Hi

I would like to change the avatar for guests to our forum. It is currently the default silhouette figure, and I want to use a custom graphic instead.

Is that in the acp?

Thanks

Hi @Brian Lane_61409,

You can do this in the AdminCP → Members → Member Settings → Profiles → Profile Settings → Photos → Default Profile Photos.

This should be what you're looking for. 😎

Fabulous, Thanks Gary 👌

Hmm, is that V5?

When I go into Members, I dont see a members settings link?

I searched for default profile photos, and found the tip that a default profile pic can be added to the theme resource.

So I uploaded my image, and now need to know how to have the ste recognizets for use as the default for guests?

Sorry for not specifying, these are the correct steps for v5.

If you have already uploaded the new default profile photo, have you tried clearing your system caches (AdminCP → System → Support → Get Support → Clear System Caches)?

I too have the same issue, and I want to add a new photo to be shown for the guest avatar. The info posted by Gary does not do this.

You would need to use CSS to replace these in version 5. Its not currently possible to replace these in the resource manager

7 minutes ago, Marc said:

You would need to use CSS to replace these in version 5. Its not currently possible to replace these in the resource manager

Can you give an example of the CSS code that can be used to achieve this?

2 hours ago, Marc said:

You would need to use CSS to replace these in version 5. Its not currently possible to replace these in the resource manager

Bugger...

Sorry for leading you astray @Brian Lane_61409 and @beats23. 😓

2 hours ago, beats23 said:

Can you give an example of the CSS code that can be used to achieve this?

I'm probably not the right person to be asking, to be honest. However looking at it, this is the current CSS

.ipsData__image > i:not([class*="fa-"])::before {
    content: var(--i-data--fallback-icon, "\f1c5");
}

So you would probably be switching out 'content' and using 'background-image'

So, that is Profile Image for members without Avatar.....all member without Avatar have different colors

If you choose this option - Use the theme's default profile photo ... than member has Profile Image as a Guest, ugly black-white color

What to do, to have Profile Image only for guests....if you choose one Profile Image for gueste, than members have automatic the same Image?!

You can check the path and upload a new image with the same name to the server as well.

On 11/16/2025 at 7:10 AM, fileo said:

So, that is Profile Image for members without Avatar.....all member without Avatar have different colors

If you choose this option - Use the theme's default profile photo ... than member has Profile Image as a Guest, ugly black-white color

What to do, to have Profile Image only for guests....if you choose one Profile Image for gueste, than members have automatic the same Image?!

As mentioned above, you could use CSS for this.

15 hours ago, Jimi Wikman said:

You can check the path and upload a new image with the same name to the server as well.

In the case of this one, its a font awesome icon, so not quite as simple on that one :)

17 hours ago, Jimi Wikman said:

You can check the path and upload a new image with the same name to the server as well.

This is what I've been doing for the past months. The only issue with this method is that every time I update the IPS software, my custom avatar image gets overwritten again with the default one by the IPS software installer.

The default guest avatar file is: core_84c1e40ea0e759e3f1505eb1788ddf3c_default_photo.png and located in this folder: public_html/static/resources/84c1e40ea0e759e3f1505eb1788ddf3c_default_photo.png

---

On 11/11/2025 at 11:34 AM, Marc said:

.ipsData__image > i:not([class*="fa-"])::before {
    content: var(--i-data--fallback-icon, "\f1c5");
}

I tried to figure out the CSS from the code above, but I can't get it to work.

Does anyone with CCS knowledge have the CSS code to change the default guest avatar to a custom photo? Can you post the exact CCS code I can use to achieve this? Maybe @Ehren can help with the needed CSS code?

This profile icon has long been deprecated. Editing default theme resources is not possible in IPS5. You can replace the icon using JS. I'm currently writing a tool that will allow to replace standard resources and edit theme code (how it was in IPS4).

23 hours ago, beats23 said:

Does anyone with CCS knowledge have the CSS code to change the default guest avatar to a custom photo? Can you post the exact CCS code I can use to achieve this? Maybe @Ehren can help with the needed CSS code?

Sure. This will replace the default_photo.png image with your own. Add to your Custom CSS area:

/* Replace default_photo.png avatar */
.ipsUserPhoto:has([src$="default_photo.png"]){
    background-image: url("https://site.com/avatar.png");
    background-size: cover;
}
	.ipsUserPhoto:has([src$="default_photo.png"]) img{
	    display: none;
	}

47 minutes ago, Ehren said:

Sure. This will replace the default_photo.png image with your own. Add to your Custom CSS area:

/* Replace default_photo.png avatar */.ipsUserPhoto:has([src$="default_photo.png"]){
    background-image: url("https://site.com/avatar.png");
    background-size: cover;
}
	.ipsUserPhoto:has([src$="default_photo.png"]) img{
	    display: none;
	}

Thank you very much. I truly appreciate it 👍.

Thanks!

I need a bit more help sorry. I uploaded the new default avatar I want to my theme resources - but the link that I get to use it is much longer than what you have in your CSS. Do I need to edit the link it gives me?

My resource is this:

{resource="custom/feather icon.png" app="core" location="front"}

so tried doing this:

/* Replace default_photo.png avatar */
.ipsUserPhoto:has([src$="default_photo.png"]){
    background-image: url("https://site.com/avatar.png");
    background-size: cover;
}
	.ipsUserPhoto:has([src$="{resource="custom/feather icon.png" app="core" location="front"}"]) img{
	    display: none;
	}

Whoops! Worked it out 😆

On 11/19/2025 at 11:57 AM, beats23 said:

This is what I've been doing for the past months. The only issue with this method is that every time I update the IPS software, my custom avatar image gets overwritten again with the default one by the IPS software installer.

The default guest avatar file is: core_84c1e40ea0e759e3f1505eb1788ddf3c_default_photo.png and located in this folder: public_html/static/resources/84c1e40ea0e759e3f1505eb1788ddf3c_default_photo.png

---

I tried to figure out the CSS from the code above, but I can't get it to work.

Does anyone with CCS knowledge have the CSS code to change the default guest avatar to a custom photo? Can you post the exact CCS code I can use to achieve this? Maybe @Ehren can help with the needed CSS code?

Have you tried to change the permissions for the image and the folder on the server?

8 hours ago, Jimi Wikman said:

Have you tried to change the permissions for the image and the folder on the server?

I did think about that, changing the file permission to read only. But I don't know if doing that would cause any issues with the IPS installer during an update.

9 hours ago, beats23 said:

I did think about that, changing the file permission to read only. But I don't know if doing that would cause any issues with the IPS installer during an update.

I guess there are just two ways to know: Try it, or ask the team :)

It will likely cause you issues. We can only really give you that much, as of course its not something we would really test

15 hours ago, Marc said:

It will likely cause you issues. We can only really give you that much, as of course its not something we would really test

This seems like a strange decision not to allow thematic control of the software we pay for, but if I have to replace images every time there is an upgrade, I can live with that. Or just not upgrade of course :)