# Avatar shape—theme dependent **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [May 9, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172 "2025-05-09T20:36:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/61 "2025-05-12T20:28:04Z")
Somehow I’m not surprised that happened. Disappointed, but not surprised. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/62 "2025-05-12T22:31:15Z")
Its square again! ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/63 "2025-05-12T23:07:18Z")
It looks the various problems people have noticed have been fixed. I expect they fixed the problem that @Reply noticed seemed to be the root of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/64 "2025-05-12T23:12:50Z")
[![](https://media.tenor.com/sl_BHAybYU0AAAAM/american-psycho-its-hip-to-be-square.gif) ](https://media.tenor.com/sl_BHAybYU0AAAAM/american-psycho-its-hip-to-be-square.gif) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/65 "2025-05-12T23:27:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It looks very little like vBulletin used to. But now 5 years after the switch to Discourse, I really don’t care what vBulletin looked like. When I visit other vBulletin-based boards I find the look & feel positively antiquated. I wish we still had our original lineup of VB smilies tho; the Discourse ones tend to be generic and uninteresting and apparently aren’t customizable unless I am mistaken on that point. Some people have made some really awesome VB smilies over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/66 "2025-05-13T00:04:58Z")
Discourse, the software, [does support custom emoji](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-custom-emoji/23365), and in fact someone even [ported a bunch of the vBulletin ones over](https://meta.discourse.org/t/vbulletin-emojis/22214). On a “normal” Discourse forum where the forum admins/owners are available and interested, it wouldn’t be very hard to set up. However, I think in our case… um… the SDMB is apparently just hiding in some forgotten corner of our owner’s accounting, mostly ignored, and from what I understand, it’s best not to poke the beast…? See the discussion at [Can we consider allowing direct image uploads?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-consider-allowing-direct-image-uploads/1013213). I think the overall consensus in that thread is (my paraphrase) “We’re lucky to have the forum at all, hosted at no charge to us, and it’s best if we don’t do anything to risk that”. On the other hand, hopefully the theme stuff is something our moderators (as opposed to the site owners) can (and apparently did?) fix on their own. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/67 "2025-05-13T00:19:17Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I wish we still had our original lineup of VB smilies tho; the Discourse ones tend to be generic and uninteresting and apparently aren’t customizable unless I am mistaken on that point. Some people have made some really awesome VB smilies over the years. In fairness, I recall similar sentiments when we were still on vBulletin. Smashy, in particular, was an oft-mentioned lost smiley. The one I do miss is the old rolleyes. It hit much harder than the 🙄 we have now. EDIT: Looks like the old rolleyes went away back in 2014, years before the move to discourse. > [@Did the old rolleyes smiley cause an increase in suicides or something?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-old-rolleyes-smiley-cause-an-increase-in-suicides-or-something/694457/3): > > I guess I haven’t been paying attention- I only have so much time and don’t always read the ATMB. Can you provide links to these other threads? Maybe if we could provide enough weight of sentiment it would sway the powers that be to yield to the demands of us little people. EDIT 2: Sudden wave of sadness seeing **TubaDiva** in that old thread from 2014. She was a good egg, ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/68 "2025-05-13T00:51:58Z")
Delivered us here to the promised land she did and then died on the beach, her feet still wet with seawater from that final swim. RIP dear; we owe you far more than you were ever thanked for. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172/69 "2025-05-13T20:45:59Z")
> [@Topologist](#): > > It looks the various problems people have noticed have been fixed. I expect they fixed the problem that @Reply noticed seemed to be the root of the problem. ⁢ Good to know. I checked my script and it’s still compatible, and makes like a very small change I like: the banner text is just a bit smaller and looks better to me, so I’m keeping it unless people object. And, if you do for some reason **want** the circular avatars, the option to enable them still wo (The main two thing I use the script for myself is that I disabled the scrolling avatars, and I like using Arial SS01 which has different characters for capital i and lowercase L, but otherwise looks the same.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-shape-theme-dependent/1018172.md?page=3)