# No Avatars Here? Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 19, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626 "2012-06-19T09:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/461 "2012-06-24T00:51:18Z")
To everyone using the avatar script, **ntucker** ’s CGI does not appear to be responding at the moment so avatars other than custom-entered ones aren’t appearing. Hopefully it is just a hiccup and we didn’t crash it with too many requests. I have a PM out to ntucker. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/462 "2012-06-24T01:51:06Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > To everyone using the avatar script, **ntucker** ’s CGI does not appear to be responding at the moment… So, here at post #461 we finally have the answer to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/463 "2012-06-24T02:23:39Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > So, here at post #461 we finally have the answer to the OP. Funniest thing I’ve read today although I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. Oh well, either way it’s funny to me. As if this board isn’t buggy on it’s own, lagging behind most messageboards in terms of implementing what the software can do and any other number of things that avatars have nothing to do with. Still, in terms of handing out spyware and viruses via ads for anyone not blocking them, it’s right up there with the best of them. Seriously though, I appreciate the laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/464 "2012-06-24T02:24:31Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > So, here at post #461 we finally have the answer to the OP. Well we have avatars just not automatically obtained from user profile avatars, for the moment, but custom ones work without the CGI available. Of the many forces competing with freedom of avatar choice, a temporary server outage is no major obstacle. In the mean time it’s a good opportunity to enter some custom avatars until \*\*ntucker \*\*can take a look at the server. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/465 "2012-06-24T02:25:30Z")
So I’m not the only one who stopped seeing avatars? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/466 "2012-06-24T02:47:36Z")
The server is responding again now, they should be back. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/467 "2012-06-24T02:49:16Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Funniest thing I’ve read today although I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. Oh well, either way it’s funny to me. Yep, just having some fun. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/468 "2012-06-24T19:58:58Z")
This script is really pretty cool. Love how it even pulls the profile pic and resizes it if someone’s hasn’t created a specific avatar. Nice to see more and more avatars. Starting to associate a bit of visual recognition already. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/469 "2012-06-24T20:41:03Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > This script is really pretty cool. Love how it even pulls the profile pic and resizes it if someone’s hasn’t created a specific avatar. > > Nice to see more and more avatars. Starting to associate a bit of visual recognition already. Yeah I always knew a good number of dopers actually had avatars in their profiles but it wasn’t apparent just how many until the script displayed them in threads. I would say almost half of the posts have avatars. To my taste, it has improved the quality of the dope experience for me significantly in both post recognition and a little touch of color. (and I haven’t forgotten how to read or write yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/470 "2012-06-24T21:29:48Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > One thing peeps – you should probably get your avatar loaded to an image service like [Photobucket](http://photobucket.com/) or [tinypic](http://tinypic.com/). Because one thing that IS being a jackass is bandwidth theft. Don’t link it from an outside source; save it and upload it to your own space. Bandwidth leeching means that somebody else is 1)probably annoyed with you and 2)definitely in control of your avatar pic. 'Nuff said… ---
**Author:** ![robert\_fm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/87869e/32.png) [@robert\_fm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_fm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/471 "2012-06-25T05:02:45Z")
All this is making me wonder what is James Cameron’s avatar. 😃 Presumably something related to _Dances With Smurfs_… ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/472 "2012-06-25T22:41:55Z")
To anyone using the SDMB Avatar script, \*\*ntucker \*\*wrote a nifty little feature that I thought was worth adding to an updated version. In [this release](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/136815), moving the mouse over an avatar with the Alt key held down will expand that avatar to the full image size. In addition to be kind of fun in general, this might be a temporary workaround for weirdaaron’s SDMB Badger users. If you make the default avatar very small to cause less overlap with the username and badges, you can still alt-mouse over it and see the full avatar. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/473 "2012-06-26T08:56:25Z")
Can someone just explain, really simply like, to me how avatars, something that has worked just fine on other forums for the past decade or so, will not work on this board? But here’s the kicker: try and do it without some kind of derivative of “we’re so special”. Because, for a start, we are not (best get that bit out of the way) and secondly, it is a crap argument that deserves little more than derision. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/474 "2012-06-26T09:24:06Z")
Amanset, it’s not really a rational issue, but rather an aesthetic one. It comes down to personal preference. Even if we had a board consensus, and that held weight, Ed gets final say and he doesn’t like it. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/475 "2012-06-26T13:30:00Z")
Well, with this nifty workaround, Ed can go…do whatever (this not being the Pit). Me, it makes the board more aesthetic (for this visually-oriented person at least). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/476 "2012-06-26T13:35:34Z")
So, is everybody happy now? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/477 "2012-06-26T14:39:31Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > So, is everybody happy now? Why would we? I’m not going to man the barricades on this issue but I would like it if avatars were turned on. I won’t bother with this because I’m lazy and you would have to adjust each computer you use. Not worth it. But I would still like to see avatars so that the majority of those who would use them can. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/478 "2012-06-26T16:04:03Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > To anyone using the SDMB Avatar script, \*\*ntucker \*\*wrote a nifty little feature that I thought was worth adding to an updated version. > > In [this release](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/136815), moving the mouse over an avatar with the Alt key held down will expand that avatar to the full image size. > > In addition to be kind of fun in general, this might be a temporary workaround for weirdaaron’s SDMB Badger users. If you make the default avatar very small to cause less overlap with the username and badges, you can still alt-mouse over it and see the full avatar. The mouse-over ‘alt’ (option on a Mac 😉 ) biggifier is a great touch. And in case anyone’s unaware, it’s now a [one-click install](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/136815) for anyone who wants to give it a go. Super easy. Kudos! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/479 "2012-06-26T16:07:55Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Why would we? I’m not going to man the barricades on this issue but I would like it if avatars were turned on. I won’t bother with this because I’m lazy and you would have to adjust each computer you use. Not worth it. But I would still like to see avatars so that the majority of those who would use them can. You just click on that [link,](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/136815) and hit the big install button. Works in Chrome and Fire Fox. Of course, other than that bookmarklet somewhere upthread, there’s no dough on mobiles or tablets (for now). But it’s the next best thing. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/480 "2012-06-26T17:41:57Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Amanset, it’s not really a rational issue, but rather an aesthetic one. It comes down to personal preference. Even if we had a board consensus, and that held weight, Ed gets final say and he doesn’t like it. Thing is though, as has been pointed out ad nauseum, they’d be turned off by default. You’d have to enable them. And again, **Ed** never even comes here anymore. (I like seeing avatars around here now, and I wish the admins would really consider it. Especially seeing as a LOT of them are using them now. BTW, **Czarcasm** , for someone so up in arms against avatars, your’s sure is nice.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626.md?page=25)