[New Feature Idea] Saving avatars - new forum, or current SMF

[Initscri]

Hey all,

Just had a feature idea for either this forum, or the new forum. (as such, wasn't sure whether to post in Meta or the subcat)

I know a lot of accounts use multiple avatars (whether for signature campaigns, promotions, bounties, etc). I'm unsure of storage requirements (as I'm sure this would be taken into account), but IMO it wouldn't be a bad idea to have users be able to upload avatars / and easily re-use them.

For example:
1. User uploads avatar
2. User changes avatar to another avatar.
3. Upon returning to avatar page, user is able to select the avatar uploaded in step 1 without having to re-upload.

A good addition to this might be to allow users to automatically switch their avatars by using a specific link that OPs can use in campaigns, bounties, etc. For example: "Click here to set your avatar" on campaign threads, which will automatically switch the user's avatar upon confirmation. Because these are essentially the same image for many users, if programmed correctly, this would reduce the amount of images loaded per thread (as the images can be reused for multiple users & cached)

There should probably be a cap of how many avatars a user can store, and obviously deleting avatars after a certain timeframe would probably be a smart idea.

Like I said though, the storage requirements might make this pointless when compared to the benefits, but it's just a thought.

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[jackg]

I think all avatars are archived somewhere anyway for every user (I might be wrong though). A lot of users seem to have images stored on ip.bitcointalk.org that they bring up and that must've come from their avatar as I can see no way to upload images directly to this forum (unless I'm missing something).

[Initscri]

I think all avatars are archived somewhere anyway for every user (I might be wrong though). A lot of users seem to have images stored on ip.bitcointalk.org that they bring up and that must've come from their avatar as I can see no way to upload images directly to this forum (unless I'm missing something).

You can upload:

Click Profile > Forum Profile Information > Beside avatar click "Go here" > "Choose File" & "Upload"

So basically, I'm suggesting a "Your avatars" section on this page (or on the new forum)

[bitmover]

I think this is not a critical feature , and theymos apparently does not want to store images or anything in the server.

All images used here are not uploaded, but linked from somewhere. Only your currently avatar is uploaded. I doubt he will store old ones

[The Cryptovator]

I don't think so it's necesarry & any important feature. Usually avatar used for single campaign there isn't question to use again. And it's not hard to upload a avatar as well signature manager will provide you. To be honest it's worst idea. I can't see it's useful for forum or members too. So many useful idea has posted last few days. Most of them are brilliant idea. But unfortunately theymos not yet respons. So forget about avatar, there is so many feature need to implement.

[pugman]

I would like if we could upload avatars directly from an website than going to the website downloading it and uploading it.. Too much time consuming if you ask me. 

[Initscri]

I think this is not a critical feature , and theymos apparently does not want to store images or anything in the server.

All images used here are not uploaded, but linked from somewhere. Only your currently avatar is uploaded. I doubt he will store old ones

Yea I don't believe it's a hugely critical feature, just sort of a nice to have. That's why I was targeting it more towards the new forum.

Especially a way to "click here to set your signature" for campaigns which have their users set their signature. Main perk of this specifically is that it may allow the forum to re-use images & cache them heavily.
No point loading up a new request for every user in a signature campaign.

I don't think so it's necesarry & any important feature. Usually avatar used for single campaign there isn't question to use again. And it's not hard to upload a avatar as well signature manager will provide you. To be honest it's worst idea. I can't see it's useful for forum or members too. So many useful idea has posted last few days. Most of them are brilliant idea. But unfortunately theymos not yet respons. So forget about avatar, there is so many feature need to implement.

I don't think any idea should be written off simply due to it not being the most important item. Like I said, I know this would probably be a low priority item (in the "nice to have" category), but if there's room for it, I think it would be helpful for a lot of members.

+ the "click here to set your signature" would probably save a lot of requests for everybody who has the same avatar. I scroll down threads seeing the same avatar pop up every couple of posts. Every one of those images are been served independently from BitcoinTalk's servers, when they technically could be served once with 1 image & cached.

[LoyceMobile]

What you're suggesting will mainly benefit bounty spammers. Someone who can't set his avatar on his own should probably not be posting at all.

I think all avatars are archived somewhere anyway for every user (I might be wrong though). A lot of users seem to have images stored on ip.bitcointalk.org that they bring up and that must've come from their avatar as I can see no way to upload images directly to this forum (unless I'm missing something).

You're missing something: bitcointalk acts as a proxy for all images. This was implemented after a user created a "tracking pixel".

[Initscri]

What you're suggesting will mainly benefit bounty spammers. Someone who can't set his avatar on his own should probably not be posting at all.

I think all avatars are archived somewhere anyway for every user (I might be wrong though). A lot of users seem to have images stored on ip.bitcointalk.org that they bring up and that must've come from their avatar as I can see no way to upload images directly to this forum (unless I'm missing something).

You're missing something: bitcointalk acts as a proxy for all images. This was implemented after a user created a "tracking pixel".

Fair point. I'm looking at it more from a UI / web developer perspective; in terms of saving on requests. But I understand catering to bounty spammers isn't exactly ideal.

It is unfortunate, as bounty/sig spammers tend to "ruin it for the rest of us" sort to speak.

[hugeblack]

It is a Server-stored avatar placed there by you and stored at https://bitcointalk.org/useravatars/avatar_XXXX.jpg "XXX= your profile ID."
I do not expect this feature to be added to this forum, but maybe in the new version.
If you are not bothered by the idea of reloading, you can download some Google add-ons to save images in the form of a photo gallery and upload the picture that you want to make it "new avatar."

[Piggy]

Well I don't know if it's something that can be useful or not, I mean, i could leave without this functionality, but if there enough people requesting it could be at least considered.
For sure there are more pressing issues that should be solved first

[AT101ET]

Imagine every user having multiple avatars saved? To me it just seems like a lot of extra and needless storage the site will need to put up with. Although each avatar may not be much, multiplied  by the number of members would mean the forum would have to spend more on storage which frankly isn’t necessary. Whilst it would be a beneficial feature to a few users, I think the cost involved would be better spent elsewhere.

[mdayonliner]

You're missing something: bitcointalk acts as a proxy for all images. This was implemented after a user created a "tracking pixel".

The latest version of SMF has it built in by the way.

Anyway, like Piggy and others - I will say the same. It could be a useful feature however there are some features we need to the forum which are more important then this. We should not make this forum an easy place for the signature spammers.

[Silent26]

I would rather see Newbies having hard time to rank up to Jr. Member with a requirement of 1 Merit or more to become Jr. Member than to implement this kind of idea. Your idea will somehow be beneficial but not too necessary. Also, uploading an image with just a size of kilobytes doesn't take a lot of time to do that's why there's no much problem about it that we should focus on. There are lot of pain in the ass that we should prioritised than this and Admin is not even giving any actions yet to spammers which is the main problem now, so how can he spend some time for this? Just my opinion.

[Jet Cash]

Your avatar is intended to be a quick identifier for your posts, and it should reflect some asect of your personality.

I think it is a bit sad that so many many members use avatars to indicate that they are bounty spammers, and that they change them to show they have no loyalty other than to payments. You lose your identity a bit if you are just flagging yourself as a paid poster.

[LoyceV]

Your avatar is intended to be a quick identifier for your posts, and it should reflect some asect of your personality.

I never saw my personality in any avatar. But if you put it this way, I should start looking for one.

~ to show they have no loyalty other than to payments.

I have one
But it's kinda of a loyalty thing to my signature, as the avatar doesn't pay any extra and is completely voluntary.

You lose your identity a bit if you are just flagging yourself as a paid poster.

That would be a good thing to add to Vod's Recognition score!