Why not just use /echo -iN
For Active window
echo $+(-ai,$calc($len($me) +3) <,$me,>) $1-
For Status window
echo $+(-si,$calc($len($me) +3) <,$me,>) $1-
For a channel/query window
echo $+(-i,$calc($len($me) +3) <#channel/nick> <,$me,>) $1-
Change the $calc() to include how you display nicks and timestamp etc. "$+(-i,$calc($len($me $timestamp)) +3)" .. or whatever...