency in terminology?

Why does it say "sign out" up by my MeMail icon when I am prompted to "login" and right now I'm looking at a prompt by my username that says "logout"?
posted by kitarra to Bugs at 10:16 PM (59 comments total)

Why do you hate MetaFilter?

But seriously, folks, for tiny ponys like this one that don't call for a community discussion there's a Contact link down in the footer of every page that magically emails all moderators your pedantry directly.
posted by carsonb at 10:19 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


Is either one better? We can fix it pretty easily.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:32 PM on March 14, 2010


perhaps "sign out" should be the terminology used on the "close your account" link... login/logout is what you do every day (or comment, or new browser, or whatever), and signup/signout are what you do when you start and finish using MeFi...

not that I'm just muddying the water...
posted by russm at 10:38 PM on March 14, 2010


I'd like my to say "Unlogin" to sign me out, and "Deunlog" to sign me in.
posted by turgid dahlia at 10:40 PM on March 14, 2010 [37 favorites]


HSBC's Internet Banking site says "Logoff" which is just terrible.
posted by griphus at 11:24 PM on March 14, 2010


I think "logit!" for both.
posted by unknowncommand at 11:25 PM on March 14, 2010


I vote for: Wiener (login) and Looser (logout)
posted by heyho at 11:40 PM on March 14, 2010


How about "Make it Start" and "Make it Stop. Oh God. MAKE IT STOP."
posted by sambosambo at 11:47 PM on March 14, 2010 [11 favorites]


I refuse to sign anything!
posted by gomichild at 11:51 PM on March 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


Sign in/Sign out makes MeFi feel more like a place where one can leave one's mark or share personal things. Signed, like a letter, guestbook, or the sly hotel registers from Lolita.

Log in/Log out is kind of clinical. I hear login and think something along the lines of "Login records show that the defendant was logged in when the botnet began to transfer and delete the trade secrets." IMO logs are for computers, not communities.

But yeah, I really don't care either way. I'm just writing this comment because I have insomnia. Damn you, daylight saving time!
posted by infinitewindow at 12:01 AM on March 15, 2010


Metafilter: Slog in, slog out.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:19 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


The World's Tiniest Pony: fix for inconsistency in terminology?

What, you've been here a week and already you want to tell the mods how to run the place?

(I keed, I keed.)

I vote for Wax on/Wax off. That way, I can polish my Karate skills while I surf Metafilter.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:11 AM on March 15, 2010


Clap on, clap off.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:40 AM on March 15, 2010


I want three options:
"Log in" (two words)
"Log out" (two words)
"Take a break" - Opens a screen on which you enter the number of days you want to be unable to log in. You are logged out and timed out until the corresponding date, which appears on your profile page as "Taking a break until [return date]."
posted by pracowity at 2:39 AM on March 15, 2010 [12 favorites]


Sign out sounds better than log out to me. It also sounds less like I'm closing an entry in this Star Date's e-diary, or enjoying the effects of fiber.
posted by empyrean at 2:58 AM on March 15, 2010


pracowity

That will lead to a lot of people buying sockpuppet accounts as they try to survive without commenting on an argument on the internet. Bravo! If it prevents an IP address viewing metafilter, then there will a lot of people (including me) learning how to fake IPs.
posted by b33j at 3:47 AM on March 15, 2010


Give me a straight "in" "out" and I'll like you. Yeah, baby.
posted by Kerasia at 3:50 AM on March 15, 2010


Excuse me, missus. No time for the old in-out, I've just come to read the meter.
posted by pracowity at 3:59 AM on March 15, 2010


That will lead to a lot of people buying sockpuppet accounts as they try to survive without commenting on an argument on the internet.

I'm so lonely.
posted by Pollomacho at 4:46 AM on March 15, 2010


Following the logic of whichever lunatic came up with the syntax for Cisco IOS, the terminology should be:
  • logout
  • no logout
Seriously, I was quite surprised many years ago that the command to start up an interface that had been shut down on a Cisco router is "no shutdown".
posted by FishBike at 5:30 AM on March 15, 2010 [4 favorites]


Flame In and Flame Out?
posted by idiomatika at 5:34 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]


Could you change my "My Ask" to "Mask"? THX!
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 6:03 AM on March 15, 2010


In time you'll learn that there's no real reason to sign out or logout. ever.
posted by gman at 6:11 AM on March 15, 2010


You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:16 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


"Take a break" - Opens a screen on which you enter the number of days you want to be unable to log in. You are logged out and timed out until the corresponding date, which appears on your profile page as "Taking a break until [return date]."

Good idea.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:39 AM on March 15, 2010


"Take a break" - Opens a screen on which you enter the number of days you want to be unable to log in. You are logged out and timed out until the corresponding date, which appears on your profile page as "Taking a break until [return date]."

There is something to be said for having to apologize to the mods for making their lives difficult during your flameout, though.

*cough* not that i'd know from personal experience or anything. *cough*
posted by zarq at 7:34 AM on March 15, 2010


How about "Let's Get This Party Started!" and "I Am So, So Sorry" -- they would make things more festive!
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:40 AM on March 15, 2010


Metafilter: Slog in, slog out.

Ooh! Can we have this one? Please please please?!?
posted by slogger at 8:21 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


How about "Make it Start" and "Make it Stop. Oh God. MAKE IT STOP."

PB disabled that script.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:24 AM on March 15, 2010


Is either one better?

I'd like the bike shed to be green.
posted by fritley at 8:47 AM on March 15, 2010


  • in.
  • out.
  • just here to read the meter.

  • posted by dirtdirt at 9:15 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


    I'd like "Activate the Timesink" and "DTMFA" whenever you get a chance. Thanks.
    posted by iconomy at 9:18 AM on March 15, 2010


    dtmfa = detactivate timesink (metafilter) activation, by the way
    posted by iconomy at 9:20 AM on March 15, 2010


    I want 'Breathe In' and 'Breathe Out', with a little sample of Machine Head playing every time, just for that awesome 90's feel...
    posted by pupdog at 9:26 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]


    One vote for "Funk On" and "Funk Off".
    posted by Aquaman at 9:28 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


    "Declaw"
    "Reclaw"
    posted by Dojie at 9:30 AM on March 15, 2010 [6 favorites]


    "Sign off", which leads you to a new page of the American Flag waving in the breeze and the National Anthem playing. After the song is done, the page is replaced by static.
    posted by backseatpilot at 10:43 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]



    in.
    out.
    just here to read the meter.
    use the shower

    Fatuous, &c.
    posted by shakespeherian at 10:50 AM on March 15, 2010


    "Beanplate" for logging in.
    "Hugs" for logging out.
    posted by misha at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2010


    I always log out like this:

    sync
    cd ~
    halt /home/metafilter
    umount /home/metafilter

    So I guess it should really say "Un-mount MetaFilter" instead of "sign out".
    posted by GuyZero at 11:02 AM on March 15, 2010


    I wish I could spell detactivate.
    posted by iconomy at 11:12 AM on March 15, 2010


    So I guess it should really say "Un-mount MetaFilter" instead of "sign out".

    Unmount? So you're saying Metafilter is the world's tiniest pony?
    posted by qvantamon at 11:37 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]


    While we're at it, I'd like it to play a little Wilhelm Scream every time I sign in.
    posted by Dormant Gorilla at 11:41 AM on March 15, 2010


    well i bring it up this way: why is "mail" an icon?
    posted by polymodus at 12:09 PM on March 15, 2010


    Ok, I've tried my hand at writing my first ever Greasemonkey script. The feeble results are here. This changes the "sign out" link to say "logout" instead.
    posted by FishBike at 12:09 PM on March 15, 2010


    I want 'Breathe In' and 'Breathe Out', with a little sample of Machine Head playing every time, just for that awesome 90's feel...

    A, uh, guy I knew in college downloaded a windows theme constructed entirely from out of context snippets of songs of Jewel's first album.
    posted by cortex (staff) at 12:34 PM on March 15, 2010


    russm : login/logout is what you do every day

    Ha! Logout... good one.

    Wait, you can do that? I thought once we bonded with the collective, it was eternal.
    posted by quin at 12:36 PM on March 15, 2010


    Embark/Disembark. Like Phantasy Star.
    posted by cashman at 1:07 PM on March 15, 2010


    Although I'm really rooting for detactivate.
    posted by cashman at 1:09 PM on March 15, 2010


    Of course, detactivate would be logging in. Abandon tact, all ye who enter!
    posted by carsonb at 2:35 PM on March 15, 2010


    I like logout, it reminds me to eat more fiber. Sign out just makes me think of evidence lockups in detective movies. Which I guess means that should be reserved for cabal members persons undisclosed.
    posted by BrotherCaine at 2:48 PM on March 15, 2010


    Wait.... you can log out?
    posted by kjs4 at 4:16 PM on March 15, 2010


    Look, I know allayall who're like, "wait...you can log out?" think it's a badge for your hardcore. Or like a patch on your jean MetaFilter jacket sewn on with cat-gut from the tennis racket you took off the preppy Fark kid the other day. But Hardcore MetaFilter Userage™ is logging onto your MeFi account from as many fucking computers as possible. I nab iPhones from grannies on the bus and log on to check favorites. (I always give them back though—I'm no monster.) When there's street cleaning twice a week I wardrive for open networks and log on from there. I've logged on from every computer of every person I've ever spent the night with and thus we know each other MetaFilterally as well as. I methodically metafilter along every Library computer at every branch in this county. But I'm no whore with my credentials; logging out is important to maintain the integrity of my Individual MeFi Persona™ and I always do it no matter what. Because I'm Hardcore MetaFilter.
    posted by carsonb at 4:52 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


    I want a jean jacket now.
    posted by cortex (staff) at 4:58 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


    A, uh, guy I knew in college downloaded a windows theme constructed entirely from out of context snippets of songs of Jewel's first album.

    You know, c-man, I once said one of my joys in life was knowing I'd never have to listen to that AOL door-slam upon logging out ever again.

    I think I would prefer that to having to hear about who's sa-uh-ahving my soul every time I wanted to empty the trash.
    posted by pupdog at 5:00 PM on March 15, 2010


    invention exchange/movie sign
    posted by eddydamascene at 8:37 PM on March 15, 2010


    preppy Fark kid

    This just blew my mind.
    posted by shakespeherian at 8:17 AM on March 16, 2010


    Insert Log

    Remove Log
    posted by Sys Rq at 10:59 AM on March 16, 2010


    That's what Bea said!
    posted by GuyZero at 11:13 AM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


    « Older Bali Why Not   |   Why don't I stay logged into Metafilter anymore? Newer »

    You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments