QuipSig

A shareware program for managing your taglines.

QuipSig is designed to change signature files for any Internet e-mail clients that use an ASCII/Text file for the signature. These include Eudora, Netscape Mail and News, News Xpress, and Pegasus. New in version 1.2 is rtf file support in order to use QuipSig with Microsoft Outlook's autosignature file. (This is a fairly rudimentary rtf-compatible signature file, in that you can't modify fonts or other attributes until you're composing the message.) The help file includes screen shots for the more involved configuration of Microsoft Messaging and Outlook.

QuipSig has been installed and tested in Windows 95 and 98. The current version does not work with Windows NT.

QuipSig also gives you the ability to search by word or phrase for a particular tagline in the file, then insert it in your signature. This is great for picking a tagline that relates to the subject of the message you plan to send next. For example, let's say you're planning on sending an email to someone about helping you fix something. A search on the word 'help' in QuipMgr finds, among others, the following quips that might be appropriate:

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
Help Wanted: Telepath. You know where to apply.
Help! I can't reach the brakes on this piano!
Help! I'm modeming... and I can't hang up!!!
If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me.
Help! My computer is smoking and my building has a no-smoking policy!
The best way to get on in the world is to make people believe it's to their advantage to help you. -- Jean de La Bruyere
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
Internet connection not working? Self help info at www.remain.calm

If you didn't have problems, you wouldn't need people around to help solve them. Does that mean if you didn't have people around, you wouldn't have problems?

QuipSig gives you the ability to modify and enable/disable misc text fields surrounding the quip as seen in the generated signature file.. As you can see from this screen shot of QuipSig, there are sixteen fields in total besides the quip field, so you should be able to enter various types of information and just enable/disable fields to use what you've entered. For example, consider this scenario: you have a daytime job where you want your name, position and company to show up. You also use email off-hours, where you want to have a little fun. Here's how you can do just that. Use the first two fields for your day job, and the next two fields for your off-hours fun. Enter all four fields' information, and only toggle on and off the fields as you need them. The following example screen shots have fictitious information in them. Note in the first example the first two fields' text are black, while the second two fields' text are gray. In the second screen shot I have switched the first two fields off and switched on the next two. No re-typing. The fields that have black text will be inserted into the signature file; the fields with gray text will not.

QuipSig gives you the ability to automatically select a new quip and insert it into the signature file at specified intervals. This auto-change feature is enabled only while QuipSig is minimized, eliminating the risk of a change in the middle of quip editing or getting ready to send a message using a specifically-searched for and chosen quip.

Related to the timed-quip change: the ability to change the signature file only when a message has been sent. In my Alpha testing of this feature I have found no noticeable drag on system resources to have the interval set to 12 seconds, giving me a very responsive automatic signature file update. (I have yet to send a new message without QuipSig having updated the signature before I opened the next compose window.)

The new registered version includes an even larger quip file. Version 1.1 of QuipSig had a 1,100 quip file; version 2.0 came with 2,000 funny quips and quotes. Now registered users receive a 3,500 quip file!

Registered users have the following benefits:

Ability to modify operation of OneShot so that it doesn't open a dialog box, merely changes the tagline and shuts down again automatically.

Ability to modify operation of QuipSig so that it opens minimized.

Removal of register-reminder screen when you shut down or minimize QuipSig.

Notification of new versions and free upgrades.

The unregistered version has a database file with 50 funny taglines; the registered version has 3,500.

Note: Before installing QuipSig, you should make note of the name and location of the signature file your email program uses. If you have no signature file, you can create a blank file in Notepad, then configure both your email program and QuipSig to use that file.

Email rodcarty@yknet.ca