Forum Avatars are small images in a users’ profile. Avatars are usually shown throughout the forum, such as in both the full profile page, index page, and post bit inside topic discussions. Avatars can come in all shapes and sizes, this is due to the file size and image dimensions the forum owner sets in the administrative control panel for the forum. Popular avatar sizes for forums are usually “100 x 100” or “150 x 150.”
When deciding on what limits you should set for the members avatars of your forums you need to consider that the less restrictions the better, however if you “size” avatars to large, or have a larger file size option for uploading, then there is a chance that the forum will be functioning slower and take longer to load individual or bits and pieces of the web pages associated with you forum.
One method of speeding up the forum load times, or at least reducing the amount of memory usage is to use what is known as CSS Sprites. A CSS Sprite is a group of bitmap images combined into one large image known as tile sets or also sprite sheets. Then in the cascading style sheet of the forums web pages just declare which image and where you want it to load, such as users’ avatars.
Avatars can also be used as a “personality or mood image.” Where users set an Avatar based on their personality or current mood. The forum owner should also have a gallery of available avatars for the members to use if they do not already have one picked out. When creating your forum, be sure to have a default avatar for all users until they change it to whatever they want later. You could also reward members for accomplishing something around the forum or for staying active by giving them the perk of uploading a larger file size avatar and/or larger avatar dimensions. Remember that animated “gif” avatars, though they are popular, have a possibility of slowing down the forums loading of web pages.
Discussion Topic: What are Forum Avatars?
