Forum won't link to external avatar? - (Solved)

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Mike Walsh · #1 Post by **Mike Walsh** » Sun 22 Apr 2018, 23:53

@ Flash:-

Would you have any idea why the forum is not currently allowing uploads of, or off-site URL links for avatars in any form at the moment? Is it a 'bug' in the forum software?

I decided (perhaps foolishly!) to change my avatar this evening. Every attempt I made - and I tried every single option from three different image hosting sites - resulted in 'The specified URL is not valid'.

The bit that's niggling me is the fact that I can't even put my old avatar back! Once again; 'The specified URL is not valid'. I can't even upload small ones from my machine, which are within the parameters given. 'You haven't chosen an avatar'.

I rather suspect others have had this same problem in recent months. Many long-term users who've had the same avatar for a long while now don't seem to have one. I guess they've tried to change, and found the same problem as me...

Anybody else had this problem recently? It really does need looking into. Does John Murga have any insights into this one?

Mike.

Mike Walsh · #2 Post by **Mike Walsh** » Mon 23 Apr 2018, 00:18

As you can see, the 'problem' appears to be 'sorted'! It was a strange workaround, however...

I suspected it would be troublesome getting a GIF image URL link established, despite the fact I prefer this method, because it puts less load on John's servers. Sure enough, every attempt to link with a .gif suffix resulted in the 'specified URL is invalid'. Normally I use Imgur for this, but this time I decided to try MediaFire instead, since I have an a/c with them.

Initially, I had the same problem with this, too. Then I decided to try viewing the file, followed by copying the URL from that. Upon pasting the copied URL into the box in the Profile/Avatar Control Panel, I noticed, somewhat to my surprise, that the suffix had been changed to .jpg instead. 'Hmm. Odd. Well, let's see what happens when I 'Submit' it', I thought.

You could have knocked me down with a feather when the GIF image appeared.....

I just thought I'd mention all this in case anybody else has ever tried to use a GIF for an avatar, and run into the same problems. In essence, when you paste your URL link into the box, make sure you change the .gif suffix to a .jpg suffix. Trust me; it'll work, and still show as an animated GIF image.

Hope this helps some of you.

Mike.

bigpup · #3 Post by **bigpup** » Mon 23 Apr 2018, 06:50

Nice avatar, but that thing running makes your eyes want to look at it and not the words in the post.

Mike Walsh · #4 Post by **Mike Walsh** » Mon 23 Apr 2018, 08:54

bigpup wrote:Nice avatar, but that thing running makes your eyes want to look at it and not the words in the post.

Bigpup! You must be very easily distracted, mate.....

No, but seriously; it's my first foray into using a GIF as an avatar. I haven't got the size, or speed, or any of half-a-dozen other things 'finalized', yet. (And I've got lots more to experiment with; I spent the whole of yesterday afternoon tracking down suitable avatar material, and modifying stuff with EZGif.com ).

Expect to see a few more changes yet, before I 'settle down' again for a while...

Mike.

drunkjedi · #5 Post by **drunkjedi** » Mon 23 Apr 2018, 10:54

bigpup wrote:Nice avatar, but that thing running makes your eyes want to look at it and not the words in the post.

That's a blessing in disguise I say.....

Sailor Enceladus · #6 Post by **Sailor Enceladus** » Mon 23 Apr 2018, 11:16

I think the 'You haven't chosen an avatar' issue happens if the URL starts with https instead of http too.

Mike Walsh · #7 Post by **Mike Walsh** » Mon 23 Apr 2018, 13:50

Hi, Sailor.

Sailor Enceladus wrote:I think the 'You haven't chosen an avatar' issue happens if the URL starts with https instead of http too.

Mm. I guess that figures, actually, considering the age of the Forum software. Https hasn't been around so many years, has it? Having said which, I know John has on occasion said it would be more hassle than it's worth to reset everything with newer phpBB stuff.....especially taking into account how heavily-modified it is.

Never mind. We live & learn, don't we?

Mike.

bigpup · #8 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 01:05

drunkjedi wrote:
bigpup wrote:Nice avatar, but that thing running makes your eyes want to look at it and not the words in the post.
That's a blessing in disguise I say.....

Good point!

But Mike Walsh does post something you actually want to read, sometimes

#9 Post by **Flash** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 01:50

I didn't read this thread until just now, but it wouldn't have made any difference because I didn't know the answer. Glad you guys figured it out. I agree with bigpup. Any movement on the page is such a powerful distraction that I tend to scroll down until the movement disappears before I stop to read anything.

drunkjedi · #10 Post by **drunkjedi** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 02:02

bigpup wrote:Good point!

But Mike Walsh does post something you actually want to read, sometimes

Maybe I should find an animated version of my forum pic.

Mike Walsh · #11 Post by **Mike Walsh** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 13:00

Flash wrote:I didn't read this thread until just now, but it wouldn't have made any difference because I didn't know the answer. Glad you guys figured it out. I agree with bigpup. Any movement on the page is such a powerful distraction that I tend to scroll down until the movement disappears before I stop to read anything.

Hmm... Perhaps I'd better find a GIF that's a wee bit less distracting!

Like I said, I'm experimenting, really. I don't yet know what I shall end up with. I admit, the running dog is distracting because it's on a white background, and all the movement is visible. I do have some abstract ones where the movement is within a black background. Perhaps they wouldn't 'draw the eye' quite so much.

We shall see. Bear with me!

Mike.

#12 Post by **Flash** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 15:17

That's better, but the scrolling text in your signature is also distracting. The worst are those ads along the top of a page that pause for a while, then scroll a new bunch of ads across to replace the last bunch. I close those pages as soon as I see what I've gotten into.

ETP · #13 Post by **ETP** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 15:32

Hi Mike,

I also noted a few days back that a clickable YouTube link to my Channel in my signature panel had suddenly vanished.
The non-animated YT gif used was held on postimage.org and I was not certain whether the problem was with the forum or postimage.org.

When it failed to reappear I yesterday substituted another image once again held on postimage.org
The following gif on postimage.org is from a 6 year old post and is still working.

drunkjedi · #14 Post by **drunkjedi** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 15:38

@Flash and @bigpup,

And all those people distracted by gif.
You can't control what others post.
You can control what you see, though.

In SeaMonkey/FireFox/Palemoon do following,

Type "about:config" in the address bar.

Click "I accept the risk!" when it comes up.

Find "image.animation" using the search box (just type "anim")

Double-click "image.animation_mode."

In the next box, type ether "once," so the animated GIFs only get one chance to play,
or "none" so they never can.

The downside here is you can't ever get the file to play later without reverting the settings.

perdido · #15 Post by **perdido** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 15:42

Flash wrote:That's better, but the scrolling text in your signature is also distracting. The worst are those ads along the top of a page that pause for a while, then scroll a new bunch of ads across to replace the last bunch. I close those pages as soon as I see what I've gotten into.

I right-click on the oversized avatars and prohibit images from whichever
site they originate from. Same for the animated gifs. Same for the sigs.
Cleans up the page for reading. Just my preference.

Mike Walsh · #16 Post by **Mike Walsh** » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 16:56

@ drunkjedi/perdido:-

That's probably the best way to deal with them. There's that old saying; "You cannae please all of the folk, all of the time".

No matter how you present yourself on any kind of public fora, there will always be someone who doesn't like something about you. It's no good trying to accommodate everybody else, if in the process you subvert your own individuality to the point where it's non-existent.

I've always tried to achieve a happy medium in life.....where you try to co-exist peacefully with as many other folks as possible. For the handful of nay-sayers and nit-pickers who are determined to find fault with you, well.....I've got broad shoulders. (Metaphorically speaking, of course!)

Still; I'm definitely an individual.....and I like to demonstrate that individuality. Just sometimes...

Mike.

hamoudoudou · #17 Post by **hamoudoudou** » Wed 25 Apr 2018, 16:34

"there will always be someone who doesn't like something about you" really..

fredx181 · #18 Post by **fredx181** » Wed 25 Apr 2018, 18:30

hamoudoudou wrote:"there will always be someone who doesn't like something about you" really..

Yes, OK, but about you it's much more than "someone" or "something".
Only you can change that to the better !

Fred

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Forum won't link to external avatar? - (Solved)

Forum won't link to external avatar? - (Solved)

RE: Forum won't link to external avatar? - (Solved)

there will always be someone who doesn't like something

Re: there will always be someone who doesn't like something