Getting your user picture ready

[Henry Osadzinski]

You may have spotted that, on the new site, user avatars are going to appear slightly differently. The template places them inside a circle, meaning that you may want to prepare a new one ahead of the update.

A benefit of this is it means you're no longer restricted by the embarrassingly tiddly picture dimensions that we have on the current site. All avatars will, obviously, be the same size when displayed on the site but you can now use much bigger images, which should make scaling them easier and less messy.

The square dimensions for the images on the new site will be 200x200 pixels (larger images will be scaled down to this size automatically). Because of the shape, you will lose anything that's placed in the far corners but keeping to that size ensures that you don't get a weird, zoomed in or tiny image showing up.

Here's a quick example of the new avatar format, featuring JamesO, our lead designer

The file size limit is also much higher. A userpic of up to ~ 1mb (rather than the current 19kb limit ) should work fine. You also get to see a preview of the user image in the two standard sizes that display on the forum before accepting it.

Existing user pictures will carry over but it's worth having a new one ready if you want your profile to look its best. We've noticed some weird zooming issues with smaller images, that can result in some rather strange faces appearing on the site :redface:


Edit: I should probably note that, on the new site avatars, user images etc. are all the same thing (as opposed to the separate "avatar" and "user icon" on the current platform, which is more confusing than useful!).

 

[fisicx]

Henry,

Small usability issue to consider. Boxes break up the flow of a page. The eyes see the edge of a box as a barrier and stop tracking. If the avatar box was connected to the post this barrier is removed and it becomes easier to scan the page content: the eye can quickly connect post to owner.

Round images are not my personal preference (because of how the eyes function) but the concept is good

 

[Henry Osadzinski]

Thanks for the feedback We're aware of the "boxy" look and are working to fix the padding a bit so that it flows smoothly. It's a tricky balance between separating posts (so that they're clearly connected to the member who contributed) and, as you say, unintentionally producing what can feel like a jarring break. Nice point about the avatar and post boxes feeling disconnected - I'll make sure it's looked at.

 

[CRichardson]

James O'Brien looks rather freaky!

 

[Henry Osadzinski]

Hi again - just a quick reminder to bump this thread up the list - if your userpic doesn't fit / is pixellated, you can fix it by uploading a new image. We've raised the file size limits (and tested them with some pretty hefty pics!) so you can use clearer, larger images for your avatars

Try not to use massive images though. The site re-sizes images so that they fit and don't slow down page loads but the larger the file, the longer you're waiting for it to upload initially.