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Third Party removal of Avatars & Avatar Gallery just woeful


WraithWatcher

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Does anyone know if a hook for URL avatars is currently being made or if there will ever be one made? Preferably a free hook.





Thanks to the first person to reply to this topic for pointing me to it

http://community.invisionpower.com/files/file/4395-improved-avatars/

it works well, finally allowed my members to use Photobucket again
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Does anyone know if a hook for URL avatars is currently being made or if there will ever be one made? Preferably a free hook.




http://community.invisionpower.com/files/file/4395-improved-avatars/

It's not free, but it's cheap and actively developed. :)

Kind Regards,
Haku
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Current way is also much more user friendly. Much better than having people who are less familiar with forums putting in bbcode or html in with the remote avatar URL and than asking why it doesn't work.





Considering Photobucket automatically gives the user the full Tag in both BBCODE & HTML allowing a member to simply copy & paste makes it so much easier, they also have the option for just the url without tags so they can insert themselves
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Thanks to the first person to reply to this topic for pointing me to it



http://community.inv...proved-avatars/

it works well, finally allowed my members to use Photobucket again





http://community.inv...proved-avatars/

It's not free, but it's cheap and actively developed. %7Boption%7D

' alt='' class='ipsImage' >



Kind Regards,


Haku



Thank you both. Looks good. %7Boption%7D' alt='' class='ipsImage' >
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  • Management

Keep in mind that the concept of an "avatar" is no more as we now only have member photos. Of course this is all just naming but if you take a step back and think about it: everyone understands what a photo is but only people familiar with the history of the web understand what an avatar is. Therefore we are choosing the term photo to be used globally throughout our software. Of course having avatar galleries makes no sense when one doesn't have avatars anymore :)

We will look into re-adding the ability for remotely-linked photos in a future update.

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We will look into re-adding the ability for remotely-linked photos in a future update.



Thank you so much. At the same time hoping that you do bring that back, please also allow the turning off of photo/avatar uploads. It was there in 3.1.4 where I could turn off the ability of uploads yet allow them to link to their images on photo bucket/imageshack/tiny pic, etc.
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  • Management

Thank you so much. At the same time hoping that you do bring that back, please also allow the turning off of photo/avatar uploads. It was there in 3.1.4 where I could turn off the ability of uploads yet allow them to link to their images on photo bucket/imageshack/tiny pic, etc.



Yes, I'm sure that would go along with it :)
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  • 2 weeks later...

Keep in mind that the concept of an "avatar" is no more as we now only have member photos. Of course this is all just naming but if you take a step back and think about it: everyone understands what a photo is but only people familiar with the history of the web understand what an avatar is. Therefore we are choosing the term photo to be used globally throughout our software. Of course having avatar galleries makes no sense when one doesn't have avatars anymore :smile:



We will look into re-adding the ability for remotely-linked photos in a future update.




I understand where you are coming from. Avatars are really photos, so why have the two? And I agree, there should only be a photo representing a person in a forum community; but what I don't agree with is limiting our photo source options.

It may be the social media thing to do to have profile photos represent forum users. Facebook and Twitter accounts represent real people, hence they have profile photos. But most of us don't want to run a Facebook, or Twitter. They already exist.

We, on the other hand, are running forums, (which has been around just as long as avatars have). Most of us don't want to have real names for forum IDs, or real photos of ourselves for, um, avatars. That's the idea behind avatars. It should be fine to have cartoon pictures that represent our forum identity. And everyone knows what an avatar is! There was even a Hollywood blockbuster movie loosely based on the idea.

And like Wraith, and others have pointed out, having an avatar gallery is a feature that most forum admins take for granted; and most of us, myself included, assumed IPS would have out of the box. Why would you take "avatar gallery" as a checklist item off your forum features when people compare forum software? It's fine if you want to call avatars photos, but please put a "photo" gallery option that admins can upload "photos" to and have our users choose from as their profile "photo". And like Wraith said, the default "photo" gallery is helpful for people who don't know how to upload their own pictures, (or for users who wouldn't bother to upload one). Instead, if the default gallery is readily available to choose from, most users will pick a "photo" that suits them. This is similar to the Windows/Mac default user icons. How many people actually use their own photo instead of a built in picture?

And lastly, at the very least, the default "photo" gallery may save us all from having countless users on countless IPS forum communities from having the same, boring, gray, silhouette, default "photo":

%7Boption%7D
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Guess I must be the the odd one out. I like most people don't use my real name in forums. I base my user name on a character. My avatar / photo is of that character. But it would be quite nice when someone clicks on my profile for more information about me that they can see an actual photo of me. The only time I could think it worthwhile having photos only is in a serious forum where you require members to use their real names as I do in a private software beta testing forum. In my own IPB powered forum I'm still running 3.1.4 and have an avatar of my character and a real photo of myself in my profile. I've yet to see any logical explanation of why I should go from having both of these to only having one.

I'm not too bothered about not having a gallery of images for members to choose from. If people want an image or photo then they can upload one themselves. Not exactly rocket science to do so.

3DKiwi

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I am still uninterested and impressed with people who can't use a real name / picture on a forum. I take very little of what they say into consideration and just figure that they are hiding from something for some reason. A company name / logo is fine, but to totally hide from the community just seems weird to me.

If I walked into social event and 1/2 of the people had paper bags over their heads and no name tags, I know who I would be talking to and who would be ignored.

Profile pics are a good idea... avatars were childish and unprofessional and a person sure as heck doesn't need 2 pictures.

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Keep in mind that the concept of an "avatar" is no more as we now only have member photos. Of course this is all just naming but if you take a step back and think about it: everyone understands what a photo is but only people familiar with the history of the web understand what an avatar is. Therefore we are choosing the term photo to be used globally throughout our software. Of course having avatar galleries makes no sense when one doesn't have avatars anymore :)



That being the case, IPS folks sure have nice "photos". :lol:
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I take very little of what they say into consideration and just figure that they are hiding from something for some reason.


Or that they value privacy or prefer their posts to be based on a topic and not on themselves. Nothing immature or unprofessional at all about that. It's too bad you're unable to look past what their image or name is. There's also a lot more to people than that.
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I am still uninterested and impressed with people who can't use a real name / picture on a forum. I take very little of what they say into consideration and just figure that they are hiding from something for some reason. A company name / logo is fine, but to totally hide from the community just seems weird to me. If I walked into social event and 1/2 of the people had paper bags over their heads and no name tags, I know who I would be talking to and who would be ignored. Profile pics are a good idea... avatars were childish and unprofessional and a person sure as heck doesn't need 2 pictures.



Not everyone wants to, and not everyone can. If you want everyone to know your name and see your picture, you can stick with Facebook. Post your real name on a forum and your picture and you'll eventually find it popping up in search engines for years to come. I don't walk about on the street with a name tag on my t-shirt, I give my name out to people who need to know. I don't think people need to see my face on here, nor know my name as I'm only on here for support reasons etc. Also, let's say someone runs a military forum for ex and currently serving soldiers to meet online to share news etc. It wouldn't be the wisest thing to have their real names and photos splashed all over the site. But as you take very little of what people say (without a real name or picture), I don't suppose what I'm saying is of any importance. Also, if avatars are childish and unprofessional, then I suppose everyone in this thread other than you, is childish and unprofessional, as it seems it's only you that's using a picture of yourself, that is indeed if that's really you (as people can always lie about their identity anyway).

What I'm trying to say, is we should be given the option, not told what to do.
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I am still uninterested and impressed with people who can't use a real name / picture on a forum. I take very little of what they say into consideration and just figure that they are hiding from something for some reason. A company name / logo is fine, but to totally hide from the community just seems weird to me. If I walked into social event and 1/2 of the people had paper bags over their heads and no name tags, I know who I would be talking to and who would be ignored. Profile pics are a good idea... avatars were childish and unprofessional and a person sure as heck doesn't need 2 pictures.



That may be the case for you and your forum, but not others.
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Or that they value privacy or prefer their posts to be based on a topic and not on themselves. Nothing immature or unprofessional at all about that. It's too bad you're unable to look past what their image or name is. There's also a lot more to people than that.





Then they should show it! How do I know what a person is made of if they hide behind a fake name and photo? I just get nothing out of communicating with anonymous people. To each their own!
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This isn't a major issue for me personally, but I can really appreciate it being a problem for some. As someone else pointed out, sometimes it is desirable to follow a specific theme throughout the board. If it is a gamer site or roleplaying, then I can see why the site might want members to use supplied avatars. My feeling is avatars and anonymity are big advantages over the social networking sites where you reveal all your personal info to the entire internet. I am one who enjoys as much privacy as possible while still being able to interact with others. That doesn't make me a bad person, does it?

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Then they should show it! How do I know what a person is made of if they hide behind a fake name and photo? I just get nothing out of communicating with anonymous people. To each their own!



Doesn't make a difference if their image and name doesn't tell you much or help you to know them.
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  • 4 months later...

I would be very interested if an upcoming release or a Extra added a 'Gallery' option that could be slotted in with the current Custom and Gravatar options. My forum did use this, and the workaround (making a static HTML page of the old images) is not a great option.

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The idea of uploading them to my server is stupid as it just clutters up my server and basically I'd have to clear out unused images that just remain there after members update / change their avatar again



I didn't realise logging into the admincp and clicking a single button to remove all unused avatars was so difficult. Guess I was wrong... looks like humankind is doomed after all. More an more I am believing that technology makes people lazy.


I keep seeing posts that many IPB owners don't even visit these forums yet apparently this is what people wanted?



Yes, the ones that visit the forums are... either developers, people that forgot to make a ticket, need a mod or people voicing their opinions publicly so they can get support(like this). A number of owners probably don't fit into those 3 categories and so, don't go any closer than their client panel. Additionally, the big boards that use IPB probably have a bigger say in the direction of the software then 1000 tiny forums where people want to have spam parties, roleplay and colour their names.

IPS didn't fix something that wasn't broke, they clarified the object's use.
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  • 1 year later...

totally agree, the removal of this feature has wiped out 6 years of hard work from my creative members in helping those who aren't Confident in graphics.

our fandom had competitons every year adding 25 avatars to our galleries which members who weren't able to create such items were excited & happy to use, now IPB have stripped these members from being able to do this because they feel everyone should use Gravatar or upload their own, absolute incompetence on their behalf. They obviously don't give a rats arse re these kind of people.

Thanks IPS for ruining my community which has built up over the past 6 years like family, we help each other but IPS obviousy couldn't care less


I know this topic is old, and no one likes beating a dead horse... I was looking at my community and it lacks the personality it once had because now there are very few users with Avatars. I agree with WraithWatcher, and I didn't jump in a with a reactionary post, I waited and now I've seen the results.
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