Wikipedia:Signatures

Signing your posts on talk pages, both for the article and non-article namespaces, is required, since it facilitates discussion by identifying the author of a particular comment. Other users can then navigate to a talk page and address their comments to the specific, relevant user(s). Discussion is an important part of collaborative editing, because it helps all users to understand the progress and evolution of a work.

Signatures are added automatically when using the reply tool or new topic tool. When editing in source text mode not using these tools, they must be added manually, which can be done by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature icon in the edit toolbar.

Comments posted on user talk pages, article talk pages and other discussion pages must be properly signed. Signature use that is intentionally and persistently disruptive may lead to blocks.

When editing a page, main namespace pages (which are all Wikipedia articles) should not be signed, because the content is a shared work, based on the contributions of many people, and one editor should not be singled out or "credited" above others.