This post was written by me to provide more information to users on how avatars are presented and handled in UBB.Threads7 (since questions about effects of avatars pop up again and again, I'm hoping something definitive will help users with the answers they want to hear, and ways to get what they want done); I am not writing this all out to complain in anyway. However, at the end of this post I am also including several proposals on future ways that I could see avatar handling improved.

To some users migrating to the UBB from other products (or by trying to just "drop in place" new avatars) you'll sometimes notice that your avatars can come out looking skewed. There are a few things to keep in mind when this happens.

When you upload avatars via the control panel, a height and width is set via the internal workings of the system. When you try to just drop them in your avatars directory, the height and width isn't automatically set via the system as the avatar isn't run through the routines in the control panel.

When avatars don't have dimensions associated with them they default to the dimensions that you input as "maximum height and width" in the profile settings for allowing users to upload avatars. The problem with this is that not all avatars are the same height and width, and forcing them to resize can be a pain.

If you leave the maximum dimensions blank it will allow the avatars to show "as they are" when loading (no size is set for height or width), however IE7 will see "height='' width=''" and load it as 0px X 0px which will leave you with a 1px dot... The only "real" way to fix this (at the time of this writing) is to upload all avatars through the built in systems in the UBB one by one; this will set the height and width of the avatars as they're uploaded. The downside to this is that there is no "mass update", so if you have a lot of avatars, you'll be bored to tears with adding them.

It is my sincere hope that, in time, Rick will make it so that when there is no height and width associated with an avatar that it'll suppress loading the height and width attribute altogether so that no skewing occurs; I'd also like to see a way to set the height and width of avatars on the edit screen (possibly by clicking on the avatar itself and having an "edit avatar" screen pop up and have the ubb check the size of the image as its loaded if none is set, and allow users to set the height and width as that avatar is loaded; or enter their own height and width to where they want it).

Cross posted at UBBDev: Clicky Clicky

Related Modifications:
Fix the Avatars is a modification which removes the size restraints of avitars, which was the UBB.C way of doing things.

BTW, I re-wrote this like 5 times live after I initially submitted the post; so if you've read it prior to this posting, it's been updated

Fortunatly my stock avatars +600
we all 100 x 67 wide screen lol...

So when i entered the dimentions to match
via the control panel they all dropped in perfect.

As there wasnt a mass upload option for avatars
i just threw them in the directory.

Ah ... so that is what I have to do with the Avatars. (where's my faintthud smilie when I need it?! )

I have another situation ... my members are really partial to their avatars--they use them to identify one another. So when someone see this guy --> , they know it's ME.

I'm going to have to figure out how to do this w/out messing that aspect up.

~Sue
adwoff.com

Is there any way to limit the size of avatars which are remotely hosted? I have a guy with an 800kb avatar and I'm just wondering if there's a way to limit this (apart from switching off the function altogether).

As it's not hosted locally theres not really a way to validate its size.

Okay, I'm trying like crazy to figure out a way to get everyone's avatar back ... so that they can see it with IE as well as Firefox (which some have downloaded & are now using & can see).

I tried to connect via their Control Panel profile the URL to their avatar. It brings it up in Firefox but not IE.

So I then went to the Control Panel profile area to select the option where they could upload their avatar.

I created a directory called "custom" within the avatars folder.

I need to make the permission of that folder 777, correct?

When I try doing this, it still doesn't work. For both Firefox and IE

Avatars are the one thing my members really identify with--and have been waiting patiently for almost 3 months for me to get back for them.

Unfortunately, my avatars are of differing sizes, so to set a "size" would skew too many (including my own :p)

I know this can be done--because you allow it here @ UBBCentral.

So what am I missing, and how do I fix it?

I really, really need to get the avatars solved.

Thank you.

~Sue
adwoff.com

777 correct
Ive done some digging and checks you can make

Control Panel
1. Permissions Check (Under Tools)
images/avatars/default (OK)

2. General - Topic Display Options - Show Users Avatars?
Hopefully that's ticked?

3. Profile Settings.

a) Avatar Upload Storage Directory: Should have the full path.
/home/mydomain/html_public/avatars/ (Your path will be diffrent) Note: mine starts and ends with a "/" forward slash

b) Full URL to Avatar Upload Storage Directory: contains the http://www.mysite.com/avatars (Note: mine does not end with a forward slash)

c) Maximum file size of uploaded avatars:
i have 40000 nice round number.

d) Maximum Avatar Width: (Pixels) 100
e) Maximum Avatar Height: (Pixels) 67

----------------------
There pretty much my settings and work.

If your worried about squewy avatars there are some tricks?
Like my avatar, its alot wider than you can see,
i have it transparent but 2 tiny single dots at the top right
and bottom right courner, so it looks normal and not streched.
My image is a giff which can be set to transparent.

Hope that helps

Mark~

Thanks. With your help, I was able to upload an avatar.

Unfortunately, *that* process did not allow IE to determine the size of the avatar.

When I put in max sizes, it skews everything. Unfortunately, I have a lot of avatars different sizes.

If I take the sizes out, IE will not display the avatars. If I put anything in, ALL the avatars will be skewed to that size.

Seems wonky to me ... since with Classic, this issue never came up. (Sorry, I know it sounds like I'm whining).

Isn't there some way to fix this issue (with a mod/a patch, SOMETHING!) so that either IE will recognize the size of the avatars OR the board will automatically recognize the size of the avatars OR will ONLY default to the max size IF no size is recognizable?

---

FWIW, I reuploaded a couple of my smilies that were skewed from before--because I just kind of plopped them into the folder ... and THAT worked in "fixing" the skewed size problem.

I was hopeful that if I uploaded the avatar, it would do the same thing for me ... but, no dice.

---

~Sue <<-- wondering if she's asking for the impossible

ETA: in looking at the avatars on this page, I'm seeing a number of them differing sizes--Gizzy's is 80 X 80; Mark's is 80 X 67; mine is 40 X 32. I know that I uploaded mine via the profile page ... so I must be still doing something wrong *sigh*

It's not actually an IE issue, rather it's that the getimagesize() function isn't working properly on the server. I've found no common reason why this works on some servers but not on others.

I'm hoping for the next version I can find another method to determine the size of an image when getimagesize doesn't work.

Sorry i cant help anymore, seems one of those wild ones.

Well, nuts!

~Sue
adwoff.com

Sue, edit scripts/showflat.inc.php
Find:


Replace With:


That will completely ignore any sizes, and all avitars should show "full size" in every browser.

Gizzy!

You are DA BOMB!

Thank you so much! (Picture Sue doing a happy dance over here)

It works!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

~Sue
adwoff.com

I fix everything for my little Suzieque

BTW, you'd probably want to update showthreaded.php and the showprofile screens; I'll do a mod for UBBDev sometime.

I made a short mod at UBBDev here which removes the size restraints of avitars, which was the UBB.C way of doing things.

Inspired by suzieque's request on this thread.