Suggestion: animation/size in avatars/sigs

[robhol]

I'd just like to drop a quick suggestion here. Some users are using animations in sigs and avatars. They're large, slow and somewhat annoying and also distract attention from what's actually being discussed. There are also users with gi-freaking-gantic pictures in their signature.

Would it be possible to make a rule that says you're not allowed to have huge and/or flashing things in avatars and signatures? I'm all for the use of avatars and signatures in themselves. I just think they shouldn't be hugely annoying, induce seizures or double the scrolling length of a page.

Any opinions?

[darkdreamingdan]

Because of the lack of decent detection mechanisms for avatars and signatures, there's no hard rule we can set to prevent this. That's why we normally handle avatars and sigs by hand.

In the past we've never had a problem with animated sigs or avatars, and i'm not sure i see that changing.

[norby89]

Epilepsy FTW!

[robhol]

I could probably have envisioned this getting pissed on (if nothing else then because I'm the one who suggested it) but I'd still encourage you to consider it.

I don't get what you mean by detection mechanisms being necessary for a rule. I just think that, while signatures can be a nice place to put certain information, there's no point in having something x-hundred pixels tall in there, or a loooooooooong animation of 2MB that takes ages to load on a decent connection (the fact that people might not even HAVE a decent connection aside) and then induces seizures. I also don't see how it would be all that difficult for a moderator to use some common sense in the "sig situation."

Not mentioning any names here, but right now I could point to a signature approaching three hundred pixels in height. A little while back, there was a user with long, flashy (literally and otherwise) GIFs in both avatar AND signature.

[Jason_Gregory]

The only user ive seen with a Animation in the Signature was Johnline,

but his Pics are small/low quality gifs with few frames.

Most Users only add one pic (like meeeeh 99,98 KB only) and a small Text

with a Url ~ so i cant see a Reason for beeing pissed off...

btw. open your eyes theres a simple way to avoid this 'problem'

http://picbanana.com/images/gif.jpg

Dont bring the "No Signature" Rule back

[robhol]

I'm not saying "No signatures", (durrrrr), I'm saying there's no need to commit eye rape using signatures or avatars. Regardless of whether you can disable it or not.

[dzek (varez)]

i dont like Satan's sig and Jason_Gregory's one - becouse of height.

a little too big (especially Satan's one).

And about the file sizes = yes, downloading 2MB on mobile phone makes my wallet bleeding (dunno how it looks everywhere else, but mobile connections here is average $0,10 for 100KB, one 2MB sig could cost .. $2 anyway, im on extremally low-priced plan, less than $0,01 for 100KB, and im blocking images, but i still dont like it )

but.., i think i havent seen 2MB sig here (yet)

[SugarD-x]

Because of the lack of decent detection mechanisms for avatars and signatures, there's no hard rule we can set to prevent this. That's why we normally handle avatars and sigs by hand.

In the past we've never had a problem with animated sigs or avatars, and i'm not sure i see that changing.

Add it to the forum rules what the designated limits are, set the forum settings to limit signatures and avatars to a specific size and below, and then have administrators and moderators handle anyone that doesn't follow that forum rule. Simple as that.

i dont like Satan's sig and Jason_Gregory's one - becouse of height.

a little too big (especially Satan's one).

And about the file sizes = yes, downloading 2MB on mobile phone makes my wallet bleeding (dunno how it looks everywhere else, but mobile connections here is average $0,10 for 100KB, one 2MB sig could cost .. $2 anyway, im on extremally low-priced plan, less than $0,01 for 100KB, and im blocking images, but i still dont like it )

but.., i think i havent seen 2MB sig here (yet)

Why not load a mobile-friendly version of the forum?

[jhxp]

You can always report such users to Moderators. If we see something that's blatant, we will remove it.

As for limiting the overall sig size, I have seen such thing on GTAForums, but I'm not sure if there is a mod like that for phpBB. Might look for it.

Thanks for your feedback.

[Nich]

It is possible to automatically resize signature images, there are many mods for vBulletin and most probably for phpBB also, try searching - "image resizer"

[dzek (varez)]

auto resize? this sux.. better to check dimensions and filesizes

[SugarD-x]

You don't need any mods, it's built into the settings...

[lil Toady]

You don't need any mods, it's built into the settings...

do you really think you are smarter than others?

[SugarD-x]

You don't need any mods, it's built into the settings...

do you really think you are smarter than others?

That has nothing to do with this topic?

Sorry man, but I've used, installed, modded, and administrated multiple forum software's for years. I know that you guys use a modified PHPBB3 board. The settings are in there, just look.

Just to clarify, there's no reason to add a mod when the setting for that same feature already exists in the same, exact form in the core of the software.

[lil Toady]

So if i tell you there are no options to manage max file size or disable animations for signatures, theoretically cause the images are hosted on remote servers, you will try to prove me wrong? We can limit dimensions but thats quite not enough.

[SugarD-x]

So if i tell you there are no options to manage max file size or disable animations for signatures, theoretically cause the images are hosted on remote servers, you will try to prove me wrong? We can limit dimensions but thats quite not enough.

I wasn't referring to disabling animations, but to a certain point I do know that you can disable flash BB code, which would prevent some of it, but obviously not plain animated images.

As for file sizes, there are settings for that. I'm a little fuzzy on whether PHPBB3 has them specifically or not for signatures, but they do for avatars.

[Jason_Gregory]

So if i tell you there are no options to manage max file size or disable animations for signatures, theoretically cause the images are hosted on remote servers, you will try to prove me wrong? We can limit dimensions but thats quite not enough.

I wasn't referring to disabling animations, but to a certain point I do know that you can disable flash BB code, which would prevent some of it, but obviously not plain animated images.

As for file sizes, there are settings for that. I'm a little fuzzy on whether PHPBB3 has them specifically or not for signatures, but they do for avatars.

You can also use the old Netscape/Navigator or other textbased Browsers like Lynx if you dont

like pics

This Suggestion is junk, theres nobody with a (real) large Signature here

and to the guy which uses his Mobile Phone for downloading my Signature.

Use a Mobile Flat and dont cry if you pay 0.01 $ per month more, you also should be able

to disable my Signature.

[dzek (varez)]

@Jason:

what is "Mobile Flat",

and i was talking about HEIGHT not the filesize

you have changed your sig anyway?

[Jason_Gregory]

@Jason:

what is "Mobile Flat",

and i was talking about HEIGHT not the filesize

you have changed your sig anyway?

a mobile flat is a flatrate for mobile phones (i think its easy to interpret)

but you pay ~ 20 x more than for a normal modem connection.

and yeah i hope this signature one makes you happy

[dzek (varez)]

a mobile flat is a flatrate for mobile phones (i think its easy to interpret)

but you pay ~ 20 x more than for a normal modem connection.

and yeah i hope this signature one makes you happy

ok,i got the idea.. i just didnt know that word, and you used Capital Letters so i thought its name of something..

yea, im very happy