Miss Moiraine Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Taking a shot in the dark here, after a cursory glance at the code I'd say they were probably removed because of the image cropping code. I don't think it'd be possible to crop an animated gif. Then why did they work on the preview board?
Nimdock Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Taking a shot in the dark here, after a cursory glance at the code I'd say they were probably removed because of the image cropping code. I don't think it'd be possible to crop an animated gif. That's what I figured as well. But in that case the original avatar functionality was perfect. No need to change. It should be up to the admin to determine the size of avatar for their community and no cropping should be necessary at all. A bit unrelated but to agree with other posters. The ability to host avatars offsite should not be removed.
Michael Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Then why did they work on the preview board? Beats me, I never went on the preview board. Like I said, I was just guessing.
HellaWicked Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 I agree in giving the Owners/Admins (not IPS) the choice as to whether we wish to use animated avatars in our boards or not.
Tarun Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 I agree that a choice would be nice. Personally I'm rather glad to see they're gone. Most forums I visit have animated avatars as forbidden. You go for the content, not for some flashing animated distraction off to the side.
.Ian Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 incidentally it is still animated when viewing a profile - so it is probably not a major change to show them as animated in a forum post
Aisha Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 no cropping should be necessary at all. But the cropping thing is SO COOL. :P
Michael Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 incidentally it is still animated when viewing a profile - so it is probably not a major change to show them as animated in a forum post Are they? They're not on my test board. Do you know of someone on this site that I can see as an example?
.Ian Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Are they? They're not on my test board. Do you know of someone on this site that I can see as an example? I just tried it :) - also check out http://community.invisionpower.com/user/150010-%26-1084%3Barius/
Michael Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 In that case, it's a simple matter of changing {$author['pp_thumb_photo']} to {$author['pp_main_photo']} in userInfoPane.
.Ian Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Having given it some thought, I am back tracking and will probably not going to alter that. Time to rest animated gif's I think and not encourage them - the profile area is fine though if required. Hopefully my members will agree ;)
Christophe Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Animated stuff in signatures or avatars is...what s the correct wording here? Ha yes : It sucks donkey ballz Pardon my french but animated avatars are obnoxious...unless you are 12 :smile: Default is fine with no animation. If you are a forum attention wh*re and need the attention then feel free to modify the code. As for an option I would rather not be an option as this perpetuates the idea that animated avatars and signature as *cool*...they are not. Just like the douches running their harleys with extremely loud mufflers, avatars should not distract from content. Animated images distract from content. Sorry to have an aggressive opinion on this but I had a heated argument on this yesterday until I realized the person was a teenager. :)
Feld0 Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 There are forums that are cool with animated avatars, and there are forums that aren't. This is up to the admins to decide. Rather than removing the support for animated avatars from the core entirely, IPS should simply add a switch to the ACP allowing them to be enabled or disabled at the admins' own discretion. I mean, really. Why not?
Ikadon Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 What if I made this my avatar? [img] [/img] What if someone used the editor to hail to some extreme-racist leaders? Will you then block the access for everyone? So no posts anymore?
Christophe Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Feld0...animated avatars are never cool. They open the door to distractions. Do you see animated avatars on Facebook? Twitter? or the other social networks? No...because usability tells you that things need a purpose. An avatar is a image representation of the person making a comment. The comment is the important part in discussions, not the avatar. I fully understand that you guys would like to have a choice but giving the choice only furthers the stereotype that distractions are OK when they are not. What matters is the broadest common denominator and that is having things clean and simple. Clean and simple means no possible distractions from the content as the base. If you need to add distractions I am sure some mods will be made to add it but for basic admins who are just starting to install and manage forums, not giving them a potential headache to have to deal with it better imo. But that s just my opinion as a professional usability expert...what do I know really? :)
Peter F. Posted June 13, 2011 Author Posted June 13, 2011 Taking a shot in the dark here, after a cursory glance at the code I'd say they were probably removed because of the image cropping code. I don't think it'd be possible to crop an animated gif. That wasn't it. It is entirely possible to crop or resize an animated gif. terabyte stated in the bug report that animated avatars were removed because "We have removed it on purpose, if everyone has an animated avatar the board index becomes way too confusing." Which is a design decision.
Ikadon Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Do what the experts say reminds me on "do what our politicians say, they know best"
Christophe Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Do what the experts say reminds me on "do what our politicians say, they know best" Experts are there to give you options, knowledge and reasons...not to force you to do things. Your doctor can tell you that you need Chemo to treat that cancer but you can still decide to drink anti-freeze instead if you prefer. Do not equate experts who have no vested interest with politicians who DO have vested interests. If I teach a class I will make every effort to make sure people understand what we are talking about, if they decide that they know better and prefer to fail the exam then fine by me...they have a choice. Just like a kid being told not to put their finger in the plug and thinking they know better and they shout 'fight the powah' Anyway we are derailing this topic I guess, back on track: Animated avatars are the devil
.Ian Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 If I teach a class I will make every effort to make sure people understand what we are talking about, if they decide that they know better and prefer to fail the exam then fine by me...they have a choice. Doesn't mean you are correct or a good teacher though. It is often just your opinion as to the correct method. You have a duty as a teacher though to get them through that exam. If accepting that they will fail the exam, then you have failed in your duty in teaching them properly. Although what the relevance is to this topic, I am not sure ???
Jinkler Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 But that s just my opinion as a professional usability expert...what do I know really? :smile: Is that supposed to add some authority to your response then? On my board, people use animated avatars in an technical way, to highlight minor changes they've made to their cars. Why should I remove this option for them simply because IPS decide they no longer like the look of it? It's my board, and my decision.
Christophe Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 You want to know why myspace lost all of its appeal a long time ago? Embeded music players blasting music as you load the page. You have it happen once while at work and you know you will never visit the site anymore. Why was it there? Because myspace wanted to give users a choice/option to blast their visitors with something potentially obnoxious and then all the user base of myspace migrated to Facebook where they were guaranteed not to take a risk every time they clicked on a profile. Giving choices to your users is not always the best thing to do and in these cases the design decisions demonstrate forward thinking as in general animated content is distracting and you want to remove distraction. Look at ads online nowadays, they are getting more furiously frustrating every day. Some block you from reading any content or limit your actions unless you spend 30 seconds watching a commercial. By forcing their potential clients/members to do something they are not sure yet if their time is worth the 30 seconds you can alienate potential new members and the companies that force that bad advertising on you are taking a huge gamble. Most of the time I bookmark these sites in a special folder I use in presentations called "Bad Marketing" Jinkler its your board, you can change the code to fit your needs. The point is that usuability tells us that avatars should not be animated. Youtube removed their animated avatars about 3 years ago if I remember. Just imagine that instead of an animated avatar you would have a sound file or music you could play when your avatar loads on a page. If you are the only one then fine but imagine two or three people playing their sound file as the page load. Now imagine a thread with 20 sound files. Animated avatars are the same, they are a distraction to the content of a discussion. And on this I think I am done about this subject :smile: EDIT: and to the poster below, I am not comparing Myspace to FB, I am explaining why Myspace lost all its potential members more than 3 years ago
Jinkler Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 MySpace is cack, it's not a place to find old friends. Facebook is though, so that's like comparing chalk and cheese?
Steve H Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 The animated avatars have been removed from the board/forum index. It was not their intention for them not to work in threads and various other areas. The original bug report resulting in this thread has been updated.http://community.inv...nimated-avatar/ Personally I don't see what the issue with them not appearing animated on the board index is. They are reduced in size and as a result you won't necessarily be able to tell what the animation is.
Michael Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 So would there be an interest in a hook that restores the animation to these while in the topic view? I just whipped one up if people feel they need this. EDIT: Probably not necessary, I guess, should be fixed for the final release of 3.2: http://community.invisionpower.com/tracker/issue-31049-animated-avatar/page__view__findpost__p__119450
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