Avatar selection

[TosaInu]

this happens when you try to link to an URL. Profile pictures have the same problem.

I'm interested in the hack.

[therother]

Tosa, welcome to the club of the avatarless, even if you are only passing through!

Edit: Yes, the primary purpose of the unfinished hack I mentioned was to conserve the bandwidth of the forum – it replaces remote avatar upload, with remote avatar linking. I installed the v2 version a while back for a friend for just this reason. The reason why it would be useful here, as TosaInu points out, is that the host does not allow uploads to this server: both the methods you highlight are just different ways of uploading the avatar to be stored locally on the server.

The default vBulletin custom avatar system, by design, does not allow remotely linked avatars. This allows a forum administrator to control the dimension and file size of every avatar on the board. I think we'd all like it if signature pictures had a similar option (such as this hack) as it would make enforcing the current restrictions much easier. Unfortunately, we can't have that hack, for exactly the same reason as the custom avatar system doesn't work.

[TosaInu]

Hello,

I had some time to look at this custom avatar for a skin. The basic things that have to be done are so simple that I'ld hardly call it a hack. There are a few things to sort first though.

-First, it's going to be used on a new skin, people who like the theme skins will still be able to do so. Which skin is going to be used to start this?

-Two, in the basic form it will be possible to use huge pictures (2,000 * 2,000 pixels and up). There's possibly a clumsy way to code in limits and use extra fields, but I prefer to keep it simple at this stage.

It seems to be possible to set just one fixed width and height (HTML) to prevent display of oversized pictures, but that takes away from the custom picture (any picture larger or smaller than the set size will be distorted).

So, it will be better to allow all sorts of sizes, but agree in advance about sizelimits to prevent topics looking bad or slowing down browsing too much. Consequences for people not abiding this (take away the toy) and maybe a limit when it can be used (give user a chance to know how it works).

Custom pictures also have to abide the forum rules of course.

I'm awaiting some feedback from the users.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

so can we?
And can I use my rommel avatar?

[Quietus]

Hi Tosa,

I'm not sure how this works. Can we upload our own avatar? And are everyone allowed to do so without deference to postcounts?

Also, the maximum allowable size is up to 2000x2000 pixel (and maybe even higher)?

If so, that great!!

edit: is that 200x200 pixels instead?

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Woo Hoo I would be able to use my Sohei picture, or my Kenshin picture, but I would need an image editor to make it work...

[player1]

Wohooo!
I finaly got Hastati avatar!

[TosaInu]

Hello,

Kaiser of Arabia yes we can, it's not added yet to this board. Just to the board I use to see the effect of hacks/tweaks before they get added here.

I'ld guess Rommel is ok. He was 'just' a general, or am I wrong?

Quietus no, you can't upload your avatar as that is still not allowed by the PHP settings (vbulletins default url linking, uses file upload as well). What you can do, is enter the url to a picture, and it will be loaded from there and displayed here. Different details, but result for the user will be the same. So, you're right too.

The org has a hosting space for users custom avatars and a PHP script to upload them (different server, different PHP setting). Those scripts recently broke down and will have to be fixed though.

No, the point is that users could perform such things like uploading a 2,000 * 2,000 10 mb image and render the whole skin useless for other users.

Some members will use the system, and it's their free choice to use it, so I ask them for fair limits. Staff will only patrol to spot those who breach it in order to demolish the system for others or post pictures that (could) cause a big uproar (18+, vulgar, hateful).

So, it is possible to make a custom avatar (your choice: red firetruck, purple orchid, a general, a panzer, picture of yourself..) but to keep it working we need agreements from the users about max pixel and byte sizes, animations, sound and which skin will be used (it should be possible to make another option toggle in UserCP and use it with the current skins, but I'm not there yet). First things first.