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Old Mar 13, 2014, 4:58 am
  #16  
 
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I would also vote for the possiblity to have an avatar. It should be allowed to everyone and if someone doesn't like to have one - so need to upload one. ;-)
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 6:13 am
  #17  
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This is probably a tech-type question - how much do avatars slow down a page loading? If they're of a certain size or smaller, does it have much impact?

I do like FT being fairly minimalist, but avatars can give a sense of who people are or their interests.

If they were to be approved, then there's also the requirements (size, type of image, does it have to be the person, etc.) that would need to be considered.

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Old Mar 13, 2014, 7:08 am
  #18  
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I don't have strong feelings either way, but I'm leaning slightly against this. I've been on some other BBs that have Avatars under the handles & I find them distracting, especially the ones that use goofy images. Also we've already got people listing programs, etc, under their handles now & other stuff that can go on & on. Since they exist in profiles & friends, that to me seems to be enough.

However, one avatar that can probably go now is the Flyertalk Awards for those who voted, since the winners have already been announced

Cheers.
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 8:36 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by tom911
I don't have any issue with avatars that are faces, like mine on another site (LINK), but some folks on this other site use cartoon characters or other objects that look in poor taste. If we could limit it to actual photos I'd support it 100%, but I don't want to see avatars of animals or cartoon characters. Just see no value there.
You can choose not to display others avatars in your profile.
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 9:47 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Silver Fox
You can choose not to display others avatars in your profile.
If you post a photo, though, I'd like to see you. I've met hundreds, if not thousands, of FTers over the years. I can't recall all the screen names, particularly when they're something like R24EX7K, but do have a good recollection for faces.

Will the software have an option to display only face photos?
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 9:52 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by rwoman
I do like FT being fairly minimalist, but avatars can give a sense of who people are or their interests.
Doesn't the signature line accomplish the same thing, minus a cartoon character or animal?
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 1:41 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by tom911
Doesn't the signature line accomplish the same thing, minus a cartoon character or animal?
It certainly can; at the same time, a pic/graphic can tell a story as well.

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Old Mar 13, 2014, 6:37 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by tom911
I don't have any issue with avatars that are faces, like mine on another site (LINK), but some folks on this other site use cartoon characters or other objects that look in poor taste. If we could limit it to actual photos I'd support it 100%, but I don't want to see avatars of animals or cartoon characters. Just see no value there.
I'm one that uses a cartoon of sorts for my avatar, because it sums up something that is uniquely me.

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Old Mar 13, 2014, 7:34 pm
  #24  
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I like photos on the profile pages, but wouldn't want to see them alongside posts. Even at a few KB each, that's a lot of images to load, especially for people who set a high number of posts per page... a cellular connection makes things even worse... and god forbid you try to visit FT on Gogo.
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 7:47 pm
  #25  
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Exactly.

If I want a picture of someone, I'll ask.
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Old Mar 13, 2014, 8:44 pm
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by rwoman
This is probably a tech-type question - how much do avatars slow down a page loading? If they're of a certain size or smaller, does it have much impact?
Probably more of an issue for mobile, which is why it's strange that they're turned on here.

I wouldn't expect them to have much of a significant impact on an individual's perf (I'm sure it could be measured, but would the end user notice the load time difference?). But the hit on the server side, from all of the pages being served up to all of the members, is the area of concern.
Originally Posted by tom911
Will the software have an option to display only face photos?
A typical implementation does not have this. It's on or off.

Besides, how many different options would there need to be? You only want to see faces. Other people may only want to see pets. Others may only want to see full frontal nudity. The list could get long.
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Old Mar 14, 2014, 3:04 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by tom911
If you post a photo, though, I'd like to see you. I've met hundreds, if not thousands, of FTers over the years. I can't recall all the screen names, particularly when they're something like R24EX7K, but do have a good recollection for faces.
Then click on the profile, take a look on the avatar there and move on. I don't see the point of having the picture besides every frigging post. Since the face thing (if any and all of the users even want to post a picture of their face) is next to impossible to enforce, just look at facebook. The term avatar itself suggests that you shouldn't use a plain picture...?

In computing, an avatar (usually translated from Sanskrit as incarnation) is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character.
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Old Mar 14, 2014, 3:11 am
  #28  
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Well, then if avatars have to be cartoon characters or animals, I'd suggest the Talk Board vote against them. I don't want to look at cartoon characters or animals next to a posters screen name. I don't do facebook so can't look there to see what's being done. I do post on Twitter and photos of posters are very common there.
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Old Mar 14, 2014, 6:07 am
  #29  
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
Then click on the profile, take a look on the avatar there and move on. I don't see the point of having the picture besides every frigging post. Since the face thing (if any and all of the users even want to post a picture of their face) is next to impossible to enforce, just look at facebook. The term avatar itself suggests that you shouldn't use a plain picture...?
I completely agree, especially as I find avatars sort of distracting. Don't they also take up a bit more data when opening FT pages?
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Old Mar 14, 2014, 6:28 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
I completely agree, especially as I find avatars sort of distracting.
Originally Posted by oliver2002
Then click on the profile, take a look on the avatar there and move on. I don't see the point of having the picture besides every frigging post.
+3 !

If you want a picture of someone, ask him or her.
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